Royal St George’s Golf Club could get rid of “outdated same sex policies”.

It was announced last week that the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews had voted to introduce female members after a 260-year ban.

Now the pressure is on other golf clubs which still have all-male membership to make a decision. Royal St George’s, in Sandwich, is one of three clubs in the UK which does not allow female members but club secretary Colonel Tim Checketts has confirmed members will vote on the issue in early 2015.

He said: “We have had a process in place to consult how our membership should be going forward. We will consult with the members and come to a decision in due course.”

The decision made by St Andrews made national news last Friday when 85% of members voted in favour of the change.

Col Checketts said Sandwich’s move to take the vote was “being done entirely independently.”

He added: “We started the process before St Andrews made their decision.”

Royal St George’s has staged the open championship 14 times, most recently in 2011 when it came under fire from former Minister for Sport, Hugh Robertson.

Current Minister for Sport and Kent MP Helen Grant has also spoken out on the issue.

She said: “This is positive news for the sport and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same sex policies follow suit. With golf in the next Olympics there is a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and this sends out the right inclusive message that golf is for everyone.”

The full story will be in this week's East Kent Mercury and Dover Mercury.