Telegraph: Secretary Change, Progress Coming To Muirfield

Oliver Brown reports that longtime club secretary Alastair Brown, a defiant voice on the club's problematic stance against admitting women, will be retiring sometime after The Open.

He will be replaced by a "reformer" in Stuart McEwen.

McEwen, who more recently served as director of golf at Gleneagles, has drawn widespread praise for his innovative work at Kingsbarns on the Fife coast since its founding in 2000, adding to the sense of a possible shift in Muirfield’s controversial position towards women.

One source close to the process said: “The notion of women members is talked about openly now, rather than in whispers. It is not a case of if any longer, but when.”

It won't look good if even the Honourable Company Of Edinburgh Golfers moves into the 21st Century as the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews holds its ground!