In Scotland’s other vote today, Royal and Ancient Golf Club votes to accept female members
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Version 0 of 1. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews in Scotland voted on Thursday to accept females members for the first time in its 260-year history, Sky Sports News reports. The vote came on the same day the country was voting on whether to declare itself independent from the United Kingdom. Unlike the independence referendum, however, not everyone was eligible to vote on the R&A matter. Only the club’s 2,400 global members had a say, and, according to the BBC, 85 percent of those who voted, voted in favor of females to join. “This is an important and positive day in the history of the R&A Golf Club,” R&A’s chief executive Peter Dawson said in a statement. “The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men.” The United Kingdom’s Sports Minister Helen Grant had similar sentiments about the decision. She said (via the BBC): “I am pleased that the members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews have voted in favor of admitting women members. This is positive news for the sport and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same sex policies follow suit. With golf in the next Olympics there is a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and this sends out the right inclusive message that golf is for everyone.” “I am pleased that the members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews have voted in favor of admitting women members. This is positive news for the sport and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same sex policies follow suit. With golf in the next Olympics there is a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and this sends out the right inclusive message that golf is for everyone.” The R&A’s decision to admit women is not unprecedented. In 2012, the previously all-men’s Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Ga., voted to allow two female members into its clubhouse for the first time, allowing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and business executive Darla Moore. It is unclear how many female members will be let into R&A, but whoever is will be welcomed with “fast-track membership,” Dawson said in his statement. |