Women and Girls’ Golf Week, which closed on a high when Georgia Hall won the Women’s British Open, was a huge success across GB&I. The #WhyIGolf reached more than 2.5m people on Twitter, generating over 12m impressions.
“These figures are just amazing,” said Lauren Spray, England Golf’s Women and Girls’ Manager. “Our aim was to raise awareness of the fabulous female side of the game and, with the support and collaboration of the other home countries, we’ve succeeded beyond our expectations.
“The response during the week from women, girls – and men – joining the conversation with #WhyIGolf was fantastic. Now we’re working on ways to channel this energy and enthusiasm to grow the game. Georgia Hall’s thrilling victory was the perfect way to end the week and to inspire more women and girls to get into golf.”
The results of the week coincide with the release of data by Nielsen Sports showing that 59% of the UK population have an active interest in women’s sport – a potential market of 24m people.
Women and Girls’ Golf Week was the inspiration of England Golf and supported by Scottish Golf, Wales Golf, the Irish Ladies Golf Union and The R&A and was designed to unite the golf industry to grow the women and girls’ game.
Website stories followed a theme for each day and featured career women, volunteers, players and celebrities. The conversation grew rapidly on social media with women and girls sharing their stories with the #WhyIGolf.
The campaign reached as far as Australia, with content arriving via LinkedIn, and the week was highlighted on BBC Radio 5Live and featured by Sarah Stirk on Sky Sports.
Stirk was one of the many celebrities who got involved with Women and Girls’ Golf Week, alongside her colleague Henni Goya, the BBC’s Naga Munchetty and Katherine Downes, talkSPORT’s Georgie Bingham, TV and radio hosts Jenni Falconer and Seema Jaswal, tour professional and event host Sophie Walker and social influencers Cat Meffan and the Jazzy Golfer.
Facts and figures from England Golf’s social media platforms:
- 2.4m people reached in total
- 2.5m impressions on the day which celebrated celebrity golfers and wellbeing
- 200,000+ views of video content on Facebook and Twitter
- 1000 people shared their stories on Instagram, covering the whole spectrum of golf from four-year-olds on the range with their parents to experienced lady captains.
England Golf’s top performing posts:
- Twitter – the campaign video generated over 203,000 impressions
- Facebook – the campaign video reached 95,000 people
- Instagram – a post on Durham County Association players received over 4000 impressions.
The week was also supported by a wide range of stakeholders, including the Ladies European Tour, the PGA, with their own #WeLoveGolf, the Golf Foundation, the greenkeepers’ association BIGGA, magazines Women & Golf and Lady Golfer, Golf Access, Golf and Health and the CEO of American Golf.
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