At Muirfield, the World’s Oldest Golf Club, Women Can Join. Finally.
"I still believe that getting more women as members of golf clubs, more women bringing children to play, clubs creating opportunities for young children to play, or even new facilities growing for children to learn to play, that’s what’s important for
the future generations." The topic of allowing women to become members of golf clubs — long male-only enclaves — has attracted attention in recent years as even women who worked their way to the top of their professions found themselves excluded.
Muirfield Golf Club in Scotland, one of Britain’s last remaining holdouts against female membership,
voted on Tuesday to admit women as members for the first time in its 273-year history.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club said in a statement on Twitter
that Muirfield could once again host the British Open, while the Ladies European Tour said it was delighted by the vote.
Royal Troon, also in Scotland, and Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England, had been the other British Open sites
that did not allow women but they have changed their rules since the R&A’s decision, leaving Muirfield as one of the final holdouts.
That decision prompted the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which organizes the Open Championship —
otherwise known as the British Open — to stop using Muirfield as a site for the competition.
At Muirfield, the club will have to work to persuade the 123 members
that voted against allowing women that the fabric of life at the club will stay that same.
