Sports marketing and communications specialist Vicky Jones has been at the forefront of the explosive growth of golf in Asia. Over the past two decades, the veteran has earned international recognition for her work within the golf industry in Asia.

In her current role as Managing Director for Asia Pacific at 54, Vicky oversees the full range of the international sports marketing and entertainment agency’s work in the region. This includes the planning, promotion and execution of major international tournaments, from the negotiation of multi-million-dollar commercial partnership deals, right down to the actual staging and running of each event.

54 launched its first ever LIV Golf event in Asia in 2022 under her watch. For 2025, Vicky and her team at 54 will be checking off on high-profile international tournaments like LIV Golf Hong Kong, the International Series tournaments in Macau, Japan and the Philippines, the Aramco Team Series in Shenzhen and Korea, and the Link Hong Kong Open.

 THE ASIAN BOOM
Originally hailing from Scotland, Vicky started her career in golf in 2005 as a client services and communications specialist with the Asian Tour. She then joined the DP World Tour in 2007, eventually becoming their Championship Director for Asia, leading the promotion and delivery of iconic Asian tournaments like the EurAsia Cup, UBS Hong Kong Open and the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Vicky reminisced about a time when Asian spectators were still new to the game saying, “I was lucky to have worked on events like the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in Shenzhen, China back in 2007. When I was there, I remember seeing families having a picnic in the bunker. They were not really sure what they were there for.” Seventeen years later, she found herself back at Mission Hills again, this time for the Aramco Team Series Shenzhen 2024.

She was thrilled to see the crowds having a noticeable increase in their knowledge and passion for the game. “Nowadays we see really engaged fans and a growth in the number of people attending these events. For example, the Hong Kong Open is reaching spectator numbers in excess of 30,000 over a four-day tournament, which are really strong numbers,” said Vicky.

“In Singapore, LIV Golf 2024 attracted record crowds, and we saw how much the fans  enjoyed the vibe and atmosphere,” she added. “We are trending younger at our events in Asia which is extremely positive for the growth of the game. Fans in Asia don’t really care too much about who the sanctioning body is. They just want to see the best players.”

According to the R&A’s Global Golf Participation Report in 2023, there are now 22.5 million people engaged with golf in Asia, surpassing the 21.1million golfers in Europe. Vicky also highlighted strong statistics for women in Asia saying, “We are ahead of our US and European counterparts in terms of female participation in golf, particularly in the amateur game. In the traditional golf markets like North America and Europe, female participation is quite some way behind the men, whereas in the Asian markets, it’s almost 50-50 in terms of women’s participation in the sport.”

PASSION FOR ASIAN TALENT
“The other thing that’s been exciting for me in terms of the development of the game is seeing the (strong) performance and competitiveness of the Asian players on Tour. We see that particularly in the women’s game,” said Vicky.

“I’ve been running the Hong Kong Open since 2010. I remember being asked back in the early days, what it would take to get local fans engaged and the answer to that was, to have a Hong Kong champion.

“Here we are in 2025, when you’ve got Taichi Kho, performing at the top of his game on the Asian Tour, having won the 2023 World City Championship in Hong Kong. Seeing that growth and development on the professional front has been amazing.”

Vicky also oversees the regional team that supports VOXA, a new talent management business launched by LPGA Tour legend Suzann Petersen. “It’s been interesting to see 54 moving into talent representation. It’s something that we had done just in the Asian market and in the Middle East.

We identified Singaporean Shannon Tan as someone that we were keen to work with. We had a relationship with her and felt that we could help support her in representing her commercial rights internationally. We also now represent Malaysian Ashley Lau and Yin Ruoning from China. All these three golf talents are the top ranking female professionals in their respective countries.

STEPPING INTO 54
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vicky moved to do contract work on Asian golf events. In 2022, she was approached to join 54, a move timed to prepare for the launch of LIV Golf in Asia. It was an interesting decision to make given the simmering tension between established tours like her former employer and the new rival tour.

She said, “That opportunity was too good to miss. I’ve had many great years working with the DP World Tour and it wasn’t an easy decision to make. Someone described it to me at the time as ‘a move over to the dark side’. We could see that LIV Golf was committed to developing events in the international markets and specifically in Asia, which was exciting for me.”

“And then with 54’s other portfolio of event assets, like the Aramco Team Series and the Asian Tour’s International Series, it really felt like there was something that I could really get my teeth stuck into.”

Delivering the first live event in Asia, LIV Bangkok 2022 at Stone Hill, was a career highlight for the industry expert.

