Make way, Rory McIlroy – the girls are stepping up to the tee.
The pandemic has inspired more British women to grab a golf club, with the traditional game allowing players to have some socially-distanced fun with friends in the fresh air.
Young female players like 25-year-old pro-golfer Annabel Dimmock, girlfriend of Love Island ’s Chris Hughes, are becoming Instagram stars too, shaking off the stuffy stereotype of a sport reserved for retirees and middle-aged accountants.
Celebrity fans include Denise Van Outen and Naga Munchetty, with actress Denise once admitting: “If I’d have known the fun I’d have and the places I’d have gone to, I would have taken up golf years ago.”
BBC Breakfast presenter Naga also resisted playing for years because she thought it was a “posh person’s game”, but now has a handicap of seven.
Recent research by The R&A, golf’s governing body and organiser of its oldest tournament, The Open, has found that a quarter of current female golfers in Britain are new to the sport.
Overall female participation also tripled in 2020, with nearly 1.5m women playing a full round that year. This was 28 per cent of all golfers, compared to women making up 14 per cent in 2019.
But only 15 per cent of club members are women, according to England Golf, the amateur body for the sport, a figure which lags behind the rest of Europe.
Lauren Spray is the organisation’s Women and Girls in Golf Manager and runs the Girl Golf Rocks scheme, which has introduced 4,500 girls aged seven to 14 to the sport since 2015.
She also oversees Women On Par, which helps new players get to grips with scoring and etiquette using a nine-hole game.
Lauren, 33, says: “I first tried golf when I was at a family party at a club when I was 12. Then my mum enrolled me in a council-run summer school and I never looked back.
“I’ve been hooked ever since and studied for a degree in golf in Birmingham, which often surprises people. Neither of my parents played but have now taken it up.
“For me, golf is a great opportunity to have a laugh with the girls, but I like that I can play with anyone, anywhere in the world, and the handicapping system levels the playing field.”
Lauren believes that women’s lifestyles and family responsibilities have restricted their access to the sport in the past, but now many clubs are offering weekend games and flexible memberships to reduce barriers.
“During the pandemic golf was great for getting outside and having time to escape from the reality of what was going on,” she says.
“I noticed more women playing and even now, my club is getting enquiries from women have been learning to play in lockdown and are ready to take the next step into membership.”
Lauren is one of an increasing number of women taking professional positions within the lucrative golf industry, not just as players but as coaches, outreach officers and course managers.
It’s a desirable career area, with the world’s top female professional, Jin Young Ko, earned an estimated $7.5m in 2021 according to Forbes, making her the sixth highest paid female athlete globally.
Prize money for women is also rising, with the US Women’s Open – the largest purse in the sport – paying out $10m in 2022, compared to $5.5m last year.
The AIG Women’s Open in Britain will have $6.8m up for grabs, more than double the total in 2018.
But for many new players, this isn’t about making money – it’s about having a hobby, gaining a skill and enjoying themselves.
Golf blogger Mia Baker says you don’t need to join a club to get into the game.
The 27-year-old, who lives in London, took online lessons with a coach in Malaysia during lockdown through app Skillest and practices her swing using a virtual reality headset.
She also enjoys nights out with friends at the increasing number venues with golf simulators, bars and DJs.
“You can be of any age, ethnicity or competency. It’s a real community,” she says.
“Golf helps me enjoy life that little bit more. It takes me outside when I want to stay in.”
Mia, who has 77,000 Instagram followers, first played golf in late 2019 when her ex-boyfriend’s dad invited her for a round.
She says: “I didn’t hit a ball, I just went round in the buggy. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the course was and wanted to give it a go.”
But when she went to buy some golf shoes, she found very little available for women.
She said: “I got in touch with the CEO of American Golf to voice my frustration.
“All the social media and the advertising was geared to men. It didn’t inspire me at all.”
Mia began working with the brand to make it more female-friendly, and started an Instagram account to share her journey learning to play.
She says: “I thought I had good hand-eye coordination but golf is so difficult when you start out. Sticking with it is the hardest part.
“You discover so much about yourself learning a new skill as an adult and have an underlying self-consciousness that you don’t have as a kid.
