New face of golf takes on the dinosaurs (but Alliss is safe)
‘Doesn’t help the sport’
WITH her winning smile and edgy fashion sense, Eilidh Barbour may be the very antithesis of golf’s traditionally crusty and maledominated image.
But the 34-year-old Scot, the new face of the BBC’s coverage of the sport, is well qualified to criticise the ‘stuffy’ members’ clubs and their strict, outdated rules.
Miss Barbour, who has taken over from fellow Scot Hazel Irvine, says clubs need to ‘catch up’ to attract a new membership.
Only in the past year have two of Scotland’s top clubs – Royal Troon and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, at Muirfield – altered their men-only status.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barbour admitted that sexism and elitism still dog the sport, but said: ‘I don’t know how many women want to play Muirfield or sit in their clubhouse because, as much as they are allowed to now, I can’t imagine it’s changed the opinions too much of those in the club.’
She added: ‘A golf club is a private club so they can make their own rules. Sometimes it doesn’t help the sport. When people talk about the stuffy image of golf, that’s where they get it from. There are a lot of clubs that are quite stuffy.’
Not that the stuffed shirts will stop Miss Barbour from wholeheartedly embracing her new role. After all, presenting golf on the BBC has been her dream job for 20 years. She has also been playing golf since she was 16 and her handicap is a modest 31.
She said: ‘I’ve always thought this was what I wanted to do.’
Miss Barbour, from Dunkeld, Perthshire, will cover the 146th Open at Royal Birkdale this month, joining veteran broadcaster and self-confessed ‘dinosaur’ Peter Alliss, 86, who has been criticised for his sexist views.
But Miss Barbour has only kind words about her colleague, saying: ‘He has been so welcoming. He’s a very funny man.’
Asked if she will pull him up for his old-fashioned opinions, she replied: ‘No, I don’t think I’m a match for Peter Alliss!’
Time will tell.