London, England: Women’s golf has received a boost with The R&A agreeing to increase its funding for the Ladies European Tour (LET) and its development circuit, the LET Access Series, for 2017.
The R&A, which completed its merger with the Ladies’ Golf Union (LGU) at the start of the year, has supported the LET for more than 20 years and the additional funding will help the LET to further develop its efforts to contribute to the growth of the game among women and girls.
Since the establishment of the LET’s Development Department in September 2014 and the appointment of Mike Round as Director of Development, the LET has been working more closely with national federations and event promoters to maximise the impact for women’s and girls’ golf.
Round said: “Some of The R&A’s funding will be targeted at supporting golf development programmes in a number of the countries where we have events. We will be looking to work with local and national partners to support coaching and activity programmes that aim to raise the profile of women’s golf and increase participation.”
Regarding the LET Access Series Tour, Director Di Barnard, said: “Through the Access Series events, we aim to provide amateurs and emerging young professionals with the opportunity to test themselves against other talented players on an international level so they can make a more informed decision about their futures.
“We are continually looking for ways to improve and grow the Tour and with The R&A’s support we will be able to look at developing a more extensive on-line scoring system that benefits our partners, provides valuable information to players and coaches, and also provide more engaging content for spectators.”
Duncan Weir, Executive Director – Golf Development at The R&A, said: “The R&A is delighted to be continuing our long-standing support for the LET and LET Access Series. We are committed to supporting the encouragement and development of women’s and girls’ golf through our merger with the LGU.”