Sarah Stirk reflects on Royal Troon voting to allow female members

Sarah Stirk congratulates the members at Royal Troon for avoiding a "Muirfield situation" and voting to allow female members just in time for The Open, and feels the R&A's handling of the issue has been first class.

I did expect the members to do the right thing and vote to allow female members. The Muirfield situation prompted so much bad press and reaction, and Royal Troon were understandably anxious to avoid similar negative publicity.

There are male-only golf clubs, there are female-only golf clubs all over the country, and it's the same for a few other sports as well. Many of them will have history and tradition, and if that's how a club operates, it's all down to their constitution.

I don't really have an issue with that, but I do have an issue with clubs not dragging themselves into modern times and being reflective of a modern society.

The other huge thing for Troon was The Open. If hosting the game's oldest and most prestigious major was not a factor, it's the club's right to do what they want to do, however archaic it may be. But when a club is in the public domain as a host venue for The Open, those archaic rules are crazy.

You just cannot have those rules in place and not allow female members if you want to remain on the rota for hosting the world's biggest golf tournament. When Muirfield voted against allowing women to join, it was a huge deal and looked a little pathetic, damaging the image of British golf.

It gave all the wrong signals, so I fully expected the Troon members to do the right thing and I think it's brilliant that they have.

It was also fantastic that they brought the vote forward and resolved the situation well ahead of this year's Open. Now we can avoid pitching up at Royal Troon for the third major of the season without fear of talking about a golf club that was behind the times.

To make such a change a couple of weeks ahead of The Open is excellent PR, and really good timing. They would have been wary of protests before, and during the tournament, and that will also be avoided now.

You just cannot have those rules in place and not allow female members if you want to remain on the rota for hosting the world's biggest golf tournament

There was huge pressure on the R&A as well, and I think Martin Slumbers has done a fabulous job since replacing Peter Dawson as chief executive of the game's governing body in this country.

He's a progressive, forward-thinking man who has helped take the R&A into the modern world. To have had the same result at Troon as we had at Muirfield would have a negative impact on the R&A and the game in general, so it's great for golf that they've allowed women members.

There's talk of Muirfield holding a second ballot, and I reckon they will follow the lead of the R&A and Royal Troon and vote to allow female members. They would have been hurt at all the negative publicity as well as being removed from the Open rota.

However, I've no doubt there will be some long-time members of the famous links that would not have been bothered to lose The Open. Some would not give a damn. All they're bothered about is their club, and playing golf when they want to play golf. To some of them, hosting the Open is an unpleasant disruption rather than a privilege.

I'm sure there will be enough members who will have changed their mind if a second vote arises, but we'll still get the feeling that they will allow women members only because of public pressure. Some of them will vote the right way while not changing their actual opinions.

The club must think of the future, because they will struggle to attract new members if they continue to bar women from joining, and there will be a danger of the club folding.

They must also think about the local economy. The last Open staged at Muirfield in 2013 generated in the region of £70m for local businesses but, again, some of the old dinosaurs at the club will not care about that either.

The thought of not being able to play golf in the build-up to an Open must be horrifying to a few of them, and that's a selfish attitude the game can do without.

I've not actually met Martin Slumbers yet, but I've been very impressed with how he has handled such a delicate issue. As soon as the first Muirfield vote was revealed, Slumbers immediately removed the club from the Open rota and that was a bold step to take - but entirely correct.

So we can move on to the 145th Open with a clear conscience, and let's hope we'll be returning to Muirfield for The Open in the future with women members welcome there too.

The Open Countdown: Live