Such a lather the New York Times has worked itself into over the fact that the Augusta National Golf Club is hewing to its tradition as a men’s social club that people are starting to talk of Howell v. Hootie, as in the celebrated executive editor, Howell Raines, and chairman of Augusta, William “Hootie” Johnson. Earlier in the week the Times issued a front page news report on the dispute, which has been brought to a boil by the National Council of Women’s Organizations. Yesterday, Augusta disclosed the findings of a poll it commissioned indicating that most respondents say it has the right to have members of one gender only and that it has most women on its side. One of the issues is whether the Columbia Broadcasting System, which covers the Masters tournament at Augusta National every April, will broadcast the tournament this year. Yesterday, a column in the Times mocked CBS for broadcasting the Masters, leaving hanging the question of whether the Times itself is going to cover the event should Hootie stick to his guns.