And then there were two.

The news drifting up the road from deepest Kent was carried on golf's continuing wind of change ... well it actually arrived with a 'bing' on an email but that doesn't paint as colourful a picture does it?

Royal St George's, a host of 14 Open Championships down the years, became the latest club to rip up its all-male membership policy, loosen its tie and swing the doors open to the ladies. It was perhaps fitting that the extraordinary general meeting on the issue of becoming all embracing was held on St Valentine's Day.

Three weeks on, the results were finally made public and the decision was unanimous. More than 81 per cent of the club's membership took part in the ballot with 90 per cent voting in favour of ladies - of all ages it has to be said - being eligible for membership.

Following the Royal & Ancient's decision last September to end its male-only make-up, a policy that had been firmly riveted in place for the best part of 260 years, the subsequent ripplings of a domino-effect has been as inevitable as it has been encouraging.

With the high heid yins at St George's digging out the quill and parchment and re-writing its constitution, Muirfield and Royal Troon now remain the only all-male clubs on the Open Championship's rota of courses. And don't bet against those two Scottish golfing institutions following a similar path towards a mixed gender make up with both currently in the midst of their own comprehensive membership reviews. It could be a right old wheeze to the finishing line to see who comes in last.

The R&A, Royal Troon, Royal St George's and Muirfield have a combined history of 797 years but it's only been in the last couple of years that scrutiny and criticism has reached fevered levels. A particularly gruesome mauling of the R&A top brass at the Muirfield Open of 2013 had a significant impact. Of course, some of the fist-shaking outrage in sections of the rabid, do-gooding media was spectacularly hysterical and shrieking, pious phrases like 'these clubs shame the nation' were almost laughable given the genuine 'shames' that scar the country in the wider sense.

The damage being wrought on the game's image, however, and the perpetuation of wounding, widespread stereotypes could not be ignored. In these times of change, the time is right for a change. "We've taken 15 months to look at the options and this is the right result, it's a good day for the club," said Tim Checketts, the Royal St George's secretary. "I think there was a general feeling (towards this) over the last couple of years. Times change, clubs move on and it's a good decision at the right time. We are a world class venue and we want to be a world class club. This is the sort of thing we should be doing in 2015."

Royal St George's and Muirfield won't be hosting the Open again for a good few years while Royal Troon is back on board next year. By then, the Ayrshire venue may have taken the plunge too. Could we have seen the last Open at a male-only club? "I couldn't be sure and we're certainly not taking the position that we would never go to one of those courses," said Peter Dawson, the outgoing chief executive of the R&A. "But there is a direction of travel here, isn't there? You can sense it."

And who knows? Maybe one day soon we will just be talking about the only thing that matters; the great game of golf itself.