Charley Hull states what she’d change about the LPGA immediately if she was put in charge

Follow us on Google Discover

Charley Hull has suggested one of the changes she would look to make if she was put in charge of the LPGA.

It is an exciting time for the LPGA. There is an amazing amount of talent on the circuit, with Nelly Korda seemingly becoming increasingly comfortable in her role as the tour’s superstar.

The foundations really do appear to be in place for the LPGA to kick on to another level in the coming years.

Charley Hull says what she would change about the LPGA

It is a brilliant move for the game to have the U.S. Women’s Open taking place at Riviera this week, with the Pacific Palisades venue establishing itself as one of the most iconic stops on the PGA Tour.

However, the tour has not always managed to avoid criticism.

There has been a feeling that the tour has not been very good at capitalising on the momentum they have built at certain times in recent years. However, the appointment of Craig Kessler as the new commissioner last year seemed to be a step in the right direction.

There is still plenty of work to be done.

And speaking to Mel Reid on Quiet Please, Charley Hull explained what she would look to do if she was put in charge of the tour.

“Yeah, we definitely need way more fans. 100 per cent. Like, if you looked to the British Open last year and the final round, that atmosphere was so good. And I wish we had this week in and week out,” Hull said.

Reid replied: “Yeah. Because I also think, and this is my argument, I spoke to Craig about this. I’m like, it’s incredible we’ve got the prize money that we do. It’s incredible that we have the facilities that we do for the players, the recovery rooms. All of that has been elevated. I feel like the social media’s got better this year exponentially.

“The problem is we don’t have fans. And the thing that creates great moments is the atmosphere. It’s not just the shot, it’s the atmosphere.”

“Yeah, see, I don’t know how much the tickets cost. Why don’t they just have free tickets coming in? That’s what I’d do. You know what I find what I used to love about playing in Europe and that, do you remember, we’d have like a fan zone, you’d have like a fan tented village? Like, in America, they don’t really have that, and I feel like that would be such an appealing thing for young kids and everything and bringing families,” Hull added.

“When I used to go to the men’s Open Championship, I used to be like, wow, this is so cool, this big tented village. And even when you go to like Wentworth, you know, the BMW, the PGA, wow, the tented village. that’s where the whole atmosphere is and then it gets people getting onto the golf course. I’d walk down there, all my friends who don’t play golf, they go to that. They go to the BMW PGA because of the tented village and then they’ll go out on the golf course and watch golf even when they never watch golf before.”

The LPGA can learn from one of LIV Golf’s few success stories

Hull is surely right to suggest that there needs to be so much more on offer for the spectators than what is happening on the course.

Attending golf events can be a strange experience, with fans obviously unable to keep up with absolutely everything going on once they are out on the course. So it is often about the atmosphere, rather than getting caught up in the twists and turns of a tournament.

While LIV Golf has failed to kick on as a league, they do appear to have had success in creating an experience that fans enjoy, particularly in their international events.

Perhaps the LPGA needs to lean into that more. Once those fans arrive through the gate, they will almost certainly be hooked by the quality of the golf on show.