Battle of the Sixes will kick-start a revolution
AT THE Centurion Club in St Albans this weekend, another encouraging step will be taken in the long and rocky journey to bring women’s golf in from the cold.
The two- day GolfSixes tournament, featuring 16 teams who play one another over six-hole knockout matches, made a good start last year with its shortened format and innovative concepts, such as a shot clock to speed up play.
But this year’s follow-up will be a lot more interesting. Alongside a team of England men, there will be a side comprising Georgia Hall and Charley Hull representing England’s women.
Furthermore, Mel Reid and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda will also team up, while the Ryder and Solheim Cup captains — Thomas Bjorn and Catriona Matthew — will combine their considerable talents against teams packed with plenty of tour winners this year, such as the English pair Eddie Pepperell and Matt Wallace.
Nothing illustrates the fact that golf is now under new management in virtually all branches quite like the enlightened approach to atone for the days when women were treated like creatures from another planet.
On the PGA Tour last week, at the two-man team event taking place in New Orleans, CEO Jay Monahan declared it simply ‘a matter of time’ before they joined up with the LPGA to create a mixed-team tournament.
‘We’re very interested in getting the men and women together inside the ropes in the same week and the same competition,’ he said. ‘It’s something we’ll see in the future and it will be an exciting addition.’
The R&A are keen to play their part as well. At the end of this month they will host a Women in Golf Charter at the Shard in London, describing it as a call to arms for a more inclusive game.
Clearly, golf ’ s sheer logistics means it will never be like tennis, with Grand Slams for both sexes taking place in tandem. But equally, it was ridiculous that men and women operated in totally separate spheres for so long, when there are a number of scenarios where they can actually compete side by side.
It all starts at St Albans this weekend, and a revolution whose time has blessedly come.
LISTEN to golf’s navel gazers and you’d think this was a sport in perpetual crisis — and then there’s the reality. Last week, JP McManus, owner of the revamped Adare Manor Golf Club in Limerick, threw his hat into the ring to host the 2026 Ryder Cup, despite the fact it would cost around £70million. In Saudi Arabia, they were announcing a new European Tour event next January, complete with an appearance money budget so large they have already confirmed the presence of world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Masters champion Patrick Reed. Meanwhile, in America, the sponsors of last week’s Zurich Classic in New Orleans announced they’re on board until at least 2026. Some crisis, isn’t it?