Opening for a damsel to slay St George’s

THE ARGUMENTS over the failure of Augusta National to admit women as members are set to be revived at another of golf’s majors, the British Open.

The oldest of golf's four majors, the Open this year is being staged at the Royal St George's club in Sandwich, Kent, south-east England from July 24-27. Like Augusta, Royal St George's is a private club, with no women members.

But unlike the States where Martha Burk, of the National Council of Women's Organisations, led a well-publicised campaign to get Augusta to admit women members, a St George's spokesman insisted sexual equality was not an issue at the club.

"Royal St George's is a private members club and we've not had any push from the lady golfers who play here to become members," said club captain David Bonsall yesterday.

"To date we don't have any, but they are most welcome to come and play and enjoy the hospitality of the club and a lot do."

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club which is responsible for administering the Open, as well as golf's rulebook, is also an all-male club. And its secretary Peter Dawson said discussions about the St Andrews-based club's lack of any women members were of more concern to the media than the general public.

"I've been in my job three-and-a-half years and I've had fewer than five letters or contacts from the public about this issue, whereas I've had three to four thousand contacts from members of the media.

"I really don't think there's a huge appetite for the subject from the public at large, Dawson added. I don't want to sound complacent, though, and what happens remains to be seen, but I don't think it's the issue it has been in the States.

Next month Swedish star Annika Sorenstam, women's golf's answer to Tiger Woods, is due to take part in a full US men's Tour event in Texas.

But Dawson said that was not likely to lead to changes at The Open. "Never is a long time, but at the moment the championship is for male golfers and for the foreseeable future it will stay that way."

He added: "There is a marked difference between the abilities (of the two sexes) and I think it's right that they should be segregated and that there's a Women's Open and an Open."

Because of the inherent differences in physical strength, golf tournaments have remained single sex competitions with women playing off shorter tees while their male counterparts have to hit the ball further.

While this has generally been accepted by even the most ardent women's rights groups, the fact that many golf clubs will not allow women as members has led to charges that the sport is sexist and out-of-touch with the modern world.