They understand the significance. And they appreciate it. If you watched the first round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon on Thursday, two things were immediately apparent: 1) you wouldn’t have put a Scottish Terrier out in that weather, and 2) the best female golfers in the game uttered nary a peep of complaint. In fact, most of them couldn’t wipe the smiles from their faces, even as shots floated hither and yon in winds that gusted upward of 50 mph.
“I have never played in that type of wind,” Nelly Korda said after shooting 1-over par. “I had a hard time walking the first three holes.”
Korda’s comments weren’t bitter. She was more in awe of what a different game links golf can be when the weather changes. “I played (Royal Troon) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but those rounds went straight out the door today,” she said.
How tough was it? On the first hole, which normally plays downwind and is a 4-iron or hybrid off the tee followed by a 9-iron or wedge to the green, Korda blistered a driver that went 187 yards and then hit 5-iron from 140 and came up short.
“I don’t know that I’d actually go out and play on a day like this at home,” said Catriona Matthew, who lives a two-hour drive up the M77 from Troon. “I’d probably sit and look at (the golfers) and think what idiots they are to go out there and play.”
First-round leader Amy Olson hit an 8-iron from 90 yards on the sixth hole on Thursday, while Marina Alex, who shot 1 under and was thrilled, said, “I hit a driver on (the par-5 sixth) that went 175 yards, and then I hit a drive on (the back nine) that went 320, and those happened to both be the driving-distance measuring holes.”
So, with conditions teetering on the absurd, why was everyone so happy?
The answer is simple – they were thrilled because of where they were, and where they will be in the coming years.
This is the first year the AIG Women’s Open has been held at Royal Troon, a club that didn’t have female members six years ago. Adding to that, on Wednesday afternoon R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers announced the future heavyweight venues that will play host to the Women’s Open.
“This is a very strong statement of intent as to where we want to take this championship,” Slumbers said. “And I’m delighted to tell you that the venues which will stage the AIG Women’s Open until 2025 are as follows – 2021 will be at Carnoustie; 2022 will be at Muirfield; 2023 will be at Walton Heath; 2024 will be on the Old Course at St. Andrews; and we will culminate this fantastic five-year run in 2025 at Royal Porthcawl.”
When asked to characterize how the members at these clubs responded to being included in the women’s rota, Slumbers said they were, “absolutely ecstatic about it. They all – they are not only some of the best venues that we have to offer in this country, but they are clubs who really believe in helping the women’s game and are absolutely delighted to have their golf courses stage this great championship.”
Even Muirfield – which didn’t vote to allow female members until 2017 and added its first 12 women to the club July 1, 2019. “I think the world has changed quite a lot in the last five years,” Slumbers said. “I think there is a lot more discussion and energy and commitment about the game (being) more modern and relevant to today’s society. And we couldn’t have a more enthusiastic partner in the Honourable Company (of Edinburgh Golfers, known colloquially as Muirfield) in wanting to change this championship. I think it will be a fantastic place for the women golfers to go and play. I’m pretty excited already and I think Muirfield will really embrace it and give us a fantastic championship.
“I’m so excited that we’re playing a lot of the venues that we watch the men play. I mean, there have been so many years where we’ve been trying to get on the same level as men’s golf and it kind of starts with the golf courses in my opinion.” – Marina Alex
“It’s a huge statement of their commitment to the game and their commitment to the women’s game. But the whole five years is intended to be a huge statement of intent about how we want to provide the platform for the best women golfers to play on some of the best golf courses that we can offer in GB&I. It’s a five-year run that really should whet the appetite of every great golf lover.”
Alex, who just ended her run as a player director on the LPGA board, said, “I’m so excited that we’re playing a lot of the venues that we watch the men play. I mean, there have been so many years (when) we’ve been trying to get on the same level as men’s golf and it kind of starts with the golf courses in my opinion. Just seeing what the women are capable of on the same venues I think really helps bring the level of our sport up a notch.
“It’s important that we’re playing here. The announcement for the upcoming five years was so cool. I think it’s just we’re all kind of like reinvigorated about this whole championship, and I think it’s going to be great moving forward.”
“It is so fantastic to be here,” Olson said of Royal Troon, a comment that had nothing to do with her position atop the leaderboard. “This course has so much history and for the longest time women couldn’t play here. It just shows how far we’ve come as a society, as women.
“Honestly, a lot of us are riding the coattails of what a lot of women did before us. I know one of my goals is to leave (golf) better for the little girls who are sitting home watching right now and hope that they continue to have more opportunities.
“Having those golf courses announced, that’s the first step or one of many steps,” Olson added. “It was really exciting to see.”