Rightly so, many commentators are examining the debate surrounding men-only golf clubs.
I think the debate is right and proper. I would however just point out that while the R&A is indeed a men-only St Andrews institution, it does not own or run the precious links, as referred to by Rosemary Goring ("Sorry, but there's no reasoning with a dodo", The Herald, August 27).
That duty falls to the non-discriminatory organisation called the St Andrews Links Trust on behalf of the people of St Andrews. The Old Course is open for play by both women and men equally.
Ian McNair,
13 Middlepenny Place,
Langbank.
Rosemary Goring challenges the continuing no-women membership stance still adopted by a dwindling but nevertheless powerful number of Scottish golf clubs.
Having exhausted every avenue of equality, non-exclusion and fair play, she finally, and perhaps rather sadly, elects to leave these male bastions of intransigence to wither on their own petard of self-perceived exclusivity.
Judged on the number of golf clubs now promoting special recruitment offers, I would suggest the day of open doors for all will come to pass sooner rather than later. Income, or more precisely lack of income, is a great leveller in all aspects of life.
Allan C Steele,
22 Forres Avenue,
Giffnock.
Concerning the ongoing row about the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and their club, Muirfield, I am a member of a women-only gym and it would utterly alter the ethos and atmosphere of our club were men to be admitted.
Celia Judge,
Finnick Glen,
Ayr.
Rosemary Goring makes some valid points, albeit her remarks may well be offensive to some.
However, she makes no reference to golf clubs which are exclusive to women, such as the St Rule and St Regulus golf clubs in St Andrews.
Perhaps she is unaware of them.
Brian Houston,
4 Coltmuir Gardens,
Bishopbriggs.
When the various men-only golf clubs currently being lambasted in your columns are eventually coerced into agreeing to have women members in the pursuit of equality of opportunity, what will happen to the various women-only golf clubs such as St Rule in St Andrews, the Portland Ladies in Troon and the Carnoustie Ladies Club?
Will they be forced to open their membership to men?
It may be thought that I ask only to cause mischief, but it could be that lawyers and politicians (again) will have a view on the subject of what would then be a unique situation; that is, we would not have men-only clubs but we would have women- only clubs.
John A Maxwell,
10 Beechwood Court,
Bearsden.
Rosemary Goring's comments about male-only golf clubs might have had some merit if she had applied similar strictures to those which are women-only.
They are not so well-known but they exist, as do other organisations which are restricted to women.
Yet again we seem to have sauce which is OK for the goose but not for the gander.
Andrew M Fraser,
Cradlehall Cottage,
Caulfield Road North,
Inverness.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article