CONGRATULATIONS TO MAX HOMA on Winning the Rust Oleum Championship at the Ivanhoe Club, we lookforward to seeing you back in 2017, unless your on the PGA Tour and playing in Memphis or resting up for the U.S. Open at Erin Hills. THE U.S. OPEN at Oakmont. The 116th edition of the championship, another chapter of golf history about to be written. For more infromation watch Fox Sports, or visit USGA.org.   ______________________________________________________________________

THE GOG BLOG by Rory Spears, Editor and Director of Content. Follow Rory on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter @GogBlogGuy

I guess you can call this part 2 of the Gog Blog Speaks Out and needs the PC world to “Chill Out.”

Part 1 was telling the PGA Tour that it was a stupid move to “Dump Trump National Doral” after 54 years for Mexico. Mexico over Miami what were they thinking, well the tour simply was not thinking. Run off to Mexico of all places becuae someone is afraid of Donald Trump. Amazing.

Now it seems like it needs to be said again. I’m skipping ahead one open to “The Open” that gets played across the pond next month.

The latest victim of the PC movement is Muirfield, that has been told by the Royal and Ancient that they can no longer host an Open because they have no women members. Really this is silly.

FIRST UP all the R & A needs to do is follow the path taken by the Augusta National Golf Club, that refused to be bullied by outside organizations or liberal media types in changing their policies or rules. Many of the same people are calling to put an end to bullying, then they go and participate in it themselves.

As former Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson said,” it’s likely there will be female members someday at the Augusta National Golf Club. But not at the point of a bayonet.”

When organizations and media screamed for the inclusion of females at ANGC, the club took it’s time and it got it right. They did not yield to somebody else’s time table, they heard the cries of add ONE female member. So they added TWO female members. Well played AGNC and now everyone has moved forward from a topic that wasted to much time and energy.

St. Andrews and the R & A Building

Muirfield took it’s vote and decided not to allow females for the time being. So the R & A jumped and made a circus of things by saying no Open Championships there until they do allow in women members.

The interesting thing is that a majority of the club’s members voted to allow women to join, but not enough to reach the 2 /3rds vote that was needed to make the change.

It now appears that Muirfield purposely voted the way they did, because of clueless media types and the garbage that was written on how the club needs to make changes. It’s one thing for media who cover golf who know the working of the game, it’s organizations and public or private clubs to express an in the know viewpoint. It’s another thing for outsiders to come in and demand change, and demand it to happen overnight.

The front entrance to the Augusta National Golf Club home of the Masters.

What was worse was the R & A saying anything at all, did they have to. Of course not. The could simply have voted in another direction every year and maybe sending their message of disaproval that way.

Muirfield just hosted an open a couple of years ago, they were not due up on the rotation for several years. So why push this issue on them now.

If everyone had stood clear, this might all have been cleared up in the next few years, and the club could have done things their way. Which is how all private clubs should be allowed to operate in the first place. Private clubs mean just that, they are private clubs. It’s always amazing that the people who expect private clubs to change their rules to accomondate the feelings of non-members, wouldn’t make the same concession if the bayonet was pointed at them.

Some of the all-male golf clubs around the world are softening their stance on women without public pressure, or media columns. Change might be slow, but it’s coming. Now if people not involved in the process would just sit down, shut up, put the keyboard away and let things happen. Things just might start to change a little quicker.