ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — A coastal fog hung over the Old Course for much of the day Thursday, forcing golfers to strain to follow their shots. But clarity of a historic nature emerged just a few yards from the first tee, where the Royal and Ancient Golf Club voted overwhelmingly to admit its first female members.

As evening descended here, on the same day Scots voted on whether to declare independence from the United Kingdom, Peter Dawson, the secretary of the club, announced the results of a postal balloting of the club’s 2,400 male members, many of whom were on site in matching blue jackets and patterned blue ties. About three-quarters of the members participated in the voting, he said, with 85 percent of them opting to accept women.

The policy will take effect immediately, and the club said some women would be put on a fast track for membership to avoid languishing on the long waiting list.

The decision carries powerful symbolism. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club is a 260-year-old institution that calls itself the spiritual home of golf. The separate governing body it created in 2004, called the R & A, is entrusted with running the British Open and helping adjudicate the game’s rules, making it one of the sport’s primary seats of power.