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.
The films, entitled Pioneers: The World’s First Ladies Golf Club and Pioneers: Breaking Barriers at the Home of Golfare 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.
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.
Neil Coulson, Chief Executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said: “We are excited to be hosting the AIG Women’s Open on the Old Course for the third time in its history and there is no better place to celebrate and continue to elevate the women’s game than with the world’s best players here at the Home of Golf.
“The Home of Golf can act as a symbol around the world and we are proud to showcase our commitment to the women’s game as a signatory and supporter of the R&A’s Women in Golf Charter.
“From the St Andrews Ladies Putting Club through to the huge success of the girls’ programme as part of the St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association, St Andrews has long been at the forefront of commitments to the women’s game. We are fortunate to have two outstanding young female PGA professionals in Rachel and Adelle who are just two of many female colleagues serving as wonderful ambassadors for the Links and golf as a diverse industry with lots of wonderful opportunities.”
Rachel Knight, Golf Academy Operations Supervisor at St Andrews Links Trust, said: “It’s a huge honour to have been the first female in the Golf Academy but during my time here there have been so many strong women across the Links Trust leading the way in the industry.
“Our women’s network is a great way for us to get together from different departments. It allows us to support each other, talk about what’s going well, what we need to do better in the organisation and as an industry and to share our experiences as a group.
“Hosting the AIG Women’s Open is a great opportunity for us to showcase the great work that goes on here at the Home of Golf to support and promote the women’s game and encourage more women and girls into the game and the industry.”
The 2024 AIG Women’s Open will be the third time it has been held on the Old Course with Lorena Ochoa and Stacy Lewis winning the previous championships in 2007 and 2013 respectively.
In addition to their day jobs at the Golf Academy throughout the AIG Women’s Open, both Rachel and Adelle are hoping to have the opportunity to see first-hand the talents of the best players in the world. Rachel has been nominated as the playing marker for the Championship in the event of an odd number of golfers making the cut, while Adelle will caddie for Rachel in the event of a call up.
The two films can be viewed on the Home of Golf Youtube channel via the links above while the commitments made by St Andrews Links Trust as a signatory to the Women in Golf Charter can been seen on the website here.