IN some respects, it was just another Monday-morning golf outing.

In one vital respect, though, it was a little bit of history in the making - not least because the location was the New Course at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, St Andrews.

Lady Angela Bonallack, a six-time Curtis Cup player - and, of course, the wife of one-time R��&��A secretary Sir Michael - became the first woman to take part in a match as a member of the distinguished club. That the match - an annual friendly against the Links Trust - ended in a tie is worth noting in passing; but one could not help think back to that momentous occasion last September, when 85 per cent of the R&A's 2,500 members voted to drag the place into the 21st century and admit women as members for the first time in its 260-year history.

The vote, as the club noted, was "overwhelming". One pointed reaction came from the PGA of America, which said that women had played, and would continue to play, a key role in golf. What was more, women represented the biggest growth market in the sport. "Every step to make golf more inclusive is good for the game," it said. Where Lady Angela teed off yesterday, many other women members will now follow. Not before time.