The vote to admit women members to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers – and probably Muirfield’s status as an Open Championship venue – hangs in the balance today.
The oldest existing golf club in the world, the Honourable Company were thought to be certain to end their 272 years as an all-male enclave when they announced the results of a survey of their 700-800 strong membership.
However a letter from a group of militants favouring retention of the club’s all-male status has been circulated ahead of today’s deadline for postal votes, and club officials, who have recommended that membership “is offered to ladies on the same basis as men”, are concerned that the necessary two-thirds majority to change club rules will not be achieved.
The membership vote is being handled by the Electoral Reform Society and it’s understood that the circulated letter rejecting admission of women members had just 33 signatories, but senior club officials face a nervy day at the club which has hosted 16 Open Championships at their famous Muirfield links at Gullane, East Lothian.
It had been expected that the Honourable Company would fall into line with the R&A and Royal St George’s Golf Club in admitting women members after the furore in 2013, when Muirfield last hosted the Open and the club’s all-male status provoked widespread criticism.
Both the club that administers the game from St Andrews and the senior English club based at Sandwich in Kent became mixed two years ago.
Royal Troon Golf Club, which hosts the Open this July, is the other remaining all-male club on the Open rota of venues and just this week has canvassed its 800 members on admission of women.
The letter opposing women members at Muirfield states that “resistance to change is one of the foundations of our unique position in golf and our reputation”.
The letter continues that they wish the debate to continue and “consider further options to develop the club and…retain the Open.”
The rebel group seem confident that the R&A will not seek to take Muirfield out of the rota due to the favourable economic impact for East Lothian and what they perceive as a lack of suitable alternatives.
However pressure will mount on the R&A if the Honourable Company appear to be defiant in the face of widespread public condemnation, and in 2013 crowd numbers were considerably down on previous Opens there.
The amount of support within the club the rebel group commands won’t be known until today’s announcement. At the R&A – many of the Honourable Company are also members at St Andrews – 85 per cent of members voted to admit women two years ago but there were still as many around 300 who voted against.
Captain Henry Fairweather is set to announce the results of the vote in front of the Muirfield clubhouse at lunchtime.
