The Loop
Missing Links: 'This vote has to be yes,' on opening Royal & Ancient Golf Club to women
Stories of interest you might have missed…
"St Andrews, like every other place in the nation, will be in the grip of a referendum vote that has split opinion," James Riach writes in the Guardian. "Yet as the sun sets on the famous links of the Old Course another saga dogged by controversy may finally be resolved. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club could, by the end of the day, allow women to become members for the first time in its 260-year existence. It is expected to pass a motion put forward in March, when the R&A's general committee wrote to its 2,400 male contingent and said now is the time to welcome females' into the club."
Yes is the only option on the R&A vote, Martin Dempster writes in the Scotsman: It is important for its future. And, for the R&A, it will determine its credibility as the game's governing body. Put simply, this vote has to be yes'. If it is anything else, it will be the biggest own goal in sporting history."
"A High Court judge today ordered the world's number one golfer Rory McIlroy and his former management company, Horizon Sports Management, to engage in peace talks over the next four weeks," Ray Managh writes in the Irish Times. "McIlroy's legal battle with Horizon also involves the affairs of his Ryder Cup team mate Graeme McDowell and Mr Justice Brian McGovern said it involved such sensitive matters that the sides should engage in mediation."
The return of golf to the Olympics has been widely heralded. Not so much the Rio de Janeiro course under construction to host Olympic golf. "It is mired in controversy," the Associated Press writes. "A Brazilian court is set to decide the future of the golf course for the 2016 Olympics…The city of Rio de Janeiro and the course developer are defendants in a lawsuit that alleges environmental laws were broken in authorizing and building the course. Earlier this month, Rio judge Eduardo Klausner gave them until Wednesday to say if the design can be modified to offer concessions to environmentalists."
Former LPGA player and model Laura Baugh now lives in Augusta, Ga., and is opening a golf school there, David Westin reports in the Augusta Chronicle. "I've done clinics with Tom Watson and Arnold Palmer, who I have known since I was 16," Baugh said. "I've done clinics with Annika (Sorenstam), with (Nancy) Lopez. We do them all the time at Pro-Ams. No, they said when you have students and really teach, you feel like you're giving back to the game. You really feel good. You enjoy it. I came back and I thought that would be a good move for me to make."