POWER OF ONE
Family golf is key to the future as Golf Ireland takes a positive step to make sport more inclusive
ABRAVE new dawn is coming for Irish golf and women will be a significant driving force as the ILGU prepares for a new era when families and children are the power brokers for the modern game.
While it is excited to celebrate its 125th anniversary this year, the ILGU is preparing for the great of one governing body for men and women – Golf Ireland – and looking to make the game a more inclusive and welcoming game.
Getting people interested in taking up golf, especially young people, is a major challenge in 21st century Ireland.
But with women now taking an ever growing role in sport and with Golf Ireland a positive new force for change, the future looks bright.
That’s the view of the ILGU’s Chief Executive Sinead Heraty, who sees the introduction of handicaps as high as 54 as a nod to golf’s need to become more inclusive.
“When I was speaking at the AGM about the new handicaps of up to 54, I made the point that if we want to be more inclusive, we have to be more inclusive on all standards of play,” she said.
“Lower handicaps might feel they have an innate right to define the rules of the game and the standards of the game, but the reality is that it has to be all-encompassing. We have to include everybody.”
The international success of players like world number one Leona Maguire is not just good for elite ladies golf, it will also attract new players to the game.
“It is great that our top players are doing what they are doing and I am sure when Leona Maguire turns pro later this year, I have no doubt she will be very successful and that will bring on the younger girls,” Ms Heraty added.
“There is social change happening and a greater role for women in sport and that fact, along with great young players that are coming along, will help encourage more people to take up the game.
“We now know that it is not money but time that’s the impediment for many people so the way we play the game in Ireland is still not attractive to the younger generation.
“It is impossible for us – the ILGU and the GUI – to lead change unless we change ourselves. So what you will see is that we will lead by example and there is a lot of good stuff in the proposal for the creation of Golf Ireland both in terms of culture, gender balance and the ethos of the organisation.
“If we get that right, the game overall will be better. All of the direction is around family golf and playing together. So the way we are structured now is not conducive to that.”
Family memberships, mixed events and a greater overlap between the men’s and women’s games can only lead to growth.
“We have to gear membership to the younger generations and have more mixed events,” she said.
“We currently have the men’s and women’s Cups and Shields at different times and at different venues. Okay, there will be separate events for men and women but in the future, they could be played at the same venue.
“We couldn’t do that as separate organisations but if we are together, we will be more integrated and the better our support will be.”
Having one body for men and women will increase the sport’s ability to attract sponsorship and the increase in the upper handicap limit to 54 for both men and women is another step towards breaking down barriers.
“Our overall membership numbers fell by 0.7 percent last year but that doesn’t include the people that have come into the game through introductory membership so the figures are up in real terms.
“It is going to take three years to get people into membership and there is no point in counting them until such time as they have come through that introductory phase.”
More than 3,000 women have taken up introductory membership via the Get Into Golf scheme and the hope is that many of them will join full time.
It’s little wonder then that the Golf4Girls4Life (G4G4L) Programme, created by the Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI) and the Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU) in 2016, is such a key initiative.
Last year, the programme educated more than 170 volunteers and 34 PGA Professionals from 85 clubs in the importance of having practices and structures in place for girls.
The programme has been derived through feedback from young girls themselves and for CGI Development Manager, Anne Brett, this is the key component of the framework.
“Rather than us, as adults, assuming what the girls wanted we decided to ask them what they liked and what they wanted from golf through focus groups,” she said.
“These focus groups have helped shape G4G4L into a programme that is focused on fun, inclusion and empowering each girl to be the best that she can be.
“We often hear that every junior’s dream is to play on tour, to play for Ireland, to be a scratch golfer.
“But actually when we spoke to the girls the majority of them just wanted to be in an environment that allowed them to have fun with their friends and this is the message that we are trying to convey through this programme.”
With the ILGU and the GUI working hard to come together as one happy family, there appears to be hope for a bright future ahead.