Tee for Two

Our guest today is Michele Watts. Michele lost her sight through 2015-16 to a rare eye disease. Yet by 2017 she was an Australian champion blind golfer and in 2018 claimed an International World Blind Golf Championship title.

She recently won the national blind golf championship for the second time and has qualified for Team Asutralia at the International Blind Golf Championships in Canada in August.

Alongside her excellent achievements in blind golf lies an accomplished professional career and a strong history in volunteering.

Today we’re going to learn more of what being a blind golfer means, and what we can do to support this brilliant community of golfers.

Links related to this episode

Blind Golf Australia (also directs to state associations): https://blindgolf.com.au/

Australian Sports Foundation donation page to support the Australian team at the IBGA International world Blind Golf Championships in Canada in August 2025: https://asf.org.au/campaigns/bga2025worldchamps/2025-blind-golf-world-champs

International Blind Golf Association: International Blind Golf Association World of Blind Golf Home Page Introduction to IBGA

For information on Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON): Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) | CERA

For information on ISPS Handa and Dr Haruhisa Handa: Home | ISPS Handa

Michele’s charity – The Centre for Eye Research Australia: The Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA)

Radio 2RPH: 2RPH - Radio Reading Service - Sydney, Illawarra & Newcastle

Guide Dogs Australia: Guide Dogs Australia

Vision Australia: Vision Australia | Vision Australia. Blindness and low vision services

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After an excellent 2023, LPGA Tour veteran Sarah Kemp experienced a career-threatening knee injury in 2024. With hard work, mental resilience and a deep love for the game, Sarah made a stunning comeback to tour golf in early 2025. Today she shares her comeback story, her journey through golf and what lies ahead.

About Sarah:

Our guest today has seen both the highs and the lows of professional tour golf. Sarah Kemp was hailed by many as ‘the next Karrie Webb’ in her junior days and after joining the LPGA Tour in 2008, she has had a wonderful career, peaking with an outstanding season in 2023.
But the following year was to bring her to her lowest point when an accident with a golf cart caused a severe injury to her right leg, putting a cloud over her playing future.
With hard work and mental resilience, fuelled by a deep love for the game, Sarah has made it back to tour golf over the Australasian summer season, posting a career-best round in the process.
Today, she tells us of her journey through golf and what lies ahead for the popular player known widely as ‘our Kempy’.

Links to the Episode:
LPGA: https://www.lpga.com/
Jack Newton Junior Golf: https://www.facebook.com/jacknewtonjuniorgolf/
Sarah Kemp ladder drill video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSmNy-vM94M
WPGA Tour All Time OOM (end 2024): https://wpga.org.au/rankings/oom-all-time
Sarah’s charity – The Longest Day: https://www.longestday.org.au/

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Sonia Kirkman is a successful businesswoman in a niche area covering a diverse range of golf related sectors, including golf retail and tournament merchandising, business analysis and management, and in transforming golf shops. How many of us have any understanding of the behind-the-scenes of retail golf shops? Today, we’re going to learn more.

Our guest today is Sonia Kirkman of Kirkman Sports and Transform Golf Shop Specialists. Sonia is a successful businesswoman in a niche area covering a diverse range of golf related sectors. Sonia has extensive experience in golf retail and tournament merchandising, in brand sales, in golf business analysis and management, and in transforming golf shops. In her time, she has noticed a lot of change in the model of golf shops and the way they are run.

She is also a very handy golfer and therefore understands the golfer’s perspective in all the areas in which she works.

We all like to dawdle around golf shops, getting delightfully lost in clothes and merchandise, but how many of us really have any idea of what’s going on behind the scenes? Today, we’re going to find out from someone who knows better than anyone – and have a look at golf’s dress code.

Links related to this episode:
Kirkman Sports: www.kirkmansports.com.au
Transform Golf Shop Specialists on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/transformgolfshopspecialists
Jamie Sadock: http://jamiesadock.com/about/jamie-sadock/
RetailNext: https://retailnext.net/why-retailnext
Retailtainment: Hot Stuff: Top 4 U.S. Summer Retail Trends Of 2024 | RetailNext
NGF article: The Business Case for Golf’s Dressing-Down - National Golf Foundation
Golf Monthly article: Is It Time To Abandon Golf Dress Codes Altogether? | Golf Monthly
Sonia’s charity- Australian Golf Foundation: www.australiangolffoundation.org.au

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Our guest today is Emma Ballard, the current editor of the leading UK women’s magazine Women & Golf. Emma has an 18-year career in both selling – and telling – the stories of women in golf. There are a lot of issues that women in golf encounter, whether they be serious or social players or women working in the golf industry, and these affect women golfers world over.

