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OPINION

As Harry so famously said to Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber: “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!”

Welcome to National Golf Month, folks, a month designed to increase participation in the game in the UK, and we’ve got one of the country’s most prominent clubs doing the opposite – and doing so unapologetically.

Once again, golf has triumphantly succeeded in shooting itself in the foot.

Read more -> Muirfield votes against female members

Forget the fact that there are ladies’ clubs where men are banned. If that’s the premise of your argument, then you’re missing the point. These clubs don’t host the Open, which is the biggest, oldest and most historic golf tournament in the world. It’s the showpiece of the sport – but you can’t take the championship to a venue that’s divisive. Doing so is profoundly hypocritical, not to mention insulting to women.

You can come and watch, we might even let you play (on a Thursday) but to hell with you if you actually want to be part of us. That’s not allowed. We don’t like your type.”

The R&A’s swift action to announce that the Open would no longer be going to Muirfield because they do not admit women members is the right message. Kudos to the R&A for their instant move. It shows that they care and it was a decision that showed integrity.

But what this move by Muirfield does is give golf a massive opportunity. The R&A are in charge. So are Scottish Golf, who I would like to point out are a newly amalgamated body. If the powers that be want to really send out a message that says ‘golf is inclusive and forward thinking’, then why not ostracise Muirfield? Take away their privilege of being an ‘affiliated’ club in the realms of golf in Scotland and the UK. Make them outcasts.

Read more -> Muirfield removed from Open Rota

If you are the R&A and Scottish Golf, you can’t say publically that you can no longer be aligned with Muirfield because they don’t like women but then, away from the public eye, afford them the same rights as every other ‘normal’ club in the country.

Banish them. Take a serious stance that says their ways are not accepted in the sport, because it wasn’t just the decision that proved golf has enough cretinous old farts to stop the game from evolving, it was the brazen manner of it.

“What the Muirfield cronies did was basically walk out of the front door and stick two fingers up to the 21st century.”

The old boys called a press conference, inviting members of the media to the front steps of the clubhouse to reveal their decision. Any normal-thinking person would have believed that to be a signal that they wanted to show everyone they were, in fact, the good guys. Turns out they’re not.

What the Muirfield cronies did was basically walk out the front door of their clubhouse then stick two fingers up to the 21st century. Club captain Henry Fairweather even had the gall to point out that women had been playing Muirfield since 1904. They still just don’t get it.

It goes to show how massively out of touch these people are with the modern world. But fine. If that’s the way they want it, cast them out. They won’t be missed.

Muirfield Announcement :: Your thoughts

Do you agree with Bryce Ritchie on today’s events at Muirfield? Leave your thoughts in our ‘Comments’ section below.

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Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered

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