A golf visitress at Royal Aberdeen
It was an awkward moment. At Royal Aberdeen, the day after Justin Rose won the Scottish Open, I couldn’t find a changing room that seemed to match my gender. I did find a door marked ‘Visitors’, but I knew better than to presume that the signage in any way meant to include visitors like me. I asked my host for the day, a local radio celebrity, what to do. “I’m sure it’s OK for you to change into your golf shoes there,” he said. “Let’s go take a look.” Feeling a tad uneasy, I followed him in to the ‘Visitors’ changing room. “See, it’s empty!” he said.
“But there must be a ladies’ changing room somewhere!” I said. After all, the course did have red tees, and Royal clubs are not known for encouraging shoe-changing in parking lots. Finally, my host concurred. Just as we were about to leave what we had determined to be the visiting men’s changing room, somebody walked in.
It wasn’t just any somebody, it was a big somebody: then First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, an acquaintance of my host. We were introduced. Quite awkward.
If you are ever introduced to the First Minister, Prime Minister or any other dignitary or head of state while you are in the wrong set of changing rooms, you will understand. He seemed not to be surprised, and thankfully did not ask why I was lurking around there.
I eventually found the ladies’ changing room (it really does exist). But my point in recounting this episode is to say that it doesn’t really feel that great to be an afterthought, whether it’s on the course or in the clubhouse. The golf industry is talking about ‘growing the game’. Memberships are down, rounds of golf played are down and big names like Nike and Adidas are saying adios. Suddenly, women are proclaimed to be the untapped market. In northern Europe and Scandinavia a quarter to a third of all golfers are female. If only those numbers could be replicated in the UK, Ireland and in southern Europe the entire golf industry would throw itself a tickertape parade.
Great. So what do we do? Here are some thoughts. Symbolic acts are welcome, but they’re baby steps. It’s not enough to let Annika Sörenstam enter the R&A clubhouse. There has to be some accompanying shift in emphasis. I once heard on the radio: “The secret of success is sincerity. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” How many clubs and resorts are genuinely focused on making the entire golf experience better for women? How many really appreciate having women on the course?
Sarah Forrest, managing director at the UK-based Red Tee Breaks, has been organizing golf travel for women for the last seven years. We met on the first women-only golf press trip that I’ve been on during more than a decade of writing about golf and photographing golf courses. It was organized by Golf in Costa Brava this September. After experiencing some great courses of the region and enjoying the limb-bending yoga at Peralada Hotel Wine & Spa (you know it’s women-friendly with a name like that) and the spa at Silken Park Hotel San Jorge, we agreed that women golfers who don’t go on women’s trips are really missing out. There are a lot fewer all-female golf trips than there are all-male golf trips – much less than the ration of female to male golfers in general. Often it’s not the men at home who are stopping us from going out and having fun on our own terms (i.e. more choices and flexibility).
“There is a personal barrier within each individual woman,” says Forrest. “It’s down to their own mindset.” This is a mindset that we can help change! Forrest works on increasing participation through events such as the Red Tee Tour – a series of women’s events in the UK, sponsored by the Andalusian tourist board.
Another example is Forrest’s work among unlikely golfers. One of her many projects involves managing golf days for a group of female city-dwellers organized by Active Newcastle. “When we started, most of them didn’t even know how to hold a golf club. Now they’re playing on 9-hole courses. They have such a great sense of humour, and they love it. It’s all about bringing them into the game in a fun and friendly way,” says Forrest.
So what is it that would bring women to golf (and golf travel) in droves? “If I knew that, I’d be a millionaire,” says Forrest. There are so many different, individual answers.
And maybe a starting point is just that – clubs taking care of many details that together build the message that we feel valued. Make sure that women of various playing levels can have fun on the course (and that includes the better players as well, who might want to have a choice of tees). Make sure women feel welcome in all areas of the clubhouse (although not necessarily the men’s changing rooms).
One point that’s important to note, is that fewer women are likely to want to brag about having played the most famous courses. If you have a fun course that’s well-kept and beautiful, if you have a good hotel with great food and service, some pampering in the form of perhaps a spa – you might be just the place I’ll be looking to go with my friends.
You’ll love having us as visitresses.
