Player Blog: Mel Reid

In this week's Player Blog Ladies European Tour and Solheim Cup star Mel Reid discusses this week's GolfSixes, sexism in golf, slow play, and why Inbee Park is the best putter on the planet... 

I watched GolfSixes last year and it looked a great event to be a part of. I feel very honoured that they asked five girls to be involved this year and that I was one of them. Hopefully this can be the start of more mixed events as things like this definitely help the ladies game grow. This week is a great opportunity for us to showcase women’s golf as well. Last year looked great and the weather looks like it’ll be incredible this weekend. To get more people interested in golf there needs to be more events like these.

Playing with Carlota Ciganda is going to be a lot of fun. I know her really well as we met when we were around 14 and have always been pretty competitive, particularly during our time as Amateurs. We both have a very similar mindset in terms of the way we play and we both buzz off team events - she’s my go-to partner at the Solheim Cup! We give each other a lot of energy, but she definitely hits it further than me though! We’ve done two Solheim’s together now, and each match we’ve played has been amazing. I don’t think we’ll be too nervous on the 1st tee a we aren’t really expected to win, but that would make it even more incredible if we did!

Sexism in golf is still very present. Equality is a huge subject at the minute. I understand that, with regards to women, golfers are the second highest paid athletes but it’s still not anywhere near where it should be. I have a lot of friends in different sports: rugby, football, cricket and to hear their stories are heart-breaking. The amount of effort they put in is second to none, yet the way they get treated, it’s just unacceptable. Will things change during my generation? Probably not. But hopefully the young girls that are coming through now will find that when they’re 25-30 years old things will be a bit different.

Slow play is a huge problem in the game of golf.I simply don’t understand why it takes five and a half hours to play a single round – that’s the main reason the sport is declining. I’m a fast player, so I feel like normal rounds on Tour actually punish the quicker golfers out there. There definitely needs to be stricter rules implemented in the professional game. With everyone so busy, GolfSixes seems like it could be the spark to getting more people interested in golf, like the way Twenty20 has changed cricket. The Shot Clock hole this week is a great start to address the speed issue the game has and I don’t think it’ll be a problem for me at all, but Carlotta is already a little worried! She likes to take everything in her stride, she’s very Spanish, very laid back! I’ll be fine, but she may have to practice being a bit quicker this weekend!

The comparisons made between me and Ian Poulter when it comes to match play are always a good thing.I’m not as outspoken as Ian but I love how he feeds off the Ryder Cup; I feel the exact same way about the Solheim Cup. With the last one being my third appearance I definitely took on more responsibility, particularly with some of the rookies, and as it was in America too. I love team events so it’s probably weird that I play golf really. The Solheim Cup is definitely my highlight every two years and I love nothing more than the atmosphere and getting involved with all the girls.

You have to approach the six-hole nature of the event slightly different to a normal week.You’ve got to get out there and make as many birdies as you can as early as possible. We’re playing against some of the best men in Europe so we always know we’re going to have to come out the blocks. Carlota and I will be going super aggressive, always firing at the pins.

There are obvious differences between the men’s and women’s games; length off the tee is the main one. In fact, I think the men’s game benefits in every department because of their strength, which is why I find it so important to go to the gym so often. You have some women like Charley Hull who are naturally strong, whereas people like me have to go and work on their strength in order to keep up with the rest and get into the best positions.  There are also similarities too, we all love the game, we’re all competitive, we all want to do this for a living. We’re athletes and we all want to do the best we can with the skills we’ve got. Golfers are some of the hardest working sportspeople I know, whether they’re male or female.

I grew up playing with a lot of the male golfers:

Fisher, McIlroy, Baldwin, Waring and some others. I always keep an eye on how they’re doing. We do some golf days together and so we all see each other two or three times a year. I always try and play with guys when I’m back at home, I think it’s important to get rounds in with both men and women.

In my opinion Inbee Park is the best putter on the planet. 

If people saw how good she was on the greens they’d be talking about her rather than Jordan Spieth. I’ve never seen someone hole as many putts. Her distance control with the putter verges on inhuman, and it’s that which has won her so many tournaments. She’s not the best ball striker, although she’s improving all the time.

I would say we’ve been drawn in the hardest group,but like I said I don’t think there’s any pressure on us girls. The guys will expect to win but they may have never seen myself or Carlota play, so hopefully we can be the little dark horse that comes through. Even if we did get through to Sunday it would be a huge achievement for us, and I believe we can do it!

You can follow Mel onTwitter here.