It only
took 260 years, but the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews,
Scotland, made a huge statement in the world of golf this fall with its
historic vote to admit female members. The breakthrough came on the same
day that Scots voted on whether to declare independence from the United
Kingdom.
My first
reaction was elation, the same way I felt when Augusta National welcomed
two women as members for the first time. I was thrilled by the bold
move made by the club known as “the home of golf.” This is an exciting
time for women in the sport.
Then I thought, “It’s about time!”
Looking at
the historic vote another way, it could be that some minds within this
old boys’ club were looking beyond the question of gender equality to
something more basic – a desire to beef up the old bottom line.
As
Alice Arnold, a golfer, wrote in her column in The Telegraph on Sept.
19, the day after the historic vote: “The golf industry is struggling.
Golf clubs are often short of members and manufacturers of equipment are
seeing their profits fall. Unless the sport embraces a wider
constituency, the industry will fail.”
Golf will
be an Olympic sport in 2016. Rory McIlroy and other younger members of
the PGA Tour have been outspoken in their support of equality, Arnold
wrote. Tournament sponsors, including HSBC and other major banks, have
made it clear that they don’t want to be associated with venues where
players are segregated by gender.
Yes, change does take time. I am thrilled to be in an industry that is evolving.
Peter
Dawson, chief executive officer of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club,
made this statement in announcing that 85 percent of the club’s members
had voted to admit women: “This is a very important and positive day in
the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. I think it is a very
positive message for the game of golf.”
Progress
can take a quantum leap now that the home of golf has changed such a
long-standing rule in a sport so bound by tradition.
Women have been fighting to be treated with respect and fairness on the golf links since the inception of the sport.
Even as an
LPGA professional who plays and understands the game well, I have felt
uncomfortable walking into a clubhouse because of my gender. One time I
had to walk around an entire building because I was not allowed walk
through the Grill Room: It was for men only. My gut hurt. It was clear
that I wasn’t welcome at the country club.
Another
time when I felt discrimination because of my gender was when I was
invited to play golf on a Sunday at a private country club in Chicago.
Although we would have preferred a morning tee time, we had to wait
until 11 a.m. because women couldn’t tee off before then on the
weekends. Really? The three women in the group were better players than
most of the men.
It’s not
only the rules of the country clubs that make women feel unwanted in the
game of golf, but some of the male players make that all too clear as
well. On vacation, I went to play golf with a fellow female
professional. When we were warming up to play, the starter informed us
that he was going to pair us up with the two men who had the tee time
behind us. We happily agreed! Then he said that the gentlemen did not
want to be paired with us. Fortunately, two more guys came to play, and
they were thrilled to be paired with us. (OK, maybe it was just because
they wanted to get the earlier tee time, but the fact that we were
women didn’t matter.) When we went to the middle tees (from where most
male amateurs play) and hit two great drives about 250 yards down the
middle, it felt great! Our playing partners were overjoyed! The two
men who declined to be paired up with us had this shocked look on their
faces and then a bit of embarrassment as my fellow female professional
said, “We’ll try not to hold you up!” Their reply: “Our bad!”
But what if we were not professionals and didn’t hit the ball so impressively? So often when women
are in that
situation, they feel a great deal of pressure to hit an amazing tee
shot. They don’t want the men rolling their eyes and wishing women
weren’t on the golf course.
As women
become members at more of the world’s most elite country clubs,
especially The Royal and Ancient Club and Augusta National, there will
be fewer stories like the ones I have shared here. I am ecstatic about
the decision of the R&A members in Scotland. The entire golf
industry will benefit.
Cheers to a more positive future for women in golf!
Be Positive – Live Positive – Golf Positive
http://golfpositive.com
0