Condi's new clubs (Augusta National not one of them)

The Birmingham News is reporting that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has joined two private clubs in the Birmingham, Ala., area. Among them is the infamous Shoal Creek, founded by Hall Thompson, who prior to the PGA Championship being played there in 1990 defended the club's absence of a black member by saying, "that's just not done in Birmingham."

Rice, a Birmingham native, also joined Greystone Golf and Country Club, the paper reports.

Will Augusta National Golf Club follow with an invitation that would make Rice it's first female member? Golf Digest's Jaime Diaz speculated in this column last month that the matter might have been under discussion recently.

-- John Strege