“When you look at all the elements, (the live music performances), the shotgun starts – they all add to the mix of moving parts, while considering the scale of the event and everything else,” she reveals. “To get through to the end of that event, sit back, and see that we delivered it successfully, was one of the biggest achievements.”

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Having lived in Asia for 23 years, Vicky shared an amusing detail about herself saying, “One thing that makes me smile is the fact that I’m allergic to rice. Yet I have to say, the food in Asia is one of the things that’s probably kept me here for so long -other than the rice!”

“I really enjoy the diversity of culture we have across the region. I lived in Bangkok for my first three years in Asia, and I’ve been based in Singapore for the last 20 years. I’ve done work in many Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Japan, Korea and China, and I have had the opportunity to experience so many different cultures, while learning and appreciating how to adapt and do business across these diverse markets and cultures. That has been an absolute joy and something that has kept me motivated and excited to be here in Asia.”

A WOMAN, A LEADER
Vicky shared some reflections about being a woman leader in the male dominated business of professional sport saying, “I’ve been fortunate that the challenges have been minor and easy to overcome. I’ve had an exceptional opportunity to do what I love and I’ve never felt held back by the fact that  I’m female. I do often feel that I’m perhaps more in the minority than I would like, but I’ve been extremely lucky to be able to develop my career here in Asia and to become a leader.”

“Along the way, I’ve been fortunate to have had leaders that believed in me and they have given me those opportunities.”

“There have been small annoying comments made over time, as perceived barriers to progress for me. When I was working in DP World Tour with men’s golf, I’d hear things like ‘well, she can’t access the locker room to speak to the players’. As if that was a barrier to running a successful tour or tournament,” she said, bemused.

“I was very lucky to come from a family where there was no sense of limit or restriction. Growing up, all the opportunities were open to me, and my parents led by example. I never felt that my ambition should be curtailed just because I was female,” said Vicky.

“My mother was county golf captain in Scotland, and she was really committed to getting more girls to play golf, and that was a great inspiration. My father always encouraged my twin sister and I to really make the most of all our opportunities and that there was nothing that we couldn’t do. He was the first of his family to go to university and he encouraged his daughters to do the same. If we worked hard, we were able to achieve whatever our ambition was.”

“For women who take up golf, I just feel like it’s a great networking opportunity. As a woman, we don’t often find ourselves in those spaces with other C-Suite executives and get four hours of their time. I would certainly recommend any young girl looking at her sports participation choices to seriously consider golf, because it opens up so many opportunities.”

THE FUTURE FOR WOMEN IN GOLF
Vicky’s strong passion for her work is evident, with a genuine desire to see the growth of golf in Asia both in terms of numbers and in depth. In particular, she champions the need for equality when it comes to women and golf.

“I think closing the pay gap between the men’s and women’s games is something that is important, that we should focus on and strive to achieve,” she attests. “More and more I hear from men about how much they enjoy watching women’s golf because it’s more relatable.

“There is a huge opportunity, particularly in Asia, to grow women’s golf and to create more professional opportunities for female players in Asia. I’d love to see more high-end women’s tournaments in Asia. I also think that the ladies work harder in terms of their interactions with the audience. They really appreciate how important the fans are in helping to bridge that pay gap between men and women. Without the fans, that will never happen. I think that often also leads them to be, in some instances, more engaging than their male counterparts. We do also have some incredible players in the men’s game who are amazing with fans.”

FOR THE LOVE FOR GOLF
Golf has always been a key part of Vicky’s life. The 13-handicapper plays twice a week, mostly at her local club, the Laguna National Golf Resort in Singapore, where she and her husband Kevin are members.

“Golf is very important to me,” said Vicky. “I love that when I play golf, I switch off from everything else completely. I know that if I don’t, my game suffers. When I am playing, it is one of the few times when e-mails aren’t being checked and the phone is off!”

Vicky who also enjoys the social aspects of the game shared, “Many of my lifelong friends have been made on the golf course. The competitive nature of the game, particularly match play, is also a big part of the appeal.

Growing up as an identical twin I am naturally competitive. Before you ask, my handicap is lower than my sister’s!” The go-getter who hits it a good 200m off the tee said, “Driving the ball and putting are the two areas I enjoy most. I love a well- executed recovery shot too. Nothing feels better on the course than getting up and down from a tough position.”

THE GRIND NEVER ENDS
“I think one of the greatest challenges that that we face as a business is to keep up with the opportunities that exist in the market. Since launching just two years ago, 54 is constantly bringing in new projects and then we need new resources to then deliver those projects, which is extremely exciting. But it does feel like we never have that down time. It’s one exciting project after another, which is great, but I would sometimes appreciate a few quieter moments,” she confesses.