Women in Golf

Along with the new century has come a noticeable surge in the popularity of womens golf. The number of both professional and amateur female golfers has risen sharply. This means the perception of golf is being changed in dramatic fashion, as golf is rapidly losing its reputation as an “old boys’ game.”

Though it may surprise some, women have played professional golf for hundreds of years. But traditionally, golf has been a hugely male-dominated sport, with many golfing clubs not even allowing female players to step on their golf courses. The journey to playing golf has not been an easy road for the female contingent.

Typically, it takes a spark of some sort to ignite an explosive increase in popularity for a particular sport. For men's golf, that spark was Tiger Woods, whose unmatched play over the past decade or so elevated the popularity of golf to unprecedented levels. It is quite noteworthy to consider that, as a small boy, Woods was denied entrance to a golfing club because of the color of his skin, a club which now welcomes the golfing superstar with open arms.

In the world of women's golf, teenage sensation Michelle Wie has certainly been a catalyst in bringing major attention to the sport of women's golf in general, as she has endeavored to use her formidable golfing abilities to take on male golfers directly. Like Woods, perhaps her efforts will help stamp out the last obstacles standing in the path of female golfers, including those handful of remaining clubs that still discriminate toward women.

Apart from Wie’s actual level of success in her quest to play with the men, in the past five years, women's golf has witnessed a massive rise in popularity partly thanks to her efforts as well as the inspired play of many other great female golfers such as Annika Sorenstam. And that popularity is predicted to rise even further. Women are now entering the game at a record pace, with the fastest rising demographic taking up the sport being women younger than 30.

However, it is interesting to note that there is a slight difference in the manner in which men and women approach the sport. Women seem to view golf primarily as a social activity with competitive undertones, while men see golf primarily as a competitive activity with social undertones. Therefore, while male golfers may be stressing over their handicap, female golfers are just trying to have a good time.

But regardless of the motives, women have irrefutably embraced golf, and the phenomenon has only benefited the game.

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Columnist Thomas Haney regularly writes about subjects related to golf. Visit www.dealsunlimited.biz to get great deals on golfing equipment as well as learn more about women in golf, including practical topics such as womens golf clubs. You are allowed to use this article for your own website as long as you leave all links active and refrain from editing the article or credits in any way. Copyright 2007 Thomas Haney. All Rights Reserved.

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