The English Under 18 Championship will see boys and girls play alongside each other from 2021.

This year hasn’t just been fantastic for women’s golf, it’s also seen a surge in interest in mixed golf too.

It seems the country (and the world) is finally waking up to the fact that female golfers can be just as skilled, and entertaining to watch, as the men.

The latest development from an equality perspective is on the amateur scene, and we think it's hugely important.

England Golf has just announced that it has added its first ever mixed-gender championship to the calendar of events for the 2021 season.

The English Under 18 Championship will see boys and girls tee it up alongside each other and compete for the same trophy at Farnham Golf Club, Surrey.

Held between June 25 to 27 2021, the 132-player field will be directly split (66 boys and 66 girls) and will consist of 72 holes of stroke play with no handicap or stroke allowances given.

The girls will play from separate tees from the boys, but this will be done in such a way as to make the scores comparable.

England girls’ squad player Lottie Woad is a member at Farnham and like us, she’s really happy that England Golf has decided to let all the most talented young men and women in the country compete alongside each other for once.

“I think all the girls will be really keen to compete against the boys and see what happens!” said the 16 year old.

“This year at the English Amateur we were all on site together and it was a really good atmosphere even if we were still playing our separate events.

“I’ve never had the chance to play directly against the boys before and even with England our training sessions are at different times.

“The only time you would maybe play is in the odd practice round at an event like the European Young Masters when we are all away together, but that’s not the same as a championship.

“It’s definitely a good idea to integrate boys and girls like this in one event.

“It already happens on a couple of the professional events and the Berkhamsted Trophy was meant to be in this format in 2020 before the pandemic forced its cancellation.

“We still have our own championships which is right, but this is something new and exciting and I can’t wait.”

We totally agree.

2021 is already looking like it will be such a great year for golf.

For more information visit www.englandgolf.org.