While almost all areas have struggled over the last couple of years due to the pandemic, there is one that has not only survived but thrived – female golf. In 2020, the number of women to play a round of golf increased from 400,000 to almost 1.5 million.
Women have gone from making up just 14% of all UK golfers to 28%, meaning that just over a quarter of players are female. This is by far the least one-sided ratio the sport has seen in the country, with men generally making up close to 90% of all players, but is this trend set to stay?
Golf and the Pandemic
At the beginning of the pandemic and the lockdown restrictions that were first put into place in the UK in late March 2020, everything but essential shops and services remained open. We were allowed to leave home only once for exercise, prompting an increase in people taking up running or to go to work if you were an essential worker (otherwise you had to work from home).
It wouldn’t be until Wednesday 13 May that courses were allowed to re-open under strict social distancing guidelines that limited golfers to either playing solo, with other members of their household/support bubble or one other person (whilst staying two meters apart). By this time, we were all longing for normality and the news that golf courses were given the green light was the source of excitement for keen golfers.
As the data suggests, it also enthused those that have either not played for a long time and/or not at all. During the first lockdown, many of us took up new hobbies to pass the time and hundreds of thousands of women decided to pick up a set of clubs.
In total, 5.2 million played a round of golf in 2020, up from 2.9 million, with over 800,000 (around 16% of all players) playing the game for the very first time. Encouragingly, 95% intended to continue playing golf in the future.
Europe Wins the Solheim Cup in America
Catriona Matthew captained Europe to a pulsating 15-13 victory over Team USA to win the 2021 Solheim Cup in September, which was only the second ever time that Europe won on American soil in the competition’s history. Despite a valiant fightback from the USA on the final day, Europe ensured the Solheim Cup would be joining them on the plane back when Matilda Castren secured the trophy (having come in as defending champions) before Emily Pedersen made the winning put.
With female role models showing that girls can be every bit as good as the men, battling away in the midst of sporting drama, can only be a positive for encouraging more girls to ask for a set of clubs. In truth, the Solheim Cup had already played a great role in bringing golf to the masses of women in the UK, with over 90,000 fans packing into Gleneagles to see Europe wrestling victory from their American counterparts on the final green in 2019.
How to Keep Girls Interest in Golf
It is one thing to get girls interested in playing golf and then it is something else to keep that newfound passion alive. Depending on age and ability, girls may require a little more encouragement – such as these fun golf games for kids – so as not to become disheartened if they find things difficult.
Tailoring the game of golf to them, whether that is in the form of mini-golf, playing on par 3 courses or letting them hit the ball as hard and as far as possible on the driving range, can make the world of difference. Even the best golfers can struggle on the course when they are having a bad day, with many sets of clubs thrown away in lakes as the red mist descends, so for new players this can be highly discouraging.
Golf, the same as any sport, must be fun for the players to play. The game should also be inclusive, which is where having female role models plays a huge part but that shouldn’t be limited to the players on television. If you can, find a club with a good number of female members and if there are girls’ sessions, that’s a bonus.
Will the Female Golf Game Keep Growing?
All the signs look promising and with women’s sport, in general, taking huge strides, both in terms of standard and commercial success, then there is no reason to believe that the ratio of male to female golfers won’t continue to even itself out. The responsibility of bringing through more and more girl golfers is on clubs, coaches, and the parents themselves.
Here at Fen Regis Trophies, you can find a range of female golf trophies to recognise the achievement of those who play, as well as a wider range of golf trophies. For more information on our range of trophies and awards, please get in contact with a member of our team today.