Member Policy of Men-Only Clubs Will Be Reviewed, R&A Official Says
|
Version 0 of 1. GULLANE, Scotland — The leader of the R&A, which conducts the British Open, said the matter of men-only clubs would be reviewed but added that the exclusionary policy was in no way comparable to racial or religious discrimination. Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, said Wednesday during a news conference on the eve of the 142nd British Open, “When things are a bit quieter, after the championship, I’m quite sure we’ll be taking a look at everything to see what kind of sense we can make of it for the future.” The site of this year’s championship, Muirfield, has a men-only membership. It is one of three courses in the British Open rotation with such a policy. Royal St. George’s in England and Royal Troon in Scotland are the others. Augusta National, the club that hosts the Masters, added its first two female members before this year’s tournament. Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland, played in the pro-am of last week’s Scottish Open but said he would stay away from this week’s championship in protest of Muirfield’s membership policy. Dawson said: “Obviously the whole issue of gender and single-sex clubs has been pretty much beaten to death recently. And we do, I assure you, understand that this is a divisive issue. It’s a subject that we’re finding increasingly difficult, to be honest.” He added, “We do believe that membership policy is a matter of the club’s.” Dawson scoffed when asked the difference between membership policies excluding a sex and those excluding a race or religion. “There’s a massive difference between racial discrimination, anti-Semitism, where sectors of society are downtrodden and treated very, very badly, indeed,” he said. “And to compare that with a men’s golf club I think is frankly absurd.” |