With two months to go until this year’s AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews, you can already feel the excitement in the air as it gets closer and closer to 24th August 2024.
While last year’s celebrations saw singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding make a special appearance and provide a epic performance, organisers have a special treat in store for attendees as they welcome one of the most exciting names in the UK music scene right now, Tom Grennan.
A guy whose music and success speaks for itself, Tom has gone on to release a string of chart-topping hits as well as his 2023 album, Evering Road and his album What Ifs & Maybes which went to Number 1 in the charts. Outside of music, Tom is known to be partial to a bit of golf making his presence as part of the AIG Women’s Open lineup the perfect match.
Commenting on what it was like to be part of this year’s AIG Women’s Open Tom stated:
I absolutely love my golf, so it’s going to be class performing at the AIG Women’s Open this summer at St Andrews! I spend way too much time out on the course so it’s nice to be able to put those two passions together. St Andrews is the one too - the most historic course in the world! It’s going to be epic.
The women's game is in a really exciting place right now with the likes of Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang coming through and Charley Hull representing the UK all in the top 10. I can’t wait to watch the best in the world competing at St Andrews. If I wasn't performing I'd be there watching or glued to my TV anyway!
There was a time where Golf was considered to be a male-dominated sport, for the wealthy, but thanks to platforms such as the Women’s Open organisations like the AIG at the forefront of changing the narrative to ensure that the myths are put to rest and female representation in the golfing world is acknowledged and celebrated, a sport which the AIG want to make accessible to all sports lovers and generations.
With this in mind we also took the opportunity to ask Zoe Ridgway, Championship Director - AIG Women’s Open at The R&A, with the continued commitment to inclusivity, how has it felt being able to see a new generation of sports fans as well as players help keep the fire of events such AIG Women’s Open and golf as a whole alive?
Zoe explained:
The AIG Women’s Open is a world class championship that brings together the world’s best golfers to play across famed courses. To celebrate and champion these elite women athletes we want to attract large crowds to watch and engage with them at the AIG Women’s Open, their prodigious talent is deserving of this, which is why we have focused on elevating the overall fan experience at the Championship. Last year we introduced a live music element which is successfully attracting a new generation of sports fans to the AIG Women’s Open.
Since we announced that Tom Grennan is performing at the AIG Women’s Open in St Andrews we have seen an immediate impact on our attending fan demographics - the gender balance between male and female attendance is almost at parity and we have seen the average age of attendees come down as we have seen an uplift in junior and youth ticket purchases.
We are thrilled to be seeing a more diverse audience interacting with the AIG Women’s Open and the sport in general. We hope that via the Championship we create new golf followers, but also participants. Golf is a growing sport for women and we are seeing more taking up the sport than ever before.
The AIG Women’s Open has a role to play in helping this positive trajectory and fans who come along to the AIG Women’s Open can watch top-quality live golf, dance the night away to Tom Grennan and also receive free golf lessons to maybe try the sport for the first time or hone their skills with expert instruction. It’s an exciting time for women’s golf and the AIG Women’s Open as we look to bring a whole new energy to the sport.
Alongside live music from Tom Grennan, fans attending the Championship will be entertained by world class golf played by some of the biggest names in the sport including World Number 1 Nelly Korda, Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Minjee Lee and defending champion Lilia Vu.
Fans can also get in on the action at the festival fan village which will feature golf lessons, lawn games, mini golf, shopping, bars, food trucks and the Sessions Stage which offers a curated line-up of prominent figures from women’s sport, business and entertainment.
The AIG Women’s Open never stops playing; offering unrivalled competition on the course and unrivalled entertainment off the course.
So save the date as The AIG Women’s Open takes place across the Old Course at the home of golf, St Andrews, Scotland from 21-25 August 2024
Tickets to the AIG Women’s Open are now on sale via aigwomensopen.com. See you there!
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