LPGA player likes idea of female members at Royal & Ancient Golf Club

The possibility that the Royal & Ancient Golf Club might finally admit female members is drawing a positive response at the LPGA Kia Classic in Carlsbad this week.

“It’s nice to see the R&A take that initiative and put it out there and see if it’s something that the members are willing to do,” golfer Stacy Lewis said. “When I saw it, I was very excited about it.”

Founded at St. Andrews some 260 years ago, the R&A ranks among the sport’s most iconic locales. In a letter to members this week, officials set a vote on the issue for September.

The club encouraged members to agree, saying that all committees were “strongly in favor of the rule change.”

Another golf landmark, Augusta National, announced in the summer of 2012 that it had invited South Carolina investment banker Darla Moore and Condoleeza Rice, the former secretary of State, to become its first female members.

“It’s a showing of where the game is going,” said Lewis, who was scheduled to tee off at 1 p.m. for Thursday’s first round. “I think the most growth for golf is in the women’s side.”

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