Many club and resort properties are proving there are no limits to growing the women’s side of golf, given the proper mix of fundamentals with fun.
The overall number of U.S. golfers declined by nearly 5 percent in 2013, according to the National Sporting Goods Association’s annual consumer survey. But the number of female golfers actually increased by 1.5 percent during that same year—which begs the question, are golf introduction/retention programs that are directed at women more effective than those targeting men?
SUMMING IT UP
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The numbers would seem to say yes—and a brief survey of some club and resort properties about their successful women’s golf programs would also seem to indicate that the overlap between socializing and sport is more important than the proper overlapping grip, and that bending an elbow in a fun setting is more important than keeping it straight in search of the perfect golf swing.
“In some regards, the golf is almost secondary. We wrap socializing and networking around the golf experience,” says Sandy Cross, Director of Women’s & New Market Initiatives for the PGA of America. Cross is describing the Network of Women golf program initiated by the PGA for, as a start, female employees of KPMG in the Washington, D.C. area. In an additional attempt to attract women to the PGA-led Get Golf Ready program, which Cross said drew 86,000 participants in 2013, the PGA holds Get Golf Ready Power Mixers in the evening, some of which even take place at non-golf venues such as night clubs.
The keys to programs that prove to be the most successful in introducing women to golf, and then keeping them involved in the game, seem to revolve around creating a friendly, low-key introduction to the game’s rules, etiquette, playing technique and the overall golf course experience, and then combining that with a healthy dose of fun and food and beverage.
While some women yearn to bring home the trophy in their Ladies Golf Association or the club championship or whittle away at their handicap, most are seeking a break from the tedium of their jobs or household responsibilities in the fresh air, along with some exercise and a chance to meet new friends or share some laughs with peers. In other words, the same things that an increasing number of the younger generations, male and female, are now looking for from golf.
Addressing the Problem
Lance Buntin, Director of Golf at The Golf Club at Indigo Run in Hilton Head, S.C., noticed that the club’s current membership included relatively few female golfers, and those who did play seemed to spend more time on the club’s semi-private 18 than the private 18. More troubling, a few of the members had told Buntin they were thinking of downgrading from their golf membership to a social membership, primarily because their wives didn’t play or rarely played. Buntin decided to do something about all that.
“I sent out personal invitations to a number of our female members to join me for a ‘Tee It Up Thursday’ program we were starting,” Buntin said. “We ended up with 20 ladies, and we spend the first part of every session on rules, etiquette and the ‘lingo’ of golf. Then there’s an hour of instruction, a break for some smoothies or a little exercise, and then we go out on the course in threesomes on a short-course setup.
“We don’t concentrate on score,” Buntin says about this part of the program. “They can tee it up in the fairway, but we’ll play some kind of fun game, like greens in regulation, up-and- downs, or putts, but it’s never about the total score.
“The whole thing has been a home run,” Buntin continues. “We’re up to around 25 ladies on Thursdays, and a lot of the women who were playing at the semi-private course have come back to the private course because they’ve heard about this.
“And believe it or not, the husbands have complimented me for doing this even more than the ladies. Several told me that because their wives are now playing, they’ve changed their mind about downgrading from their golf membership. We’ve actually had to bring on another instructor for the program. I call it a retention clinic.”
Going to the Head of the Class
Down the coast at the Troon Golf-managed Savannah Quarters Country Club in Savannah, Ga., Director of Golf Robert Stevenson heads up a series of programs designed to shepherd female members from the elementary stages of introduction to the game, through “graduation,” to participation in the club’s Ladies Golf Association and the various competitive club events.
“We literally take them through everything, right from the parking lot to the golf shop and then to the golf carts and the starter, before we go out on the course,” Stevenson says. After “orientation” sessions, the women receive instruction on the fundamentals of the game, and then go out on the course.
To ramp up the enjoyment factor, Stevenson started a Ladies Fun League, which runs on Thursdays for four to six weeks in June and usually features a three-hole loop, interrupted briefly for a “fairway drink,” and culminating with most of the ladies joining other club members at the weekly “Thirsty Thursday” get-together in the clubhouse. With more women playing now, Stevenson plans to initiate a Family Golf series in August.
“It’s been a good player development program for us,” Stevenson says. “It brings in ladies that we never used to see at the club. And, when the ladies start playing, they always buy golf shoes, so that’s good for the pro shop.”
