News that in September The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the founding club of The R&A, will vote on a motion to admit women as members has attracted media attention all around the globe.
The Club’s committees are strongly in favour of the rule change and are asking members to support it. In fact Wilson Sibbett, the chairman of the R&A’s general committee, asks members ‘to welcome’ female members. Let us hope that they do.
As the Club celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2004, it devolved responsibility for the administration of the Rules of Golf, the running of The Open Championship and other key events, and the development of the game in existing and emerging golfing nations, to a newly formed group of companies collectively known as ‘The R&A’.
As far as the public image of golf is concerned, however, this distinction is meaningless and the whole golf industry will be hoping that the 2,400 members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews vote for the rule change in overwhelming numbers.
Geoff Russell, Publisher
publisher@golfbusinessnews.com
@GBNPublisher
