Muirfield Votes to Keep Club All Male, R&A Reacts by Pulling from Open Championship Rotation

Muirfield Golf Club is part of the rotation for The Open Championship, well, that was true until the club announced that of its 750 members, 64% had voted to open the club up to women, but a majority two-thirds vote was needed. The decision did not sit well with the R&A, which governs the game of golf outside of the US and Mexico, and they immediately announced that Muirfield will no longer be in the rotation for golf’s oldest major championship.

The R&A released an official statement regarding the Honourable Company’s decision:

"“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. The R&A has considered today’s decision with respect to The Open Championship. The Open is one of the world’s great sporting events and going forward we will not stage the Championship at a venue that does not admit women as members. “Given the schedule for staging The Open, it would be some years before Muirfield would have been considered to host the Championship again. If the policy at the club should change we would reconsider Muirfield as a venue for The Open in future.”"

Muirfield and Royal Troon were the only two courses in the rotation that were still male only memberships. St. Andrews opened their memberships up to women in 2014.

A group of 30 members of the Honorourable Company released a statement regarding the vote:

Via The Guardian:

"“It is recognised that it is a very sensitive matter and the club is in a difficult position, but associations like ours with a very long and venerable history have strengths which are derived from that history. “Change must come slowly and for choice should be evolutionary. A traditional resistance to change is one of the foundations of our unique position in golf and our reputation.” “In the last two-and-a-half years, there has been a considerable effort to consider the question whether to admit lady members – a prospect which may not previously have been on the agenda or even contemplated. It would appear to have been prompted largely by media and political comment at the time of the 2013 Open. “Whilst there are many members who feel strongly that we should stay as we are (and it is not inconceivable that such may be the final decision) it is maintained that there is a strong case for the debate to continue and in particular for marketing and financial assessment to discover what actually attracts our visitors, prospective new members and possible future lady members to determine what changes, if any, the club should make.”"

Well that’s pretty disappointing. The golf world reacted appropriately.

[Golf Channel]