For a few minutes, the rebel 219 members in the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers may have felt a little proud of themselves.
At 11.45 am – nothing gets in the way of lunch at Muirfield – captain Henry Fairweather stood in front of the famous red-roofed clubhouse and announced the oldest club in the sport, formed in 1744, was rejecting admission of women members.
64 per cent of the membership had been in favour, barely short of the two-thirds majority required; only 10 or so votes made the difference.
But if the no voters felt emboldened by their defiance of public opinion, it was swiftly disabused almost immediately as the R&A called their bluff and struck Muirfield from The Open’s rota of host venues.
Barely had a disappointed Mr Fairweather – who with his board had recommended approval of women members – finished giving the figures than R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers was making an unequivocal statement.
“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,” he said.
A letter circulated by rebels opposing women members had predicted the R&A would not pull the Open from Muirfield – regarded by many, including Jack Nicklaus, as the best course on the rota – as there were no viable alternatives.
Instead, Slumbers barely took a breath before issuing his statement – also a sobering reminder to members of all-male Royal Troon as they deliberate on whether to admit women members ahead of this July’s Open Championship.
While the Honourable Company is wealthy enough to ride the loss of The Open, it is a severe blow to East Lothian, which will lose the £50 million windfall as the result of hosting the championship.
The R&A’s swift action may limit the damage to the game in public perception, as leading figures queued up to criticise the Honourable Company yesterday, led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon description of the decision as “simply indefensible”.
Leading figures in the game were equally unequivocal. Sir Nick Faldo, who won two of his three Open titles at Muirfield, said that he “fully supported R&A and Martin Slumbers’ many forward thinking initiatives toward inclusiveness.”
Ian Poulter said on Twitter “Great decision, R&A, well done. About time we woke up to 2016”.
Annika Sorenstam, the multiple major champion and one of the first women members of the R&A, said “It’s sad one of the great courses won’t be part of the Open rota but I fully support the R&A’s decision.”
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.
“Embarrassed to be a Scottish women golfer from East Lothian after that decision,” she added.
Mr Fairweather told newsmen at yesterday’s announcement the Honourable Company may revisit the issue within the next five years after further discussion among the membership.
The Open may yet return there if yesterday’s decision is reversed. But an odd result of this vote and the R&A’s stance makes it much more likely the championship will return to Turnberry, owned by US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, sometime in the next decade.
