Editing Muirfield (section)

==The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers==
[[File:Clubhouse and the 18th green at Muirfield. The Open 2013.jpg|thumb|left|The clubhouse of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers]]

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, now based at Muirfield, holds the claim of being the oldest verifiable organised golf club in the world, although the game of golf is several centuries older. The club's records date continuously back to 1744, when it produced thirteen "Rules of Golf" for its first competition which was played at [[Leith Links]] for the "Silver Club".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishgolfhistory.net/honourable_company_edinburgh_golfers.htm |title=Scottish Golf History: The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfersinto History |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref> This trophy had been requested by the HCEG from the City of Edinburgh Council, which agreed.<ref>''True Links'', by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell, 2010.</ref> The first competition was won by [[John Rattray (surgeon)|John Rattray]], who signed the rules and became the first club captain.<ref name=nls>{{cite web |url=http://www.nls.uk/about/discover-nls/issues/discover-nls-16.pdf |title=Slicing into History |first1=Allan |last1=Burnett |first2=Olive |last2=Geddes |date=Summer 2010 |work=Discover NLS - Magazine Issue 16 |publisher=[[National Library of Scotland]] |pages=16–19 |access-date=24 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926183704/http://nls.uk/about/discover-nls/issues/discover-nls-16.pdf |archive-date=26 September 2010 }}</ref> The club played on the five holes at Leith Links for nearly a century, but overcrowding forced a move in 1836 to [[Musselburgh Links]]'s 9-hole Old Course which, like many prestigious Scottish courses including [[St Andrews Links|St Andrews]], is a public course, and this course also eventually became too crowded for the liking of the HCEG's members.

In 1795 the Club applied to the Edinburgh Council for a Charter. This was granted on 26 March 1800 together with a Seal of Cause under the new title of 'The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers'.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.muirfield.org.uk/the-history.aspx |title=Muirfield - the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers - Home |access-date=2017-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911212243/http://www.muirfield.org.uk/the-history.aspx |archive-date=2017-09-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1891, the club built a new private 18-hole course at Muirfield, taking the [[Open Championship]] with them. This situation caused some ill feeling at Musselburgh, which lost the right to hold the Open. [[Old Tom Morris]] designed the new course, which met with wide approval from the start; it has been modified and updated several times since, in significant ways up to the late 1920s, after which it has remained stable.<ref>''The Golf Course'', by Geoffrey Cornish and Ronald Whitten, 1981.</ref> The first Open held on the new course in 1892 was the first tournament anywhere contested over four rounds, or 72 holes.<ref>''The World Atlas of Golf, second edition'', 1987, Mitchell Beazely publishers, London.</ref>

===Membership policy===
Until 2017, women were barred from holding membership of the Company, though were permitted to play the course as guests or visitors.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/theopen/10181267/The-Open-2013-Muirfields-ban-on-women-set-to-go-with-reactionary-secretary-Alastair-Brown.html |title=The Open 2013: Muirfield's ban on women set to go with reactionary secretary Alastair Brown |first=Oliver |last=Brown |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=15 July 2013 |access-date=17 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ewan |last=Murray |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/jul/16/stuffy-muirfield-male-only |title=The Open 2013: Muirfield will not change its male-only ways in a hurry |newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 July 2013 |access-date=17 July 2013}}</ref> The exclusion of women from membership was controversial. After a May 2016 vote on the policy reached a majority, but not the two-thirds [[supermajority]] required for change, [[The R&A]] removed Muirfield from the rotation of Open venues.<ref>{{cite news |title=Muirfield to lose right to host Open after vote against allowing women members |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/36331270 |work=BBC Sport |date=19 May 2016 |access-date=19 May 2016}}</ref> Speaking shortly after the announcement, secretary Stuart McEwen said the outcome was 'a blow to the club, the local community and Scotland'.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/muirfield-secretary-its-a-blow-for-the-club |title=Muirfield secretary: 'It's a blow for the club'|date=19 May 2016 |magazine=bunkered |first=Martin |last=Inglis}}</ref>

The public backlash led Muirfield to re-ballot on the issue.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/muirfield-to-hold-fresh-membership-ballot |title=Muirfield to hold fresh membership ballot |date=27 June 2016 |magazine=bunkered |first=Martin |last=Inglis}}</ref> In March 2017 the club voted to admit women as members.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-39260578 |title=Muirfield golf club overturns men-only policy |work=BBC News |date=14 March 2017 |access-date=14 March 2017}}</ref> In August 2022 Muirfield hosted the [[Women's British Open]] for the first time.<ref name=aigwo22>{{Cite web |url=https://www.muirfield.org.uk/aigwo-22/ |title=AIGWO 22}}</ref>