Peter Dawson Women Quotations

Our championship committee pledged to review entry conditions and to assess how women golfers might compete on equal terms with men for a place in the Open,

The hesitancy is in the detail, not the principal. There has been no resistance to the principal of women playing in the Open if they are qualified for it. We are not dragging our feet. It's just that we never had cause to think about it before.

I am delighted that a qualification route has now been established for the best women players to gain access to the championship, competing alongside men on the same courses and from the same tees.

We don't believe the women are at the level of the male European Tour player who is taking part in local final qualifying. No woman has made the cut in a men's event, after all. But, if it turns out that women dominate regional qualifying, then we will review the situation.

We said earlier in the year that we were not opposed to the principle of women competing and that this was something we were going to do,

We did not open it up to women hoping they would not enter. Having done that, it will be a shame if they do not take advantage of the opportunity. Having said that, it was never our intention to disrupt the women's tours. ... But the option is there.

We didn't open the event up to women hoping they would not enter but the reverse. Having taken such a step it would be a great shame if the women golfers didn't take advantage of the opportunity. I would be surprised if they were unaware of the changes, given the publicity they received around the globe, but we could write to the individuals concerned reminding them.

I personally hope we will see women enter the championship. We didn't open the event up to them in the hope they wouldn't come. It's a shame if none of them takes up the opportunity.