R&A will vote on opening membership to women

St Andrews Old Course will next host the Open Championship in 2015. (David Alexander/Getty Images)

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews' members will vote in September on whether the club should accept women members, and early indications are that the measure will pass, according to the Associated Press.

The 260-year old club has discussed the matter in several committees, all of which have come out strongly in favor of the idea, and they have encouraged their nearly 2,400 members to support allowing women to join one of the world's oldest courses.

R&A secretary Peter Dawson told the AP that the club was not influenced by Augusta National's recent inclusion of women, n0r were they pressured by corporate sponsors.

"The R&A have been considering this. It's been on our agenda, on our radar, for quite some time," Dawson said. "The feeling is as society changes, as sport changes, as golf changes, it's something the R&A needs to do, and is doing now as being forward-looking as we can."

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