Inclusion!

Apparently not the first year this has been the case, but the Vic Open golf, currently being played down at 13th Beach, Victoria, has both the mens and womens tournaments running side-by-side.

I love this idea. Whilst I don't necessarily agree that there'll come a time where womens golf will be as entertaining a spectacle as the mens game (physically men are always going to be able to hit the ball further), I do think that the womens professional game is incredibly interesting, and deserving of a generous platform.

As a Foxtel subscriber in Australia, I can turn the TV on at almost any given moment and find some form of mens golf program on. Whether it's live tournament action from a tour somewhere in the world, or simply replays or golf-centric variety programs.

Golf is a business, there's no other way to put it. The players' incomes are derived from sponsorship dollars and prizemoney - usually contributed by commercial sponsors. The size of those contributions usually have a pretty strong correlation with the audience that particular tournament will reach, and with only minimal coverage of the womens professional game currently being broadcast, those purses are going to remain minuscule when compared to the mens tours.

Golf Australia, and the Australian golfing media - to me - seem to be doing a great deal to promote the womens game. It's not hard to keep abreast of the state of the womens game, particularly the Aussie girls, whether it be through the Golf Australia podcast - Inside The Ropes - or the various websites and print/digital publications available, and all contributing parties should be commended.

In my opinion, the PGA Tour - the biggest and most influential administrative body in the game of golf - are stuck in a time gone by. I don't consider the PGA tour to be anything close to something you'd call "progressive" - focussing overwhelmingly on 72-hole stroke events in the United States on arguably very similar courses year-round. It's a formula that's worked for decades, but the game, and the way it appeals to wider audiences, is changing. Unfortunately for the avid golf fan, the PGA Tour also wields the biggest prize pools, and subsequently hogs the biggest names in the game.

On the flip side, the second-largest tour, the European Tour (who are co-sanctioning the Vic Open) are doing the opposite. As a fan, I love everything about the European Tour. The variety of tournament formats, locations (right across the globe), quality of content produced and the willingness to try different things.

The marriage between the Vic Open and the European Tour, bringing together the best Aussie women and men - in the same tournament - is something to be commended, and I hope to see more of it in the future.

I might've been a bit slow on the uptake, as like I mentioned - this is apparently not the first year the Vic Open has been run like this, but it was news to me when I flicked on the TV to watch it live earlier this afternoon. So that's what I learned today.