International Women’s Day is recognised throughout the world on 8 March. It is a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, political and sporting achievements of women. This day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. The theme this year is drawn from a notion that collectively, we can all play a part. Let’s all be #EachforEqual.
What better way to share women’s achievements in golf than to catch up with some of our young Western Australian golfing superstars? With Western Australian women’s golf in the spotlight largely due to the international success of local talent Hannah Green, we asked what advice this trailblazer would offer to young women with stars in their eyes?
“My advice would be to make sure you are always having fun; enjoy the company of other women and players. It sounds basic but not a lot of people enjoy what they do! You need to love it to get there,” Hannah said.
At GolfWA, we are proud to support a gender-equal boardroom, gender-equal media coverage, gender-equal workplaces and gender-equal sports coverage. Below, we share other up and coming women athletes’ recent successes and plans for the year ahead.
Kathryn Norris (Mandurah Country Club) had a remarkable year last year. She did not miss a cut for the entire season and achieved several top-five finishes. This consistency and well-rounded performance resulted in Norris being recognised as runner up in the 2019 Order of Merit awarded by Golf Australia.
With a busy schedule ahead including playing five tournaments in four weeks, Kathryn is concentrating on her fitness.
“The last few years my schedule has been full-on. I know I need to shift my focus to include fitness and mental strength to perform at my best. I won the Tassie Amateur last week, now I am onto the Riversdale Cup in Victoria. I am scooting back home for the WA State Amateur Champs, then to Adelaide for the SA Classic and finally, back to WA for the Bowra & O’Dea”, said Norris.
Mount Lawley Golf Club talent, Kirsten Rudgeley humbly smiled, “I’m pretty happy with my performance over the summer. I was steady and got myself up the leaderboard.” Some would argue that is an understatement given the results and talent this young athlete brings to the table. Rudgeley accomplished huge success in 2019, including being the first female ever to make the cut at the prestigious WA Open. Rudgeley went on to share that she will travel to the United Kingdom to play some tournaments in Scotland. She will be one watch in 2020.
Despite taking six months off tournament golf to focus on her final year of high school, bubbly Maddison Hinson-Tolchard enjoyed some solid results at the Master of Amateurs, Aussie Amateur and Avondale.
“I was a bit rusty going into these tournaments, but by the time I got to Avondale I was hitting a lot straighter and with a lot more confidence,” Hinson-Tolchard said.
Speaking about her schedule, Maddy said, “after the NSW Open, I am competing at Riversdale, then WA Amateur, then Adelaide and lastly the Bowra and O’Dea. Hopefully, I will be part of the Senior Interstate Series, then I’m off to the US for some of the summer tournaments before I start college as a freshman! I’m so excited that I will be living on campus and rooming with another athlete.”
Royal Fremantle Golf Club junior Abbie Teasdale has also experienced success recently having been named captain of the Junior State Team this week as well as finishing atop the leaderboard at the Nedlands Junior Masters. Teasdale will lead a team of six representing WA this March at the Junior Championships to be held in Adelaide.
Collectively, these women are doing GolfWA proud. Pictured here with their teammates striking the #EachforEqual pose in recognition of International Women’s Day, we are confident the future of our sport is in safe hands as we strive to act for gender equality.
