Henni Zuel welcomes the Royal Troon decision to allow female members

Henni Zuel has backed Royal Troon's decision to allow women members and looks ahead to her role for Sky Sports at the Open.

I'm sure they would have voted to allow women members anyway, but even more so after what happened at Muirfield a few weeks ago. If the Royal Troon vote had gone the same way, it would have had a negative impact on the forthcoming Open.

But it appears the members at Troon learned from the reaction to Muirfield's decision to remain as a men-only club, although the Troon members seem to be more progressive and I think they would have voted this way anyway.

"I felt more than welcome at Royal Troon, and I'm sure I'll be even more welcome when I arrive for the 145th Open next week."

The R&A could have been put in a really difficult position with the 145th Open coming up, especially as they decided to remove Muirfield from the Open rota after condemning their vote. And to do that so quickly was good for the game and sent out a warning to other clubs in a similar position - including Troon.

The result of the Muirfield ballot prompted widespread condemnation, and I don't think many of the members there might have expected such a backlash, but I'm sure there would have been a few who genuinely didn't care either!

Having said that, the majority of members did vote to allow women members for the first time since the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers was founded in 1744, but they fell narrowly short of the two-thirds target they needed to pass the motion.

So if you were one of the members who voted against women members and you now know most of your colleagues voted for, there's a good chance of a change of mind if a second ballot is held.

There is talk of a second vote at the club, and I'm certain the result would be different second time around. They won't want to be further criticised by the golfing public, let along the R&A, and I would hope a second vote would produce a positive outcome.

It would have been a huge shock if the members of Royal Troon had voted against women members, but it all went to plan and that's great news with The Open coming up in a matter of days now. And the face that Muirfield was stripped of the right to host the Open would have swayed any Troon members who were sitting on the fence.

That was a huge statement to make from the R&A, and you would be shaming your club if you voted against the proposals and run the risk of being removed from the Open rota.

I'll be at Royal Troon all week working with the Sky Sports digital and social media team, and I'll feel a little more at ease being there now that they've voted to admit women members.

I have been there before and, to be honest, I didn't really feel uncomfortable. Troon has a different feel to the place than Muirfield, which I found a little more intimidating.

I felt more than welcome at Royal Troon, and I'm sure I'll be even more welcome when I arrive for the 145th Open next week. Just knowing that they are progressive and open to change makes a big difference.

Credit must also go to the R&A for the way they have handled the whole situation, starting from when they voted to admit women members last year. They didn't mess about when they removed Muirfield from the Open rota - it was an immediate decision following their vote and I applaud that.

Martin Slumbers is a fantastic chief executive of the game's governing body. I've been lucky enough to play a lot of golf with Martin, and he's an intelligent forward-thinking, business-minded man who knows what it takes to take the game forward and into the modern era.

Live at The Open