“I think it has made me a better person.
“During the lockdowns I was very busy with my job in genetic and Covid testing, but my online coach would teach me in five-minute blocks every day.
“It was a real stress buster.”
Last summer, Mia left her job to concentrate on her golf content full time. She has a YouTube channel, podcast and has even written a golf-themed children’s book.
She says: “I never thought I could work in sport or that it was an option for me. But I’m earning a good income and I have a passion for it.”
She recommends that other women wanting to give golf a go should start with second hand clubs and view the cost like a gym membership.
“You only need three or four clubs initially – you can play a full round with that,” she says.
“You can also practice at a simulator without worrying about losing a ball in the tree or getting rained off.
“Golf is a game for life so if you start now, your future self will thank you.”
When her older brother Wallace took up golf, Carly Booth wanted to follow in his footsteps.
She picked up her first club aged five, perfecting her swing on a course her father built on their 100-acre family farm near Comrie, Scotland.
This backyard practice green paid as both siblings went on to become professional golfers.
She says: “We’d go out after school and it made it very easy for me to learn.
“I went off golf for a couple of years until my dad encouraged me to try again one summer.
“I remember hitting a shot about 45 yards - I was only about seven or eight - and realised I loved it.”
Carly was 11 when she became Britain’s youngest ever ladies champion at the Dunblane New and went on to study at a sports academy in America.
She turned professional aged 17 when she set another record as the youngest Scottish woman to qualify for the Ladies European Tour.
Now 29, she says: “I was due to go to university but unexpectedly got my tour card first time. I decided I’d rather get four years’ experience on tour.”
The gamble paid off as she won the Scottish Open in May 2012, her maiden tour victory, and the Ladies Swiss Open the following month in a three-way play off.
She says: “It was a week before I turned 20. I got my first hole in one and played with Laura Davies – a career highlight.”
Carly uses her profile, which includes 202,000 Instagram fans, to promote the women’s game and she is also an ambassador for the European Disabled Golf Association.
Already 13 years into her career, she could continue to play professionally for decades, unlike most other sports.
She says: “I was in the Scotland gymnastic squad when I was younger but had to make a choice between the two.
“Had I stuck with gymnastics, my career would be over by now.
“There’s no age limit with golf and there are so many different jobs, like coaching, media and grassroots.
“I feel very blessed. I’ve met so many people through the game and had so many opportunities.”
The pandemic was the inspiration for Michaela Grossi to take up golf again after lessons as a kid shattered her confidence.
Now the 26-year-old is “addicted” to the challenge of the game and can’t wait to get back out on the green the moment she finishes a round.
Michaela says: “My uncle is a scratch golfer and paid for lessons for me and my two siblings when I was eight.
“But after two years, I’d progressed no further than 70 yards and wasn’t passing my golf exams.
“It sucked the enjoyment out of it.”
In August 2019, she took a marketing job with PlayMoreGolf, an app that connects players to 250 golf clubs under one membership, and her boss encouraged her to give the sport another shot.
She says: “I’d always had a slice that I could never get rid of and when I’d tried to go to the driving range alone, I’d had some bad experiences.
“There is still some sexism within golf.
“But Leslee came with me and showed me it was actually a lot of fun.
“When lockdown restrictions eased, golf was one of the first sports to return. My uncle said I could have his old clubs on the condition I joined his club.”
Michaela, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, became a member of Feldon Valley in July 2020 and was given a female ‘buddy’ to play with.
She said: “It is very friendly and inclusive. Lots of clubs want to welcome more women in.
“The game isn’t a quick one so it can be hard to find time for a round, but when the clocks go forward, I can play before and after work.
“It’s great exercise. I was told that if you are carrying your clubs, you burn 200 calories an hour.
“I definitely feel fitter since I started playing, I can tell when I walk up the hills.”
Michaela would love to see more women her own age out on the course.
She says: “You might feel nervous about starting but just go and do it. It will be the best decision you make.”
Carly Booth and Mia Baker are both ambassadors for International Leisure Group (ILG) which incorporates golf retailer and leisure brands American Golf and Online Golf.
