Why is it that so many men are still surprised that women play golf and more to the point, they can be exceptionally good at it?
It was incredible to watch Georgia Ball’s recent video, a PGA pro and online golf coach, who was offered advice from a man in the next driving range bay about the way she should swing the golf club.
Ball’s response was typically British and typically female, no doubt because of the way that we’ve generally been socialised. She tried to explain extremely politely that the reason why she was taking a slow exaggerated backswing was due to her making swing changes. The man in question was not prepared to listen, he knew best and persisted in offering advice.
Would he have offered the same advice to a male golfer? Probably not. If he had, I’m sure he would have got short shrift with a thanks but no thanks response. Would a woman stop her practice session and walk to another bay to offer a man advice? Never.
Ball is a PGA Pro, so she can turn a blind eye to advice, rise above it and have the last laugh as she is an incredible golfer. For female players just starting out in the game, or with an average handicap, it’s a different story.
It always amazes me that men feel they have an entitlement to offer women golfers advice. While I’m not arrogant enough to think that I don’t need help on the golf course, whether you’re a male or female golfer, people should always have the etiquette to ask first if you want their advice.
I know one female club player that was asked to partner a man in a club mixed competition, but they never made it past the practice round because he oversaw every shot, telling her what to do and by the end of the round she was reduced to tears. I’ve had similar experiences, as I’m sure so many other women have, but you can be darn sure that if a man offers me unsolicited advice, telling me to hit a putt right lip, I’ll pull it left!
To a certain extent, Ball’s video is another example of golf’s gender stereotyping, there is still too much inequity in the game and a significant number of men still regard it as their sport.
Many years ago, I will never forget attending a corporate golf day at which I was the only female golfer. I kid you not, men in the room thought I was there to serve their bacon sandwiches. As I was walking past a table, one man tugged at my arm to request his breakfast and it definitely wasn’t in gest. How could I possibly be there to play golf?
That was then, and it’s fair to say that there has been progression over recent years in terms of accepting women golfers and creating a more inclusive environment, but there’s still a long way to go before we’re on equal footing and change the way many men perceive us in the sport.
I meet plenty of men who are surprised when I tell them I play golf, and even more surprised that I work in the industry. When they ask about my handicap and I reply 16, they stop themselves when saying, “That’s pretty good for a …..!”
Only recently, I heard of a young female PGA assistant who had just returned from a trip to Australia. She visited a driving range, but was denied a rental club as staff didn't believe she was a pro. It's madness.
There are so many young talented golfers like Ball, world-class female professionals, elite amateurs and club players that are probably just as good or better as the man standing in the bay next to them at a golf driving range. Men across the world need to recognise that, and why it’s best to keep their opinions to themselves.
