ANA Inspiration Faces Dilemma After Augusta Women's Amateur Clash

The first women's Major of the year was significantly down on viewers after clashing with the Augusta National Women's Amateur

ANA Inspiration Faces Dilemma After Augusta Women's Amateur Clash

The inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur proved a huge success this year with thrilling play and great feedback from the golfing world.

The tournament was won by World No.1 amateur Jennifer Kupcho who played the final six holes in five under, holding off Mexico's Maria Fassi.

It produced fantastic numbers too, with 1.16m viewers on NBC in the US, making it the most-watched women's golf event in almost three years.

However, all of that success impacted the women's first Major of the year, the ANA Inspiration.

Despite all of the viewers watching women's golf that week, not many were tuned in to the professional action.

The ANA's viewing figures were reportedly down 56%, from 437,000 in 2018 to 194,000 this year.

Attendance on site was also down 10%.

The Augusta National Women's Amateur is likely the cause for this huge drop, and the ANA Inspiration now faces a dilemma whether to move in the calendar.

As you might imagine, moving a Major Championship has huge implications on the schedule and this is the struggle that the ANA now has.

A week later is The Masters, which it would never go up against, and two weeks later is Coachella, the huge festival that takes place less than 10 miles down the road.

Go even later and the southern California temperatures would be much hotter, and even earlier would significantly impact the club's membership at Mission Hills, and cause further schedule changes with events in California and Arizona.

The WGC-Match Play Championship would also be a bad event to clash with just a couple of weeks earlier.

“At this point, I think it’s 50-50 we stay, 50-50 we move,” Chris Garrett of IMG, tournament director for the ANA Inspiration, told the Desert Sun.

“If I am a tournament sponsor and I am ANA and looking at coverage that was given to ANWA by Golf Channel and certain media outlets, I can understand their concerns that we are golf’s first Major and they are feeling overshadowed by an event in its first year.

“I’m not convinced moving to after Augusta is a better date.

“We’d be up against Coachella, Stagecoach, the number of golf fans in the desert has decreased, your volunteer base has gone home.”

“It's unfortunate really that they have to make that choice,” 2011 ANA Inspiration winner and former World Number One Stacey Lewis said.

"I would like to see that tournament [ANWA] played at a different time of the year so they don't have to make that choice.”

In what was a huge week for women's golf, the ANA Inspiration clearly suffered up against what was a great tournament at Augusta.

Let's not forget that the Jordan Mixed Open also took place that week, leaving fans of the women's game three tournaments to choose from which is simply too much.

Schedule changes are perhaps needed, as the ANWA, ANA Inspiration and Jordan Mixed Open are all great tournaments.

Let's hope these events can all have their own weeks to themselves, which would surely increase the viewership on all three.

Expand Mel Reid Comes Out As Gay: “Be Proud Of Who You Are”

Mel Reid Comes Out As Gay: “Be Proud Of Who You Are”

The six-time LET winner has come out as…

Expand Jennifer Kupcho Wins Augusta National Women’s Amateur

Jennifer Kupcho Wins Augusta National Women’s Amateur

The American won the inaugural Augusta National Women's…

Expand Golf’s Gender Pay Gap – ‘There Isn’t An Endless Sponsorship Purse For Events’

Golf’s Gender Pay Gap – ‘There Isn’t An Endless Sponsorship Purse For Events’

Ayla Golf Club hosts the Mixed Jordan Masters…

Expand Mel Reid: LET Players Have Had To Get Part-Time Jobs

Mel Reid: LET Players Have Had To Get Part-Time Jobs

The Englishwoman was speaking on the most recent…

For all the latest golf news, check the Golf Monthly website and follow our social media channels