Female golfer says policy at Cottrell Park is discriminatory

A woman is considering legal action because she claims her golf club is discriminating against her on gender grounds.
Lowri Roberts says women are no longer allowed to play in prime Saturday morning slots at Cottrell Park Golf Resort, Cardiff.
“I was told there are plenty of grounds through the Equalities Act if I wanted to do something about it,” said Roberts, who has long campaigned for women’s rights at the Welsh club.
The case threatens to reopen issues of gender discrimination in golf, a sport that has been beset by such controversies.
“We are in the minority and because of that we need a leg-up and we need to be able to go in those men’s slots,” Roberts, 37, told BBC Sport. “But they are unwilling to see that and they don’t care.”
Cottrell Park Members’ Association (CPMA) chairman Andy Mogridge insists his organisation is not discriminating against women.
A vote by members at Cottrell Park Golf Resort on Tuesday effectively overturned a club by-law that allowed women members to play in times reserved for men’s competitions.
The membership at the club near Cardiff, is run by the CPMA, which called Tuesday’s extraordinary general meeting.
A motion to allow women to play in men’s times and vice versa failed to achieve the required majority by a single vote.
This effectively overturned a 1998 club by-law that had been reintroduced by the club’s owners in March. The ruling gave Roberts the same access to tee times as her male counterparts.
“It was working well,” said Roberts, a civil servant.
“It was great, it didn’t affect anyone and we were getting there, but when they called this meeting around the Easter holidays I just thought ‘what are they up to now? Why can’t they let it be?'”
Roberts, who works full time and pays the same fees as male members, began her campaign more than a year ago. She was unable to play in the prime Saturday morning slots because they were reserved for the men’s section.
As a woman she would have to play on the alternative course among visitors and societies, which she describes as “an environment not conducive to competitive golf.”
The 18-handicapper believes this arrangement was discriminatory because she did not have the same level of choice as male members. (BBC Sport)