Royal Dublin Golf Club: All-male membership votes for gender equality

The club's governing body is trying to encourage more women to play the sport and work in the industry

A golf club which has not had any female members in its 136-year history has voted to "enshrine the principle of gender equality" into its constitution.

Although the Royal Dublin Golf Club did not ban women from becoming members, its membership has been entirely male since it was founded in 1885.

That is now expected to change, after the club's members voted to adopt the governance principles of Golf Ireland.

Those principles include commitments to gender equality and inclusivity.

The private members' club is the oldest golf club in Dublin and one of the oldest on the island of Ireland.

It was also the last remaining male-only golf club in Ireland, according Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

The club is based at Bull Island in Dublin Bay and has hosted the Irish Open Championship six times.

'Equally valued'

In a statement, first reported by the Irish Times, the Royal Dublin Golf Club said its members had "overwhelmingly approved proposals" to adopt Golf Ireland's governance principles.

"While many of these principles are well established within our constitution and culture, the members of the club have taken the decision by vote to enshrine the principle of gender equality into our constitution."

The principle accepted by members states: "The club promotes and supports gender equality among its membership.

"All genders are equally valued within the membership without discrimination and enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all membership categories and the opportunity to apply for membership, when open, is available to all genders".

The Royal Dublin Golf Club is the oldest golf club in Dublin

Golf Ireland is the governing and administrative body for the sport in Ireland and it has nine governance principals that it advises all clubs to follow.

Its gender equality principle states clubs should "take positive action to increase and encourage the number of women and girls playing, leading and working at the club".

'Under-represented at all levels'

On Thursday, Golf Ireland's chief executive officer Mark Kennelly welcomed the vote by Royal Dublin's members.

"The club's commitment to gender equality stating 'all genders are equally valued within the membership' is a very positive development," he said.

"We look forward to seeing both men and women take the opportunity to apply for membership in the future."

Golf Ireland is involved in two projects which aim to increase female participation in the industry - the Women in Golf Charter and the Level Par programme.

In its Level Par toolkit for clubs, it says: "There are clear opportunities for the golf industry as a whole to create an environment that is more appealing to modern society.

"In particular, women and girls across the globe have been largely under-represented at all levels of the game."

Gentlemen only

Until very recently, a different Dublin golf club operated a controversial men-only membership policy.

Portmarnock Golf Club's rules previously stated its members must be "gentlemen" - a policy which drew objections from the National Women's Council of Ireland as far back as 2002.

In May this year, 83% of Portmarnock Golf Club's members voted to change the rule which then opened its membership to women.

At the time, the club said its new "gender-neutral" status was a positive development.