Realistically, not everyone who follows the men’s game is necessarily as interested in the women’s game- and vice versa. But it's true that supporting women’s golf benefits everyone. It seems logical that the more people who join clubs and/or are involved in events, the more those services and events can be improved and funded.
But most of us don't know the first thing about activism and wouldn't know where to start with "supporting" the women's game, even if we'd like to help.
To help make it simple, here are some really easy and free things everyone can do to help support women’s golf in the UK:
- Check if your club is involved in the R&A's Women in Golf Charter. They encourage a commitment to gender equality in UK golf, across every aspect of the industry. Clubs can sign up to be involved in encouraging women and girls to join the game. If you know that your club is already in it, great! If you’re not sure and your club is in England, follow this link and send them a quick message to check.
- Similarly, Girls Golf Rocks, aims to get as many girls involved in golf as possible. Check if your club is involved and encourage them to sign up if not. Who knows, it might help inspire the next generation of women in golf.
- Follow some influential golfers and content creators, to keep up to date with ongoing developments within the women’s game and beyond. I recommend @georgiahall96 and @rachmcqueen on twitter as a good place to start. They create original content such as podcasts, videos and other media which are definitely worth checking out. Bigger organisations such as @Women_and_Golf also do a lot to promote women's golf in the UK.
- If you're not big on social media, just calling out disrespectful behaviour at your club if and when you see it is a great thing to do to make women feel more welcome there. It might be intimidating, especially if you’ve never done it before, but I promise it’ll make a huge difference to anyone on the receiving end of hurtful comments or behaviour.
- This might be an obvious one; tune in to the games every now and then if you can. No one’s saying you have to watch every game if you’ve never been particularly interested in women’s golf before, but with all the talented players out there these days, it's definitely worth giving it a(nother) chance, especially for big events like the Solheim Cup or this year's AIG Women's Open in Carnoustie.
