Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, one of the world’s most renowned courses, will begin admitting female members for the first time in its 260-year history.
Approximately 1,500 of the Scottish club’s roughly 2,400 members voted Thursday to lift the ban on women golfers that has been in place since the club’s inception in 1754.
“I am very pleased indeed to announce that the membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews has voted overwhelmingly in favor of welcoming women members,” Peter Dawson, chief executive of the club’s governing body, said in a statement, via Yahoo! Sports.
Coincidentally, the vote was tallied on the same day that Scotland voted on whether or not to declare independence from Great Britain.
St. Andrews is one of 10 courses in the British Open rotation. It last hosted the major tournament in 2010 and will do so next in 2015.
Photo via Twitter/@golf_com
