If you know her, my guess is that you love her.
You’ve seen her broadcast some of golf’s big events including The Masters, The Open Championship, Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup for a variety of networks including Sky Sports, the BBC and Golf Channel.
She has become the go-to, on-ground MC of closing ceremonies for some of the world’s biggest golf events.
If you don’t know her, you will. Go ahead and ask Google, or Twitter. And allow me to give you a head start. She is Iona Stephen. And wow, is she good for golf.
I was taken from the start, in a golf crush sort of way. Self-deprecating, knowledgeable, positive beyond belief. Iona gets golf today like nobody I’ve ever heard or watched.
The first few times I watched her on TV it was her refreshing, passionate and compassionate views on golf and people that got me.
Stephen is way more down to earth, more uplifting, and more in touch with the soul of the game than anyone on the airways today. And she’s only 31.
She gave up a career as a professional golfer a few years ago due to a serious wrist injury. And hasn’t looked back. Did I mention she plays both hockey and lacrosse!
I recall the instant that I became a Stephen superfan. We’ve just returned from our trip to Dornoch. I was no doubt on a Highlands high. I was scrolling through my twitter feed and came across, “Please retweet if golf has been good for your health … let’s share this game far and wide!”
When you click the video, Stephen is standing on the tee of a course in St. Andrew’s, being introduced to some senior lady members. She had shown up at the course to tape a segment of The R&A’s Iona Investigates Golf and Health, a three-part series that is a must watch if you feel a deep, philosophical connection to the game.
It was raining like crazy, windy and by the Titleist tuque on her head it must have been just 5 or 6 C. A couple 80-plus women golfers, fully decked in rain gear, were teeing off, and she was giving one of those half whisper play-by-plays you’re used to hearing from a network on-course commentator.
Stephen has a lump in her throat and maybe even a happy tear in her eye, she’s so proud of the ladies about to tee off in the rain. Her pride is palpable.
It’s clear why she’s here, to witness firsthand what she believes so strongly — that golf makes you healthier. Inside and out.
“Right ladies let’s see it” she says to the pair about to tee off. Let’s see how it’s done.
She watches the first woman, a retired physician, take a smack at the ball. “Nice. Huh. Brilliant.” And then turns to the camera and whispers, “To come out you’ve got to think about the alternative of today if you didn’t play golf. You’d be at home on your own. And you might just stay in. Sitting down all day. Maybe all cozy inside. But how would you feel at the end of the day in comparison to how these two ladies will feel at the end of these nine holes? It will only take them an hour and a half. I’m sure they’ll fly around. To be out here with friends on a day like this is just fantastic.”
Stephen is gushing with admiration, perhaps imagining what it will be like for her in fifty years, career behind her, but her love for golf, the outdoors and the camaraderie it brings providing the nourishment one needs.
The second woman sends her tee shot into the air, rain pelting down. “Yes, well done! Straight down the middle.”
If Stephen represents the next generation of public figures charged with making our sport even stronger, we are in such good hands.
Go search her out, and thank me later.
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