R&A set to accept women

THE WORLD’S oldest golf club is set to break centuries of tradition and accept female members for the first time.

The Royal and Ancient ( R& A) Golf Club, the organiser of the Open Championship and one of the sport’s world governing bodies, has written to its members recommending the institution accepts women members.

The request, made in a letter by the chairman of the St Andrews club’s general committee, comes after years of political and commercial pressure to change its ways.

If agreed by members, women would be allowed full access to the historic clubhouse overlooking the first tee of the home of golf — the Old Course.

An R&A spokesman said: “Members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the founding club of the R&A, will vote on a motion to admit women as members.

“The club’s committees are strongly in favour of the rule change and are asking members to support it.”

The vote is scheduled to take place on September 18 — the same day as the independence referendum.

The issue of gender exclusion at some of Britain’s top golf clubs hit the headlines last year when the Open Championship, the oldest and most prestigious title in the game, was held at the men-only Muirfield in East Lothian.

The run- up to the event was dominated by questions surrounding the membership policy of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, with First MinisterAlex Salmond refusing his official invitation to the event because of the issue.

R&A chief executive Peter Dawson faced a barrage of uncomfortable questions, with his club looking increasingly isolated after the members ofAugusta National Golf Club, which organises the US Masters, admitted its first female members in 2012.

Scottish Sports Minister Shona Robison welcomed the club’s proposed change in membership policy.

She said: “This is great news for golf and sport in Scotland. “As the founding club of the R&A, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is an important institution and can provide an example for change that other clubs will endorse and follow. “I warmly welcome today’s announcement and the committee’s recommendations.”

A St Andrews University spokesman said it has no stance on the subject despite its principal, Professor Louise Richardson, being embroiled in controversy surrounding the R&A in 2009.

She was not offered automatic membership upon taking up her post, unlike her male predecessors, although she said at the time that she was too busy to play golf.

“Membership of the R&A is a matter for the R&A,” the spokesman said.

Picture: Getty Images. A woman tees off during the Alfred Dunhill Championship.