The Hindu Business Line : Fairplay on the greens

One of the last bastions of male chauvinism in the UK and Ireland is under threat, as women wield legislation to fight for equality on the golf course.

Stuffy, male-dominated clubhouses need to put themselves in order after the European Commission declared in January this year that from January next year, golf clubs that discriminate against women would be violating European Union (EU) law.

Discrimination generally comes in the form of banning women from the club bar, restricting their time of play or limiting their access to tournaments and club committees, aggrieved women golfers say. Some campaigners want nothing less than full membership of old boys' clubs and all the social advantages that can go with it.

The English Ladies' Golf Association, the governing body for women's amateur golf in England, welcomed the EU declaration. "A lot of golf clubs are moving in the right direction," says Clare Tyler, spokesperson for the association, which is headquartered in Birmingham, central England. "This EU directive will make all the other clubs come in line."

"We embrace equality on and off the golf course," she adds.

No discrimination, please!

The European Commission's declaration was in reply to Irish (Member of European Parliament) Proinsias De Rossa, who had tabled a question on the issue following a petition to the European Parliament by a UK woman. She had complained that many golf clubs did not treat men and women equally.

Under Britain's Sex Discrimination Act, all public clubs must treat men and women as equals; but the legislation has limited force against private golf clubs because the courts have ruled that they are providing their facilities and services to their own private members, not to the public. The Sex Discrimination Act's only power against private members' clubs is regarding conditions of employment for their staff. It does not prohibit them from discriminating on grounds of sex in matters of club rules or membership.

The new European Goods, Facilities and Services Directive, which European governments have to enshrine in national law by 2007, should change that, Britain's Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said.

"We're hoping that as the government implements the European Goods, Facilities and Services directive, it will make private members' clubs subject to the Sex Discrimination Act in the same way," a spokeswoman said.

A private club is one that selects new members on personal grounds. For instance, a new member must be proposed, seconded and accepted by the existing membership. Britain's EOC already recommends that private clubs with both men and women members do not discriminate on the grounds of sex, but it has no power to enforce yet.

The EOC says on its Web site that the rules and practices of private clubs have resulted in "a huge number of complaints" to the commission over the years. The main issue has been discrimination on the kind of membership that women can enjoy. Full membership, which includes the right to set the rules of the club and gives full access to the club, is in many cases restricted to men, while women are limited to associate membership.

Monetary benefits

The English Ladies' Golf Association said mixed clubs could benefit financially from equality, as women pay reduced fees if they have reduced membership.

Marylebone County Cricket Club, formerly another infamous male stronghold, voted in 1998 to let in women members — ending more than two centuries of male exclusivity — and in the bargain improving its finances, though the club said this was not a consideration.

Following the decision to bring in women members, the club was able to apply for national lottery funding, which it had previously been denied because its male-only rule broke the equality rights policy of Britain's Sports Council.

Regardless of EU directives, Ireland's Equality Authority is already battling through the courts to try to win full membership for women of the prestigious Portmarnock Golf Club outside the Irish capital Dublin. "Gender-based discrimination has emerged as a significant issue in golf clubs," the Equality Authority has said.

The forthcoming EU directive could help bring about a change in both Ireland and Britain, as it is worked into national law. "Every EU Member State has to comply, but there is a certain amount of discretion in the interpretation," said a spokesperson for the Equality Authority.

But in any case, the authority believes that Portmarnock Golf Club is breaching Ireland's existing Equal Status Act. The case against Portmarnock has already gone through the lower courts and now the authority is appealing to Ireland's Supreme Court. No date has been set for the hearing. Portmarnock, meanwhile, remains tight-lipped on the issue.

"The case raises key issues of principle for the effective promotion of equality where a significant institution in Irish society can exclude women from both the direct recreational benefits of membership and the indirect social and economic benefits that would flow from that membership," said Niall Crowley, CEO of the Equality Authority.

Women are allowed to play golf at Portmarnock and seek employment at the club, but as non-members, they have no access to decisions in relation to the organisation and development of the club.

Membership of the elite club tends to be passed down from father to son, so it is not just women who are excluded. And exclusion means being shut out of far more than a game of golf, as the sphere of influence of Portmarnock golf members — many of whom sit on the boards of Ireland's top listed companies — is wide.

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