Women’s professional golf - does anyone care?

[Mr Hip]

My preference is to watch the lady professionals because I relate more to their games, particularly with regard to driving distance and swing tempo, than the gym boys!

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Um distance is, like it or not, a MAJOR factor of the standard of play!

Yeah, it's crucial inside 100 yards 🤔

 

[shortgame]

Absolutely - as is getting to within a 100 yards, rather than say 130, 140

 

[Deleted member 3432]

Maybe they should make it like tennis and the women play 12 holes

 

[GOLFER1994]

Its the unreal skill and distance of the male game that I enjoy watching paired with the interesting characters. Although i appreciate the skill the professional women hold it just does not interest me to watch

 

[Blue in Munich]

Um distance is, like it or not, a MAJOR factor of the standard of play!

Er, no; distance is a major factor in the standard of scoring, but not necessarily in the standard of play. Bomb and gouge May get you a great score but it doesn’t necessarily make you a great player.

 

[patricks148]

Thinking about it they need to target a whole new audience, middle aged men are probably not that interested and they would make up the majority of golf viewers i would imagine.

easier said than done

 

[Grant85]

surely the interest in a womens masters would be purely because of the golf course? that in itself further proves the issue.

would i watch it? yeah probably. why? because its at Augusta

Yes, the Masters has a certain allure because of the course, the conditioning, the picture postcard wooden cabins etc. All great positives to play a championship at that famous venue, despite the sexism and elitism that exists.

Of course the mens game would be strong enough to move away from Augusta and play a 4th major at a different venue. In fact they could easilly afford to purpose build a venue and try and create the same postcard appeal, or design something totally different and modern. But that would clearly not be preferable and would still be difficult to do without losing some appeal.

The woman's game would benefit massively from the interest of staging a championship at Augusta National and really it is about time they were invited.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Yes, the Masters has a certain allure because of the course, the conditioning, the picture postcard wooden cabins etc. All great positives to play a championship at that famous venue, despite the sexism and elitism that exists.

Of course the mens game would be strong enough to move away from Augusta and play a 4th major at a different venue. In fact they could easilly afford to purpose build a venue and try and create the same postcard appeal, or design something totally different and modern. But that would clearly not be preferable and would still be difficult to do without losing some appeal.

The woman's game would benefit massively from the interest of staging a championship at Augusta National and really it is about time they were invited.

You keep saying it without explaining how it will help get little Mary from Newcastle take up the game.
Why did certain Clubs in the UK allow women in? And if it helps womens golf, why are they struggling to get women into golf.
Augusta is not the holy grail for getting females into golf in the UK.

 

[shortgame]

Er, no; distance is a major factor in the standard of scoring, but not necessarily in the standard of play. Bomb and gouge May get you a great score but it doesn’t necessarily make you a great player.

Scoring is the only thing that matters when it's your living and not many wish they were shorter off the tee!

Obviously distance without a certain level of accuracy (depending on course etc) is not much use but 270 yard drives won't win much on the mens Tours

Totally agree I too prefer to watch shot makers than bomb and gougers but unfortunately bomb and gouge is the reality at the top of the game at least for now

 

[Deleted member 21258]

Er, no; distance is a major factor in the standard of scoring, but not necessarily in the standard of play. Bomb and gouge May get you a great score but it doesn’t necessarily make you a great player.

Not sure if I quite think the same, get the point you are saying but standard of play to me at the highest level of sport, is about if you win, score low etc

Anyway for you and D4S, what is interesting is when you even look at stats like putts per GIR or sand saves, so nothing to do with distance and both USA tours publish. (and the first 2 stats I looked at after distance)

Putts per GIR, Best women was 1.722 and 16 women are under 1.77, mens lowest was 1.699 and 90 are under 1.77. Looking at sand saves, 66% men v 64% women is the best, 4 women better than 60% but 13 men better than 60% .

That is surprising to me as I was expecting the short game stats to be fairly similar, which clearly there are not, the women need to up their game to get to the same standard of play and scoring even on/around the greens.

Anyway all the best

 

[Grant85]

You keep saying it without explaining how it will help get little Mary from Newcastle take up the game.
Why did certain Clubs in the UK allow women in? And if it helps womens golf, why are they struggling to get women into golf.
Augusta is not the holy grail for getting females into golf in the UK.

It will generate a huge amount of interest in the womans game, especially for the inaugural event.

More interest, more TV hours, more column inches, more sponsorship, more money in the sport.

There's not a magic bullet to get more people into golf, be it boys, girls, men, woman etc. And certainly not any one thing that will get little Mary from Newcastle to pick up a club.

But if there's a womans US Masters on TV and a guy sits down to watch it at home and his daughter happens to take an interest... and perhaps watches Charley Hull winning it... it's a decent bet that she might at least go along to the driving range at some point.

At the moment, these ladies events struggle for coverage next to the mens events - even if a guy wanted to sit down and watch it with his daughter - but have the thing at Augusta and it will be the mens event that changes its schedule that week.

 

[shortgame]

Not sure if I quite think the same, get the point you are saying but standard of play to me at the highest level of sport, is about if you win, score low etc

Anyway for you and D4S, what is interesting is when you even look at stats like putts per GIR or sand saves, so nothing to do with distance and both USA tours publish. (and the first 2 stats I looked at after distance)

Putts per GIR, Best women was 1.722 and 16 women are under 1.77, mens lowest was 1.699 and 90 are under 1.77. Looking at sand saves, 66% men v 64% women is the best, 4 women better than 60% but 13 men better than 60% .

That is surprising to me as I was expecting the short game stats to be fairly similar, which clearly there are not, the women need to up their game to get to the same standard of play and scoring even on/around the greens.

