Last week, Muirfield was confronted with a decision: Either admit women members, or lose its spot as one of the hosts of the British Open. It chose the latter, as the BBC explains:

Of the 648 members who were eligible to vote, after a two-year consultation process, the move did not receive the two-thirds majority (432) needed … A 33-strong group of ‘no’ campaigners among the Muirfield members cited concerns about slow play and making women “feel uncomfortable” among the “risks” of admitting female members.

The R&A followed through with its threat and, commendably, yanked the tournament from one of the game’s most legendary courses. Criticism of Muirfield’s decision quickly followed from all corners of the golf world, including from professionals like Rory McIlroy, so one 81-year-old member decided to defend their reasoning to Martin Dempster of The Scotsman.

Let’s break it down.

“It wasn’t so much a vote against the ladies as a vote against the media and the press telling us what to do.”

*sighs*

Muirfield may have felt that this was a vote against “the press telling us what to do” rather than against “ladies,” but he’s conveniently forgetting that the two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

It’s true that the most of the prominent media voices have lobbied for change, so it follows that they might have wanted to stand up against that notion. They did, which they’re entitled to do, but they did by casting a sexist vote. Muirfield can’t own one of those things without also accepting the other, which is what this member is trying to do. It’s basic, boring contradiction.

But anyway, there was more.

“No-one likes being hammered all the time.”

True, but as any good parent will tell you, sometimes a hammering is necessary. Like when you’re an institution that decides to exclude half the population.

He continued:

“We knew what was going to happen with the R&A and The Open…”

Go on…

“…But we feel that we had to prove a point with a strong bunch behind the vote.”

As Golf Digest‘s Stina Sternberg pointed out on Twitter,  there’s a phrase for this: Cutting your nose off to spite your face. Muirfield first hosted a British Open in 1966, and for most of the 50 years since it’s faced a fairly easy ride on this issue. At no point has the club self-corrected, so now people are trying to pull them into the future. But in Muirfield world, they see it as a threat, using it as an excuse to stay lagging behind.

It really is a shame.