In a wide ranging interview in the latest episode of Monthly Meets, former Ladies European Tour player and now broadcaster Sophie Walker, discusses a host of subjects surrounding women’s golf.
From grassroots to the professional scene, and events including the Olympics, AIG Women’s Open and Solheim Cup, with her extensive experience she provides valuable insight into the women’s game.
Walker believes that women’s professional golf is still not getting the coverage it deserves, or enough exposure to generate interest from a broader audience.
“Players are doing everything they can, in terms of where we are, we need some visibility. We need some media companies to get behind it and it to be put on television It’s long been said that nobody watches women’s golf, but nobody can find women’s golf either, so if we can get it on some platforms and getting people engaging with it, it will be shown.
NBC said the Chevron Championship was their most viewed Chevron Championship to date. So there are figures to say that people will watch it, it's just getting the audience used to where it is, and going out not only to watch it in person, but also through other broadcasting streams,” she told Golf Monthly’s Alison Root.
Walker praises how Nelly Korda has played a magnificent role in promoting women’s golf since her run of history-making LPGA victories earlier this year, and how the game needs somebody like Korda to hang our coat on to say this is the person that you need to turn on the television to watch.
“Nelly doesn’t particularly like the limelight or talking too much, but she certainly likes it more than Scottie Scheffler does. What she has been saying in her press conferences is arguably just as important as her performances, 'We need more people to watch us, we need people to invest in us.' If the world’s best players say that, people listen more.”
Regarding the Olympic Games in Paris, Walker believes the tournament has become a higher priority for players since golf returned to the Olympics in 2016, highlighting that Lydia Ko is keen to win gold for New Zealand, having collected bronze in Tokyo and silver in Rio. If Celine Boutier could win gold on home soil, it would be an amazing story for women’s golf.
“We need those types of stories. If Charley (Hull) would have won the AIG Women’s Open last year... It’s a little bit like what Leah Williamson said about women's football, 'We had to win to be recognised.' I feel like we’re at that point now. That we’ve got to win to be recognised.”
Finding ways to attract and retain women to golf is another ongoing topic of conversation and while Walker believes barriers to entry, such as dress code, have slowly been broken down, there is still room for improvement.
“I feel with golf - coaching lessons, memberships, they advertise it to golfers. You're preaching to the converted, I don’t need that on a Facebook site that I’m already on. I need it to be advertised at the local hairdressers, local gyms, schools, so that people that aren’t playing golf see it. I don’t need to see it on the noticeboard in the locker rooms because we're already members.
“Make golf not about the score, which I never thought I’d be saying, but now I try not to ask people their handicap or if they’re a member of a golf course because it alienates them straight away."
