I’ve Faced Golf’s Male Chauvinists For Decades… The R&A’s New Captain Is My Ultimate Reward

I played golf recently with a group of women who were all oblivious to the news that The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has just announced the appointment of its first ever female captain for 2026/27.

Claire Dowling is the woman bestowed with that honour, after being voted in by the past Captains of the club, and will take to the helm of one of the most historic clubs in golf at the traditional Captain’s driving-in ceremony off the first tee of the iconic Old Course in September.

In my opinion, there could not have been a more worthy candidate for the job. As a distinguished low single figure golfer, Dowling represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup and competed at the very highest level of the amateur game. She won five Irish Championships, the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 1986 and the Spanish Amateur Championship in 1987.

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After her successful playing career, Dowling went on to captain the GB&I Curtis Cup and Vagliano teams and has given so much back to golf in many administration roles from chairing England Golf’s Handicap and Course Rating Committee, to the Irish Golf Union.

Most notably, Dowling was one of the first women to become a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 2015. Needless to say, her golfing CV certainly justifies the honour. Nevertheless, had her name been put forward for Captaincy consideration a few years ago, I dare say that the gentlemen making that selection may have vetoed the vote. Such is the momentum at which equality for women in golf is accelerating. Her captaincy will be a landmark stride forward for the game.

If you look at the timeline for welcoming women into The R&A it feels as though things have changed relatively quickly. The vote to include women only happened in 2014, the first female members were then welcomed in 2015 and now just over a decade on we have a woman who will captain the club at the end of this year.

Reflecting on the surprisingly nonchalant attitude of my playing partners towards this news, I suppose it’s become quite commonplace these days to hear of women appointed in positions of power. From business to politics, TV personalities to commentators, medical practitioners and more - women truly are at the forefront of all realms of society.

As a ruthlessly independent young golfer I had some fabulously inspirational female role models growing up. From the formidable former Prime Minister, the late Margaret Thatcher, to the most outstanding of them all in my view, our beloved Queen, may she rest in peace. Yet despite what was happening in the wider world I very much grew up playing golf in a male-dominated environment and experienced discrimination both as a young player and then onwards into the workplace as I pursued a career as a golf writer.

I was never afforded the same opportunities as the men in my office. My salary was shamefully inferior to theirs. At times I felt outcast and was treated poorly on many occasions, most notably not being allowed inside several clubhouses on press trips that had a gentlemen-only permitted rule. These unfortunate experiences have made me appreciate the positive changes we are now seeing in the game far more than women who didn’t play golf back in this era.

As someone who has experienced discrimination first-hand, I genuinely feel delighted by the news of Dowling’s upcoming R&A Club Captaincy. I’m proud to be playing golf now in an age where women are increasingly being treated as equals, both on and off the golf course. It seems that the male chauvinists, like the dinosaurs, are on the verge of extinction.

How I’d love to go back in time and tell one well-known pompous member at my home club where to stick it, every time he used to walk straight onto the first tee ahead of any women’s group and demand the right of passage to play.

Despite being a talented teenager, more than capable of out-driving many men, I was once told, in no uncertain terms that I would never be granted permission to play through any group of men on the course, so not to bother asking, both because I was a junior and more importantly because I was playing from the ladies tees. What satisfaction it would have given me to see these archaic views knocked back by a modern, forward-thinking 2026 club committee.

Last week I heard a success story of a working woman who won a battle against her traditional golf club to have equal tee time rights at the weekend. It’s sad that it had to come to this, but ultimately there are still clubs where women pay the same full annual subscription fees as the men but are forbidden from playing golf at certain times and on certain days.

There’s no doubt that having a female at the helm of one of the oldest, most traditional clubs in golf, will send a strong signal to the world. The message is clear - golf really is a sport for all.

Even though there is still work to be done to attract more women and girls to the sport at club level and increase participation numbers, I hope it will encourage newcomers to take up the game.

After all, it’s the universal appeal of the sport and diversification of the participation demographic that title sponsors like AIG and HSBC want to see. The more people from different walks of life that the game can touch, the better.

So congratulations Claire Dowling on your upcoming Captaincy of The Royal & Ancient Golf Club. May you be the first of many women to follow in your footsteps.