Portmarnock Golf Club in Ireland looks set to drop its men-only rule and vote to allow women to join.

Portmarnock is believed to be one of the only 'gentlemen-only' golf clubs left in the British Isles.

But the historic club, found in north Dublin, is now arranging to vote on removing the gender clause from its rules.

Portmarnock FINALLY embracing change

Of course, many of the most prestigious clubs in the UK were traditionally not open to women, however in recent years we have seen this change, mainly thanks to the R&A banning men-only clubs from hosting its championships in May 2016.

Muirfield famously overturned its gender clause in 2017 and most recently, Glasgow Golf Club, thought to be the last men-only golf club in the UK, agreed to admit women at the end of 2019.

Portmarnock is one of the last to follow suit, and the change of heart is understood to be because they want to host top-class competitions again like the Irish Open, or R&A events such as the Walker Cup or the Amateur Championship.

Of course, we'd rather it was because they realised that women have just as much of a place in golf clubs as men do, but it's better than not letting us in at all.

However the venue, founded in 1894, somewhat controversially hosted the Amateur Championship in 2019, with the R&A defending the move because it was awarded the event several years before they introduced its ban on men-only clubs.

A long time coming...

The gender clause that's due to be voted on at Portmarnock reads: “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”.

Rory McIlroy appealed for Portmarnock to change this rule back in 2016.

“Portmarnock is one of the best venues for the Irish Open but the men-only issue is holding them back as well,” said the Northern Irish star.

“We’ve had conversations about it and they are in the process of maybe taking the first steps to changing that rule. I’m going to put as much pressure as I can on them and not just because I’d love to see the Irish Open there. It is 2016, and these things have to change.”