R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said in a statement: “We have consistently said that it is a matter for the Honourable Company to conduct a review of its membership policy and that we would await their decision”.
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Two-time British Open champion Padriag Harrington backed the removal of Muirfield from the list of host clubs for golf’s oldest major tournament. Royal St. Georges, another British Open host, ended its male-only membership a year ago.
The R&A itself voted in September 2014 to end its controversial male-only membership policy after 260 years with more than three quarters of the club’s 2400 members taking part in the ballot and 85% voting in favour of the change.
Henry Fairweather, captain of Muirfield, said the club had to follow the rules set by its members.
Of Muirfield Golf Club’s 750 members, 397 voted to overturn the ban, falling short of the 411 needed (66 per cent) to make the change.
The membership, operated by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, voted down a proposal to open the club up to women members.
Women’s Open victor, Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, said she was “embarrassed to be a Scottish women golfer from East Lothian after that decision”.
“It will take a very special lady golfer to be able to do all the things that are expected of them in the template which is suggested and the ladies’ membership as a whole may not meet this standard”.
In making the announcement Thursday, Fairweather also said: “Women will continue to be welcome at Muirfield on the course and in the clubhouse as guests and as visitors as they have for many years, and we have some ladies playing here today”.
Rory McIlroy has urged Muirfield to “see some sense” and reconsider its membership policy after the club was dropped from the Open Championship rota. Troon is to host this year’s British Open in July.
“It is understood there are key figures within the club who are determined to ensure the motion is carried in the forthcoming years, perhaps even before the R&A announces the 2023 Open venue, which was considered to be the next likely date for Muirfield”. “We are trying to break out of this stuffy, old image; we are trying to move with the times and to make golf faster, golf cooler, get more people included”.
Scotland’s leading female golfer Catriona Matthew, who lives in nearby North Berwick but has only ever played Muirfield twice, commented “Well done R&A” on Twitter.
Augusta National, home of the Masters, decided in 2012 to invite women to join.
Turnberry does allow women members but is owned by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has become persona non grata in golfing circles following some of his controversial views expressed on the campaign trail.
Speaking to BBC 5 live, Allis said women wanting to join “better get married to someone who’s a member”. The Ayrshire club, which was founded in 1878, is hosting The Open this year, and is also in the process of “consulting” with its 800 [male] members regarding the question of gender exclusivity.
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Newspaper The Scotsman reported on Wednesday that “no” campaigners within Muirfield had argued that a “traditional resistance to change is one of the foundations of our unique position in gold and our reputation”.
