Women and Girls’ Golf Week has proved to be a digital hit, with the 2020 edition seeing over 9.7 million impressions on social media.
The online campaign staged by England Golf ran over seven days from Monday 17 August and culminated with the final round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon.
The feelgood factor around female golf was highlighted with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn brought alive with inspiring stories from golf fanatics from all across England and as far afield as America and Australia.
Golfers – both men and women – ensured Women and Girls’ Golf Week enjoyed 9.7 million impressions on social media while campaign videos were viewed over 285,000 times on all digital platforms.
The #WhyIGolf story racked up 100,000 views on Instagram alone and the campaign hashtag was used 1,313 times over the week.
Over 500 contributors took the time to post personal #WhyIGolf stories, including LET stars Georgia Hall and Alice Hewson, while Sky Sports Golf’s Sarah Stirk and BBC breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty once again gave their support to the campaign.
Lauren Spray, Women and Girls manager at England Golf, said: “Once again we’ve been blown away by the enthusiasm of those who contributed their stories or simply joined in the online fun.
“We’re now in our third year and the reach of the campaign continues to spread and the number of impressions on social media is fantastic – bringing more attention and recognition for all the fabulous females who continue to be the lifeblood of the game in this country.
“From everyone at England Golf, I would like to express my thanks to the stars and industry professionals who gave up their time to be such a positive influence on the week.
“But most of all I’d like to say thank you and well done to the amazing army of female golfers and golf fans out there who engaged with us over the week and gave us their backing.
“A special shout out also to the many men and boys who backed the week and its message. It’s important they are part of conversation and spread the message.”
The top performing item on Facebook was the initial post kicking off the week of online activities reaching 213,409 people.
Jackie Davidson’s inspiring story of how she rose from being a volunteer in sport to the role of Assistant Director of Golf Development at The R&A reached over 60,000 people.
On Twitter, the first tweet of the week achieved over 73,000 impressions, with a video on careers being viewed over 16,000 times.
Throughout the week the campaign received tremendous backing from SKY Sports who covered feature stories with inspiring women on both their news bulletins and on their website. The R&A, PGA, the greenkeepers’ association BIGGA, the Golf Foundation and our counterparts at Wales Golf also helped drive the Women and Girls’ Golf Week message.
Women and Golf magazine, National Club Golfer and Golf Monthly also provided excellent coverage over the week.
Focusing on six key themes from Monday to Saturday – careers, volunteers, health and wellbeing, competing, role models and newbies – the week ended on a Sunday high with golfers agreeing to ‘join the club’ and stand together in solid support of the women and girls’ game and membership values.
England Golf sponsors adidas played their part in the week by offering up a star prize of a complete head-to-toe outfit for one lucky winner.
Spray added: “Here’s to 2021 where we hope to build on the achievements of this difficult year when golf – more than any other year – has brought us closer together in spirit if not always in person.”
For highlights from Women and Girls’ Golf Week 2020, visit #WhyIGolf homepage