For a long time, golf was considered a “male-only” sport.
Indeed, despite the first woman golfer playing the game way back in 1552 or the fact that it was Mary Queen of Scots who commissioned the famous St Andrews links, it is only recently that there has been significant improvements for women in golf.
Whilst these recent improvements are encouraging, it is depressing to think about how long women have been discriminated against in golf and even more disheartening to see that it is still prevalent within golf.
So how can we help change this situation and improve the lot for women in golf and make sure that the equality that women have fought so very hard for in other walks of life is implemented within golf?
Well, many people within golfing circles believe the most important thing we can do is to get more females interested in golf and therefore have a bigger stake in a more equal and fair sport.
History
Women have always had a difficult relationship with golf in that while men thought of the game as theirs and would not for a long time let women in the clubhouse (let alone compete), it is women who have also helped make golf the sport it was.
One of the most hallowed and famous golf courses in the world was commissioned by avid golfer Mary Queen of Scots and while you would have expected such an act to endear her to men, her love of the game was actually used as a weapon against her in her subsequent trial.
In the latter part of the 19th century, as the game of golf began to take hold of the public’s psyches there was significant progress in the field of women’s golf.
In 1891 the first golf course specifically designed for women allowed membership
to women and only four years later the US Golf Association held the first Women’s Amateur Championship tournament.
Just two decades later one of the greatest golfers ever to pick up a club was doing her best to represent herself as a golfer and al female golfers in a male-dominated world.
Considered at the time to be quite a star, Joyce Weathered even played an exhibition game against professional golfer Bobby Jones.
But despite Jones’ belief that he had never played against a better golfer, male or female, his praise was not enough to alter the views of the golfing world.
Famous Women Golfers
Fortunately, though Joyce Weathered’s trailblazing attitude was not lost on the generations of female golfers who followed in her footsteps.
From the illustrious Patty Berg who dominated golf in the 1930’s to the incredible Babe Didrikson Zaharias who won ten majors and is not just considered one of the greatest female golfers of all time but one of the greatest female athletes of all time.
In more recent years women’s golf has seen some amazing players like Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak, and of course not forgetting the indomitable Annika Sorenstam.
Sorenstam won over ninety international tournaments as a professional including an outstanding ten majors, a record that any golfer, male or female would love to have.
Recent Changes
Significant improvements in gender equality in society as a whole in the last five-plus decades have meant that the situation of women in golf has improved from where it once was.
The 1970s in particular led to a greater understanding of the unfairness of women in sport and athletics and the changes in both law and attitudes in that decade, laid the foundation for the improvements that the more recent female golfers have seen.
From the famous battle of the sexes in tennis to 1972’s Title IX which provided equal federal funding for boys and girls school sports, the 1970s was a decade that saw the profile and paycheques of female golfers being exponentially boosted.
A Way to Go (paycheques)
This increase in both profile and payment for female golfers has made some the more recent title winners not just golfing champions but celebrities as well.
Many of today’s top female golfers have eye-watering endorsement deals and can pick up millions of dollars by winning a major.
However, despite the progress that women’s golf has seen, in the area of equality for winnings and prizes their is still a significant gap.
As an example, the winner of the most recent US Open tournament was said to be awarded upwards of $2.25 million in prize money.
Compare that figure to the $1 million prize money for the US Women’s Open winner and you can see the obvious disparity.
When you consider that over a decade ago in 2007 Wimbledon changes its policy on winnings and began paying the same amount of prize money to male and female winners alike, golf is far too slow to change.
Coming Soon...
Many of the top female golfers have voiced approval for future equality improvements in regards to pay, and promotion but the issue as of yet has not garnered significant support.
Some golfing commentators have stated that what the female game needs is a champion or champions to come forward and bang the drum on this issue as many of the top female tennis stars did in the early 2000s.
By having the top female golfers unite behind a message of equal pay it would assist the message to be spread and help public opinion swing towards fair and equal pay for both genders within golf.
Conclusion
One of the most important things we have to do is while acknowledging how far females in golf have come to also recognize that there is still a long way to go.
To that end encouraging more females to take up the sport and thereby having a larger voice able to clamor for equal pay and opportunities easier.
The LPGA is actively trying to promote female golf to younger girls and ladies and get them interested in golf as both a sport and a hobby.
It is encouraging to see many golfing experts and large organizations make the right noises about wanting more female golfers and indeed there has been a recent increase in websites marketing golfing equipment to females.
HackGolf.org is a site that prides itself on encouraging all budding golfers to take up the sport and has several dedicated reviews for females looking for the best equipment for them.
