Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to golf clubs which host national and international events in the United Kingdom about the continuing discrimination against women.

Last year, the Secretary of State at the time did not attend the Open golf championship at Muirfield in Scotland to highlight their policy on not allowing women members. Prior to this, in 2011, the Minister for Sport at the time, spoke with the Royal and Ancient about the matter of hosting the tournament at clubs that do not allow women members and stressed that he thought that clubs with such rules need to change this policy.

The Open Championship does not receive any financial support from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Ultimately the decision of where to hold the Championship is one for the Royal and Ancient.

It is not unlawful for clubs to restrict membership to men or to women only. It is a matter for single-sex clubs to decide whether they wish to change the membership criteria to extend to men and women. There are, however, provisions in the Equality Act 2010 which mean that where private clubs, including golf or other sports clubs, allow both men and women to become members, they must treat them equally regardless of their sex.