ST ANDREWS LINKS UNDERLINES ITS COMMITMENT TO WOMEN’S GOLF
In celebration of the AIG Women’s Open returning to the Old Course this week, St Andrews Links Trust has released two short films showcasing the importance of the venue in paving the way and continuing to support women’s golf.
As part of its Pioneer video series, the two films tell the story of the world’s first ladies golf club, the St Andrews Ladies Putting Club, as well as charting the careers of two female PGA pros working at the Home of Golf in the St Andrews Links Golf Academy.
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The films, entitled Pioneers: The World’s First Ladies Golf Club and Pioneers: Breaking Barriers at the Home of Golf are designed to underline the strong history St Andrews has with women’s golf and the key role it can play in supporting the women’s game just now and in the future.
Pioneers: The World’s First Ladies Golf Club tells the story of the inception of the St Andrews Ladies Putting Club, founded in 1867, and the subsequent growth in popularity of their world-famous Himalayas putting green, situated alongside the Old Course.
Pioneers: Breaking Barriers at the Home of Golf charts the career path of PGA Professionals Rachel Knight and Adelle Middleton and their journey to St Andrews Links. It is at the Home of Golf where Rachel now supports the development of the next generation of talent through the St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association and Adelle provides expert instruction to a broad range of clients as well as becoming a qualified Callaway club fitting technician in the National Performance Centre based at St Andrews Links Golf Academy.
In addition to the launch of the films, the Links Trust has also made a number of commitments as a signatory to the R&A’s Women in Golf Charter, to support the growth of the women’s game and increase the number of women working in the industry.
The details
So far, these commitments have delivered the introduction of a women’s network within the Links Trust to give female employees the opportunity to meet, collaborate and share knowledge and expertise. The objective of the women’s network is to better understand the employee experience for female colleagues at the Links Trust as well as generating and implementing actionable ideas to make positive improvements.
Additional commitments by the Links Trust include offering opportunities to increase women and girls’ participation in golf through St Andrews Links Golf Academy with successes including:
Bespoke summer and winter girls coaching sessions delivered with up to 29 girls aged 6-16-years old. The sessions have also included group trips to the R&A’s World Golf Museum for a Women & Girls in Golf Tour and a visit to this week’s AIG Women’s Open
Ladies coaching sessions attended by more than 100 women with a mixture of age and abilities, including on-course lessons
Record membership numbers at St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association (SALJGA) with 326 juniors, 32 per cent of whom are girls receiving free golf tuition from expert instructors. SALJGA members Abigail May and Carly MacDonald were called up to represent Scotland in the European Girls Team Championship, the European Young Masters and the Home International matches
Commitment to support staff in applying to the R&A’s Women in Golf Leadership Programme to develop more female leaders in the industry