HISTORY will be made when Scotland hosts a world first in golf next month. The Glasgow 2018 European Championships will see men and women share the stage in a mixed team format with a 50/50 field split and equal prize money.

The five-day event is at Gleneagles from August 8-12, with players from 15 countries. Scots Richie Ramsay, Catriona Matthew and Michele Thomson are among the Great Britain contingent set to compete at the inaugural European Golf Team Championships.

It is an encouraging step towards addressing gender parity in golf where, for many years, women have played second fiddle to their male counterparts in both profile and prize money.

In professional golf, men's earnings still far outstrip those of women – often by more than double. For example, winning the 2018 US Open comes with a cheque of $2.16 million (£1.64m) for the men compared with $900,000 (£682,000) for the women.

The Open tees up $1.89m (£1.43m) for the winner of the men's tournament, with the top woman receiving $487,500 (£370,000).

At the European Golf Team Championships, the gold medal winning men and women's teams will each take home €200,000 (£177,000) apiece, while there will be €300,000 (£266,000) up for grabs for the winning four-strong mixed team.

Here we speak to three leading Scottish golfers, each at different stages of their career, about how their sport is evolving.

CATRIONA MATTHEW

North Berwick-based Catriona Matthew has been Scotland's top women player for almost 25 years. She won the Women's British Open in 2009 and is a two-time winner of the Ladies Scottish Open.

Matthew, 48, is competing in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at Gullane, which runs until tomorrow, and will then play in the Ricoh Women's British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes from August 2-5.

She will represent Great Britain at Glasgow 2018 next month and has been named European captain for the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles.

Glasgow 2018 will see a world-first where men and women share the same stage with 50/50 field split and will compete for the same prize money. What are your thoughts?

I think it is great. In the last few years, women's sport is getting far more recognition and in golf they are trying different events to get the men and women playing together more.

It is good for the spectators including children to see men and women competing in the same event.

You will be returning to Gleneagles as European captain for the 2019 Solheim Cup. Will playing here for the European Golf Team Championships come in handy?

It will be good to see how the course is playing. We've had an exceptionally dry summer, so it will be playing pretty fast. It will be good to see how the other player's play it too.

In 2011, you said you were "resigned to the fact that we will never get the same level of attention as the men" and were "tired of banging my head off that wall." Are things changing?

Change doesn't happen overnight, but in the last nine or 10 years I think it has changed. Women's sport in general, not just golf, has a lot more exposure and coverage.

It is great to show girls that they can do a sport as a profession. Perhaps 10 or 20 years ago there wasn't the opportunity to do that.

You have been Scotland's top woman golfer for almost 25 years. Do you see enough talent coming up behind you?

Well, perhaps not if I'm still there after 25 years. There are a few encouraging signs of some coming along now. Obviously, you always want to see more.

Hopefully in the next five years we will see some others coming through. I think if you can get one or two there is that trickle-down effect and it pushes everyone to improve.

What will it take to get more women to the top of the sport?

It is about gradually chipping away. If you can get more people playing, then you are more likely to produce the world-beaters. When I started out there were probably three or four Scots on the Tour. If you can get a few good players, then you all push each other on.

There's a drive to encourage women golfers of all abilities to play in Scotland. Is that good to see?

Golf in Scotland is very inclusive now. I would say 99 per cent of the courses women can come and play on. Personally, I have never been discriminated against playing golf. Scotland is a great place for women to play golf.

How about gaining gender parity when it comes to prize money?

Obviously, there is still a big disparity. That is something we will need to chip away at. Ideally, we would get it like tennis where you play for the same amount of money in the majors.

It is slowly getting there. These things don't happen overnight. We are heading in the right direction.

Who are the players to watch at the European Championships?

You have Georgia Hall, Laura Davies and Richie Ramsay – there is a good crop of homegrown talent. There's Holly Clyburn and myself too. Hopefully we will get a British win.

You have been playing the game at top level for many years. How much longevity do you envisage?

