R&A are making the right moves
The R&A took an excellent pro-active step with its launch in London last week of The Women in Golf Charter.
It’s vital for golf that not only do we want more women playing golf, we want them taking a more active role in the golf industry.
The R&A have done the right things by admitting female members and vowing not to take The Open to a male-only club.
But there still remains the stigma that most golf clubs are male-dominated institutions.
That’s why golf’s ruling body is committed to changing that perceived image. We all want to see that happen.
Golf is a fabulous sport. It can be played by young or old, male or female.
But what we must do is target young boys and girls and their families.
Most people I speak to who have taken up golf later in life wish they had started when they were younger.
If you start playing at 10 or 11, you develop a natural feel for the sport.
It doesn’t matter if you stop playing for years, because of work or family commitments. That ability to swing a club will remain.
My daughter, Kirsty, is a prime example. She played a lot of golf when she was a girl, but as exams and then her career got in the way, she drifted away from the game.
But she’s always maintained a keen interest. Now her boys are 11 and eight and she wants them to take up golf.
Kirsty is the driving force for them to play. We need that in households up and down the countries.
We want to get young boys and girls to take up golf and develop a passion for it.
But someone needs to take them down to the local club – and that’s usually mum!
We need to target those mums. They could start having golf lessons at the same time as their children.
It could become a real family activity that they all do together.
One thing that has been positive from the Professional Golfers Association is increasing the number of female club pros.
Now you are often just as likely to receive a lesson from a female pro as from a male.
That is a big boost, because females who are new to the game might prefer to learn or improve with another woman teaching them.
The situation surrounding women’s golf in Europe at professional level at the moment is not ideal, because of the lack of tournaments. But we can target the grassroots.
There was certainly no shortage of women among the large galleries at Wentworth for last week’s BMW PGA Championship, so I’m certain the interest is there.
Too often, golf is referred to as an old man’s game in a negative way. But we should think of that as a positive.
Because long after people have stopped playing football, rugby or netball, they can still be out on the golf course.
Tell me another sport where three generations of the same family could play together. That is a unique selling point.
Hopefully, that will soon be the case for me with Kirsty and my grandsons!