On Emma’s watch, Women & Golf has been at the intersection of identifying those issues and advocating for meaningful change, while also creating quality content on lifestyle and fun topics. 

Emma is shortly to leave the magazine and take up a role at Women’s Sport Trust, a leading UK charity focussed on fostering gender equality in sport. 
In her time, Emma has seen a lot change and a lot not  change. Today we’re going to hear her thoughts on the future for women’s golf and where media sits in that. 

Links related to this episode:
Women & Golf: https://womenandgolf.com/
Emma Ballard on LinkedIn: (1) Emma Ballard | LinkedIn
Women’s Sport Trust: https://www.womenssporttrust.com/
Medi8: https://medi8ltd.co.uk/
Women in Golf Awards: https://womeningolfawards.co.uk/
R&A Women in Golf Charter: https://www.randa.org/en/key-projects/women-in-golf-charter
Emma’s charity – Australian Golf Foundation:  https://www.australiangolffoundation.org.au/

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Our guest today is Alicia Nagle, founder and CEO of the social golf club and sport platform Zonely. Alicia, the granddaughter of Australian golf legend Kel, is passionate about inclusion in sport and creating a strong sense of community within Zonely. Her commitment to this resulted in Zonely winning the Excellence in Community Engagement award at the inaugural Women in Golf Charter Awards held in November 2024. Zonely, the first social golf club in Australia to become a signatory to the R&A Women in Golf Charter, and Alicia were also nominated for two other awards.
There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes in launching and growing a startup, especially for women, and today we’re going to hear from Alicia about the highlights, the homework, and her vision for the future of Zonely.

Links to this episode:
Zonely website: Zonely | Play social golf
Zonely Facebook: Facebook
Zonely Instagram: Zonely (@zonely) • Instagram photos and videos
Zonely LinkedIn: Zonely: Posts | LinkedIn
Alicia Nagle on LinkedIn: Alicia Nagle | LinkedIn
Australian Sports Technologies Network: The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN)
Women in Sports Technology: Women in Sports Tech
SPARK: SPARK
Alicia’s nominated charity - Animal Welfare League: Home | AWL | Animal Welfare League

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Our guest today is Nadene Gole. Nadene is the world number one ranked senior woman amateur, a position she has held since February 2023 after only commencing playing senior women’s amateur events in late 2022. In 2023, Nadene won all six Australian state senior women’s amateur titles as well as the Australian and New Zealand championships, a feat not achieved by anyone previously.

2024 has seen her surpass this by claiming both the R&A and US Senior Women’s Amateur Championships, the first Australian to win either of them, let alone both and in the one year. This she achieved despite the enormous stress of sudden severe illness threatening the life of husband and caddie, Sam, between those two events.

Nadene shares her journey through golf from junior ranks to being the world’s best senior woman amateur, a story of determination, resilience and the human side of elite golf.

Links related to this episode:

• Australian Senior Women’s Golf Facebook group: Australian Senior Womens Golf | Facebook
• Senior Women’s Golf Association of Victoria: https://www.seniorwomengolfersvic.com/
• The R&A Senior Women’s Amateur Championship: https://www.randa.org/en/championships/the-womens-senior-amateur-championship
• The US Senior Women’s Championship: https://championships.usga.org/usseniorwomensamateur.html
• Brighton Chocolates: https://www.brightonchocolates.com.au/
• Nadene’s suggested charity - Lifeline: https://www.lifeline.org.au/

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Our guests today are Kate Torgersen and Monina Gilbey. Kate and Monina have worked individually for a long period of time of the area of environmental sustainability in golf. In May 2024, on World Biodiversity Day, they announced their joint partnership Torgersen Gilbey. 

The theme of World Biodiversity Day this year was “Be Part of the Plan” and there is no doubt they are part of the grand plan. Their individual and joint passion for biodiversity is part of their overall commitment to demonstrating at a practical level how golf is not only not an enemy to nature but a profound ally. 

In our discussion today we discuss what environmental sustainability means, how it is implemented at golf courses, why biodiversity is so critically important and the role golf clubs, both private and public, can play in supporting nature and her chain of connection. 

