Call for women’s golf to be played alongside men’s
By Alistair Dunsmuir
Leading English golfer Bronte Law has said that golf should emulate tennis and stage men’s and women’s tournaments at the same courses and at roughly the same time.
Recently Linn Grant achieved an historic win in the Scandinavian Mixed in Sweden and became the first woman to register a victory against the men on the DP World Tour – and she did so by an emphatic nine-shot margin.
The English star hailed her fellow competitor’s triumph as “absolutely fantastic” – but also outlined another plan for how the women’s game can beneficially work in tandem with men’s golf.
English stars Charley Hull, Georgia Hall and Bronte Law give their thoughts about this week’s Aramco Team Series at Centurion Club
Law, 27, said: “The perfect example is tennis. Why do the women get paid more than we do? The reason is because they play on the same site and they get the same media coverage.
“So if we can play at the same course, get the same TV coverage, there’s no reason why our purses can’t increase.”
Law is a strong supporter of the Aramco Team Series, enjoying the team format as well as understanding the cash boost that it has provided for the Ladies European Tour and its members.
Bronte Law
She added: “I think it’s important to recognise that the LET was not really in the strongest position when Aramco got involved and they have added $5 million to the prize fund of total purse for the year.
“They have provided six events of which the money has been life-changing for them. And to be part of a team – they would probably not get that opportunity. It’s nice to be part of a team. We obviously play a lot as individuals throughout the year and it can get quite mundane after a while.”
By Alistair Dunsmuir
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Been saying this for years!
Been waiting for this moment for a long time! #challengeXccepted!
Based on the LIV shotgun model you could have ladies in the morning, men in the afternoon all using the same facilities and infrastructure
No good reason why not though the fields for each might be smaller
Biggest no brainer in the history of golf.
I wish Australia had purses like the Majors in golf like the USA
Game changer same talent worldwide
And really hope to be involved in the telecast too!!
Golf Australia recently announced it will host this year’s men’s and women’s Australian Open at the same time in a joint format. Two titles, two separate fields, two world class courses (Victoria and Kingston Heath) on the same weekend. We’d love to welcome Bronte down to play. #sportforall
Probably a bit more difficult because members of those golf clubs..who pay significant annual membership fees along with a joining fee..have to give up their course for a considerable amount of time. Not always popular to the membership. To play concurrently wd be best. Centurion members have not had access to their own course for probably 3 weeks. Plus the disruption of the course set up and taking down. Whereas..tennis clubs may operate differently or have purpose built stadiums.
Exactly what we have done here in Australia at the Vic Open for the past 10 years!
In December this year the Women’s and Men’s Australian Opens will be played on Melbourne’s sand belt at Victoria GC and Kingston Heath GC at the same time for the same prizemoney and will be shown in one TV broadcast!
It we be the most amazing spectacle for golf fans in Australia!
Maybe for the 4 majors like Tennis?
Australian Open will be a male/female concurrent event. Aussie golf is leading the world in this space. #golfaustralia #australianPGA
“So if we can play at the same course, get the same TV coverage, there’s no reason why our purses can’t increase.”
Says a lot in a simple message. #LPGA #PGA #USGA
I’d like to watch more mixed golf tournaments, so I support this initiative.
Can’t see why they don’t – saves money, guarantees better TV exposure
Interesting. Would that mean a 50/50 field or would it be like tennis you have a mens cup and a womens cup? My only issue is in tennis you can have as many courts as you need, if it’s on the same course… well there’s only 1 course. I guess it would be a 50/50 field. That would of course mean that 77 players from both tours loose out..
Abso-bloody-lutley! Come on golf, it is upon all of us in the industry to keep the momentum coming and think future, not past! #girlsgolfrocks
“golf should emulate tennis and stage men’s and women’s tournaments at the same courses and at roughly the same time.”
Bronte : You fail to address the elephant in the room.
As impressive an achievement as the victory by Grant was, she didn’t play the same course as the men. Had she teed off the same tees as them, she would have struggled to break 80 (according to Damo Davies)
No-one – spectators, TV ,& sponsors would want to watch that……..
Never could understand why this doesn’t happen. Just think of the carbon footprint reductions. Greenkeepers may whince at keeping the courses tournament ready for 8 days rather than 4, but that problem can be resolved I am sure.
Totally agree and there should be less tournaments that last longer giving Players rest days
The recent Swedish mixed event proved very watchable and I would say a complete success story.
To have mixed fields as the norm is now the inevitable question to ask?
Perhaps 5 tournaments a year is a realistic and achievable goal to shoot for in the short term?
A well-executed mini-series of 5 Mixed events for 2023 where a key Sponsor can innovate both the viewing and the memorability of the event would be attractive to Sponsors, Players, Tours, and fans?
The only obvious downside would be about 70 male professionals miss out on a payday for those weeks, which could prove the thorn as this means a lob-sided number of tournaments impact on the final rankings. Perhaps a LIV style Invitational Mixed Series is a solution but then this could not be hosted at the same time or venue.
Global golf growth depends on the retention of the COVID golfer boom plus appeals to the fairer sex over the next 10 years. I believe a few mixed tournaments where tv viewership can be proven to be stable to growing will go a long way to helping female golfers grow female-only event purses and indeed mixed purses may prove to be the most lucrative if the TV viewerships reflect that desire to see such events promoted.
Makes sense: would love to see playoffs happen in turn, Women’s final round, and then the Men’s playoff, kinda thing.