By Allison George, Toad Valley Golf Course
In the last several years, there has been a push to include women in the golfing community. As a woman, I appreciate the effort. There’s Women’s Golf Day, Bring Your Daughter to the Course Week, and the EWGA has made some great improvements as well as the LPGA, who was finally awarded the Merit Award by the NGCOA in 2017 for their contributions to the game.
All of these are great strides. Here’s where I enter a giant BUT.
All of the promotions feel like they were designed for women by a group of men who golf. I’m sitting on the sidelines watching and just don’t identify with most of the rollouts or promotions and neither do the women who play at my course. As I scour the internet looking for information about female participation, I find many articles written about the subject. “Top 10 Reasons Women Should Play Golf” is a common title.
In the list of reasons that a woman should play golf, a popular one that always shows up is that golf is fun because of its clothing line. Seriously? That’s what our industry is going to use to attract women? Golf clothing??
It honestly gives me a headache every time I read it. If you actually want to get women on your course, you need to identify with her needs. I don’t know of a single woman who has picked up the game just so she could wear golf clothes.
How might you identify with the needs of the woman on your course? You ask them. You hire them. You play a round with them and see where their drives land from their so-called designated tees. You look at your golf course and clubhouse through her eyes.
You might be surprised by the suggestions she offers. When you’ve done all of that, then I also suggest you go clean your women’s restroom. Your clubhouse’s restroom is repelling more women than the type of clothing she wears when she plays.