Belgian golf is booming. It has just broken a historical record with more than 72,000 licensees in the last census. And among the new followers, there are many women. “On the Walloon side, these now represent a third of the affiliates. And, by 2025, the goal is for one out of every two golfers to be a woman”, says Émilie Geury, general secretary of the Francophone Golf Association.
This Wednesday, during an event organized at the Golf de Naxhelet in the presence of Valérie Glatigny, Minister of Sports, AFGolf was also the first French-speaking federation to officially commit to strengthening the place of women in sport.
In the past, golf had quite a misogynistic connotation. Very “gentlemen only”. This is no longer the case today. “The latest statistics are very instructive. They demonstrate the growing interest of women in this sport. Golf, which has become fashionable, has many advantages. It is practiced in the middle of nature, alone or accompanied, at any age and throughout the year. It is excellent for health and facilitates disconnection. During the harrowing periods we have just been through, the discipline has also given rise to many vocations. And the women were in the front line”, continues Emilie Geury.
It is to surf this new wave that AFGolf will launch, in collaboration with the clubs, various actions aimed at promoting the virtues of swing in all female age categories. “We are going to organize many open days and free initiations in the coming months. Golf still suffers from a rather elitist image. But things are definitely moving in the right direction. Taboos fall at the same time that the doors of the Club Houses open! »
In this context, the year 2022 will also be very prosperous in Belgium with, as a backdrop, a Ladies European Tour tournament that will take place, at the end of May, at the Golf de Naxhelet. We often talk about the performances of men’s champions, such as Thomas Detry, Thomas Pieters or Nicolas Colsaerts. But the girls also do quite well on the greens. Manon De Roey is one of the best professional players on the Old Continent and the young Savannah De Bock, 15, has just been selected to defend the European colors during the Junior Solheim Cup.
Michael Tasso
Leave a Reply