Women are at long last free to join the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews after the membership voted overwhelmingly to overturn the archaic rule and welcome the fairer sex as members.

“More than three quarters of the club’s global membership took part in the ballot, with a decisive 85 percent voting for women to become members,” said club secretary Peter Dawson.

“This vote has immediate effect and I can confirm that the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is now a mixed membership club. The membership has also acted to fast-track a significant initial number of women to become members in the coming months.

“This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men,” Dawson said.

R&A chief Peter Dawson welcomes the change to allow women to join St Andrews. PHOTO: Getty Images R&A chief Peter Dawson welcomes the change to allow women to join St Andrews. PHOTO: Getty Images

The Old Course and the other six courses at St Andrews Links are public and open to both women and men. Women have been playing golf on the courses for many years; it was their freedom to join the club that remained closed for so long.

Now only three clubs on the Open Championship rota remain men-only: Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal St George’s. Troon is the next of the three to stage the game’s oldest championship, in 2016. The other two clubs are in the process of reconsidering their stance.

The LPGA was among the golf bodies to endorse the results of the historic vote. “The LPGA is happy to hear that the members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St Andrews have voted to include female members,” the organisation said in a statement. “This decision is certainly a step in the right direction and one that better captures the current diversity and inclusiveness of our great game.”