In the latest edition of Living Golf, CNN’s Jazzy Golfer — aka Jasmine — visited Saudi Arabia and the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club just outside Jeddah, home to the men’s and women’s Saudi International events.

For the first time, the Kingdom’s two flagship events had equal billing and equal prize money. The $5 million Aramco Saudi Ladies International attracted six of the world’s top 10 female players, including world No. 1 and eventual champion Lydia Ko.

Ahead of the tournament the Jazzy Golfer spoke to Ko about her swing.

“I think one of the biggest things I think about is my rhythm,” the New Zealander said. “I don’t think I’ve heard anybody say that their swing gets smoother and longer on the golf course, I think it always gets shorter and quicker. So, for me, just keeping that rhythm, and I feel like when I’m in good rhythm and it’s smooth, even if I do miss it, it’s not too wayward.”

The men’s tournament at Royal Greens took place in early February and broadcaster and Golf Diget Middle East’s first editor Robbie Greenfield spoke to defending champion Harold Varner III about his win. “I think I’m pretty outgoing,” the American said. “You don’t see my emotions for the most part. And when you do something good, I think you should celebrate. So, I was pumped. I was excited.”

Varner spoke about the barriers people face getting into golf and how he hopes to help more young people try the sport. “People don’t understand how hard it is for a kid to get into golf and I want to change that,” he explained. “That’s important to me, because there are some very talented kids out there that just don’t have the opportunity to see if they like it, let alone see if they’re good at it. And that’s how you grow the game. And that costs a lot of money. So, I want to play well, make a lot of money, raise a lot of money, so that that happens.”

Another view or Varner’s celebration after holing the winning eagle putt at the 2022 Saudi International. Oisin Keniry

Next, Greenfield met Australian Cam Smith, who claimed his first major at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews last July.

“It was very surreal,” the Aussie said. “I think it’s something that you dream of, and probably you don’t get that far in your dreams almost. It was crazy. Such a cool environment. Everyone was there, there were Aussies screaming out: ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie,’ all that stuff. It was just such an unreal moment.”

Greenfield also spoke to four-time major winner Brooks Koepka about performing under pressure. “I think I’m just able to focus a lot better,” he said. “Things just slow down for me. A lot of times when guys are under pressure, they speed up. I enjoy that. I don’t enjoy playing golf for 20th place. I enjoy playing to win.”

Louis Oosthuizen. LIV Golf

South African Louis Oosthuizen joined LIV Golf in 2022 and he told CNN that he’s excited for the 14-event global schedule the tour has lined up for 2023. “It’s actually nice travelling to different places and seeing different cultures, golf courses, and completely different areas,” he said. “So, growing the game is very important. Whenever I speak to someone young trying to become a golfer, I say you’ve got to travel the world, you’ve got to go play all over the place, and see different things, and see if you can grow your game that way.”

The Jazzy Golfer. CNN

Golf Digest Middle East recently caught up with the Jazzy Golfer herself in Dubai at the DP World Tour Championship, turning the tables and making her the interviewee rather than interviewer.

Here is the Q&A:

Q What brings you to Dubai?
A I’ve been travelling to the Middle East to film for Living Golf. We visited the DP World Tour Championship and also played on a sand course in Abu Dhabi!

How easy is it to get into golf as a career?
I started my golfing journey less than six years ago while on a family holiday in Portugal. After many air shots and topped balls, I hit one pitching wedge that landed right next to the pin and that was it, I was hooked. At the time, I had a career in finance, but after a couple of years I took a leap of faith to turn passion into my full-time job and try to make a difference in the golfing world. Using social media has been a great tool to amplify my journey, share the stories of other fantastic women in golf, create an engaged, supportive network and to show that golf really is a sport for everyone — especially women and juniors.
It hasn’t always been easy though. Playing golf was always fun, but from my early experiences in the game I felt that the culture of the sport didn’t match up with just how fun the game was to play. I hoped that by documenting my journey, more women and girls would see golf as a sport for them. And the more my channels grew, so did the size of the audience I was able to reach to call out the sexism that exists in the sport and talk about how clubs and institutions can become more inviting toward women.

As golf grows in popularity across the Middle East, especially among female golfers and youth, what is your ideal vision for the future?
Golf is definitely moving in the right direction, and I want to continue to be a part of that change, highlighting the sport’s appeal to a newer, younger and more diverse audience. I aim to do this through my work on Living Golf, but I am also phenomenally proud of the work me and the team at the UK Women’s Golf Community (UK WGC), have done over the past year. The UK WGC is a supportive online community for women and girls who play golf, complemented by a series of social meet-ups designed to bring women and girls together at ranges and clubs across the UK. There is a similar community called ‘Chicks with Sticks’ in Abu Dhabi, who are doing great work to get more women playing golf in the UAE. I’d love to see a continued growth of women taking up the sport in the Middle East off the back of initiatives like that as well as have golf clubs continue to evolve with the times, ensuring they are giving women equal access to the facilities and being given equal treatment.
After all, this game is for everyone and with so many varied options such as TopGolf, nine-hole courses, par 3 courses, Golf Sixes, FootGolf, mini golf as well as a full 18 holes, you can find the version that fits you, your lifestyle, and your personality.

Will the likes of the Saudi International tournaments receiving equal prize money of $5 million for both the men and women pave the way for change?
Yes, it will. You only need to look to the example set by other sports to see the impact it has. Equal pay across male and female events is a key issue across all sports, not just in golf. For example, in tennis at Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens, prize money has been equal since 2007. And last year the US Women’s football team successfully negotiated a deal for equal pay including equalisation of World Cup prize money. This levelling of prize money and pay at the higher levels needs to filter down to the lower levels too, if we want more women to be able to take up sports, especially ones like golf which can sometimes have higher start-up costs. Change has been under way in other sports for some time, and I hope that change will eventually be replicated throughout the world of golf, including at every major tournament.

Tommy Fleetwood. DP World

What do you make of the facilities across the UAE compared to other destinations you have visited?
I’ve been lucky enough to visit some of the UAE’s world-renowned courses that have hosted some of the sport’s best players and, from my experience, the golf courses are always in pristine condition and the service levels have always been excellent. As the game continues to grow in the region, it will be interesting to see how more investment and development in the sport brings new benefits and opportunities. The recent introduction of the Tommy Fleetwood Academy in Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates is a great example of this, and I look forward to seeing how the academy will develop the next generation of our game at a grass roots level.
As someone who is passionate about sustainability, I have also been impressed with the work many golf clubs are doing to ensure they are working as sustainably as possible. It was interesting to visit the Al Ghazal Golf Club in Abu Dhabi to see how golf was played in the region before these modern courses were built and as this unique form of the game is played on sand, it is much more sustainable with a lot less water and maintenance needed for the upkeep of the courses. It’s an experience that I would encourage all golfers visiting the region to try out.

What are your own plans for the future?
In the space of a year, the UK WGC has grown to over 2,500 members and I am regularly seeing new groups of women and girls coming together across the country to enjoy golf and share their positive experiences. With this in mind, we’re looking forward to growing and building on our early success. We aim to make the sport accessible for more women and girls and I personally am passionate about achieving this not just through the UK WGC but also through the campaigning, presenting, and consulting that I do in this space.
I’m personally on a mission to lower my handicap this year so through a combination of lessons, the right equipment, and some hard work I’d love to get to single figures (one can hope, right?!) I am also going to be travelling more and highlighting golfing achievements from across the world with Living Golf and continuing to tell the many stories of the fantastic women we are so lucky to have in the sport.