While the golf industry cannot yet claim to be anywhere close to representing the gender balance that exists in the general population, the presence of 80 female business owners exhibiting at the 2023 PGA Show was an indication that the industry is at least moving in the right direction.
Jane Spicer, connected to the golf industry for 44 years as the CEO of Daphne’s Headcovers, was one of the business owners who took a stand at the show, in the commercial sense. She said: “I mentor a few of the women entrepreneurs from companies that are here on the floor. I’m watching them slowly grow and just like I’ve been mentored by other women in business. There’s just more of us now.”
For Spicer, who has been exhibiting at the Show in Orlando for over 30 years and is one of the longest running female CEOs in golf, the growth of women participation in the sport and the industry is reason for celebration.
“It is something to absolutely celebrate, that we can come together supporting and uplifting each other. It is exciting to see innovative and smart women doing wonderful things,” she added.
Allison Putnam, founder of A. Putnam, an apparel company for women that uses luxurious fabrics and garments to honour the tradition of golf, is one of those new innovators. “This is our launch. I have been working on this for a year, but I can’t even say that I have been in business longer than a few days,” said Putnam, who used this year’s PGA Show to start her business and launch her brand.
According to the National Golf Foundation, the percentage of women playing golf rose to 25% in 2021, up from 19% a decade ago. Tami Fujii, co-founder of Kinona, a golf apparel brand started in 2017 to cater to women as they go through body changes and shifts in their lives, is very aware of the evolution of female participation in golf.
“It is an underserved demographic, and we really want to make sure that we are focusing on their needs. We want women to really feel empowered and to welcome all women to the game of golf,” said Fujii, an outspoken supporter of the LPGA/USGA Girls Golf, the only national junior golf programme in the US that specializes in providing girl-friendly environments for juniors to learn the game of golf.
With more than 500 sites around North America, Girls Golf has become one of main catalysts for the growth in female participation in the game. The reach of the programme has increased by 1,800% since 2010 and now more than 35%, or more than 1.1 million, of the junior golfers in the US are girls.
Lucky in Love, a Miami-based women’s sports clothing brand that offers bright colors, fun patterns and vibrant energy to golf enthusiasts, is the official apparel sponsor of Girls Golf. “We are excited to work with them. We had a bunch of girls come to our office and design their own skirts. It is really fun to see all their designs come to light,” said Andrea Cherniak, Director of Sales and Marketing at Lucky In Love, which was exhibiting at the PGA Show for the fourth time.
Golf legend Nancy Lopez started playing golf at a time when there were not even clubs made specifically for women. “I had a meeting with Arnold Palmer and decided to start a women’s line of golf clubs. Our focus has always been on women, not just the clubs, but now also with the clothing line,” said Lopez about the origins of Nancy Lopez Golf.
“The PGA Show gives great visibility to the brand. Coming here with all these other amazing companies is just very special. We’ve had great traction and had people really appreciate the clothing, touch, and feel it,” added Brooke Bauer, Director of Golf at Nancy Lopez Golf.
For Melissa Thrasher, VP of Thrasher Golf, a leading manufacturer and supplier of driving range equipment founded in 1980, the PGA Show is an opportunity to see old customers and to make new connections. “They are always surprised to hear that we are a woman-owned business and that someone like me can know about how a ball washer operates,” said Thrasher. “Over the last eight years we have been seeing more and more female reps and business led by women. It is a really exciting time in the industry for women,” she added.
Sheilagh Wilson, founder of Birdie Balou, which makes fun and functional styled golf gear and accessories designed in the USA, shares the same excitement. “Everybody wants something new and different, and the women’s product is just fresh, and it is bringing a little more life to what might be already out there,” said Wilson.
Top Knot, creator of a golf cap for women to wear their hair high or down thanks to a magnetic back closure, is part of those fresh and lively new products for women. “Our experience with the PGA Show has been amazing. We have been seeing so many buyers and open so many accounts, and we just keep going,” said Tori Lord, owner of Top Knot, about her company’s debut at the PGA Show.
“I should have come to the PGA Show a long time ago,” said Wilma Erskine, with 40 years in the golf industry, most of them as the general manager of Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, the site of the past 148th and the upcoming 153rd Open Championship. Esrkine, now an international consultant for golf destinations, wants to encourage more women to enter the golf world and looks forward to coming back to the PGA Show every year to ‘celebrate the increase in female participation in golf and the golf industry’.
Away from the show floor, women’s influence on the game was showcased in a Women’s Golf Day seminar held on Thursday, which used the recently launched documentary film ‘Breaking with Tradition’ as the background to a wider discussion on female issues with the amateur and professional game and the golf industry, as well as for the launch of this year’s Women in Golf Day, which is scheduled for a week-long series of global events from May 30 – June 6.
Chaired by Elisa Gaudet, founder of Women’s Golf Day, the seminar panel featured Nicole Wheatley, owner of public relations and marketing company Media8 and the driving force behind the making of ‘Breaking with Tradition’; Sky Sports golf presenter Iona Stephen; and Kim Johnson, Head of Retail Marketing for Callaway Golf in the US. Using clips from the film, which featured input from a wide range of former and current tour players, amateurs and women working in the golf industry, the panel covered a wide range of topics, from gender-free tees to non-binary golf equipment, to an audience, which, somewhat disappointingly, was 80% female.
Speaking about the reaction to the documentary, which was more than three years in the making, Wheatley said: “The PGA Show was the first time we were able to gauge reaction to Breaking with Tradition outside of the UK. I was astonished to find out how many people had already seen it. We have clearly reached a much larger global audience than we had realised, and the feedback has been universally positive. At the Women’s Golf Day panel I met women and men from the US, Denmark, Brazil, Spain and Australia, all of whom expressed that their markets are experiencing the same challenges and changes as our own. This is a really interesting time for golf, and I hope that the film helps the industry better understand the female market and encourages more women to consider working in and playing golf.”
The seminar also gave Wheatley the opportunity to present Elisa Gaudet with the International Woman of the Year Award, a surprise award that is part of the first Women in Golf Awards that took place in the UK in December, which Wheatley herself set up.
“Elisa works tirelessly to promote the women’s game,” said Wheatley. “She recruits women wherever she can and uses her platform to elevate those around her. What she has achieved with Women’s Golf Day is staggering, so we are thrilled to celebrate this by presenting her with our first International Women of the Year.
On receiving her award Gaudet commented, “What a surprise and honor to receive this award. There are so many incredible women working in golf, so to be recognized for my contribution and hard work in the industry I love makes me very proud. Being here at The PGA Show reminds me of how far we have come and the importance of working collectively, men and women, to create growth. This is an exciting time for women and golf.”
Plans for the 2023 Women in Golf Awards, which will take place in the UK this December, are well underway with a new location and new awards to be revealed in the coming months.
(Additional reporting by Juan Luis Guillen)