Reports: Pine Valley to admit women as members, provide unrestricted access to guests

Looking to find itself “on the right side of history,” Pine Valley Golf Club, the ultra-private, men’s-only property in Camden County, has voted to admit women as members, according to reports by Golf Digest and Golf.com.

In an emailed letter to members obtained by both outlets, club president Jim Davis wrote Friday that “the future of golf must move toward inclusion,” and that the members have voted “unanimously and with enthusiasm to remove all gender-specific language from our bylaws.”

Later in the letter, he wrote, “We are not changing the things we love most about Pine Valley. We are simply continuing down the path of making our club more inclusive. We want to be proud of Pine Valley in all respects, and I’m convinced this change puts us on the right side of history.”

Davis said the process of identifying women for membership would begin immediately “with the expectation of having our first women members in the club by the end of this year.”

“As has been our custom, all prospective candidates must be socially compatible, share a deep passion for the game of golf, and be able to play the golf course with the skill level our founder George Crump intended,” he said.

Contacted by The Inquirer, a Pine Valley official declined comment.

The vote also allows for women “to enjoy our club without restrictions,” Davis said. Women who were guests of the membership were allowed to play the course only on Sunday afternoons.

Pine Valley, rated as the nation’s No. 1 golf course on a number of “best-of” lists, is nestled away in near-seclusion near Clementon, N.J. It opens to the public only one time a year, on a Sunday afternoon in late September for the final of the annual Crump Cup.

The club has hosted two international events — the 1936 and 1985 Walker Cup competition — but no majors. Locally, it has hosted seven Golf Association of Philadelphia championships but only two, the 2002 and 2012 Philadelphia Open, since 1941.

Crump, a Philadelphia hotelier, founded the club in 1913 and designed the layout with Harry Colt over more than 600 rolling acres of tall pines, thick shrubs and sand. The course opened 11 holes in 1914 but was not completed until 1922, after Crump’s death.

The lifting of gender restrictions at Pine Valley probably is the biggest change at notable U.S. clubs that previously were men-only since Augusta National, home of the Masters, opened its doors to women in 2012.

“On a personal note, I have been thinking about this for a long time and, frankly, it’s overdue,” Davis said.