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This week women’s and girls’ golf will enjoy a massive boost to its profile as England Golf and its business partners celebrate the latest Women and Girls in Golf Week.
The campaign, now in its fourth year, runs from today until 22 August and, as in previous years, is timed to coincide with the AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie, when women’s golf is already in the limelight.
The aim of Women and Girls in Golf Week is to celebrate the successes of female golfers both on and off the course and in the process promote female participation at all levels and challenge negative perceptions about the game.
This year there are seven themes for the week which cover a wide range of different aspects of the game: Careers in Golf (Monday), Volunteering (Tuesday), Health and Wellbeing (Wednesday), Competing (Thursday), Role Models (Friday), Newbies (Saturday) and Join the Club (Sunday).
Most of those themes are self-explanatory. Careers in Golf will introduce a group of inspiring women who are blazing a trail in the golf industry. Newbies focusses on women and girls who are new to the game but who now can’t live without it, while Join the Club is a rallying call for all female golfers who are not members of a golf club.
The 2021 Women and Girls in Golf Week follows on from the massive success of the initiative in 2020 which accounted for more than 9.7 million impressions on social media.
“Playing the game, helping out at a club, working in the golf industry, there are so many roles in the game for women and girls to enjoy and we aim to highlight these to a wide and growing audience,” said Lauren Spray, England Golf’s manager for women and girls in golf.
There are three ways the golfing community can get involved in the week. During Women and Girls in Golf Week use the #WhyIGolf in posts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and remember to tag in England Golf. Send pictures of yourself and your friends on the golf course – whether you’re playing, practising or enjoying a 19th hole tipple – to pr@englandgolf.org.
Many clubs and facilities will also be delivering a series of activities during the week so go along and take part.
There were 500 people who contributed #WhyIGolf stories and they racked up 100,000 views on Instagram alone. The campaign hashtag was used 1,313 times during the week. The top performing item on Facebook was the initial post kicking off the week of online activities which reached 213,409 people. Jackie Davidson’s inspiring story of how she rose from being a volunteer in sport to the role of assistant director of golf development was viewed by more than 60,000 people. On Twitter, the first tweet of the week achieved more than 73,000 impressions, with a video on careers being viewed more than 16,000 times.
Georgia Hall and Alice Hewson were among the professional golfers who contributed video clips while Sky Sports Golf’s Sarah Stirk and the BBC’s Naga Munchetty also supported the campaign.
“Once again, we’ve been blown away by the enthusiasm of all those who contributed their stories or simply joined in the online fun,” Spray said at the time. “The reach of the campaign continues to spread and the number of impressions on social media is fantastic, bringing more attention and recognition for all the fabulous females who continue to be the lifeblood of the game in this country.
“A special shout out to the many boys who backed the week and its message,” she added. “It is important they are part of the conversation and spread the message.
“Every year we look to build on the previous campaign and ensure that the amazing stories involving women and girls are given the exposure they deserve.
“I’m always a firm believer in the phrase ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.’ ”
England Golf’s 2021 Women and Girls in Golf Week is supported by a wide range of organisations including active alliance, Adidas, BIGGA, Black British Golfers, Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, EDGA, GCMA, Girls in Golf Society, the Golf Foundation, the Justin Rose Ladies Series, the Muslim Golf Association, the PGA, the R&A, Slingsby Golf Academy, the Sport and Recreation Alliance, Titleist and Wales Golf.
Top: Georgia Hall
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