New Formats Revolutionising Golf

When Golf Victoria made the decision to combine the Women’s and Men’s Vic Opens back in 2012 and play them concurrently, at the same venue, for the same prizemoney, little did anyone know that it would be the catalyst for a revolution in golf which we have seen explode into a number of different formats in the professional game in recent years. T he overwhelming success of what is now the ISPS Handa Vic Open has been well-documented, in 2019 both fields played for AUD$1.5million, with the women’s event being co-sanctioned with the LPGA Tour and the men’s event being co-sanctioned with the European Tour. The tournament was broadcast to a global audience and the exposure the tournament generated both here in Australia and throughout the world was unprecedented. There is no doubt that the tournament has stamped itself as the benchmark for equality in professional golf and is also one of the most popular sporting events in the country. While golf has seemingly led the way, many other sporting organisations in Australia have also identified the need to modernise and strive towards gender equality in recent times. Cricket Australia started the Big Bash back in 2011 and launched the Women’s BBL in 2015, Netball Fast5 was introduced in 2018, Tennis Australia introduced Fast 4 back in 2014, Rugby 7’s was adopted as a sport at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and Hockey Australia recently introduced its new concept, “Hockey One” which aims to unify and celebrate both male and female hockey as a gender equal sport. Some examples of new golf events and concepts which have been piloted in recent times are the World Super 6 Perth which replaced the more traditional Perth International in 2017, GolfSixes which was launched by the European Tour in 2017 and BlitzGolf which was launched in Australia in 2017. In terms of overseas golf tournaments which are driving change, through the vision of Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco and his sister Princess Lalla Meryem, (after whom the women’s event is named) the Lalla Meryem Cup moved venues in 2011 so it could be played in the same city as the Hassan II Golf Trophy (named after their father King Hassan II), an event which is part of the European Tour. In 2018 the collaboration between the events was taken a step further and for the first time both events were played at the same venue, albeit on different layouts. While there is still some work to be done to resolve the discrepancy in the levels of prizemoney the men and women compete for at the event, the format has proven extremely popular with both the female and male players. The heightened levels of coverage the tournament has received across the globe in recent years has contributed greatly to awareness of women’s sport and especially women’s golf in Morocco. Another unique tournament format was rolled out on the Ladies European Tour in Dubai, when the world’s first professional day-night golf tournament, the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic was played partly under floodlights on the Wadi course at the Emirates Golf Club. The tournament was a great success and also received worldwide headlines for its unique format. Story by Karen Lunn

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