With three of the most significant tournaments at the top level of women’s golf taking part this week, women’s golf is getting a little more attention than usual, giving sport fans all over the world a variety of options to engage with.
With the first women’s Major of the year, the ANA Inspiration; the Jordan Mixed Open where two men’s Tours and the Ladies European Tour come together to compete on the same course for the same prize fund; and the debut for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, all swinging into action this weekend, many people will get their first exposure to the game, and that is something that Elisa Gaudet, founder of Women’s Golf Day (WGD), knows can be a pivotal moment in recruiting the next generation of golfers.
“Through our work with Women’s Golf Day we know that if you give women and girls a great first experience of the game then they are likely to stay,” commented Gaudet. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a buzz around the women’s game in the 19 years I’ve been in the industry as I have in the weeks leading up to these three ground breaking tournaments. I hope that by drawing some of the focus of the world’s media to these incredible athletes playing at the top level, they can inspire women and girls all over the world to pick up a club for the first time.”
If, as Gaudet suggests, the effect of these three tournaments coming together in one week is to expose a new audience to the women’s game and kindle an interest in participation, then the return of Women’s Golf Day on June 4th 2019 will provide the perfect opportunity for women and girls all over the world to take the next step, Gaudet continues.
“I love the ‘Think Globally – Act Locally’ campaign and believe that by having better access and exposure to the game, the more women and girls will want to take part. We’re obviously on a very different level to the women playing on Tour, but through WGD we’ve seen that when people have easy access to golf, have a fun first experience and then have a clear path into the game, they soon become the next generation of golfers. The success of WGD has been through industry collaboration and vision of governing bodies, industry leaders, golf clubs and charities coming together to celebrate new and existing women golfers and demonstrate they are important and welcome.”
In the past three years WGD events have been held at over 900 venues in 52 countries and have delivered a golf experience to over 50,000 women and girls. This year’s event will be held on June 4th and will once again be a celebration of women and girls learning golf skills that last a lifetime and of being part of a larger global community. WGD has partnered with PLAY for P.I.N.K – BCRF (Breast Cancer Research Foundation) an important charity partner given breast cancer effects so many women around the world. We encourage the Women’s Golf Day events to have a charity component and raise awareness and funds for breast cancer and where possible work with Play for P.I.N.K – BCRF enabling them to continue their important work funding the world’s top researchers.
For anyone inspired by the events taking place this week or simply anyone who wants to get involved with a WGD event, keep an eye on the WGD social media at @womensgolfday and #WomensGolfDay and check into www.womensgolfday.com for news of new venues signing up around the world every day.
Any venue wishing to register to host an event for Women’s Golf Day 2019 should visit www.womensgolfday.com and go to “Register a Location” And you don’t need to be a golf course to take part. Past venues include Golf clubs, PGA Superstore, Topgolf, Retail stores, Driving ranges – essentially anywhere you can swing a club!
