Golf has long been a male-dominated sphere, but the demography is finally starting to equal out.
Globally, R&A research shows that 25% of 9- and 18-hole golfers now identify as women.
This on the 50th anniversary of the Women’s AIG Open – held at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire from 29 July.
Beth Coulter, 22, just competed for Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup for the second time as an Irish amateur golfer.
She spoke about the challenges of growing up as a young girl in the sport but has hopes for the future.
Beth said: “Retaining girls in sport is extremely important and I think there is a little bit of a gap there.”
She highlighted how female role models are critical to the diversification of golf and how she feels it is exciting to see sportswomen becoming more and more familiar to young people.
Beth praised Golf Ireland for supporting girls both professionally and in the amateur ranks and said that at college it was “pushed that you’re creating a well-rounded person as well as an athlete.”
Similarly, whilst Caroline Shukla believes there is still work to be done, communities such as her own Skratch Women are making a positive difference to getting more women into golf.
Caroline said: “Golf has become much more of a friendly environment for women to get into specifically because of groups like Skratch and other communities that help break down those barriers and make more friendly and welcoming environments for women to ask questions and be new and learn a skill from scratch.”
Listen to both ladies speaking about being in the world of golf as a woman below.
Featured image credit: Sarah Mayne. Curtis Cup at Sunningdale Golf Club August 2024
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