Are New England courses “female-friendly”? What criteria make a course “female-friendly”? Why should this information be important to course owners?
Although more women play golf now than in the past, they continue to be a portion of the golfing public that is underrepresented and underserved. Perhaps unintentional, but inequity lurks in areas such as course playability, customer service experience, inequitable access to programs and services and inequitable amount of women’s apparel and equipment in pro shops. It is well known that women wield significant economic power; businesses know to increase sales they must appeal to the female. So why hasn’t the golf industry caught on? How can golf courses better market their facility to women and ultimately increase course play and profitability?
A comprehensive research study funded by the Little Family Foundation and conducted on behalf of the National Golf Course Owners Association, aimed to find out what needs to be done to increase women’s golf participation and satisfaction. They interviewed women to find out what their “ultimate” golf facility and experience would be like and tested the results against 600 “female-friendly” courses to see what they provide. The results suggest three key areas impact women’s course experience: course playability, customer service experience and equal access to programs and services. Go to www.golfwithwomen.com for the entire study and “how-to” guide.
Very significant was the data concerning inability to reach greens in regulation, which directly impact speed of play. Staggering data from a leading equipment manufacturer shows that at least 50% of women can’t reach greens in regulation based on standard yardages 7,000/6,700/6,400/ 5,600. According to golf course architect Jeffrey Brauer, two key elements in golf enjoyment are scoring and speed of play. The extra time and strokes diminish a course’s popularity and profitability, according to John Wait of Sirius Golf Advisors, a leading consultant on golf operations. What is lacking on most courses is a set of tees for players with slower swing speeds regardless of gender and age. The distance a golf ball travels is directly proportional to club head speed. Thus, the “average woman golfer” (based on stats from a leading equipment manufacturer) with a club head speed of 65 miles/hour will average approximately 140-145 yards with her best drive. This data suggests that to reach greens in regulation the appropriate course length computes to 4,200 yards (30x her average drive). The average male golfer hits his average drive 210 yards which computes to an appropriate course length of 6,300 yards …where most men usually play from. This presents an unfair playing field for women, since there are few 4,200 yard courses. Verdict: Proper tee positioning is a crucial issue in creating more” female-friendly” courses.
In support of the recent research, The Executive Women’s Golf Association has launched “Fair Way Forward”, an advocacy initiative on how to get more women into the game. www.ewga.com
About Pam Borges
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