Nearby at The Club at Savannah Harbor, Club Manager and Director of Golf Operations Dana Schultz, PGA, reports that the club’s Ladies and Legends program has attracted approximately 50 new female participants this year alone. The one-hour program of instruction on Saturday mornings costs just $20, and club members, non-members or resort guests who need clubs use free Callaway rental sets. The Ladies and Legends program has been so well-received, Schultz is starting a Ladies Golf 101 program for beginners that could also be used as a corporate team-building offering for groups staying at the resort.
Short and Sweet
Staying with the motif of keep it brief, make it fun and mix in some refreshments, Director of Golf Jim Schultz, PGA, has developed a 3-Hole League for women at the Oneida Golf & Country Club in Green Bay, Wis. The program, designed to appeal to both the club’s female tennis players who didn’t previously play golf, as well as former women golfers who left the game due to work or family obligations, features 90-minute sessions weekly, one on Tuesday evenings and one on Wednesday mornings.
“One of my assistants and I go out with them, and we make it fun, including a mimosa stop at one of our tiki bars,” Schultz says. “It’s been a really good program for both beginners and returners, plus we had a demo day and sold two sets of clubs and have several more on appointment. It’s also been a good feeder program for our 18-hole ladies program.”
In Gaylord, Mich., Treetops Resort has found its Ladies Golf School to be a highly successful way to drive resort occupancy, at the same time its regular Ladies Golf League has proved to be a superb way to generate local resident play. Director of Golf Kevin McKinley is continuing the resort’s campaign to increase female golf participation with this year’s Second Annual Women’s Golf Festival in the first week of August.
Historically a three-day, three-night school offering video swing analysis, golf instruction and unlimited afternoon golf as well as other related resort activities, the resort is now offering a two-night, three-day school with the same amount of instruction. Treetops’ Ladies Golf School drew 165 paying customers for last year’s 10 sessions, and nearly that many have already signed up for this year’s. The Ladies Golf League, which started five years ago with 16 women, has now grown to over 100 every Thursday night during the golf season. The two-day Women’s Golf Festival, featuring discounted resort and golf rates, offers golf instruction, golf, and a panel discussion with former LPGA Tour winner Elaine Crosby following the event’s banquet dinner.
“Treetops is very much a group-oriented resort,” McKinley says, “and I’d say there will be 30 to 50 ladies here for the Festival [August 3-7]. We like to think we’re hitting all demographics and skill levels, and offering golf and instruction in a very casual and non-intimidating way.”
The “Magical Mystery Tour”
Another message that resonates when talking with clubs that offer successful women’s programs is that women, who may rightfully feel they have taken a back seat to men in terms of course access or attention from the professional staff, truly appreciate it when club or resort professionals do something special for them. One example is what Neil Maurer, PGA, Head Golf Professional at Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Del., calls “The Magical Mystery Tour.”
Maurer, who admits he stole the idea from a Philadelphia-area club where he previously worked, puts together a group of 20 female club members to join him and three of his assistants on a bus ride to another area club for a day of golf, lunch or dinner at the host club, and wine and dessert on the bus ride back to Bear Trap Dunes. The ladies don’t know where they’re going—hence the “mystery,” a theme reinforced by Beatles tapes that Maurer plays on the bus.
Maurer doesn’t hold the “tour” to raise money—the golf is donated by the host club, and the women pay anywhere between $50 and $100 for the outing, to cover the bus and the meal at the host club. The golf game itself is what Maurer terms “semi-competitive,” with more emphasis on fun and camaraderie than on victory or prizes.
“We have one [tour] scheduled for July and we’ll probably do another later in the year,” Maurer says. “I think two a year is probably tops. The women really appreciate it, especially since I don’t do it for the men—although a lot of the men have told me they wish I would.”
Bear Trap Dunes’ “Magical Mystery Tour” seems to have all of the traits of a successful women’s golf program: It “de-mystifies” the golf experience, offers women a chance to get out on the course with friends in an enjoyable and not overly competitive environment, and ends with some pleasant memories, a refreshing beverage and a good meal. It’s not hard to see how to many women, that can all sound like a great offer to “take you away” on an experience worth trying, and that can lead to many more trips down the same road.
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