The award was created nine years ago to recognise notable work and initiatives taking place around Europe and beyond to develop the sport.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the accolade was presented virtually to The R&A at the culmination of the CPG’s Annual Congress, held this week from 8 – 10 December.In May 2018, The R&A launched the Women in Golf Charter with the aim to increase women and girls’ participation and membership in golf, encourage more families to enjoy golf as a leisure activity and encourage more opportunities for women to work and volunteer in the golf industry.
More inclusive culture
To date, over 400 organisations worldwide have committed to developing that more inclusive culture within golf.Previous recipients of the CPG’s President’s Award for Golf Development include the ClubGolf junior programme in Scotland (2014), the South African Golf Development Board for grassroots activity (2018) and the French Golf Federation for the development of over 100 short-form courses as a legacy of The Ryder Cup (2019).Ian Randell, Chief Executive of the CPG, said, “This award is in recognition of the significant impact the Women in Golf Charter is having on increasing women and girls’ participation in golf, encouraging more families to enjoy golf and encouraging more opportunities for women to work in the golf industry.”Martin Slumbers, The R&A’s chief executive, has highlighted the opportunity to grow women and girls’ golf on a global scale and is keen to build on early progress with the Charter.
Growth opportunity
With only 16% of women playing golf in the UK and a latent demand of $35 billion that could be spent on golf by women, the importance of driving sustained change is clear.Slumbers said, “I believe passionately that there is a significant growth opportunity and probably the most growth opportunity for golf if we can do more to inspire more women into playing and, equally as importantly, working in the sport.“If we are to adequately address the issue of gender adversity, it requires a real long-term and sustainable shift in the culture throughout our sport to ensure that it is more accessible, appealing and inclusive.”Recently launched in connection with the Women in Golf Charter, The R&A’s new #FOREeveryone campaign aims to build on the commitment already achieved from global organisations.It is the start of a long-term programme of support for the industry, notably in Great Britain and Ireland, and will begin with the distribution of a toolkit resource to clubs designed to provide guidance on operational and marketing improvement to help attract more women and girls.“I believe that we need to do more to open up the sport for women and girls so that they can enjoy its many proven benefits,” added Slumbers.
