Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England, one of three male-only clubs in the British Open rotation, has voted to allow women members for the first time, British media reported.
The club followed the lead of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the home of golf, which voted last September to allow women members for the first time in its 260-year history.
“The Royal St George’s Golf Club is pleased to announce that, following an extraordinary general meeting held on 14th February 2015 and a subsequent ballot of the full members of the Club, a resolution to alter the Club’s rules to make ladies eligible for membership has been duly passed,” the club said in a statement.
The club said a “decisive 90 percent” voted in favor of women being eligible for membership.
Royal St. George’s, founded in 1887 and located in the south-east England county of Kent, last hosted the British Open in 2011, when it was won by European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke.
Muirfield and Royal Troon are the remaining British Open courses to have male-only membership policies, but Troon might allow women members before it hosts the 2016 Open Championship.
Troon announced last month it was undertaking a “comprehensive review to consider the most appropriate membership policy for the future.”
Rory McIlroy will defend his title in the Open Championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews in July.
