The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Adidas NMD R1 Sverige . Andrews is no longer just for men. The R&A became the latest golf club to end years of male-only exclusivity on Thursday when its members voted overwhelmingly in favour of inviting women. The vote was effective immediately. "I can confirm that The Royal & Ancient Golf of St. Andrews is now a mixed membership club," R&A secretary Peter Dawson said in a statement. Dawson said more than three-quarters of the clubs 2,500 members worldwide voted, with 85 per cent in favour. It was the first time in the R&As 260-year history that members were allowed to vote by proxy at the annual business meeting. The members also voted to fast-track a "significant" number of women to join in the next few months. The R&A did not say how many women would be invited, though previous reports indicated it could be as many as 15. "This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club," Dawson said. "The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men." Augusta National, home of the Masters, decided two years ago to invite women to join. Unlike the R&A, Augusta National did not have a written policy that banned women. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore were the first female members. While the R&A members have access to the clubhouse behind the first tee at the Old Course, they belong to a club, not a golf course. The seven golf courses at St. Andrews are open to the public. The favourable vote was hailed from golf organizations, public officials and sponsors around the world. "This is positive news for the sport, and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same-sex policies follow suit," said Helen Grant, Britains minister for sport. "With golf in the next Olympics there is a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and this sends out the right inclusive message that golf is for everyone." The Royal & Ancient governs golf everywhere in the world except for the United States and Mexico. It is separate from "The R&A," a business arm created 10 years ago to handle the Rules of Golf, organize the British Open and operate other business affairs. But while the R&A has female employees, the committees and board are populated by club members, so there had been no women in leadership roles governing the game or running championships. The R&A was coming under increasing pressure when The Open was held at all-male clubs, most recently Muirfield in 2013. Even some of its sponsors were getting uncomfortable with the centuries-old policies barring women. "As a partner of the R&A and a long term international sponsor of golf, we welcome this news with open arms," said Giles Morgan, HSBCs global head of sponsorship and events. "HSBC is committed to growing the game at all levels and fundamental to this is our commitment to the value of diversity and our support of womens golf, which is a cornerstone of our global golf portfolio. "We look forward to continuing this successful partnership at St Andrews in 2015 for what promises to be the start of a new era." The Womens British Open has been played at St. Andrews twice since 2007, and they were allowed in the clubhouse during the championship. "The LPGA is happy to hear that the members of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews have voted to include female members," the LPGA Tour said in a statement. "This decision is certainly a step in the right direction and one that better captures the current diversity and inclusiveness of our great game." Adidas Continental 80 Sverige .com) - The Atlanta Hawks have stepped up to every challenge during their 14-game winning streak and will face another daunting task Friday with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in town. Adidas NMD R1 Herr .com) - Scott Parel carded a 5-under 65 on Thursday and he grabbed a 1-stroke lead after one round of the season-opening Panama Claro Championship. http://www.nmdsverige.com/nmd-r1-adidas-skor/herr.html .com) - Tonight will go a long way in determining the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Washingtons beleaguered defence finally found an opponent it could bully around after its historically bad start to the season. David Amerson returned an interception for a touchdown, the defence harassed Oakland backup quarterback Matt Flynn into seven sacks and the Redskins overcome an early 14-point deficit to beat the Oakland Raiders 24-14 Sunday for their first win of the season. "We needed that so bad," defensive end Ryan Kerrigan said. "It really feels good. Seven was kind of the magic number today -- we give up only seven points, we have seven sacks, scored seven points on defence. Great feeling right now." The Redskins (1-3) looked ready to extend the worst start for the franchise since 2001 when they fell behind 14-0 after the first quarter to the Raiders (1-3) on a blocked punt touchdown and a scoring pass from Flynn. But the defence took over after that against a team missing starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor and without starting running backs Darren McFadden and Marcel Reece for much of the game. Robert Griffin III threw a go-ahead touchdown pass late in the third quarter and Roy Helu Jr. iced the game with a 14-yard TD run in the fourth as the Redskins rallied from 14 points down after the first quarter to win on the road for just the second time since at least 1991. "What we did when we were down 14-0, and thats what weve got to do the rest of the season," Griffin said. After Griffin used the no-huddle offence to get Washington a field goal, Amerson got the Redskins back in the game when he stepped in front of Flynns pass to Denarius Moore and ran it back 45 yards to cut Oaklands lead to 14-10. "It almost seemed like one of those typical games, where you know, were down 14 and Here we go," linebacker Brian Orakpo said. "Same thing, same story. Nobody could really get going but that pick-six was huge. Turnovers really play key in the outcome of the game." The Oakland offence struggled to generate much of anything without its entire starting backfield and the Raiders lost a game they led by at least 14 points after the first quarter for the first time since 1998 against Kansas City. "That one hurt, that one stung," coach Dennis Allen said. "I felt the way we were able to start out tthe game . Adidas NMD R1 Billigt. get to 14-0 . then we let them back in the game. Give them credit, they continued to fight. But we didnt do enough to win the football game. Flynn was sacked seven times, losing a fumble that set up Helus TD that gave Washington a 24-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Kerrigan forced the fumble on his second sack and Orakpo and Barry Cofield also brought down Flynn twice. It was a rare good day for a Washington defence that allowed 1,464 yards of offence through three games -- the most through a teams first three games since the 1951 New York Yanks gave up 1,494, according to STATS LLC. The Yanks folded after that season. Even the usually reliable Sebastian Janikowski was off his game for the Raiders, missing a 52-yard field goal attempt wide left midway through the third quarter after Logan Paulsen lost a fumble. Alfred Morris, bottled up most of the game, had three carries for 29 yards on the ensuing drive before leaving with bruised ribs. Griffin capped it with a 5-yard slant to Pierre Garcon that gave the Redskins their first second-half lead of the season. The Raiders didnt settle on a starting quarterback until Saturday night when it was determined Pryor could not go after sustaining a concussion last Monday in Denver. Flynn got off to an early lead in his third career start with help from Oaklands special teams when Jeremy Stewart recovered Rashad Jennings blocked punt of Sav Rocca in the end zone. Flynn got into the act as well with an impressive 81-yard drive that featured a 34-yard pass to Denarius Moore and was capped by the 18-yard TD to rookie Mychal Rivera. Washingtons defence took over after that, harassing Flynn all afternoon. "They definitely handle themselves back there differently," Raiders centre Stefen Wisniewski said. "So we have to try to block differently. Its tough to change at the drop of a hat, though. We found out last night we have a different quarterback so we have to adjust to that." NOTES: Redskins LB London Fletcher played in his 244th consecutive regular-season game, passing Bill Romanowski for most by a defensive player since the 1970 merger. ... Flynns seven sacks were the most for a Raiders QB since Andrew Walter was brought down nine times in 2006 at Seattle. ' ' '