The Masters: Georgia Hall hopes for Augusta Women's Masters after amateur event
Last updated on .From the section Golf
England's Georgia Hall hopes the staging of a women's amateur tournament at Augusta National could pave the way for a Women's Masters.
The final round of the inaugural 54-hole tournament will be played at the Masters' home on Saturday, 6 April.
"It's another step towards having some equality," Women's British Open winner Hall told BBC golf podcast The Cut.
"The Masters could be women. Maybe we can have an event like that, it would be cool to play it on the same course."
The first two rounds of the Augusta National Women's Amateur will be held at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta, with the top 30 players making the cut to play the final round.
This year's Masters starts on Thursday, 11 April with American Patrick Reed as the defending champion.
The Augusta National, in Georgia, admitted its first women members in 2012, when former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore became the first women in green jackets.
"I'm quite sad I'm not playing, it's an awesome opportunity," added 22-year-old Hall.
Last year, Hall became just the third British golfer, after England's Karen Stupples in 2004 and Scotland's Catriona Matthew in 2009, to win the Women's British Open since it became a major in 2001.
Doubling her tally is Hall's "main aim" for 2019. She says she will draw on her experiences of winning at Royal Lytham & St Annes last August when she tees it up at The ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in California, which hosts the first of the year's five women's majors from 4-7 April.
"It's nice to know you can do it when the time comes and when you need to hit a shot you can pull it off," she said.
"To win in America would be a great achievement this year and that's my main aim and if it can be a major that's even better."
Hall is also excited by the inaugural Aon Risk Reward Challenge - a year-long contest being run by both the LPGA and PGA Tours in the US which offers equal prize money for the women and men.
The format is simple. At certain events throughout the year, there will be a designated 'risk and reward' hole and each player's best two scores on that hole at each event will count towards their running total. The lowest overall score on each individual tour will win $1m (£750,000) in prize money.
"It's awesome men and women playing for same prize fund," said Hall, who is one of the challenge's ambassadors.
"There's a little tournament within a tournament and you've got to be strategic with the way you play the hole, whether to be aggressive or not given your best two scores of the week count."
You can listen to more from Georgia, and the thoughts of Rory McIlroy after his Players Championship win, on this week's edition of The Cut.
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Should men and women be paid equally? No. Pay should equate to sport popularity, hence footballers get paid more than other team sports, and the simply fact is mens sport is more popular than womens sport.
Should women be allowed to use the same facilities as men? of course they should.
90% of women have no interest in sport. 99% of women have no interest in women's sport. 95% of men have no interest in women's sport. I can't see any great changes happening anytime soon. No offence meant to anyone but each to their own.
I'm not for it or against it, but careful what you wish for. The Masters may have prestige but it's actually a 'poor' major. You can tank the ball 300+ yds, completely miss the fairway and still have a shot to the green.
Looks pretty but will always be lacking in substance whilst the course is set up as a postcard picture.
It's easier to do that than get called a sexist and a misogynist for making a valid opinion.
Could easily have their own invitiational tournament at some other course.
Of course that won't bring in the cash that piggybacking onto the mens game would bring, so no chance of that.
Same with the TdF, sit on your behind for decades and once it becomes financially worthwhile, whine to get a slice of the pie without any of the yrs of effort. Easy money!
Surely if you are trying to be fully inclusive you need to include everyone.
People tend to want to watch the very best at a sport though which tends to be the men.
Just like women's tennis only playing 3 sets.
They want equality so play the same as the men.
Whilst there is the difference women's sport will be ridiculed.
The sense of entitlement is staggering and it would be nice to see them invest in developing their own identity/brands.