I've never been one to set a time limit on things. I take each year as it comes and if I am still playing decent and still enjoying it, then I will keep going. Laura Davies won The US Senior Women's Open earlier this month. I'm eligible in a couple of years so that will keep me going.

CARLY BOOTH

Carly Booth has enjoyed toppling records. At eight she became the youngest player in the world with an adult handicap of 20. At 11, she became the youngest ladies' club champion in Britain. At 17, she became the youngest Scot to qualify for the Ladies European Tour.

Booth, 26, grew up in Comrie, Perthshire and is based in Manchester. Career highlights include winning the European Junior Masters in 2007 and taking her first professional title at the 2012 Dinard Ladies Open, the same year she won the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.

She is a golf ambassador for the Glasgow 2018 European Championships at Gleneagles.

How much of a buzz is there around golf in Scotland?

It's a big four weeks for golf. There was the men's Scottish Open at Gullane earlier in July and The Open at Carnoustie. We've got the women's Scottish Open happening in Gullane and then the European Golf Team Championships at Gleneagles in August.

There is a buzz in the air, especially with having such great weather recently. Everyone is out and about and getting on the golf courses. The Ryder Cup being held here in 2014 had such a great impact too.

Glasgow 2018 will see a world-first where men and women share the same stage with 50/50 field split and will compete for the same prize money. How important is that?

We have always been in the background to the men and don't play for the same kind of money. It is nice we are being shown as equals.

Also, I think it is a positive impact for the Ladies European Tour, because we have been struggling a lot with [a lack of] tournaments. Hopefully this can boost our schedule and get more people looking into sponsoring events for us across Europe.

Glasgow 2018 is a multi-sport event which we haven't had since the Commonwealth Games four years ago. It is great to have so many different sports and amazing athletes coming to Scotland.

Would you like to see this equal platform replicated in other events?

Definitely. It is a big boost for us and one step in the right direction. It is exciting for the women to play against the men because they will be in fear of us – they won't want to get beaten by a woman.

We've seen a lot of changes in recent years such as the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and then Muirfield opening membership to women. Has that been encouraging too?

It makes a huge difference. I think they are getting out of their old ways and habits. Things are changing and allowing women to be more equal is the way forward. Not all golf courses have [women members] yet, but we are getting there.

You grew up playing golf with your older brother and then against boys in a lot of junior competitions. Do you see things as any different for the girls and women coming up behind you?

I didn't have a lot of girls in my area growing up to play against. Having an older brother who plays golf, I got used to playing with and against boys and enjoyed that. It helped my game because I was always the youngest and playing with boys that were older and better.

I was playing junior comps at Dunblane against Jamie Murray and all those guys who were bigger, older and stronger than me. But I was still keeping up with them, so that was a great way for me to improve my golf. Having my older brother guiding me really pushed me on too.

I was at St Andrews the other day playing the Old Course and a girl who is a friend of the family and a massive fan of mine had come down to meet me and watch me play the first hole. Something like that makes me smile.

I am still trying to work hard and do the best that I can in my own career, but it is great to see it is influencing young kids too.

We sometimes forget you are only 26. How does it feel to have had such a long career already?

I feel like I'm 40. We have all these video tapes that my mum has been putting onto DVD. We were recently watching my first-ever interview when I was eight getting my first handicap of 20. It's been 18 years I have been in the public eye. I think people do forget I'm only 26. I'm not ancient.

This year and next year are when I need to peak. I have been working on some changes this year. Again, it has been tough because we've not had full schedules. It is very hard to get into a rhythm when you are only playing one tournament every six or seven weeks.

Working to keep the motivation going is quite tough. But I feel like I'm heading in the right direction. I left my management team in December and there are a lot of things I'm working on to get a good team around me again.

HAZEL MACGARVIE

One of the rising stars of Scottish golf, Hazel MacGarvie is among six young ambassadors for Glasgow 2018. The 18-year-old from Troon took up golf aged four and now plays off a +3 handicap.

