Royal and Ancient Golf Club chief executive Peter Dawson has jumped to the defence of the club after the bastion of male exclusivity came under fire from the female principal of St Andrews University.
The St Andrews home of golf will host The Open next year, by which time its men-only membership policy may well have been scrapped.
University principal Louise Richardson, a keen golfer, has not been offered honorary membership of the club, a privilege enjoyed by many of her male predecessors, and she has been quoted as saying she has been mocked by members who sarcastically waved their club ties towards her.
However, Dawson said the R&A and the university enjoyed a good relationship.
“I did read those comments,” Dawson told reporters at a news conference on the eve of the Open at Royal Liverpool, a club which welcomes women members, on Wednesday.
“To be honest, we just don’t recognise those remarks as in any way accurately representing the relationship between the R&A and St Andrews University. We have an excellent relationship.
“We’re very supportive of the university. We’ve been very supportive of its fundraising efforts.
“In fact, it’s 600th anniversary fundraising just finished, and we contributed £500,000 to it, a not inconsiderable sum in support of St Andrews University.
“Really that’s all I have to say on this.”
R&A members will vote on September 18 on whether to admit women to the club.
Richardson, who became the university’s first female principal in 2009, said she had turned down occasional invites to attend lunches at the club less than a mile from her office, saying she would only enter the clubhouse once the men-only rule is abolished.
She said some members had waved their ties “to draw attention, lest I didn’t notice. They think that’s funny.”
Asked whether he questioned her version of events, Dawson added: “I don’t know what Louise actually said, and I assume that the article was accurate in reflecting what she said.
“But I do feel that one or two things are not quite as portrayed.”