Links related to this episode: 

Torgersen Gilbey: https://www.torgersengilbey.com.au/

Torgersen Gilbey on Socials: 

Facebook: Facebook

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/torgersengilbey/

Environmental Golf Solutions: https://www.envirogolf.com.au/

Green Gecko Studios: https://www.greengeckostudios.com.au/

Rewild Australia Native Nursery: www.rewildnativenursery.com.au 

2023 Community Benefits of Golf Report: https://downloads.ctfassets.net/3urhge2ecl20/5qTs4GUfbkAvnOBApJvzTH/3a23749439c5640f01f08067db0d52ef/Community_Benefits_of_Golf_in_Australia_Report__2023_.pdf

Andrew Fielke, Creative Native Foods chef and cuisine: https://creativenativefoods.com.au/

Kate and Monina’s nominated charity: WIRES Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation https://www.wires.org.au/

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Our guest today is Fiza Errington, General Manager of Gosnells Golf Club in Western Australia. Fiza is one of the new breed of female managers in the golf industry, a role she performs with great commitment and passion. With extensive experience in both sports management and club management, on top of being a former top junior golfer, Fiza brings a wealth of knowledge on various aspects of the game to her workplace, as well as considerable empathy for some of the challenging issues facing women in golf. 

Fiza shares with us her own journey, her ‘scars’ along the way, the juggle of balancing career and family, her thoughts on how women can navigate the pursuit of gender equality in golf, and some exciting changes ahead for Gosnells. 

Links related to this episode: 

Gosnells Golf Club:  www.gosnellsgc.com.au/cms/

Golf Management Australia (GMA): www.golfmanagement.com.au/

Club Management Association of America: www.cmaa.org/

R&A Women in Golf Charter: www.randa.org/en/key-projects/women-in-golf-charter

Fiza’s nominated charity: Perth Foundation for Women (www.perthfoundationforwomen.org.au/)

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Our guest today is Karen Lunn. As CEO of WPGA Tour Australasia, Karen is one of golf’s most accomplished administrators and one of the most important thought leaders in the game. 

A former tour player on the Ladies European Tour, the LPGA Tour and the domestic ALPG Tour, Karen amassed 16 career wins around the world, including the 1993 Weetabix Women’s British Open, a highly coveted title. Her experience as a successful player, Chairman of the LET Board and sometime broadcast commentator has given her insight into all corners of the game and she brings this to her current role. 

Fresh off the first concurrent running of the men’s and women’s Australian Open championships, Karen reflects on that week, celebrating the 50-year anniversary of WPGA, and a range of matters pertaining to women’s professional golf, women entering the game, and where our sport should head in the future. 

Links related to this episode: 

WPGA Tour Australasia: wpga.org.au/

Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC): www.golf.org.au/agic/

Vision 2025 (now Women and Girls Engagement Strategy): Vision 2025: The future of women and girls in golf | Golf Australia

Karen’s story on the 50th anniversary of WPGA: WPGA Tour celebrates 50th Anniversary | Golf Australia

Beth Ann Nichols story in Golfweek on course set-up: golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/03/16/lpga-golf-course-setups-womens-golf-pga-tour/

Steve Eubanks story in LPGA News on Minjee Lee scoring ability: www.lpga.com/news/2022/minjee-lees-numbers-even-more-impressive-than-the-friday-63

Karen’s nominated charity: lungfoundation.com.au/

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Our guests today are well known media personality and keen golfer Deborah Hutton and respected dermatologist Dr Anita Lasocki. In the lead up to The Longest Day, the golf challenge run by Cancer Council Victoria to raise funds for prevention programs and research into skin cancer, Deborah and Anita share with us ways in which we can lower the risk of contracting skin cancers. 

Anita has a special interest in early detection of skin cancer, melanoma surveillance and skin cancer management and provides us with some facts around Australia being the skin cancer capital of the world and why it is so important to have a regular pre-golf game skin protection routine all year round.

Deborah has twice fought infiltrating facial skin cancer and is now a passionate advocate for awareness of skin protection, sharing her story, releasing graphic post-surgery images of her face and creating a range of UPF50+ hats which are stylish, sun smart and perfect for golf. 

Links related to this episode: 
The Longest Day: www.longestday.org.au/
Cancer Australia information on melanoma: www.canceraustralia.gov.au/cancer-types/melanoma/overview
Canopy Bay Hats: canopybay.com.au/
Deborah Hutton: deborahhutton.com/
Solbari sun protective clothing: www.solbari.com.au/collections/solbari-upf50-tops-dresses-and-pants-for-women
Ikbul sun protective clothing: ibkul.com/collections/ibkul-golf-apparel
Rigon Headwear: rigonheadwear.com.au/
Deborah and Anita designated charity: www.longestday.org.au/

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