Anyway all the best

Absolutely, ouside of a few outliers (Inbee Park and a few others) I can't understand why the lwvel.of putting etc is poorer - can only assume it's the shallower talent pool.

Also, I'm not convinced the ladies courses are generally set up as tough as the mens (courses used, green speeds, length of rough etc) so the reality might be that the stats are actually skewed slight in favour of the ladies. But I stand to be corrected.

As it happens, I often prefer to watch the ladies golf over the mens which more often than not I find dull

 

[Deleted member 16999]

It will generate a huge amount of interest in the womans game, especially for the inaugural event.

More interest, more TV hours, more column inches, more sponsorship, more money in the sport.

There's not a magic bullet to get more people into golf, be it boys, girls, men, woman etc. And certainly not any one thing that will get little Mary from Newcastle to pick up a club.

But if there's a womans US Masters on TV and a guy sits down to watch it at home and his daughter happens to take an interest... and perhaps watches Charley Hull winning it... it's a decent bet that she might at least go along to the driving range at some point.

At the moment, these ladies events struggle for coverage next to the mens events - even if a guy wanted to sit down and watch it with his daughter - but have the thing at Augusta and it will be the mens event that changes its schedule that week.

I’m happy to agree to disagree, once again getting women into Golf depends on daddy/husband watching it on tv.
Outside of those already interested in golf, nobody cares about Augusta.

Solheim Cup at Gleneagles next year, why aren’t the LET splashing it all over the media and using it help women’s golf now, ideal opportunity.

 

[Grant85]

I’m happy to agree to disagree, once again getting women into Golf depends on daddy/husband watching it on tv.
Outside of those already interested in golf, nobody cares about Augusta.

Solheim Cup at Gleneagles next year, why aren’t the LET splashing it all over the media and using it help women’s golf now, ideal opportunity.

Why is that a problem?
If you genuinely think a ladies US Masters wouldn't have a positive impact on the woman's game, I certainly can't agree to disagree with you.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Not sure if I quite think the same, get the point you are saying but standard of play to me at the highest level of sport, is about if you win, score low etc

Anyway for you and D4S, what is interesting is when you even look at stats like putts per GIR or sand saves, so nothing to do with distance and both USA tours publish. (and the first 2 stats I looked at after distance)

Putts per GIR, Best women was 1.722 and 16 women are under 1.77, mens lowest was 1.699 and 90 are under 1.77. Looking at sand saves, 66% men v 64% women is the best, 4 women better than 60% but 13 men better than 60% .

That is surprising to me as I was expecting the short game stats to be fairly similar, which clearly there are not, the women need to up their game to get to the same standard of play and scoring even on/around the greens.

Anyway all the best

You can twist stats as much as you like and make whatever you want out of them. I could argue that the male putting stats look better because the guys are hitting shorter clubs into greens and therefore getting the ball closer to the hole. The only true way to compare skill levels is to set up the exact same conditions ie. have 100 men hit a 7 iron into a green then 100 women do the same and then compare the proximity to the hole results and how many putts are taken from there. As they are playing different courses in different conditions you are never going to get a true reflection.

 

[Sports_Fanatic]

I think we're just at a crossroads on women's sport (maybe excluding tennis) where historic attidudes both on participation and promotion means it's not got the viewing numbers, but that now is the time to invest even if it means subsidising from the men's game for a while to benefit the sports overall.

Some aspects will always be poorer (e.g. distance) but it's promotion encourages more girls to play, means a bigger pool of women in all female sports and the elite level will therefore improve. I think you are starting to see this in Women's football and cricket (although obviously still behind the men). Once that happens, you'll also have a more natural audience to target it at. That to me is worth the investment (particularly with two daughters) as it can majorly help improve the health of our country.

I enjoy the Women's open, good day out, think the quality is very good. The point that people won't pay to watch if they're not the best golfers on the planet is floored. People travel up and down the country to watch some rubbish men's football teams (myself included) so it's not always about seeing the absolute best, just thoughs that are better than you.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I'm more than happy to watch womens golf as long as they don't start grunting on every shot like they do in tennis!!

 

[shortgame]

Some aspects will always be poorer (e.g. distance) but it's promotion encourages more girls to play, means a bigger pool of women in all female sports and the elite level will therefore improve. I think you are starting to see this in Women's football and cricket (although obviously still behind the men). Once that happens, you'll also have a more natural audience to target it at. That to me is worth the investment (particularly with two daughters) as it can majorly help improve the health of our country.

Spot on 👍👍

 

[Grant85]

I think we're just at a crossroads on women's sport (maybe excluding tennis) where historic attidudes both on participation and promotion means it's not got the viewing numbers, but that now is the time to invest even if it means subsidising from the men's game for a while to benefit the sports overall.

Some aspects will always be poorer (e.g. distance) but it's promotion encourages more girls to play, means a bigger pool of women in all female sports and the elite level will therefore improve. I think you are starting to see this in Women's football and cricket (although obviously still behind the men). Once that happens, you'll also have a more natural audience to target it at. That to me is worth the investment (particularly with two daughters) as it can majorly help improve the health of our country.

I enjoy the Women's open, good day out, think the quality is very good. The point that people won't pay to watch if they're not the best golfers on the planet is floored. People travel up and down the country to watch some rubbish men's football teams (myself included) so it's not always about seeing the absolute best, just thoughs that are better than you.

Comparison with football is interesting. Obviously you support your team and many will support them through thin, more than thick. And many are actually attracted to backing an underdog. With golf, you might support people based on nationality but personality is a bigger thing.

I think golf could develop more into a team game. Have matchplay between 4 or 6 person teams with different formats e.g. singles, 4BBB, foursomes etc.

Obviously it wont happen, but could be a more interesting format with more meaningful golf to watch.