Muirfield Golf Club could find itself out in the cold after members voted against abandoning its male-only membership policy Thursday.
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The last time the major was held at Muirfield Phil Mickelson won by three shots over Henrik Stenson, while Adam Scott, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood were a further shot behind.
The R&A, which organizes the British Open, reacted by saying Muirfield will no longer be allowed to stage the major championship.
The East Lothian MSP said: ” Muirfield Golf Club’s decision to reject female membership was wrong and outdated. But club rules state there needs to be two-thirds majority.
The “no” voters reasoning is just as absurd as you’d expect: According to The Scotsman, the drive to fail the resolution was led by a group of 33 men who believe women on the course would slow play and any female members might “feel uncomfortable”.
Henry Fairweather, captain of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (HCEG), which owns and runs Muirfield, said policy is decided by the club’s members.
US golfer Phil Mickelson won the British Open the last time it was held at Muirfield, in 2013.
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has condemned the decision by the club.
He too backed the R&A’s response. “I think the R&A made the right decision”, said the Northern Irish golfer.
“The R&A (golf’s governing body) did the right thing”. It’s 2016. Time moves on.
“… When we are trying to break out of this stuffy old image, this is not what we need”.
McIlroy, who won the Open in 2014 at Royal Liverpool, said the R&A was right to strip Muirfield of its place on the tournament rota. But as for Muirfield, it doesn’t sound as though they’re going to make changes any time soon. “It is what it is”.
“It’s a shame that one of the best golf courses in the world is off the Open rota”. Guys will really miss it because it’s a great course.
“Clubs were formed years ago by people of like spirit – doctors, lawyers, accountants, bakers, butchers – and they joined in like spirit to talk amongst themselves and do whatever”, he said.
A couple of the other clubs in the rotation were late to the inclusion party, too, as St. Andrews began allowing women in 2014, and Royal St. George’s only invited women a year ago.
The host of this year’s British Open, Royal Troon, also has a male-only membership and will receive the same critique that Muirfield felt in 2013.
“So numerous people in the United States did not know until the (Augusta National) club opened why they opened”.
But Muirfield refused to budge in the face of fierce pressure from equality campaigners and lawmakers.
After those sensible 2013 outcries about Muirifield’s anachronistic membership policy, the club started a consultation exercise with its members and Thursday’s vote was the conclusion of that.
“Muirfield may go ahead and say we want just be a small golf club and mind their own business and that’s fine, but minding their own business isn’t holding the Open is it?”
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“I think the most significant thing about what’s happened is the R&A’s decision to not let them host the Open”, she said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
