By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
Bailey and Stephen loving life in golf despite giving up on dream to be professional stars
Catriona
Matthew in particular but also the likes of Janice Moodie, Mhairi McKay
and Kathryn Imrie were the main role models in Scottish women’s golf at
one time as they carved out careers on the LPGA Tour, and now Gemma
Dryburgh is the player providing the biggest inspiration as she flies
![]()
the Saltire on the US circuit.
It’s
not just through playing the game, though, that young Scottish girls
and women are being shown how the sport can provide a platform for
successful careers. Just look at Iona Stephen and Rosie Bailey, both of
whom dreamt of going all the way to the top of the ladders as tour
professionals but turned to different career paths in golf and have now
joined forces to launch a “pioneering” business.
Stephen is a familiar face in the game as part of the Sky Sports Golf
team after breaking into the broadcasting business following a wrist
injury that curtailed her professional career. Bailey, meanwhile, worked
as a partnership director for the DP World Tour then had a spell as a
strategic project manager for Ryder Cup Europe. As Rosie Niven, she won
the Ladies British Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2008 at a time
when The R&A event was dominated by Scots but, although probably
good enough to give it a go, wasn’t tempted by a switch to the paid
ranks.
The pair became friends through golf and their shared passion for the
game. After first properly chatting about it during a game together at
Denham Golf Club in Uxbridge, they have co-founded Tuesday Links, a new
travel company for women, with the inaugural journeys to Scotland having
been planned for this year.
“We are super-excited,” Bailey told The Scotsman.
“Iona and I have been working on this quietly in the background for
pretty much a year now. We’ve been doing a lot of reaching out to our
network and speaking to some contacts and we just felt we are ready to
build on that and establish our credibility and distribution, hence our
official launch this week, which is timed quite nicely with
International Women’s Day on Sunday.
“A
big part of where our hearts are is around supporting other girls and
women in Scotland getting into the world of golf, whether that is
playing or in business and industry opportunities. If we can do anything
to help to get the message out there, that’s important to us.”
An initiative which forms part of the St Andrews-based governing body’s
ongoing commitment to The Women in Golf Charter, The R&A Women in
Golf Leadership Programme has, in the eyes of both Bailey and Stephen,
become an important platform for empowering women and supporting greater
diversity and inclusion across all levels of the sport.
Catriona
Matthew in particular but also the likes of Janice Moodie, Mhairi McKay
and Kathryn Imrie were the main role models in Scottish women’s golf at
one time as they carved out careers on the LPGA Tour, and now Gemma
Dryburgh is the player providing the biggest inspiration as she flies
the Saltire on the US circuit.
It’s
not just through playing the game, though, that young Scottish girls
and women are being shown how the sport can provide a platform for
successful careers. Just look at Iona Stephen and Rosie Bailey, both of
whom dreamt of going all the way to the top of the ladders as tour
professionals but turned to different career paths in golf and have now
joined forces to launch a “pioneering” business.
Stephen is a familiar face in the game as part of the Sky Sports Golf
team after breaking into the broadcasting business following a wrist
injury that curtailed her professional career. Bailey, meanwhile, worked
as a partnership director for the DP World Tour then had a spell as a
strategic project manager for Ryder Cup Europe. As Rosie Niven, she won
the Ladies British Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2008 at a time
when The R&A event was dominated by Scots but, although probably
good enough to give it a go, wasn’t tempted by a switch to the paid
ranks.
The pair became friends through golf and their shared passion for the
game. After first properly chatting about it during a game together at
Denham Golf Club in Uxbridge, they have co-founded Tuesday Links, a new
travel company for women, with the inaugural journeys to Scotland having
been planned for this year.
“We are super-excited,” Bailey told The Scotsman.
“Iona and I have been working on this quietly in the background for
pretty much a year now. We’ve been doing a lot of reaching out to our
network and speaking to some contacts and we just felt we are ready to
build on that and establish our credibility and distribution, hence our
official launch this week, which is timed quite nicely with
International Women’s Day on Sunday.
“A
big part of where our hearts are is around supporting other girls and
women in Scotland getting into the world of golf, whether that is
playing or in business and industry opportunities. If we can do anything
to help to get the message out there, that’s important to us.”
An initiative which forms part of the St Andrews-based governing body’s
ongoing commitment to The Women in Golf Charter, The R&A Women in
Golf Leadership Programme has, in the eyes of both Bailey and Stephen,
become an important platform for empowering women and supporting greater
diversity and inclusion across all levels of the sport.
‘I still think we have a long way to go in women’s game’
“Although
there are more and more women coming into the game, I still think we
have a long way to go,” observed Stephen, who grew up near St Andrews,
went to St Andrews University and still has a strong connection with the
Auld Grey Toun. “Even just last week, I was giving a talk at the Marlow
Rotary Club and they were asking me about my experiences of women in
golf and, unfortunately, I can still think of so many times where I
turned up on golf days etc and be the only woman in the room out of 300.