In 2013, then just 13, she won the Ladies' Club Championship at Troon – the youngest girl to do so. MacGarvie claimed the 2016 Scottish Girls' Open Championship title and won the Scottish Girls' Order of Merit that same year.

A Stirling University student, this year her impressive haul includes winning the Scottish Student Golf Championships, British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) West of Scotland Trophy and BUCS Golf Order of Merit.

Glasgow 2018 will see men and women share the same stage with 50/50 field split and compete for the same prize money. What are your thoughts?

It is so important. Over the years there has been a lot of negative coverage about men and women not having the same prize money and access to golf clubs. Hopefully that will help change people's perspective. I'm hoping it will also encourage more people to start playing.

In recent years we have seen formerly men-only clubs open their membership to women. Has that been good to see?

It is really encouraging. It is something that had to be done to bring all the golf clubs up to date. It is about getting the first woman to join, then hopefully others will follow, and eventually golf clubs will become mixed gender.

Were you aware of the differences between men and women in golf growing up?

I was aware, but I'm a member at Troon so I didn't notice it much at all playing at home because they have been so helpful and amazing.

When I was younger and looking into the professional ranks, obviously I realised that the men earn a lot more money for competitions than the women. Hopefully Glasgow 2018 will help to start to change that.

What advice would you give to someone keen to take part?

Golf is something that you can play for your whole life and take up at any point. What I would say, especially to young people, is give it a go. It takes a lot of practice and hard work but, if you stick at it, you will gradually get better. But you need to enjoy it.

Would you like to see more women from across the world come and play in Scotland?

I do a little bit of caddying at Royal Troon and we get a lot of men, usually many of them Americans, coming to play. The other day I was caddying for a group of women. They had left their husbands at home in America and they had come on a girl's holiday to Scotland to play golf.

I thought that was fantastic and it would be great if we could get more of that. Not just from America but European countries too.

Who do you look up to in the sport?

Sweden's Henrik Stenson because I love the way he conducts himself. He is nice to all the fans, inclusive and a great role model. Catriona Matthew is another person I look up to, as well as Stephen Gallacher and Paul Lawrie who both have foundations to encourage young golfers.

What is the long-term ambition?

To enjoy golf playing for a team while I'm at university. Then, once I have graduated, I want to see what level I am at in the sport and, if I'm good enough, to try and turn pro.

I'm a bit undecided about what I want to do in terms of a job after university. I might take a couple of years out and just play golf to see if I can get to a good enough level. If not, I will get a job and enjoy the sport at an amateur level.

But I would preferably like to be at a good enough level to play at the Curtis Cup as an amateur and then turn pro when I'm older.

Visit glasgow2018.com

Golf: the wind of change

SCOTLAND may famously be the “Home of Golf” yet there has been a less than level playing field between the sexes. Things are beginning to change. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and Muirfield in Gullane, among the last bastions of male-only memberships, have both opened their doors to women in recent years.

In Scotland there are now very few men-only golf clubs left. Those that do not allow women to join include Glasgow Golf Club, Western Gailes near Irvine, North Ayrshire, Bruntsfield Links and Royal Burgess Golfing Society, both in Edinburgh.

It is worth noting that there are still women-only clubs such as The St Rule Club in St Andrews and Fife-based Lundin Ladies.

The R&A – which is the St Andrews-based governing body for world golf outside the US and Mexico – launched the Women in Golf Charter in May to tackle gender imbalance which aims to increase the number of women and girls playing and working in the game.

The Ladies European Tour, the European Golf Association, and the Professional Golfers’ Association are among the organisations to have committed to the document, along with the governing bodies of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Scottish Golf, the national governing body for amateur golf, recently announced a major drive to attract 15,000 women and junior players over the next three years to combat a decline in participation.

Women and Girls Golf Week 2018 gets under way on Monday with the goal of celebrating success while challenging any lingering misconceptions and stigmas that remain.

It is the hope of VisitScotland to encourage more women players to tee off on Scotland’s golf courses while combining their stay with activities such as spa days and gin tastings.