Without a doubt, social media has impacted the daily lives of many people today. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have become our daily companions as we navigate our way through life. A few of the reasons we use social networks are connecting with loved ones and friends, expressing ourselves, and promoting our projects or businesses. American professional golfer Paige Spiranac is one of the biggest personalities that use social media in promoting herself and her work. At the time of writing, her Instagram followers have already reached 2.8 million. She is one of the well-known and most controversial personalities on the platform.
Instagram Photos Of Paige Spiranac Show There’s More To Her Than Just Being A Golfer
Who Is Paige?
The first sport she got into was gymnastics, but an injury pushed her towards golf.
She played golf for the University of Arizona as well as San Diego State University in college. She scooped honors at the All-Mountain West Conference in two consecutive seasons, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. After that, she led San Diego to its first-ever All-Mountain West Conference in 2015.
Who Is Paige?
Professional golfer and social media personality Paige Renee Spiranac was born in Colorado on March 26th, 1993.
Going Pro
In 2015, Paige started playing professional golf, joining various golf tournaments, such as the Cactus Tour. Her first—and only—win happened at Scottsdale’s Orange Tree Country Club.
Early in her golf career, Paige won 5 out of 7 tournaments on the Colorado junior golf circuit. This includes the 2010 CWGA Junior Stroke Play. Back then, she was hailed as one of the world’s top junior golf players thanks to her wins at various tournaments.
Going Pro
Player Of The Year
These accomplishments helped her get a University of Arizona scholarship.
When Paige was a college freshman, she only completed three events for the University of Arizona, the Wildcat Invitational, the Pac-12/SEC Challenge, and the Windy City Intercollegiate. Her best score was 73 from 2011 to 2012.
Player Of The Year
Paige was also named West Region Player of the Year twice and was a Future Collegians World Tour member, making her a first-team all-American.
More Honors
The Colorado Golf Association hosted the tournament.
During her senior year, Paige helped with San Diego’s first-ever Mountain West Conference championship. In July 2015, she played against Brittany Fan, who played for the University of Colorado Boulder, in a title match and won.
More Honors
She started going to San Diego State University during her sophomore year, and there, she won several more honors both for the Aztecs and herself.
Social Media Personality
In 2015, an article encouraged readers to check out her social media account.
Just two days after the article was published, the number of Instagram followers that she had jumped to 100,000. Because of this, she got invited to play at the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic, a professional golf tournament, in December 2016.
Social Media Personality
The article included photos of Paige taken from her Instagram account. Before that, she had less than 10,000 followers.
Popularity
She joined the playoffs but missed the cut.
The steady increase in social media following that she experienced made Paige even more popular and bankable. She got the attention of big businesses and various product advertisers. In addition, different sports magazines featured Paige, though some criticized this.
Popularity
Nevertheless, the online attention attracted more endorsement deals and sponsors for Paige. Also, even more, people started following her on Instagram.
Appearance On Sports Magazines
In December 2018, she also began writing for Golf Magazine every month.
She used the exposure in promoting her anti-bullying campaign and fighting for the right of women to feel comfortable in their own skin. In addition, Paige has shared her experience with getting harassed online by random internet users. She says it motivates her to fight against online mistreatment.
Appearance On Sports Magazines
Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest are two of the several sports magazines that featured Paige in their pages.
Endorsement Deals
In 2017, PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf) got Paige as a representative for its golf clubs.
She also became an 18Birdies brand ambassador and helped market the golf app of the brand all over the country. It seemed like there was no stopping Paige from getting more and more popular, and different companies wanted a bite out of her popularity.
Endorsement Deals
She did various advertisements for both TV and social media platforms for the company.
Brand Ambassador
Some of the app’s features include GPS capability and a massive database of over 30,000 courses.
Aside from that, it is capable of tracking the user’s golf scores and statistics. As her popularity increased, Paige was given a chance to sign deals with Philip Stein Watches and the American clothing company Mizzen + Main.
Brand Ambassador
The 18Birdies’ golf app was designed to encourage social interaction among golfers and promote competitions nationwide.
Working With A Non-Profit Organization
In 2017, Paige also got involved with Cybersmile, a non-profit organization that offers educational programs and provides global support against cyberbullying.
Paige was asked what made her decide to join the cause, and she said that she got bullied when she was younger. Back then, she suffered from a health condition that affected the normal growth of her hair. However, because she had experience getting bullied, she was aware of the challenge in addressing school children.
Working With A Non-Profit Organization
Huge Social Media Fanbase
Paige’s current social media fanbase is comparable to those of other sports celebrities, including Rickie Fowler, Rory Mcilroy, and Jordan Spieth. She continues to do this.
However, the earlier images and short videos that she uploaded on her Instagram account are mostly related to her golfing career. Initially, she started sharing various photos and videos which showed her sporting golfing attire and promoting golf tricks.
Huge Social Media Fanbase
Her Instagram Account
Later on, Paige propelled her Instagram account to include various brand endorsements, including those she represented.
As time passed, Paige started including more photos, which sparked controversy among media critics and fans. To be fair, anything you put out online can be received either positively or negatively by the public, and you cannot really please everyone, so you should expect that there will always be criticism.
Her Instagram Account
Self-Promotion On Social Media
For example, her special appearance on the cover of Golf Digest was heavily criticized. Her critics think that they have good reason to criticize her and what she does, though she still gets continued support from her many followers and fans.
Self-Promotion On Social Media
Paige continuing to promote herself on social media has brought on criticism, and some have raised the question of what it is exactly that she represents as a famous pro golfer.
Honored Few
Sports magazine Golf Digest has been around for seven long decades.
Needless to say, critics questioned why the said magazine included and featured Paige. Her critics asserted that Paige’s inadequate golfing experience did not warrant the rare and coveted honor of her getting featured on the magazine’s cover.
Honored Few
However, it has featured a total of only 23 women on its cover. Among those women, only 11 were female professional golfers.
Allegations
In addition, Paige encountered similar disapproval from other people alleging that she was “sexualizing female golf.” Because of the criticisms that she received, Paige was reportedly hurt, which is a natural and understandable reaction.
Allegations
ESPN sports commentator Sarah Spain argued that Paige was only allowed to be featured on the cover of Golf Digest because of her appearance and penchant for sporting a particular clothing type.
Promoting Her Anti-Bullying Campaign
She stresses the importance of letting a woman feel comfortable in her own skin.
Paige pointed out the Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest coverage and the harassment that she got because of it. She uses the experience to motivate herself even further to keep fighting against online mistreatment and abuse.
Promoting Her Anti-Bullying Campaign
Her response to the widespread criticism was to use it as an opportunity to promote the anti-bullying campaign that she takes part in.
A Stricter Dress Code
In connection with this, a stricter dress code was launched at the 2017 LPGA tour.
The said ban consequently triggered quick criticism. For example, Fox Sports raised the issue that the new dress rules of the tour were actually “slut-shaming” LPGA players. There were other similar comments about the dress code.
A Stricter Dress Code
In July 2017, certain clothes were banned for players joining the tour, including leggings, plunging necklines, and short skirts.
Progress In Women’s Golf
Paige responded to the same LPGA dress guidelines released in 2017. In an op-ed article that she wrote for Fortune magazine, she argued against the dress code.
Her op-ed piece was published a few days after the controversial LPGA announcement. The article had the title, “The Progression of Women’s Golf Is Plunging Further than Our Necklines.” This started even further discussion among the fans and critics of women’s golf alike.
Progress In Women’s Golf