The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has voted 'overwhelmingly' in favour of welcoming women members, it has been announced. The club's annual autumn meeting saw members vote 85 per cent in favour of the change in membership rules that have stood for its 260-year history. After the vote Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, said: 'The R&A is now a mixed-sex club. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has voted 85 per cent in favour of allowing women members . Of the 2,400 men who make up the global R&A membership, about two-thirds took the opportunity to make history at the club. 'This is an important and positive day in the history of the R&A Golf Club,' Dawson said. '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.' Dawson confirmed a 'significant' number of women in prominent positions within the golfing community will be fast-tracked into membership at the exclusive club. Sports minister Helen Grant called on other clubs with similar restrictions to follow the R&A's lead. 'I am pleased that the members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews have voted in favour of admitting women members,' she said. 'This is positive news for the sport and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same sex policies follow suit. Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, says 'The R&A is now a mixed-sex club.' '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.' Cabinet Secretary for Sport and Equalities Shona Robison also praised the decision, adding: 'In the week before Scotland welcomes golf fans from across the world for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, this decision by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews to admit women members is another step on the road to full equality in sport and society. 'This decision by the world's most exclusive and prestigious golf club sees real progress towards making golf a more equal sport, which is very important. 'We firmly believe that there should be no barriers at all to being involved in sport with everyone able to participate in and enjoy sport - whoever they are and whatever their background. I hope this welcome development leads to the few remaining single-gender golf clubs to take a similar path.' When the vote was announced in March, Dawson insisted it was not intended to place pressure on the three male-only clubs on the Open Championship rota, but such an interpretation is unavoidable. Pressure from sponsors had been mounting, with HSBC's global head of sponsorship and events Giles Morgan saying in January that: ''The R&A are clear that it's a very uneasy position for the bank.' Sweden's Annika Sorenstam tees off on the 18th at St Andrews in the 2007 Women's British Open pro-am . Morgan said on Thursday: 'As a partner of the R&A and a long-term international sponsor of golf, we welcome this news with open arms. 'HSBC is committed to growing the game at all levels and fundamental to this is our commitment to the value of diversity and our support of women's golf which is a cornerstone of our global golf portfolio. 'As a patron of the oldest and most prestigious of all major championships, we are proud to be a partner of The Open Championship which creates a centre of gravity in our global golf portfolio. We look forward to continuing this successful partnership at St Andrews in 2015 for what promises to be the start of a new era.' Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal St George's are the three clubs on the 10-strong rota with male-only membership policies, although Troon feels it should not be directly compared to the other two as it shares its facilities with The Ladies Golf Club Troon. Muirfield, which is owned and run by The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, is reviewing its membership criteria with a report to be completed by March 2015, while Royal St George's is also 'considering its position' as a single-sex club.
The R&A have voted to allow women to join the club as members .
Of the two-thirds of the 2,400 global membership who voted, 85 per cent said yes to change the policy of the 260-year-old club .
Club chief executive Peter Dawson said: 'The R&A is now a mixed-sex club'
The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has voted 'overwhelmingly' in favour of welcoming women members, it has been announced. The club's annual autumn meeting saw members vote 85 per cent in favour of the change in membership rules that have stood for its 260-year history. After the vote Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, said: 'The R&A is now a mixed-sex club. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has voted 85 per cent in favour of allowing women members . Of the 2,400 men who make up the global R&A membership, about two-thirds took the opportunity to make history at the club. 'This is an important and positive day in the history of the R&A Golf Club,' Dawson said. '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.' Dawson confirmed a 'significant' number of women in prominent positions within the golfing community will be fast-tracked into membership at the exclusive club. Sports minister Helen Grant called on other clubs with similar restrictions to follow the R&A's lead. 'I am pleased that the members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews have voted in favour of admitting women members,' she said. '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. Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, says 'The R&A is now a mixed-sex club.' '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.' Cabinet Secretary for Sport and Equalities Shona Robison also praised the decision, adding: 'In the week before Scotland welcomes golf fans from across the world for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, this decision by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews to admit women members is another step on the road to full equality in sport and society. 'This decision by the world's most exclusive and prestigious golf club sees real progress towards making golf a more equal sport, which is very important. 'We firmly believe that there should be no barriers at all to being involved in sport with everyone able to participate in and enjoy sport - whoever they are and whatever their background. I hope this welcome development leads to the few remaining single-gender golf clubs to take a similar path.' When the vote was announced in March, Dawson insisted it was not intended to place pressure on the three male-only clubs on the Open Championship rota, but such an interpretation is unavoidable. Pressure from sponsors had been mounting, with HSBC's global head of sponsorship and events Giles Morgan saying in January that: ''The R&A are clear that it's a very uneasy position for the bank.' Sweden's Annika Sorenstam tees off on the 18th at St Andrews in the 2007 Women's British Open pro-am . Morgan said on Thursday: 'As a partner of the R&A and a long-term international sponsor of golf, we welcome this news with open arms. 'HSBC is committed to growing the game at all levels and fundamental to this is our commitment to the value of diversity and our support of women's golf which is a cornerstone of our global golf portfolio. 'As a patron of the oldest and most prestigious of all major championships, we are proud to be a partner of The Open Championship which creates a centre of gravity in our global golf portfolio. We look forward to continuing this successful partnership at St Andrews in 2015 for what promises to be the start of a new era.' Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal St George's are the three clubs on the 10-strong rota with male-only membership policies, although Troon feels it should not be directly compared to the other two as it shares its facilities with The Ladies Golf Club Troon. Muirfield, which is owned and run by The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, is reviewing its membership criteria with a report to be completed by March 2015, while Royal St George's is also 'considering its position' as a single-sex club.
cent in favour of the change in membership rules the vote Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, said: 'The R&A is now a mixed-sex club. The 85 per cent in favour of allowing women members . Of the 2,400 men who make up the global R&A Golf Club of St Andrews have voted in favour of