By Torleif Sorenson on 3/28/14

One day after the R&A announced that they will vote in September on allowing women to become members, GolfWeek's Alistair Tait reports from Edinburgh that the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, based at Muirfield, will also review its membership.

The news has not yet been posted on the club's web site, but Tait forwarded the following statement from a club spokesperson:

"A working group has been empowered to consult with the membership and to make recommendations to the board about our future. As a club, we comply fully with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 (U.K. anti-discrimination legislation) and there are no current plans to change the membership criteria, but these will be reviewed.

"Most importantly, we intend to take the time to ensure that plans we adopt will stand us in good stead, not only for the immediate future but for the next 270 years of our great club."

Last year, before hosting the 2013 Open Championship, he club came under harsh criticism not merely from golf fans, but from prominent British politicians and from the influential Giles Morgan, the sponsorship chief of London-based HSBC. Morgan made it abundantly clear that the bank was not comfortable sponsoring the Open Championship at a men-only club:

"The R&A are clear that it's a very uneasy position for the bank. When you are showcasing one of the world's greatest tournaments, it would be much more palatable if the events were played where there was not the sense of segregation.

"We would like to see it get solved so we don't keep talking about it."

As it was previously at Augusta National Golf Club, women are very much allowed to play Muirfield as visitors, but currently are not permitted to be members of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

The club has scheduled a vote for September 18.


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Image via Muirfield