Fast Facts 2024

OVERVIEW

Women’s Golf Day (WGD) is a global movement that Engages, Empowers, and Supports women and girls through golf and facilities them learning the skills that last a lifetime.
WGD events have taken place at more than 1,300 locations in over 84 countries since its inception in 2016 and has introduced thousands of new golfers to the sport and is the fastest-growing female golf development initiative.
Held historically on the first Tuesday in June, WGD now has official events throughout the week from the last Tuesday in May to the first Tuesday in June each year. (May 28- June 4,2024)
Women’s Golf Day is a global event that celebrates girls and women playing golf and learning skills that last a lifetime.
WGD is open to women and girls experiencing golf for the first time as well as existing female players.
Women’s Golf Day unites women across the globe and transcends race, religion, language, geography, or economic status.

BACKGROUND

Women’s Golf Day started in 2016.
Founder Elisa Gaudet was inspired to create a global event that unites women around the world through golf and encourages opportunities to introduce golf to new players and celebrate existing players.
WGD is a proven player development platform that is supported by The R&A, USGA & The PGA as well as many other organizations, federations, governing bodies and industry leaders.
Women’s Golf Day brings together a team of industry leaders, governing bodies and global ambassadors which reflect the international community.

FORMAT

Women’s Golf Day events are a one-day four-hour experience for women and girls around the world.
Female golfers and non-golfers come together to play golf and celebrate the building of community in a relaxed welcoming atmosphere.
The event is designed to create an environment where women and girls can build a foundation in golf by establishing a network of friends and golf professionals that will ultimately support their continuation in the game.
The WGD format offers attendees the choice between 2 hours of lessons or playing 9 holes for the first half of the event. In the second two hours all the participants come together for a social activity.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

To host an event, locations – which include on course and off course golf venues – must sign up on the Women’s Golf Day website under ‘Register a Location’ https://womensgolfday.com/register/
Once registered, locations can build their profile page on the WGD website and have access to the WGD Promo Toolkit with all the marketing materials for print and social media and the right to use the trademarked WGD logo and brand.
Locations that are registered on the website can be found by anyone by using the location finder https://womensgolfday.com/locations/ to identify a location participating in the WGD event.
Locations who do not register on WomensGolfDay.com are not permitted to use the term Women’s Golf Day or any of the trademarked materials.
All are welcome to participate in Women’s Golf Day except where prohibited by law. Women’s Golf Day does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation.

SUCCESS

Since WGD was launched, more than 1300 locations in over 84 countries have participated.
In 2017, there was a 68% increase with 711 locations in 46 countries participating, joining women around the world in golf and community.
In 2020, Women’s Golf Day hosted an additional virtual event during the pandemic closures. As well as raising more than $20k for Doctors without Borders the WGD team collated an impressive library of inspirational and educational videos from golfers and industry professionals around the world which initiated the WGD Virtual Library found at https://womensgolfday.com/virtual-golf-day/.
In 2020, in response to Covid and in order to create more inclusivity and digital content to compliment the events, WGD launched WGD Palooza https://womensgolfday.com/wgdpalooza/. Due to the success of this event is now an annual event held on the last Tuesday in May.
In 2021 Women’s Golf Day along with Callaway and Topgolf took center stage at the New York Stock Exchange (Tuesday 25th May), as WGD Founder Elisa Gaudet rang the Opening Bell from the iconic podium. As well as signifying the beginning of the day’s trading, this Opening Bell also marked the start of WGD’s first ever online event WGD Palooza, which generated over 4.2 M impressions for #womensgolfday in less than 3 hours.
In 2021, in response to Covid and in order to create more inclusivity and digital content to compliment the events, WGD launched WGD Palooza https://womensgolfday.com/wgdpalooza/. Due to the success of this event is now an annual event the last Tuesday in May. This year online, interactive WGD Palooza will be May 28, 2024. This kicks off the week of events.
The 2022 edition of the annual global event included new WGD locations in every continent. Notable locations such as Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Italy, which hosted the 2023 Ryder Cup, celebrated alongside new WGD venues including The Fajara Club, which became the first course in Gambia to join the WGD community.
In 2022 the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), became a WGD partner and hosted an event at Scarboro Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Canada on the Tuesday of the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open.
The variety of host locations reflects the changing landscape of golf with retailers such as WGD partners PGA TOUR Superstore and GolfTown giving women access to events alongside driving ranges, public and private courses.
Women’s Golf Day has been celebrated with numerous awards including honors from National Golf Course Owners Association, European Golf Course Owners Association, ISC International Sports Awards.
In 2023, Gambia, Greece, Peru, and Zambia joined the WGD community taking the total number of participating countries to 84.
2023 also marked significant growth in Japan. After running 3 events in 2022, WGD and The Japanese Golf Federation worked in collaboration to grow the number of host locations in Japan from 3 to 139 in under 12 months.
RBC sponsored / hosted a WGD event the week of the PGA TOUR stop event RBC Canadian Open
2022 and 2023.
WGD has partnered with the PGA TOUR and is working with the event executive directors to have WGD events available at PGA TOUR stops throughout the year.
In 2023 WGD along with Acushnet, Titleist and FootJoy, celebrated Women’s Golf Day at the New York Stock Exchange (May 31, 2023), WGD Founder Elisa Gaudet and all female employees from different departments of Titleist and FootJoy rang the Opening Bell from the iconic podium. Electronic billboards ran for two weeks in Time Square and Silicon Valley celebrating WGD, Titleist, FootJoy and our participants.
The new weeklong format generated a staggering 194 million impressions, an increase of over 100 million impressions verses 2022, with an incredible 397,143 engagements and 92 million+ reach.

Countries / Regions that have participated in WGD include

Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Bahrain, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, UAE-Dubai, Egypt, England, Estonia, France, French Polynesia, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Greece, Honduras, USA-Hawaii, Hong Kong, Hungry, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, USA-Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, St Kitts & Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, USA, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Wales and Zambia.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Women’s Golf Day was highlighted in research carried out by The R&A (page 20). https://www.randa.org/~/media/Files/DownloadsAndPublications/WorkingForGolf/RAResearchdocFULL.ashx
WGD has an agreement with the NGF (National Golf Foundation) to do a joint global research study with our database that we will make available to the organizations supporting Women’s Golf Day.

Women’s Golf Day Official Partners

Callaway Golf, PGA of America, PGA TOUR Superstore, The R&A, USGA, Golf Town, GloveIt and RBC

Women’s Golf Day is also proudly supported by: All Square, Annika Foundation, Asian Golf, Chronogolf, Cutter & Buck, EGCOA, European Tour, European Tour Properties, The First Tee, Gallus Golf, The Golf Channel, GolfNow, Golf Town, Imperial Headwear, International Golf Federation, LET, Make Golf Your Thing, Modest Golf Management, NGCOA, NGCOA Canada, PGA of America, PGA TOUR, Players First, Prestige Flag, Sky Sports, TopGolf, TopTracer, TPC Properties, Troon Golf, Troon International, WE ARE GOLF, Women & Golf, Women’s Golf & Travel, The World Golf Foundation and more.

About Women’s Golf Day

Women’s Golf Day (WGD) is a global movement that Engages, Empowers, and Supports women and girls playing golf and learning the skills that last a lifetime. The one-day, four-hour event has occurred at more than 1,300 locations in nearly 84 countries since its inception in 2016 and has introduced thousands of new golfers to the sport. WGD is the fastest-growing female golf development initiative. All are welcome to participate in Women’s Golf Day, except where prohibited by law. Women’s Golf Day does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation.