Youth golf continues to drive women’s golf to new heights

It is always a hopeful sign for the future of a sport when youth competitions continue to provide surprising, inspirational stories that would rival that of premiere level golf.

This year has already demonstrated a tremendous indication of the skill and enthusiasm of golf’s youth movement. 15 year old Julia Engstrom wowed audiences at the 2016 Ladies’ British Open Championship, when she won the tournament as the youngest winner in the event’s extensive history.

There has been a real shift in recent tournaments around the world, to encompass the growing number of young female players. Lydia Ko was the No.1 ranked professional golfer in 2015, when she was just 17 years old. She was also the youngest woman to win a major championship. Despite this, the New Zealand star was beaten more recently at the Women’s PGA Championship by 18 year old Brooke Henderson. Young golfers continue to saturate golfing competitions around the world, including recently, the Curtis Cup. According to the Scottish Herald, the average age of the Great Britain & Ireland’s team was just 21, whereas their US competitors average age was an equally impressive 18!

A lot of the news in the golfing industry in the last few years has been about the popularity of women's golf, and how the industry is opening its doors to new opportunities and accessibility to new participants and spectators. With rising stars like Henderson and Ko coming into the limelight, it puts a new perspective on decisions by board members to close or open competitions and club memberships to new members.

It shows that it is really important for older generations to set the stage for fantastic young players to step forward, and continue to push the boundaries of professional golf.

Photo by CHEN WS / Shutterstock.com