Kate Rose tells top male players to join her husband in giving the women's game a helping hand

Kate Rose has promised the top male professionals that there will be “no downside” if they choose to follow her husband’s example and help promote the female game.

The Rose Ladies Series' three-day Computacenter Grand Final starts on Wednesday at North Hants, the course where Justin Rose played his formative golf, before visiting The Berkshire on Thursday and finishing with a historic appearance on Friday at Wentworth where the famed West Course will host the first women’s professional tournament in its 94-year existence.

And the cast list seems more than capable of living up to that billing.

Georgia Hall leads Charley Hull in the American Golf Order of Merit, with £20,000 going to the winner. Hall, the 2018 Women’s Open champion overhauled her fellow Englishwoman by winning at The Shire London last Thursday.

But Hull, the world No25, knows that victory in the tournament would guarantee her all the spoils. Indeed, with double points on offer, it is mathematically possible for the top six in the standings to prevail with Liz Young, Gabriella Cowley, Meg MacLaren and Annabel Dimmock also still in the hunt.

Certainly, it has all the potential to cap off seven thrilling one-day shootouts. Rose, himself, has been “entirely stunned” by the success of the series that he and Kate set up to fill the competitive void left by the pandemic.

There had been calls for a leading PGA Tour pro to emulate the late Kobe Bryant in his mission to gain more exposure for women’s basketball and now that Rose has stepped up, his wife believes his colleagues on the top rungs of the men’s game should do their own bit.

“There's no downside to the men giving the women a lift, a helping hand,” she said. “It’s only going to increase coverage of the sports. There should be ‘no, well, if the women get a bit of coverage, it's going to take some away from us,’ because it would actually be the opposite. It would be great if we could continue this snowballing.”

Kate has been the driving force and as evidence of her commitment she is making the trip from the family home in the Bahamas to attend the finale. “It’s been difficult logistically because of Hurricane Isaias, but I was there at the beginning and, with Justin obviously playing in the USPGA at Harding Park, I'd be gutted if I missed out,” she said.