It’s Masters week! I’ll be glued to the TV, and have already declined social invitations for the duration. In case you’re interested I’m going to have a few small bets – Rory to win because that’s my heart ruling my head, and each way on Will Zalatoris and Corey Conners.
I’ll be watching the first day’s play at the new Caddi Club in Fulham, an indoor golf experience, which should be fun. It seems like these places are popping up all over the place, but with a relaxed atmosphere, a glass of something, and a bite to eat, they are definitely a good way to generate women’s interest in the game.
That’s this week, but as you know, I always like to recap. It seems that I’ve been watching more golf than actually playing at the moment. I was in awe watching the young women compete over Augusta’s famous course last Saturday in the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The scoring was incredible including a bogey free 66 from American Bailey Shoemaker, but it was great to see England’s Lottie Woad come through in such dramatic fashion, sinking a birdie putt on the 18th to win the title by one shot. To play to that level on such a challenging course in front of Augusta’s patrons and the world’s media was fantastic – I’m sure the guys this week would like to buy some of their shots, especially the putts.
This was great, but wouldn’t it be amazing if we could watch the professional female players take on the course, the likes of Nelly Korda, who has just won her fourth LPGA title in a row, Charley Hull, Lilia Vu, Lexi Thompson, Leona Maguire, Georgia Hall and others.
This is a subject that often gets raised, especially at this time of year. Even a friend I saw on Sunday, who in fairness doesn’t usually watch a lot of women’s golf on TV, mentioned to me that she was thinking the same. Of course, Augusta has such a strong appeal, but a back-to-back women’s and men’s event – how good would that be? There are several considerations and earlier this week I wrote a piece on the subject for Golf Monthly, which you can read here.
ANWA Was Terrific, But Should Augusta Be Doing More To Support The Women's Game?
We consider why the world's best professional female golfers should be given an opportunity to compete at Augusta
www.golfmonthly.com
Interestingly, I had a chat with 7-time Major champion and 3-time American Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster last Friday and she’s all for it. She would love to see the men’s and women’s tours come together for two weeks. She explained that in terms of the length of the course, Augusta wouldn’t have to do too much, perhaps build a couple of new tees, so instead of 1,200 yards difference, make it 700 yards. All we can do is hope!
In the meantime, enjoy the Masters.