“The
R&A Women in Golf Leadership Programme is about helping women
understand that there is more than just one route of being a
professional golfer available to them in the golf industry. As a woman
in golf, you can do so many things. You can be a manager. You could go
into the coaching side of things. You could go into the hospitality side
of things or the branding or the marketing.
“Rosie
and I have had a taste of playing the game at the top level and
obviously our careers moved us into slightly different paths but
parallel paths on the tour. Now we are creating something of our own. I
think that is quite powerful as well and can hopefully inspire other
women to think about what they could possibly create in this golf space
as well and not just be there to fill a seat at the table but to create
change and help to continue to grow the impact women have always had in
the game of golf.”
As
a member of Crieff, Bailey came through the Scottish Golf ranks at a
time when Karyn Dallas was the national women’s coach. She also had a
spell at UC Berkeley when Anne Walker, now working wonders at Stanford,
was the assistant coach.
“Golf
is the greatest gift of my life,” she declared. “I had been with the DP
World Tour quite a long time and I had always wanted to create
something myself. I felt compelled to do something in the women’s golf
space and, in the last couple of years, there has been a build up and
excitement in the women’s game with participation on the rise and it
felt the timing was right.”
Iona Stephen tees off on the 18th on the Old Course at St Andrews, where she has a strong connection | Contributed
On
coming up with the idea for Tuesday Links - the name is a nod to what
is traditionally ladies' day at golf clubs - and working in tandem with
Stephen to get it to the launch stage, she added: “I sat next to a lady
on a flight 18 months ago who was flying in from Illinois. She hadn’t
had a passport before, was in her 50s and was landing into Edinburgh to
meet a group of ladies she’d never met before and she was going
horse-back riding up the west coast of Scotland. For her, it was an
absolute bucket-list. She said ‘I’ve not done something for myself in so
long as I am so ready and excited for this’.
“Although
there are more and more women coming into the game, I still think we
have a long way to go,” observed Stephen, who grew up near St Andrews,
went to St Andrews University and still has a strong connection with the
Auld Grey Toun. “Even just last week, I was giving a talk at the Marlow
Rotary Club and they were asking me about my experiences of women in
golf and, unfortunately, I can still think of so many times where I
turned up on golf days etc and be the only woman in the room out of 300.
“The
R&A Women in Golf Leadership Programme is about helping women
understand that there is more than just one route of being a
professional golfer available to them in the golf industry. As a woman
in golf, you can do so many things. You can be a manager. You could go
into the coaching side of things. You could go into the hospitality side
of things or the branding or the marketing.
“Rosie
and I have had a taste of playing the game at the top level and
obviously our careers moved us into slightly different paths but
parallel paths on the tour. Now we are creating something of our own. I
think that is quite powerful as well and can hopefully inspire other
women to think about what they could possibly create in this golf space
as well and not just be there to fill a seat at the table but to create
change and help to continue to grow the impact women have always had in
the game of golf.”
As
a member of Crieff, Bailey came through the Scottish Golf ranks at a
time when Karyn Dallas was the national women’s coach. She also had a
spell at UC Berkeley when Anne Walker, now working wonders at Stanford,
was the assistant coach.
“Golf
is the greatest gift of my life,” she declared. “I had been with the DP
World Tour quite a long time and I had always wanted to create
something myself. I felt compelled to do something in the women’s golf
space and, in the last couple of years, there has been a build up and
excitement in the women’s game with participation on the rise and it
felt the timing was right.”
Iona Stephen tees off on the 18th on the Old Course at St Andrews, where she has a strong connection | Contributed
On
coming up with the idea for Tuesday Links - the name is a nod to what
is traditionally ladies' day at golf clubs - and working in tandem with
Stephen to get it to the launch stage, she added: “I sat next to a lady
on a flight 18 months ago who was flying in from Illinois. She hadn’t
had a passport before, was in her 50s and was landing into Edinburgh to
meet a group of ladies she’d never met before and she was going
horse-back riding up the west coast of Scotland. For her, it was an
absolute bucket-list. She said ‘I’ve not done something for myself in so
long as I am so ready and excited for this’.
‘I felt there was space and an opportunity’
“It
sparked this idea and I did a whole bunch of research on the back of
that. Looking at the golf market base in Scotland in particular, I just
felt there was space and an opportunity for something with a bit more
female-minded approach and bit more holistic in terms of travel
experiences. So golf being the core but actually it is about the whole
experience of being in Scotland.”
It sounds as though two very proud Scots who just love golf have come up with a great idea.
“It
sparked this idea and I did a whole bunch of research on the back of
that. Looking at the golf market base in Scotland in particular, I just
felt there was space and an opportunity for something with a bit more
female-minded approach and bit more holistic in terms of travel
experiences. So golf being the core but actually it is about the whole
experience of being in Scotland.”
It sounds as though two very proud Scots who just love golf have come up with a great idea.
