Is women’s sport professional only by name?

     The gap between men's and women’s golf in two leader boards.

Gender equality in sport still has a long way to go.

You would think that over the years the disparity would have at least decreased but as a sports journalist I am sad to report that there still a lot of work to be done in bridging the gap.

During a recent interview with a professional golfer, I was reminded of the challenges female athletes are faced with.

The women are definitely getting the shorter end of the stick – by a long way.

There is less money in the women’s game, less sponsors, less media coverage and less fans.

But it is not all doom and gloom though, as I write this, the Australian Open is about to conclude.

Congratulations to tennis, they have successfully implemented equal prize money for men and women in grand slams, something other sports can learn from.

Anyway, back to my interview with Swaziland professional golfer Nobuhle Dlamini which you can watch on the Kaya FM website here.

We met at the Houghton Golf Club following her opening round in the Chase to Investec Cup for Ladies

It was during my research ahead of this interview that it became glaringly obvious that women’s golf was not as publicised as the men’s, be it on TV, radio or print (I admit as media, I am part of the problem here).

The lack of money and support these women receive as professionals is just shocking.

England’s Rebecca Hudson who won the three-day event walked away with R28 000 for her effort.

Only three days earlier 21-year old Hayden Porteous pocketed a cool R2.6 million for his win at the Joburg Open (see leader boards above).

I know people will argue that the above mentioned events are not the same and yes, the Joburg Open is co-sanctioned and a qualifier to the British Open and broadcast live on TV and, and, and…

But does this justify prize money nearly 100 times more than the women?

Don’t get me wrong, Porteous deserves every cent for his win and congratulations to him.

The cost of being a professional golfer is not cheap.

There are entire teams made up of coaches, physios and caddies, who work hard behind the scenes so these athletes can play to their best ability.

But what about the women?

Being a professional golfer on the women's tour is not free – even if dad has to double-up as taxi driver, coach and caddie.

Other sports such as football are also dragging their feet when it comes to gender bias.

A month ago I tweeted about Mamelodi Sundowns ladies football team winning the Sasol League National Championships.

After finishing the tournament undefeated and lifting the trophy, they pocketed R50 000 for their success in Sasolburg.

In that same month, the men’s team won the Telkom Knockout which was accompanied by R 4-Million big ones.

Please do not get me wrong, I am not having a go at the sponsors involved in women’s sport here.

Without them, I can’t imagine how much money these athletes would be getting, if any at all.

My outcry is simple: more must be done to grow women’s sport, by everyone, including the media such as myself.