SECOND WOMEN AND GIRLS’ GOLF WEEK ACHIEVES ENGAGEMENT AND ACTIVITY
Monday 2 September 2019, St Andrews, Scotland, and Celtic Manor, Wales: The second staging of Women and Girls’ Golf Week again proved a social media success across Wales, Great Britain and Ireland, as well as raising engagement and participation at club level.
The recent awareness week, timed to coincide with the AIG Women’s British Open at Woburn, generated over 12 million Twitter impressions through its #WhyIGolf hashtag to surpass the 2018 campaign.
Women and Girls’ Golf Week was again delivered by England Golf, Scottish Golf, Wales Golf and The Irish Ladies Golf Union, designed to unite the industry and promote and grow women and girls’ golf.
The R&A, the European Tour, the Ladies European Tour, The Professional Golfers’ Association and the Golf Foundation were also among the bodies supporting the activity.
The campaign told stories of women and girls involved in different areas of the sport, celebrating their successes and challenging perceptions. Online content featured a theme for each day, including careers, volunteers, health, participation and performance.
Over 800 people contributed and were involved from across Great Britain and Ireland, as well as further afield, including Australia, Canada, the USA and throughout Europe, most notably Germany and the Netherlands.
Campaign video content generated over 274,000 views, while the most popular day for engagement was that dedicated to health and wellbeing.
The campaign was highlighted on Sky Sports during the AIG Women’s British Open, while other notable supporters included broadcasters Sarah Stirk and Naga Munchetty, and leading Tour professionals such as Georgia Hall, Catriona Matthew and Lexi Thompson.
Richard Dixon, chief executive at Wales Golf, said: “Women and Girls’ Golf Week again proved a great success online, as we all look to inspire more females into the sport at all levels.
“From a Wales perspective, we saw a rise in the number of clubs engaged in the week – both from a supporting standpoint and those who ran specific women and girls’ activity during the week which was fantastic for us, especially with the announcement that Royal Porthcawl will be hosting the 2021 AIG Women’s British Open.”
Clubs across the home nations were heavily involved, promoting participation activities they are running for women and girls.
At Llanishen Golf Club in Cardiff, a series of newly launched Girls Golf Cymru sessions had taken place prior to Women and Girls’ Golf Week, and finished with a #WhyIGolf event during the campaign.
Placing an emphasis on fun in a non-competitive and relaxed format, it saw 12 girls attend over 6 weeks with all 12 joining as full junior members following the course.
Throughout the week, Wales Golf also released content around the topics including an interview with Sophie Madsen, who has gone from being a passionate golfer and member of their youth panel, to now working in the Wales Golf championships team.
This story highlighted not only Sophie’s progress, but different ways in which women and girls can become involved with the game of golf.
Sophie said, “It was a honour and a privilege to be involved in Women and Girls’ Golf Week again, having been part of it last year.
“I never thought that I’d be able to turn my love of golf into a career, I hope that my experience can inspire others to feel like they can too.”
The week saw Wales Golf speak about their Stroke Association schemes and stroke survivor Peggy Cumber, from Parc Golf Club, Newport, who has used golf during her rehabilitation.
Further content saw them celebrate their volunteers by thanking them for all their hard work throughout the year, from match referees to those who help organise and run golf club events.
The R&A’s Women in Golf Charter was launched last year with the aim of inspiring an industry-wide commitment to a more inclusive culture, enabling women and girls to flourish and reach their potential at all levels of the sport.
Conwy was the first golf club the world to sign up and there are now 13 clubs throughout Wales who have made the pledge.
This year’s Women and Girls’ Golf Week also built on the first ever Golf and Health Week held in April, which again saw various golfing bodies working collaboratively to highlight the sport’s health benefits and reach an audience of over 20 million on social media.
Women and Girls’ Golf Week also drew attention to the 2019 Solheim Cup, the match between the top women professionals of Europe and the USA, which takes place at Gleneagles next week.