The Open Championship "has taken another step towards what, for golf, should be considered the enlightened age with Royal Troon announcing it is launching a review into its membership policy which will very likely see women being invited to join before the club plays host again next year," according to James Corrigan of the London TELEGRAPH. Troon "is one of only three courses on the 10-strong Open roster with male-only memberships, but its position became untenable after the Royal and Ancient, the game’s governing body, voted last September to welcome female members into its own exclusive sanctum." On the heels of that decision, Muirfield and Royal St. George’s "both announced that they were looking into their membership policies, with the latter voting later this year whether to follow the R&A’s lead." If it, or indeed Muirfield, wishes to stage another Open "it is clear they have little option." With neither due to host until the next decade, these clubs "have time to deconstruct hundreds of years of discriminative history." Troon, however, "has no such luxury and it is understood that it was under pressure from the R&A to act and to act quickly." The Open organizers have no wish for another championship to be overshadowed by the “women issue,” as it was at Muirfield in '13 (TELEGRAPH, 1/27). In London, John Huggan wrote in something of a tip-off as to the eventual result of Royal Troon’s review, the club also announced that next year’s Open will be the first in history to be “hosted” by two clubs, themselves and The Ladies Golf Club, Troon, "which already shares the course with the male-only club, but has its own clubhouse." To that end, a joint championship committee "has already been formed" (LONDON TIMES, 1/27). In Edinburgh, Martin Dempster wrote acording to the club, the recommendations from it will be “presented to the membership for their consideration” and, especially on the back of the R&A vote, "that will surely lead to women members being admitted there, too." No timescale has been specified "but the decision to have a co-hosting arrangement with Troon Ladies is a sign that things are moving in the right direction even if it didn’t happen before next year’s Open" (SCOTSMAN, 1/27). In Glasgow, Keith McLeod wrote if both Troon and Muirfield vote in favor, "it will mean all of Scotland’s Open-standard courses will admit women in future." Troon members "will have the say over whether women should be admitted for the first time since the club was formed in 1878." They will be presented with “recommendations” arising from the review. It "will be the first time in the 155-year history of The Open that two clubs will share the responsibility of hosting the Championship." Sources said that when Royal Troon was awarded the 2016 Open, “absolutely no pressure” was put on the club to change its men-only membership policy (DAILY RECORD, 1/27).