Amy Boulden welcomes changes to women’s game

• Amy Boulden praises changes that have boosted women’s game
• LET event last month was switched to Sunday – Wednesday
• “It definitely had positive feedback from players”

Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year Amy Boulden is keen to see a continued improvement in the publicity of the women’s game after a couple of recent success stories on tour.

The 2014 US Women’s Open at Pinehurst saw an increased media interest as it was played the week after the men’s tournament on the same course, while earlier this year on the Ladies European Tour, a Sunday to Wednesday format for the Turkish Airlines Open was well received by the majority of players, with a significant improvement in the level of TV coverage.

And Boulden, 21, whose appearance at Pinehurst was her first at a US Women’s Open, said she thrived off the experience and spoke positively about the possibility of experiencing it again.

“It was awesome, an experience I’ll never forget,” said Amy Boulden, who was speaking in Cardiff after a unique golfing challenge with sponsor GAC Logistics. “I’m disappointed I didn’t qualify this year. It’s such a fantastic event and I’ll be trying to get myself exempt from having to qualify in the future.

“It’s tough though because the men tend to tear the course up a little bit” – Amy Boulden

“It was definitely a tough experience. It was one of the hardest golf courses I’ve ever played and I learned a lot. There was a lot of media around us playing after the men so I think that did pick up people’s interest, it was a positive outcome to be honest.

“It’s tough though because the men tend to tear the course up a little bit so it wouldn’t be in the top condition you’d probably want; but it is good for us. To be fair, Pinehurst was in great condition and it’d be interesting to experience that sort of thing again.”

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And on the subject of the Turkish Airlines Open, Boulden said she hopes the tour is thinking about more events of a similar format going forward.

“The Turkish Airlines Open is a great tournament anyway and the idea of playing Sunday to Wednesday means that we get far more TV coverage.

“It definitely had positive feedback from the players and other people watching so it would be good to do it again and hopefully that’s something that’s being thought about for the future.”

For Boulden personally, it’s a busy spell ahead with the Deloitte Ladies Open in Amsterdam this week, followed by the Ladies European Masters, the Ladies Scottish Open, before she plays in her fourth RICOH Women’s British Open at Trump Turnberry.

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And after failing to make the cut in her previous three appearances at the tournament, Boulden is confident she can rectify that on the Ayrshire coast this year.

“I’ve only played Turnberry once and that was not long ago on a media day,” she admitted. “I played it on a lovely day – it was a great golf course and I really enjoyed it. Although it’ll probably be quite different when I play at the British Open, it’ll probably be blowing a gale! But I’m really excited to get out there again and play on a course that’s quite different to what I’m used to.

“I’ve played in a few British Opens before and never made the cut so hopefully the experience that I’ve built up can help this time around as I think I’m a far better player now than I was in previous years.”

Amy Boulden is an ambassador for GAC Logistics. For more information visit www.gac.com​.

Amy Boulden :: Future star?

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