ROYAL Troon Golf Club is under fire for their female members policy - after pretentious Muirfield Golf Club refused to allow women to join.

The famous Royal Troon, which is hosting this summers Open, has similar rules.

Women at Royal Troon cannot become members, despite sharing the same facilities as men.

East Lothian's Muirfield course on Thursday announced that a vote amongst its members had failed to secure the majority required to overturn the club's long-held ruling that only male golfers are eligible to become a members.

Although 64 per cent of current members voted in favour of allowing women to join them as members, this fell short of the the two-thirds majority required to pass the motion.

The R&A, golf's governing body in the UK, was quick to respond to the announcement by removing Muirfield from consideration as an Open venue, unless a retrospective decision is taken to allow female members in.

Royal Troon Golf Club has come under fire from all corners of the sport, as the course – which hosts The Open in a matter of weeks – also maintains a male-only membership policy.

Stephen Anthony, Secretary at Royal Troon, understands that his club will come under greater scrutiny following the decision at Muirfield.

Mr Anthony said: "As has been well publicised, we currently have a process in place, whereby we are canvassing the opinion of all of our members on the matter.

"There is no time-line for this process to reach a conclusion, however we are hopeful that there will be an outcome later this year.

“The decision taken at Muirfield was one for the members of Muirfield and does not pertain to us.

"Many people who have reacted to the news do not understand that Royal Troon has a very different set-up to that at Muirfield; we work closely alongside Troon Ladies and both parties are coming together this summer to host The Open.”

The Open takes place on July 10 to July 17 at Royal Troon.