ASIA: Bangkok Hosts R&A Women in Golf Forum

Bangkok, Thailand: Celebrating the success of women in golf and sharing best practice to grow women’s golf in Asia will top the agenda at next week’s The R&A Women in Golf Forum.

Organised by The R&A and with the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) as a Partner, the Forum will be staged at the Eastin Thana City Golf Resort in Bangkok on June 1.

Following on from the conclusion of the 31st Thailand Ladies Amateur Open, the Forum will feature five main sessions led by prominent females from within the golfing industry.

Jerome Ng, Director (Asia-Pacific) – Golf Development at The R&A, said: “We believe that a huge opportunity for golf exists if we all work together to attract more women, girls and families into the sport.

“Golf is open to all. We want to encourage more women and girls into playing golf and enjoying successful careers in the sport. We can only achieve this, if we all work collectively together and drive towards our common goal.

“We are looking forward to a day of celebrating the success of women in golf and sharing best practice to grow women’s golf in Asia.

“The key priority for us is to promote the importance and value of women and girls in golf and encourage more participation of women and girls into the sport – aligned to our Women in Golf Charter.”

The Forum will tee-off with a panel discussion featuring Winnie Heng, Senior Vice President & Managing Director (Thailand) at IMG, and Pichaya Poolsathitiwat, Founder & CEO of Prowear Company (Golf & Fashion Business). They will highlight issues around increasing female participation in golf, the sport and workforce.

Kate Brewer, Director – Strategic Programmes, at The R&A, and Jackie Davidson, Director – Education, at The R&A, will outline some of the initiatives being undertaken by golf’s ruling body, including Just Swing, a newly-created integrated global campaign launching this year.

Attracting New Audiences to Golf will be the topic to be addressed by Myka Romulo, Executive Director at the National Golf Association of the Philippines, while Thailand’s Virada Nirapathpongporn, a former LPGA Tour player, will discuss Pathway Development and High-Performance.

“Our target audience are sports administrators, committee and board members of national golf associations, golf clubs/facilities, sports/golf event companies and like-minded individuals,” said Ng.