By Julia Pine, USGA

76th U.S. Women’s Open Home

The USGA has launched the Driving Equity Grant Program to invite media outlets to expand their coverage of women’s golf by offering financial support to help alleviate any associated costs.

Ahead of the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open last December, the USGA launched “Women Worth Watching” as a long-term commitment to use its championships and platforms to celebrate female athletes and role models while promoting equality and diversity in sports. After driving awareness to the disparity in women’s sports coverage in Year One, the Driving Equity Grant Program is the organization’s next actionable solution to shrink the equality gap in golf.

“Today, women’s sports, including golf, are stuck in a recurring cycle where media outlets don’t always receive significant return on investment when they cover events that lack household names. Simultaneously, it is nearly impossible for a sport to build household names without consistent and rich storytelling from the media,” said Craig Annis, the USGA’s chief brand officer. “As the governing body of golf, we feel a deep responsibility to be a leader in breaking that cycle in our sport, and we believe the Driving Equity Grant Program is an important next step in that progress. This is not a problem that will be solved overnight; however, if the entire industry works together and shines a brighter light on women in the game, we have an opportunity to change the future of golf.”