WOBURN, England -- Britain has embraced a recent boon in its women's sports. Over the last few years, rugby, cricket, netball and football have reached heights of popularity never before witnessed, while Team Great Britain's Olympic efforts have been transformed, from the celebration of the occasional medal to golden sprees that would have been unimaginable in the late 20th century.
So why has women's golf in Britain failed to capture the nation's attention?
In theory, when Brit Georgia Hall won the Open 12 months ago at Royal Lytham & St Annes, it should have been the ideal moment for golf to ride the wave.
That's not to say her achievement went unnoticed. She was thrust into a whirligig of media duties, including an appearance on "BBC Breakfast" television the very next morning, a rare moment in the sun for the women's game on a mainstream station.
Moreover, Hall cited incidents of being recognized in the street and even having a fellow Brit acknowledge her when she holidayed in Barbados.
"There's definitely been a difference these last 12 months," said Hall, who hopes to defend her title at the AIG Women's British Open at Woburn Golf Club. "Loads of young girls and boys have been messaging me on social media, saying, 'I've taken up the game because I watched you in the British [Open].'
"There's been a lot more attention, and I think it's done a lot of good for golf, and especially women's golf."
That said, Hall is specifically measuring the growth of her own profile, from pre- to post-major championship breakthrough.
An alternative strategy would be to consider what might have happened had a tennis player been victorious in a major event and, in that case, the comparison might be rather more stark.
Were Johanna Konta, for example, to have reached the Wimbledon final in either of the past two years -- she made the last eight this year, the semifinal in 2017 -- Brits would have been throwing garden parties at a rate on a par with a royal wedding.
"What Georgia achieved last year is definitely a stepping stone to kind of where we should be ... but we have a long way to go." Bronte Law
Back in 2017, her quarterfinal defeat of Simona Halep on Centre Court peaked at 7.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched ladies match in the championship's history.
A sense of just how giddy the country became is that the final that year, between Garbine Muguruza and Venus Williams, drew a mere 4.7 million viewers in contrast.
The final round of Hall's victory last year? 448,000 viewers.
"What Georgia achieved last year is definitely a stepping stone to kind of where we should be in terms of the recognition that we deserve, but we have a long way to go," said Bronte Law, the latest British winner on the LPGA in May's Pure Silk Championship.
To take it one step further, England's clash against Team USA in the Women's World Cup semifinal claimed a BBC audience of 11.7 million, making it the most-watched British television broadcast of 2019.
On the one hand, the latter is a very unfair comparison: the national sport on an open-to-all TV station vs. a niche sport on a cable channel.
The former, on the other hand, offers a much more valid contrast (as would comparing the likely acclaim had a British man won this or last year's Open).
The British sporting year traditionally ends with the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year show, a glamorous event that showcases the nation's athletic glory throughout the previous 12 months. Last December, it spent mere seconds dealing with Hall's victory.
It prompted Tommy Fleetwood to tweet: "Always a very inspiring night and grateful to have the chance to sit amongst so many sporting and life heroes. ... However Georgia Hall gets 10 seconds airtime for her incredible achievements?"
Always a very inspiring night #SPOTY and grateful to have the chance to sit amongst so many sporting and life heroes. Very worthy winner @GeraintThomas86 ! However, @georgiahall96 gets 10 seconds of airtime for her incredible achievements ??
— Tommy Fleetwood (@TommyFleetwood1) December 16, 2018
Law, too, appreciates the fight, but believes there is still a ways to go.
"If we were tennis players, obviously there would be a lot more interest around us," she said this week. "But you know, we're not.
"Having three British players highly in the world rankings is going to help that, but we have to do the extraordinary to kind of be even slightly noticed. ... Ultimately, we just have to keep doing what we're doing and try to promote the sport each time we go out and play. I think the Solheim Cup will be a really good thing for British sport, really raise the profile."
Scotland's Catriona Matthew noted that Hall's win demonstrates progress when compared to her own Women's British Open success, also at Lytham, in 2009.
"Georgia's story was definitely bigger than me winning," she said. "Wimbledon is just in the fabric of the country. It just seems to have a bigger profile than women's golf, but I think we're on the up and up, and the Solheim Cup will help that."
Europe's captain then added: "In the end, you just want this to be sport rather than women's sport. And I think you just want it to be the Solheim Cup, you don't need it to be seen as the women's version of the Ryder Cup."
In her pre-tournament press conference, the engaging, down-to-earth Hall revealed, almost by accident, that in one sense she is most assuredly maintaining a strong sporting tradition in her home country.
Shortly after England won the men's soccer World Cup in 1966, the trophy was stolen, eventually and famously rediscovered in a hedge by a dog called Pickles.
Hall's part in this sporting legacy?
"Someone stole my replica trophy," she said. "Smashed my back window in the middle of the day and just took it. Probably melted it down. I had golf clubs in there, as well. Didn't take them. A bit strange."
Winning this week would be the swiftest way for Hall to replace her lost property.
It might also help further the quest of women's golf to discover new audiences.
