Exclusive all-male Portmarnock Golf Club is tonight a huge Tiger Woods drive closer to admitting female members for the first time in its 127-year history.
A ‘Yes' vote by members at a special general meeting held over Zoom tonight tees up the possibility of ladies joining Portmarnock for the first time since 1894.
The decision means that the lengthy process to scratch the famous north Dublin club’s men-only rule is finally on course - so that ladies could soon be putting men in their place, in the most unlikely of legendary Irish sporting settings.
Spectacular Portmarnock Golf Club was sculpted from the dunes of the Velvet Stand as far back as 1894 and it remains one of the world’s finest links courses - though its males-only membership stance has become increasingly controversial in recent years.
The club has played host to several Irish Opens and is a favourite seaside course of several golfing legends including Tiger himself and also Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, and also the late great Seve Ballesteros.
Portmarnock was even the venue of the illustrious Amateur British Open just two years ago - but the R&A will not allow the oldest of golf’s five Major professional tournaments, The Open, to be held there unless the ban on women is ruled out of bounds.
This evening's historic vote means that a full members' ballot on the gender issue is one shot closer as the drive to bring women into the fold goes into full swing.
The Yes vote paves the way for a second shot at the ultimate target of amending Rule 3 when Portmarnock's well-heeled members will weigh up if they want a temporary rule change that leads to the contentious gender clause being pitched from its rules.
The club's Rule 3 states “the club shall consist of members and associate members who shall be gentlemen properly elected and who shall conform with the rules of amateur status”.
Ultimately, if members were to go against women members joining - which is less and less likely after this vote - Portmarnock would miss out on illustrious professional tournaments such as The Open ever being held at the picturesque course.
The 2019 Amateur Open was only held at the scenic spot because the R&A had awarded Portmarnock the tournament several years prior to introducing a ban on men-only clubs hosting its championships.
However, the likelihood of women members is now a HOLE lot more likely - or as one member told Dublin Live tonight, “it’s a bit convoluted and probably a bit needlessly complicated, but in reality, it's in the bag".
