Money

I would like to start this post by stating that despite being a female sports person I am not a feminist. By this I mean I am not likely to enter debates about male and female differences in sport and differences in funding following the line that pay should be equal.

Having looked at the ladies european tour order of merit for 2008 I noticed that the leader, Gwladys Nocera, had "only" won just over 384,500 Euros from 22 events. This struck me as being a surprisingly low amount and led to me looking at the men's european tour order of merit for 2008 and 2009 (as this season started recently). I noticed that Sergio Garcia who is currently leading the european tour of merit has won over 650,000 euros from one event and Robert Karlsson who won the 2008 order merit did so with season earnings of over 2.7 million euros (23 events). We all know that prize money comes from sponsorship dollars and other revenues, (ticket sales and TV rights). Therefore it is understandable that the men's earnings are greater than the ladies however, this is a huge discrepancy.

To look at this discreapncy further I would like to look at the lower places on the order of merit. The female in place 183rd on the ladies european tour has earned just 520 Euros from 14 events. Yes I hear you this player is obviously not very good but the player in 184th place on the Men's tour has earned 62,711 euros from 16 events. Infact you need to go down to position 369th on the mens tour to find a player who has earned less than 520 Euros. There are fewer players on the ladies european tour and they tend to play shorter courses but is this reason for players ranked almost 200 positions lower on the mens tour to earn the same as a lady on the ladies tour?

Typically I am an optimist, I always live life in the present and look on the bright side of life, however, I am also a realist (at times anyway). On this note I have thought over the past 4 years or so seriously about whether or not to try and pursue a professional golf career. I have come to the conclusion to stick in at university and keep golf as a hobby for a few reasons. One of these is a player from my home club is currently playing on the ladies european tour and knowing her pretty well I have discovered how difficult it is. Another reason is that of a another player from my home club who I don't know well having played out on the Futures tour in the USA for a few years. This player was a Curtis Cup player and a +4 handicapper but last I heard she was working full time as a caddy at a golf resort in the UK. I am not trying to scare aspiring professionals at all but just found the difference interesting and discovered that even in the top 150 positions on the men's tour you can make a reasonable living whereas on the ladies tour you need to be ranked in the top 40 to make a living. Thus personally I will settle for playing amateur tournaments!

Keep swinging x