14 Jan 2017

Women not equal at Olympic golf venue

7:00 pm on 14 January 2017

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has asked the Kasumigaseki Country Club, venue of the golf competition at the 2020 Olympic Games, to admit women as full members.

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Photo: 123rf

"I feel very uncomfortable about women not being able to become a regular member in this era," Koike told reporters on Friday.

The club situated in Saitama Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, also bars women from playing there on Sundays, according to a Kyodo news agency report.

Last year, Muirfield golf club lost its place on the rotation of venues for the British Open after a ballot in May rejected the lifting of a ban on women members.

The historic course close to Edinburgh, which has retained a male-only membership policy since it was founded in 1744, will hold a second vote to decide on the issue following a public outcry.

- Reuters