No big deal

Last week a stink blew up over the decision by members of Muirfield Golf Club to reject the admission of women as members. As I understand it, they needed a 75% majority to accept the change to their ‘men only’ rule – the senior executives supported the move and did everything they reasonably could to promote it – but in the end the membership vote in favour undershot the required target by less than ten points.

Since then the PC brigade has been on the war path, Muirfield has become the butt of much derision and ‘dinosaur loonies’ criticism, the Royal & Ancient has been praised for cutting it from their list of prospective ‘Open’ courses until it changes its rule, Peter Alliss has come in for considerable stick for supporting the Muirfield members’ stance and golf generally has also been taking ‘incoming’.

Personally, I cannot see what all the fuss is about.

Muirfield is a private members’ club. As far as I am concerned, they can decide to do whatever they want. In its recent vote they decided to make no change.

Similarly, the Royal & Ancient – the ultimate administrator of the game in the UK and probably elsewhere – can also do what it likes. It has decided to remove Muirfield from its list of prospective ‘Open’ courses.

I’m content with both developments.

What’s the problem? Upon occasions like this it seems to me that the media ‘story’ is little more than a storm in a tea cup.