Women and Girls' Golf Week is back for another year. We chatted to England Golf's Lauren Spray to find out what to expect

Women and Girls’ Golf Week from our friends at England Golf will return from July 29 to August 4.

It was announced that throughout the week the #WhyIGolf campaign will strive to share stories of those females involved with the game in any capacity from all walks of life.

The seven-day campaign has a different focus each day, allowing for the showcasing of a variety of inspirational people and stories.

As many people as possible are being encouraged to share stories on social media relating to each day’s theme and also in relation to events that are taking place.

Women and Girls' Golf Week

Lauren Spray of England Golf is overseeing the campaign and spoke to LG to give us an idea of what we can expect as well as her thoughts on women’s golf.

So, what is Women and Girls’ Golf Week?

“It’s an online campaign to try and dispel all of the misconceptions around women and girls in golf.

“We are trying to overcome the stigmas around female golf to try and encourage more women and girls to come and try the sport and realise that there’s more to golf that just playing the game.

“That’s why we’ve decided to have different headlines for each day, so that we get to celebrate all the different aspects that golf offers.

“We want women that are involved with golf to be telling their own stories rather than us telling them. We are keen to get as much user-generated content as possible.

“Whether it’s a volunteer, someone competing at a high level or someone who has just come into the game, there’s lots of opportunities for people to shout about what they do.”

What can golf clubs do in Women and Girls’ Golf Week?

“There’s facilities guidance available for clubs to use which will give them an idea of how they can engage with the campaign on each day of the week.

“For example on Monday, its careers. So if they have a female club manager or even catering staff, or anything else – it’s about giving them ideas of how they can showcase those careers.”

Could golf clubs be doing more for women’s golf?

“There are clubs that are leading the way but there could always be more done. Some are championing everything that we would want them to be doing but then there are others that aren’t.

“But, even though there are some clubs like that, there is plenty of variety and something for everyone, which is something we don’t often shout enough about.”

Women and Girls' golf week

What’s different about this year?

“Last year was our first campaign of this kind and we didn’t know exactly what interaction we were going to get.

“It ended up going worldwide to places like Australia and Abu Dhabi and we weren’t necessarily expecting it to have an impact in those places.

“Having had that impact, we know that we need to get more media involved and more platforms.

“This year, we’ve slightly changed the days to align better with the events that are happening at the Women’s British Open. For example, Tuesday night will be used in relation to the pro-am.

“It’s important that we have men and women involved, because it’s important that we have male voices that promote women’s sport.

“The week ties nicely into the Women’s British Open, and Georgia Hall’s success in 2018 was brilliantly timed.”

What have players like Hall done for the women’s game in this country?

“Georgia Hall has championed the sport so much and probably hasn’t really been recognised as much as she should have been even with her MBE. We want to make sure that we give her the platform she deserves through this as well.

“I think eventually women’s golf will have equal prize money with the men but I know realistically it will take time. These things always do.”

“We just need to make sure we keep celebrating what people are doing within the sport and get behind everything.

“There is going to be more people who watch it, more people demanding to watch it, and that’s when the prize money will hopefully go up. We are going through the same process as women’s football; we’ve just got a bit of catching up to do.”

Get involved and share your stories using the hashtag #WhyIGolf. More information can be found on the England Golf website.

Joe Hughes

Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.

Handicap: 20

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