Golf - Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden???

I was talking to someone the other day of 'senior citizen' age and we were discussing how things have changed in modern day life. The way we communicate and the way life has changed in general, with men playing a predominant role in the upbringing of children at the home for example. Almost gone are the days of men being out of the house throughout the working week then meeting up with mates on the golf course in the middle of both weekend afternoons then out on the beers and a game of poker. The role of men now is far more hands on and far more family orientated. 

However, the role of the female has also changed. The dreaded term 'second class citizen' is long a distant memory as females, after years of battles and struggles to simply have a democratic vote, have gained equality in almost every area of human life and rightfully so (although there will still always be battles in the workplace and top 500 companies as I write this blog).

However, golf has taken a while to catch up. Muirfield golf club being the classic example. As of the current day, Muirfield are going through a SECOND vote (yes, a second vote as the first was bizarrely rejected) to determine whether ladies should be included as members of this prestigious club on the East Coast of Scotland. The first vote from the members decided that women could not be members of the club. The R and A then, with tails between their legs, held Muirfield accountable and therefore took the Open Championship away from them for the foreseeable future because of this vote.

What a short sighted approach from the members to reject it first of all. With the history of the club, it's popularity and it's prestige in the golfing world, it is a major influencer of the industry and should therefore be setting standards to enable the game to flourish. Instead, they took the opinion that 'it has always been this way' and change is negative.

 

My goal of coaching the game of golf and as a PGA member is to grow the game of golf, help people improve and bring it to the masses to show them how good it is. To do that we need to be assured that the red tape and boundaries that still exist in some areas are loosened so that every man, woman and child can take part in the game and have a chance to love it like I do.

The short sightedness of the Muirfield membership do not see it like this and, with this second round of voting, I hope they now see sense and enable females to become members, thus opening more doors to welcome people into the game.