Women at Sixes event smacks of a gimmick

I’m happy for the ladies involved. But this year’s Golf Sixes throws up more questions than answers.

The news that Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew will partner Ryder Cup skipper Thomas Bjorn and Georgia Hall and Charley Hull, and Mel Reid and Suzanne Pettersen will play together alongside the men has generated a lot of headlines.

My initial feeling is to think this is a gimmick from European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley. He seems desperate to push this short format of golf.

Call me a killjoy, but the ordinary men’s field would not be strong enough to promote the tournament as they would like.

It’s the same week as the Wells Fargo on the PGA Tour and a few days before the Players’ Championship. All the best Europeans will be in America.

So, the event is being sold on the basis of having women competing against men.

Yes, it’s a showcase for these five excellent players. They can demonstrate the best of ladies’ golf, as well as compete for the first prize of nearly £90,000 each, which is good money for them.

But if the European Tour was really serious about promoting the women’s game, they could have done so much more.

Why could there not be a full Golf Sixes event for the women, at the same venue on the same weekend, with 16 teams?

Last month, in Australia, the Oates Vic Open staged a full-field event for both men and women over 72 holes at the same venue.

They played over two different 18-hole courses at the same resort, but they all shared the same facilities. It was run as a mixed event, so it could be done.

Or there’s even an argument that Golf Sixes should be a mixed-team competition.

A man and woman would team up to represent their nation, such as England or Scotland, in these six-hole matches.

They play the Hopman Cup in tennis with a combined male and female team, so that could be applied to golf.

Golf Sixes is certainly a fun event and will hopefully attract a new audience to the game. But I’m concerned about the date in the calendar for it.

The first weekend in May should be an ideal time for a 72-hole tournament in the UK or Europe. Remember, this is the European Tour.

Only 27 male players will get the chance to play at the Centurion Club. That means well over 100 will be sat at home twiddling their thumbs.

I’ve been on the Tournament Committee, where I felt it was my duty to push for opportunities for all our members.

From that point of view, it’s yet another week where young guys like Bradley Neil and Connor Syme, who are trying to get a footing on Tour, cannot play. That is wrong.

As for the event itself, the focus will be whether the women can beat the men, golf’s version of Battle of the Sexes.

One thing I do know is that with all the fireworks, music, signing autographs and talking to TV reporters during the round, I would have struggled to play my best golf!