The inaugural Women and Girls Golf Month in Australia has seen a spike of clubs become signatories to the R&A Women in Golf Charter. Nineteen clubs across Australia have endorsed action plans and become signatories throughout the month, bringing the total number of signatories to 45. The charter, which is backed by the R&A and the Australian golf industry, supports clubs to identify actions they want to undertake to increase participation and leadership opportunities for women and girls. Some of these measures include:

• Increased course and competition access

• Beginner participation programs and ongoing nurturing initiatives to support women throughout their entry into golf

• Increased succession planning strategies to support women onto boards and sub committees.

“The Charter has helped spark important conversations within clubs by raising more awareness of the need for greater gender equity,” said Megan Carr, Women and Girls Operations Manager at Golf Australia. “It has been fantastic to work with so many across Australia who are committed to driving change to increase opportunities for women and girls.” With the focus squarely on women and girls in the month of March, the following clubs have joined a growing list to become signatories to the R&A Women in Golf Charter:

New South Wales

• Rich River GC

Queensland

• Half Moon Bay

• The Brisbane GC

• Babinda GC

South Australia

• The Grange GC

• South Lakes GC

• Blackwood GC

Tasmania

• Mowbray GC

• Pittwater GC

Victoria

• Horsham GC

• Medway GC

• Northern GC

• Yarra Yarra GC

• Tocumwal GC

• Hidden Valley GC

• Commonwealth GC

• Sanctuary Lakes GC

• The Eastern GC

Western Australia

• Lakelands GC

Golf Australia continues to work with, and support interested clubs through the signatory process, helping them to identify actions based on club needs.

"The March signatory list is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Carr.

“We have a total of 183 expressions of interest from across Australia, so as this list continues to grow, we will continue to see the R&A Women in Golf Charter signatories increase.”

Working with clubs, an action plan is developed to support the needs of each individual club. Each action plan needs to be endorsed by the club’s board, ensuring a whole of club approach.

The newest signatories identified a range of actions that will be implemented over the next 12 months.

Some of these actions include:

• Change to women's club championships from a mid-week-only offering to a multiday structure. This allows working women and girls studying the opportunity to compete in the prestigious event.

• Alignment of club programs to Golf Australia's national programs - Get Into Golf and MyGolf

• Implementation of Golf Australia’s terms of reference for a club’s women's committee. This sees a structural change to focus on women’s development.

• Succession planning that results in increased opportunities for women in leadership and board positions.

• New gender-neutral constitutions and by-laws.

• Equal prizes for men and women.

• Changing access on traditional men's day to ensure women can complete 18 holes of golf aligned to their membership offering.

• Increased number of women undertaking community instructor training to support and nurture women and girls into the game.

Tiffany Cherry, Head of Women and Girls Engagement at Golf Australia is delighted with the recent uptake of signatories during Women and Girls Golf Month. “In a month designed to showcase how we’re diversifying golf’s offering to help change perceptions and bring about change, the timing of these new signatories is significant. “We are pleased these clubs have come on board and are publicly committing to the advancement of women and girls in golf. This movement is reflective of the growing sentiment to evolve golf into a sport that is equitable for all.” ------------------

The adoption of the Women in Golf Charter in Australia provides an excellent opportunity for clubs, organisations and communities to join forces and collectively attract more women and girls to golf.

To submit an expression of interest for your club to become a Women in Golf Charter signatory, please register here.

From there Golf Australia will arrange a brief meeting with your local Golf Australia Regional Development Officer or Clubs and Facilities Support Manager, and the Women and Girls Engagement Team.