Monumental barrier falls at St. Andrews
Annika Sorenstam still recalls a sign that greeted her the first time she walked toward the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Playing as a teenager nearly 20 years ago in an amateur event at the home of golf, four words in block lettering informed her she wasn’t welcome in the clubhouse.
“No Dogs, No Women.”
Canines remain forbidden inside the 154-year-old fortress that looms over the first and 18th holes and overlooks the North Sea on Scotland’s east coast. Women, however, will have unprecedented access to the neoclassical quarters this week for the first time since the foundation stone was laid July 13, 1853. Previously, women were allowed inside only for social occasions.
Women even have right of entry to the clubhouse locker room during the Ricoh Women’s British Open, which begins Thursday. It’s the first women’s professional tournament at the windblown links course that opened about 50 years before Columbus reached America in 1492. Some 100 years later, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, became the first woman to play the Old Course, a public links open to players of both sexes.
“It’s a big step for women and women’s golf,” said Sorenstam, now 36 and winner of 69 LPGA events, including 10 majors. “For us to play a championship at St. Andrews is a big, big deal.
“Is the sign still there? Hopefully, they’ll take it down for the week.”
The sign is gone, and the members of the male-only R&A Golf Club, the sport’s governing body outside the United States and Mexico, have been barred from the locker room. If Britain’s Prince Andrew or any of the other 2,400 members want to play on the other five links in St. Andrews this week, they will have to change in the club’s snooker room.
“To have the first Women’s British Open there in 2007 is kind of odd, but it had to happen sooner or later,” said Paula Creamer, the 2005 LPGA Rookie of the Year who aims to win her first major Sunday on her 21st birthday. “Women’s golf right now is stronger and is becoming more popular.
“Places like St. Andrews are witnessing that.”
The Old Course, which has held women’s amateur events since a “Miss A. Glover” won the Scottish Ladies Championship in 1903, has been home to the men’s British Open 27 times. The first was in 1873 when local caddie Tom Kidd beat 25 players. The last was in 2005 when Tiger Woods was victorious.
The Women’s British Open began in 1976 and became an LPGA tour event in 1994. It gained prominence when it was made a major in 2001 and has been played at some of Europe’s top courses.
“Since it’s become a major, we’ve gone to the bigger courses, and it’s good that St. Andrews has fallen in,” said England’s Laura Davies, who would earn entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame with a victory this week.
The R&A extended its invitation at the end of last year to the Ladies’ Golf Union, which runs the Open.
“For the women’s game it’s another step forward to go to the Old Course,” said Ladies Golf Union CEO Lesley Burn. “To actually use and have access to one of the most iconic buildings in the world is a fantastic opportunity.
“Time moves on, and time changes. We live in a society that has freedom of association, and I think we are making great strides forward.”