HOYLAKE, England – The Royal & Ancient Golf Club will hold a business meeting next week to determine whether to allow club members to vote by proxy for its historic September vote to have female members.
Club rules require members to be present to vote but R&A secretary Peter Dawson said Wednesday at Royal Liverpool that “it’s clear that the majority of R&A members feel that postal voting would be appropriate in this case. The rules of the club do not cater for postal voting and, therefore, those rules would have to be changed for a postal vote to be held legitimately.”
Dawson announced in April that the R&A would vote Sept. 18 whether to allow female members for the first time in its 260-year history. The club has about 2,400 members around the world, meaning the issue could be decided by only a few hundred members who live near the club if the rules aren’t changed.