Royal Dublin Golf Club has followed in the footsteps of Portmarnock and voted to accept women as members.

Founded in 1885, the Bull Island club has never had a woman as a member, though, unlike Portmarnock, women were never officially excluded as part of the club’s written constitution.

After a special general meeting, the club which hosted the Irish Open for the sixth time in 1985, voted to formally adopt a policy of "gender equality" into its constitution, in line with Golf Ireland’s governing principles.  

In a statement, Royal Dublin said: “The members of The Royal Dublin Golf Club have overwhelmingly approved proposals to adopt the Governance Principles of our governing body Golf Ireland. While many of these principles are well established within our constitution and culture the members of the club have taken the decision by vote to enshrine the principle of Gender Equality into our constitution.

"The club promotes and supports Gender equality among its membership. All genders are equally valued within the membership without discrimination and enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all membership categories and the opportunity to apply for membership, when open, is available to all genders.”

Earlier this year, Portmarnock Golf Club changed its constitution to end its male-only membership policy so that women could be accepted.

A vote was held to amend Rule 3 of the Rules of Portmarnock Golf Club, which states that "the Club shall consist of members and Associate Members who shall be Gentlemen properly elected and who shall conform with the rules of amateur status." 

The members agreed to amend Rule 3 as follows: 'That Rule 3 be amended by the removal of the four words 'who shall be Gentlemen' and that the Committee be empowered to make the necessary changes to other Rules to make them gender-neutral.”

By voting to allow women, Portmarnock is a conforming club in the eyes of the R&A when it comes to staging its championships and the same can now be said of their Royal Dublin neighbours.

While the Dollymount links last hosted the Irish Open in 1985, Portmarnock has not staged the event since 2003.

Neither venue was considered appropriate for the Irish Open because of the equality issue but with that obstacle now removed, the DP European Tour or the Ladies European Tour can now consider both classic links test for future Irish Championships, should the clubs accept an offer to stage them.

The Ladies Irish Open has not been played since 2012 but Golf Ireland and the LET are keen to revive the event in 2022 or 2023.