Comment: “Single-sex institutions have no place in 21st century”

That Turnberry will not host the Open Championship again until 2022 at the soonest was reported as news in certain quarters. Actually, Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s new chief executive, was giving little away.

Following on from St Andrews last year is Troon this July. In 2018 we return to Carnoustie, and the year after that will mark Portrush’s long-awaited return to the rota. Then 2021 will mark the 150th playing of the championship, and it is a safe bet that St Andrews will be selected as a fitting host of what is sure to be a special occasion.

That leaves England with only one confirmed Open (Birkdale in 2017) between 2014 and 2021 as it stands. It therefore seems inevitable that either Sandwich or Lytham, and probably the former, will be awarded the 2020 championship.

As it happens, that is pretty convenient for the R&A as it buys them some time. Right now, with Donald Trump’s brand of demagoguery carrying him towards the Republican nomination for the White House, and from there quite conceivably to the American presidency, the last thing golf needs is to be involved in a global-scale controversy, either by being accused of condoning Trump’s views or passing moral judgment on him.

The forthcoming merger of the Ladies’ Golf Union (LGU) and the R&A – I say ‘and’ but ‘into’ would be more accurate – is another step in the right direction as the game aims to present a contemporary and more accessible image to the outside world.

Single-sex golfing institutions have no place in the 21st century in my opinion, and anyway golf suffers from having too many official bodies.

The LGU had therefore become an anchronism. The governing bodies of Wales, England and Scotland, in that order, have all come to the same conclusion in recent years. And as far as I can tell, the world is still turning.

By the same token, I welcome Nike’s attempt to take golf fashion in a new direction (click here for the full story). It really doesn’t bother me what people wear on the golf course, or in the clubhouse for that matter.

Which is not to say I can see myself in a pair of tights any time soon.