For 273 years, the tall, dark iron gate at the entrance to Muirfield Golf Club was a nearly insurmountable obstacle for women. Upon invitation to individual rounds of golf, partners and acquaintances of male members were tolerated, but they were not welcome: for most of its long, significant history, Muirfield was not only the home of the first golf rules ever written down, but also of misogyny in golf, which is why the pictures have historical significance these days.
The best women golfers in the world compete from Thursday in the AIG Women’s Open, the British Open for women, the most important tournament of the year. So the iron gate has opened, in the past few days you could already see top players like Jessica and Nelly Korda, favorite Jin Young Ko or the German quintet of Sophia Popov, Caroline Masson, Leonie Harm, Olivia Cowan and Esther Henseleit how they do it on the difficult course at Gullane, 40 minutes north of Edinburgh. “It’s a pretty big deal that we can play here,” said Popov, winner of the 2020 tournament.
Sophia Popov won the British Open at the Royal Troon Golf Club on the west coast of Scotland, and she is now a member there too. Troon, St Andrews, Carnoustie, the list of places steeped in tradition in golf that have recognized the changing times over the past few decades is long: golf is no longer just the gentlemen’s sport it once was, but has opened up and the misogynist – and sometimes racist in the USA – prejudices that were part of the game for a long time: in many places in the archaic world of golf, women were allowed to drop their men off at the entrance gate, but were not allowed to play, they were not allowed to eat in the same room as the men Members and were not involved in sporting decisions.
Scotland’s Prime Minister boycotted Muirfield because of his misogynistic rules
Some courses have taken longer to change, like the famous Augusta National Golf Club, which has allowed female members since 2012 and has held a junior women’s tournament the week before the Masters for a number of years. And some, like Muirfield, have only felt the pressure that comes with a lack of will to change.
When the men last played their Open Championship in Gullane in 2013, calls for an end to misogynist membership regulations were underpinned by a boycott by then Scottish Prime Minister Alex Salmond, who was immediately backed by then British Prime Minister David Cameron. the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, the club’s formal name, therefore decided in March 2016 to vote on the future direction – and decided against changing the rules. At that time, 30 particularly vocal members had started an initiative not to allow women under any circumstances. The reasoning: they would play too slowly and the clubhouse would have to be remodeled to have a women’s changing room.
The decision against women had immediate consequences: The R&A, the organizing body of the Open Championship, stripped Muirfield of the right to continue playing the traditional men’s major tournament. Considering the golf course itself is one of the best in the world and legends like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Gary Player and Nick Faldo have all celebrated great victories there, it was a bold decision and one with lasting effects. In 2017, Muirfield suddenly voted for women as members, and since then, according to his own statements, a third of the new annual members have been women.
When it comes to prize money, there is still a long way to go to equality
Five years later, a women’s professional tournament is taking place in Muirfield for the first time. The R&A has not yet decided whether the men’s Open Championship will return in the near future. “I think it’s a moral test,” British golfer Bronte Law said ahead of the tournament. The 27-year-old suspects that the 27-year-old would only get the men again if Muirfield were willing to take in the women: “But I’m happy to play there. Hopefully we’ll be welcomed with open arms because it’s time that women to be respected.”
However, the path to equality is far from over, especially in top-class sport: The new Saudi Arabian LIV tour has increased the financial pressure in men’s golf, in the USA ever higher record prize money is being paid out – in women’s golf the development is positive, but much more cautious: the women at the British Open will receive 6.8 million US dollars this year, half as much as the men a few weeks ago.
