Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been invited to join the historically male-only Augusta National Golf Club.

Rice, along with businesswoman Darla Moore, will be the first female members of Augusta, which hosts the Masters Tournament each year, the club announced in a news release on Monday.

"These accomplished women share our passion for the game of golf and both are well known and respected by our membership,” Chairman Billy Payne said in the release. "It will be a proud moment when we present Condoleezza and Darla their Green Jackets when the club opens this fall."

In a statement, Rice said she is delighted and honored to join the club.

"Golf is a wonderful source of enjoyment for me, she said. And I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to grow my love for this great game."

A little patronising, makes me think of Bill Bailey's joke of how the Taliban ethos is made up. It was just cobbled together from different beliefs. The anti-intellectualism of the Khmer Rouge, the religious persecution of the Nazis, the enforced beard-wearing from the world of folk music, and the subjugation and humiliation of women from the world of golf..........

Matt