Muirfield set for Open rota return after voting in women
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers has voted to become a mixed club in a second ballot on the matter. The first ballot, in 2016, saw 64 per cent of members who voted say ‘yes’ to women members, but this was not enough to reach the two-thirds number needed to amend the club’s constitution.
The club was hit by a flood of negative press after the first vote, which culminated in the R&A announcing that its Muirfield course would not host the Open Championship again until the policy was changed.
Despite speculation that Honourable Company members valued their privacy more than they did the chance to play host to golf’s oldest tournament, the club opted for a second ballot, in which the vote was overwhelming; over 80 per cent of those who voted chose to go mixed.
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said the club would now be reinstated as an Open venue.
“Muirfield has a long and important history of hosting the Open and with today’s announcement that will continue,” he said. “It is extremely important for us in staging one of the world’s great sporting events that women can become members at all our host clubs. Muirfield is a truly outstanding Open venue and we very much look forward to taking the championship there in future.”