Golfing glee: How I spent my summer bursary covering the AIG Women’s Open

Photo of AIG women's open, where Ben Parsons spent his summer bursary

We offer each of our trainees a summer bursary of up to £1,000 every year of their degree to spend on journalism work experience or a journalism project, giving them the unique opportunity to travel and explore the areas of journalism they are passionate about.

Here, third year trainee Ben Parsons tells us about how he spent his bursary covering the AIG Women’s Open golf championship in Scotland.

The School of Journalism summer bursary allowed me to travel to Carnoustie, Scotland, to cover one of the biggest events in golf; the AIG Women’s Open.

My huge interest in golf led to covering the event and allowed me to expand my portfolio as a sports journalist with a large proportion of my live reporting so far based on football.

After gaining accreditation through Sportsbeat, I spent the whole tournament week writing previews, interviews, reports and feature content for Yahoo Sports and AOL. 

Women’s golf was admittedly not my specialist subject before making the trip to the tournament, but the event gave me the opportunity to display my knowledge on a less covered area of sport. 

The week began on Wednesday’s practice day by walking the famous links course and understanding the challenges facing the players ahead of the final Major of the year. 

After liaising with Sportsbeat, I then fulfilled my duties by writing a preview piece based around ten star players to watch out for during the tournament. Soon after, I filed another quotes-based article on defending champion Sophia Popov.

There was a buzz in the large press tent as I familiarised myself with the grounds and introduced myself to a host of national reporters. 

Friday, the first day of the tournament, arrived and after following world number one Nelly Korda for some of her impressive first round, I managed to speak to her in a mixed zone surrounded by other journalists. 

I turned around a quote-led piece on Korda before wrapping up the day’s coverage with a detailed summary report. 

Friday brought my most satisfying story of the week as I interviewed American star Lexi Thompson before catching up with her temporary caddie who was a local in the area. 

I also interviewed British hopefuls former champion Georgia Hall and amateur Louise Duncan which provided good quotes for my daily round-up. 

In the meantime, as the days progressed, spending time with established national reporters gave me invaluable insight and experience.

The tournament really came to life on Saturday, known as moving day, where top players made their move towards the top of the leaderboard. 

I spoke to the leading players and filed two reports with one based on the British hopes and the other my extensive daily round.

On Sunday, I was afforded the chance to write a feature on the winner as well as a news report. 

It was a thrilling final day of the tournament that had journalists in the press tent on the edge of their seat. Plenty of players could have won heading into the final few holes and that made for excitement and adrenaline as deadlines approached.

After filing my report copy and speaking to inspiring winner Anna Nordqvist, I enjoyed writing a feature where I looked back on the main talking points of the week. 

I left Carnoustie with a unique understanding of covering a top live golf event and experience interviewing some of women’s golf most accomplished stars.

This rewarding journalistic experience would not have been possible without the trust and financial support of the School of Journalism’s summer bursary scheme.

The School of Journalism is the number one NCTJ-accredited journalism undergraduate degree in the UK, delivered in the heart of Manchester and London.

Read why should apply to join The School of Journalism in 2022.