SOME of the contributions to your Letters Special of May 21 have left me quite taken aback and genuinely disappointed.

The vote in favour of forbidding female membership of Muirfield Golf Club has attracted unfavourable international attention and the result is a deep embarrassment for those of us who wish to look upon our nation as one which embraces a modern and progressive culture in which equality of opportunity is regarded as a core value.

It is truly appalling to dismiss those who regard the decision as indefensible (which it surely is) as intimidating members of the "PC Brigade" or "Women's Rights Groups".

Surely, in 2016 we have moved beyond this and it is time for such nonsense to be permanently dropped into the long grass.

The preservation of private clubs which are segregated at the whims of their members rather than any genuine social need simply belongs to another era and I am sure I am far from alone in thinking that we should not allow a handful of individuals who fail to move with the times, and who seem to genuinely misunderstand the extent to which they have made a laughing stock of themselves, dominate the social agenda of our country.

David Gray, 2 Caird Drive, Glasgow.

AMID the huffing and the puffing, condemnation and approval, allegations of misogyny and approval for tradition, over the controversial decision by members of Muirfield Golf Club to maintain its ban on women members perhaps it’s fair to point out that 397 (64 per cent) of members voted in favour of change and only 219 (36 per cent) to maintain the ban.

In most organisations and walks of life that is a sizeable majority for change and it is only because of the requirement for a two-thirds majority that this failed to carry.

I admit to some sympathy for 397 Honourable Members.

R Russell Smith, 96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.