Maybe the gentlemen of Muirfield who led the charge against admitting women as members are not misogynists, merely misguided. When they think of women on the links, perhaps their reference point is the 1900 Olympics, where the American Margaret Abbott prevailed in the women’s event. According to the Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, Abbott later told people her path to victory had been paved by an apparent misunderstanding involving her competitors from France, who turned up to play in high heels and tight skirts.
The 600-plus all-male members of Muirfield Golf Club who failed to reach a two-thirds majority in their vote to admit women would certainly seem to be stuck in a bygone century, one in which men and women didn’t harmoniously coexist in boardrooms and legislative chambers, much less clubhouses.