Women's golf gets a facelift for 2008

Jan 5 2008 by Tim Taylor, The Journal

THE newly-formed English Women’s Golf Association (EWGA) has announced details of its first management board with a Northumberland magistrate, Sue Whittaker, playing the lead role as chairman.

A member of the Bamburgh Castle club and a former journalist, Whittaker is backed by four non-executive directors. Among them is Jane Longhorn, a business consultant from County Durham who is a record-breaking golfer at Seaton Carew.

EWGA came into being as the country’s governing body for women’s golf on New Year’s Day, replacing the English Ladies’ Golf Association (ELGA). The new company is limited by guarantee and will be run by the management board whose aims include encouraging more women and girls to play golf and to join clubs.

The board are also charged with the responsibility of increasing the number of women coaches and volunteers and to offer more opportunities for women and girl golfers to improve. Whittaker has held a host of public appointments, both regional and national.

Among them, she has been chair of two NHS trusts, most recently at the Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Health NHS trust.

As a magistrate, she chairs sittings of the Berwick-upon-Tweed bench.

She said: “I have played golf on and off since I was at school and I think it’s very important that women and girls have the opportunity to take part in the game. Being involved with the development of women’s golf – getting more women to play and developing their potential to the fullest possible extent – is a very exciting prospect.”

Longhorn has been a member of Seaton Carew since childhood and plays off five. A past ladies’ captain, she has set a record by becoming the ladies champion eight years in a row.

The other EWGA executive board members are Carola Babcock, an investment banker and venture capitalist from Buckinghamshire; Carolyn Baker, from the Wirral, an expert in human resources and employment law, and Ada Parr, a communications and training specialist from Northamptonshire.