THE result of a vote on whether to allow women members at Open Championship venue Muirfield will be announced on Thursday.
Muirfield and Troon are the only remaining clubs on the 10-strong Open rota to have a male-only membership policy after Royal St George's voted last year to admit women members. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews also voted to end its 260-year-old male-only membership policy in September 2014.
READ MORE: Muirfield members lobby against move to admit women
Troon has always considered itself a special case in this respect as it shares facilities with the Ladies Golf Club, Troon. Both clubs will shoulder the responsibility of hosting this year's Open via a joint Championship Committee.
A ''comprehensive review'' of membership policy was announced by Troon in January 2015, but the issue will not be resolved until the ''back end'' of 2016.
Muirfield, which is owned and run by The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, has been reviewing its membership criteria for two years, the final stage of which was a postal ballot of the club's members.
An unnamed source quoted in the Scotsman said on Tuesday: "The results of the ballot are not yet known because it is being handled by the Electoral Reform Society, but a two-thirds majority is required and it is going to be very close."
When Muirfield last staged the Open in 2013, then R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said it would take a ''hard push'' for the organisation to change its policy on taking the world's oldest major championship to male-only clubs, despite ''political posturing'' and attacks by pressure groups.
READ MORE: Royal Troon Golf Club hints at vote on allowing women members
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond was among the political figures who did not attend the championship, describing the club's membership policy as ''indefensible in the 21st century''.
In April 2013, Dawson had also said courses would not be bullied into changing their policies by the threat of losing the Open.
'We come for the golf course,'' he said. ''To think we would not come to a course as wonderful as this (Muirfield) is something we could not countenance. It's like taking the Boat Race to the Humber if you did not like (mayor of London) Boris (Johnson's) policies.''
Speaking in February in response to the controversy surrounding Turnberry owner Donald Trump's views on Mexican immigrants, Dawson's successor Martin Slumbers said: "The game is about people who enjoy playing the game and watching the best players perform on great courses.
"I don't think it's appropriate that we comment on political issues. I think we must stay focused on the golf.
READ MORE: Royal Troon Golf Club hints at vote on allowing women members
''We as an organisation have said that we believe golf should be open to all, regardless of gender, race, nationality or religion and that's where we sit.''
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