Female golfers hoping Rio Olympics will prove springboard for the sport

The Olympics has finally kicked off and the world has been a blaze of activity around which country will come out on top this year and which athletes will come home with the gold. Though we still have a little while to wait until golf makes its triumphant return to the game after a 112 year absence, a number of golfers have declared their hopes that the competition will demonstrate a springboard for the sport’s future success.

Despite the number of male golfers who have dropped out of the Olympics, citing fears of the Zika virus and conflicting event schedules, only one woman has dropped out of the competition. Part of this appears to be due to the importance that many women are placing in the event, not only to compete against and alongside some of the world's top athletes, but also for its potential to raise awareness and popularity in women's golf. Charley Hull, Britain’s top ranking women's golfer commented on this, in reference to the announcement that two of Great Britain's male representatives Jason Day and Dustin Johnson had dropped out. “It’s obviously their choice and they have their reasons, and I understand their reasons,” She said. “I feel like I have to give back a little bit and I am happy to do that.”

On the back of increasing success for the Ladies European Tour, which has seen increased exposure and viewing numbers in the last three years, the tour and its chief executive Ivan Khodabakhsh are hoping to drive the momentum forward. “In 2012, we had 194 hours of broadcast worldwide,” said Khodabakhsh. “Last year it was 4,700 hours. Three years ago we had a few thousand minutes watched on YouTube, last year it was 8.8 million.

“The Olympics is going to be an absolute game-changer. We are convinced about how exciting women’s golf is and we will have the opportunity to show that to billions of people.”

It is a sentiment that many golfers, and women's golf enthusiasts seem to share. The women’s golf movement continues to go from strength to strength, and hopefully with the huge numbers tuning into the Olympics this year, we can expect to see even more opportunities present themselves in the future of this amazing sport.

For more information on women's golf at the Olympics this year, make sure you read our guide to Rio golf here.

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