Royal And Ancient Golf Club Will Admit Female Members – Finally

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014, will go down as a big day in history for the country of Scotland.

On the same day voters flocked to the polls to determine whether it should secede from United Kingdom, members of the country's famed mecca of golf, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, voted to allow female members for the first time in its 260-year history.

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of R&A, confirmed the news in a statement earlier today.

"I can confirm that The Royal & Ancient Golf of St. Andrews is now a mixed membership club," Dawson said.

According to the New York Times, approximately 75 percent of the club's 2,400 male members participated in the vote, and the overwhelming majority - 85 percent - voted in favor of accepting women into the club.

"This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club," Dawson added. "The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years, and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men."

The result of the vote is effective immediately.

"This is positive news for the sport, and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same-sex policies follow suit," Helen Grant, Britain's minister for sport, told ESPN. "With golf in the next Olympics, there is a huge opportunity for the sport to grow, and this sends out the right inclusive message that golf is for everyone."