CBS Sports President Sean McManus, in a letter to the National Council of Women's Organizations, said Thursday that to not televise the Masters "would be a disservice to fans of this major championship."

The letter from Mr. McManus came in response to a letter sent to the network Wednesday by the women's group, which released the letter to the media Thursday morning.

Martha Burk, the chairwoman of the organization, said she was surprised that CBS made its decision so quickly.

"I thought CBS would give this more consideration, now that they are in the position of discriminating against half of their viewers," Dr. Burk said. "It seems an odd decision to me to be made so quickly and without consideration on how it's going to look to millions of women."

Augusta National and Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson announced Aug. 30 that the 2003 Masters, scheduled for April 10-13, will be shown without television sponsors. Citigroup, Coca-Cola and IBM were contacted by the women's group last month and asked not to support the tournament.

The Masters' Sunday telecast expanded this year to include full 18-hole coverage. The telecast, which includes 12 1/2 hours of live programming, is traditionally the highest-rated golf program and is well known for limiting commercials to four minutes per hour.

"However, as a sports television programmer serving millions of men and women who eagerly anticipate and avidly watch the network's Masters broadcast each year, CBS will cover the Masters as it has done for the past 46 years," Mr. McManus said in his letter.

The women's organization plans to identify and contact Augusta National members about the club's lack of female members, Dr. Burk said Thursday. About 75 of the council's members met earlier this week to reaffirm their support for the campaign.

"Press reports indicate that not only will CBS fail to realize a profit on a broadcast without sponsors, but the network will actually lose money," Dr. Burk said in her letter to CBS. "This makes CBS an active underwriter of an organization that discriminates against half of its viewers."

The National Council of Women's Organizations is the nation's largest and oldest coalition of women's groups. Founded in 1980, the 160 groups represent 7 million women.

Dr. Burk wrote a letter to Mr. Johnson in June asking the club to review its policies and open its membership to women. Mr. Johnson made the issue public in July by issuing a terse three-paragraph statement that said the club would not be "bullied" into admitting female members.

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or jboyette@augustachronicle.com.