Twas a time when women had to carve out their spot in the golf world; when men ruled the fairways with men-only dedicated times, private clubs that forbade women as members on their own and of course: the notion that ladies are just out there socializing; that the skill required to play golf well is something men are born with but women not so much.
Here in Massachusetts, where, as we prepare to celebrate Women’s Golf Day around the world, women have actually served as leaders in the sport since the start.
Indeed, a full three years before men formed the Massachusetts Golf Association, a group of golf-loving women convened in a Back Bay home and formed the Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts (WGAM; now merged with Mass Golf).
“We need more chances to play and compete,” Grace Keyes, an avid golfer out of Concord, told her like-minded golfing friends. “We need to meet other women who love golf as well.” And thus, in 1900, the state’s first golf association was founded. By women.
The amount of women playing is currently soaring, with women making up more than a quarter of on-course golfers (about 28 percent; up from 20 percent in 2011). Women are also outpacing men as newbies to the sport. According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), the net gain among on-course female golfers is 1.4 million since 201, while the number of male participants has risen by 900,000.
In other words, We lady golfers are hitting the fairways and our fairway shots.
So why, then, do we need an international day devoted to women and golf? Because, put simply, Grace Keyes’ goal remains. And while we’ve come a long way, baby, on the golf course and beyond; we’ve still got a ways to go.
That’s why all women golfers – from newbies to long-timers – should (and often do) partake in Women’s Golf Day events and find other ways to continue the goal of making golf accessible and comfortable for women far and wide.
Thankfully, there are plenty of ways. Consider these.
Join Mass Golf: It’s the best thing any golfer can do for their game. Women can find particular advantages, like the association’s women-centric events. For those who are up for it, they also host many tournaments, some of them dating to those early years.
This year, Mass Golf is hosting six specific ladies events throughout the season, along with a multi-week lesson program focusing on women and golf.
On Women’s Golf Day (June 3), Mass Golf is offering three free sessions of lesson and on-course play at The Links at Mass Golf in Norton. Players will get pro instruction on putting, chipping and full swing and then take those skills out on a few holes to test them. It’s all free to members.
They also offer play days in different spots throughout the state. I attended my first last fall, arriving alone and a wee bit nervous. I found new friends, an atmosphere where your handicap matters not but your level of joy to be playing does, a lunch included in the low fee, and prizes! (Humble brag alert: I took home the closest to the pin prize package).
Other events: You can find details on other Women’s Golf Day events here: https://www.womensgolfday.com/
Get the girls (and boys!) playing young: Because there’s a super affordable way to do just that. Bank of America’s “Golf With Us” program, launched during the recent Masters, offers youth ages 6-18 (female and male) access to thousands of courses for $5 or less per round through a free one-year membership to Youth on Course.
It seems to be a great idea: In just 31 days, the program reached families in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington, D.C., with more than 3,400 new members having already played more than 6,100 rounds of golf at participating courses.
“We knew there was tremendous interest in golf, though the speed of this response to Golf with Us surpassed even our most ambitious expectations,” said David Tyrie, President, Marketing, Digital & Specialized Consumer Client Solutions, Bank of America. “Golf with Us is about more than the game — it’s about access, confidence, and creating opportunities for kids to cultivate skills that will help them thrive on the course, at home, in the classroom and in life.”
Bank of America has surpassed its goal of enrolling more than 50,000 young golfers in Golf with Us, and has opened the program to an additional 25,000 participants who can enroll online now at BofA.com/GolfWithUs
Don’t stress about getting paired with men: I used to struggle with this. You have a tee time for two and whether you are with another female or a male, you get paired up with two men and you can just see them already seething.
It would get into my head. I don’t want to slow them down, I’d worry. What if my not-exactly-champion level of play annoys them? And then, from experience, I realized that often, despite their assumptions, I could stay right with them. In some cases, I was even better.
I remember something I learned teaching skiing: Give women a chance to assign a level to their sport ability and they almost always under-report their skills. Give men the same chance and – you’ve got it (and gosh, good for them!) they almost always over report.
Now, I smile, shake their hand and remember what I know: Were it not for the women golfers – from the start – we might not all even be here today. We belong on the links, and we belong there together.
