These women are no greenhorns

She hits the ball a long way and there’s nothing even remotely fragile about her. Unlike the men, who can play professional golf in India, Asia or Europe and then make it to the USPGA tour, Asia lacks a pro tour for women. As a result, Asians have to take the risk and bear the expenses of traveling west.

Se Ri Pak, one of Asia’s leading representatives on this tour, did just that. After winning nearly 30 amateur events in Korea, she turned pro in 1996 and won two majors in her rookie year. Today, she holds celebrity status in her country, which was obvious at last year’s Women’s Weetabix British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes where hundreds of Koreans turned up to watch her.

At present, the only Indian on this tour is Calcutta-based Smriti Mehra, who learnt most of her golf while playing on the Indian amateur ladies circuit.

However, it is difficult to earn a tour card which makes one eligible to compete on these tours where winning scores are as low as 15 under par. And once there, a player’s yearly earnings in prize money or tournament victories decide whether she retains the card.

Ladies tours also have a touch of glamour. Golfing outfits with matching visors and caps, gloves with slits at the finger tips to accommodate long finger nails and golf jewellery are all part of the game. Some like American golfer Michelle McGann, famous for her outrageous hats, has them made specially to match her outfits while Laura Davies has her own collection of golfwear.

Women’s golf still lacks adequate coverage and few are aware of its potential. While covering the Solhiem Cup in ’96 — a match play event between the Europeans and Americans based on the same format as the Ryder Cup — I was surprised to see that only a few spectators visited the course each day. And those who did were either senior citizens or young women.

There is some discrimination between women’s and men’s golf. Under par scores recorded by women golfers are often belittled by saying that their courses are easier. As Karrie Webb said recently, “When we tour regular shoots just two or three under par to win an event, people say we can’t play.”

In Asia, a headmaster who says that there’s no future for women golfers would be correct. But only when we have world class players can we hope to get a tour and eventually the money to promote our golfing women.

Results last week :

PGA Tour: Nissan Open, Winner: Kirk Triplett

Senior PGA Tour: GTE Classic, Winner: Bruce Fleisher

PGA of India: Wills Masters, Winner: Gaurav Ghei

EPGA Tour: Algarve Portugese Open, Winner: Gary Orr

LPGA: Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open, Winner: Betsy King

ELPGA: Women’s Australian Open, Winner: Karrie Webb

Coming Up:

PGA Tour: Doral-Ryder Open

Senior PGA: Toshiba Senior Classic

EPGA: Dubai Desert Classic

LPGA: LPGA Takefuji Classic

APGA: No event scheduled till March 16

Buy.Com Tour: BC Mississippi Gulf Coast Open

Australasian PGA Tour: Tour Championship

Golfer of the Week: Karrie Webb

Karrie Webb is keeping the Australian flag flying. With three wins in as many starts so far, she is due to defend her title at the Australia.