June 4th 2019 will be the largest ever single-day celebration of women’s golf with venues from every corner of the globe joining forces to promote the sport. With a growing profile and impressive roll call of supporters, it’s hard to imagine that a little over four years ago Women’s Golf Day was simply a pipe dream for founder Elisa Gaudet. Her commitment has galvanised the industry, bringing together a phenomenal number of industry influencers from around the world.
Over the past three years, WGD events have been held at over 900 venues in 52 countries and have delivered golf experiences to more than 50,000 women and girls. This year what is remarkable is the growth of the campaign in countries who have been involved since year one. In Nigeria thanks to development work with the Nigerian Golf Federation a record 14 venues are already signed up to run their 4 hour experiences and in the Czech Republic there is an incredible 35 participating venues all preparing to welcome women and girls through their doors.
As the campaign has grown from strength to strength, its impact has become apparent beyond Women’s Golf Day itself as Elisa explains, “What we are beginning to see is a deep rooted change from the golf club level through to national organisations. I set out on this journey because I wanted more women to try the sport that has brought so much joy to my life. I am really proud to have inspired others to run their own campaigns because we have a singular aim, which is of paramount importance to the future of golf.”
8 new countries signed up in 2018, including Hong Kong which makes an impressive return in 2018 with more venues signing up. Vietnam and Lithuania are amongst the newcomers for 2019, demonstrating the global reach of the campaign. Mike Hendrix, Vice President GolfNow Business Solutions, who have been ardent supporters of WGD year on year isn’t surprised by the continued growth as he explains, “Our Business Services team has been speaking with hundreds of golf courses in North America about hosting their own event on June 4th and the response has been great. We’ve seen golfers through social media asking if their local course will be hosting an event and we’ve seen golf instructors step up and create and support events. Our golf course partners love this initiative and we salute Elisa’s passion and drive”
This year’s WGD campaign is extremely personal for Elisa who has partnered with Play for P.I.N.K.®, a non-profit organization that donates 100% of its proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation®. She concludes, “This is a fantastic charity which is very close to my heart. We hope that this new partnership will help raise awareness and much needed funds for breast cancer research through the power of golf.”
For anyone interested in talking part at a WGD event, keep an eye on the WGD social media at @womensgolfday and #WomensGolfDay and check into www.womensgolfday.com to register to take part at one of the hundreds of WGD events taking place on June 4th.
