Professional golfer Tisha Alyn wears many hats including clothing line mogul and content creator. As a guest on the most recent episode of BFFR with Sydney Leroux and Ali Riley, she was focused on the role of women’s golf advocate.
“There are still golf clubs in this world where women are not allowed to be a member,” Tisha pointed out when asked what she would change about the sport of golf if she could. “If they do allow women, it’s because they’re the wives [of members]. There are clubs that are even like ‘oh, women can only play on Wednesdays after 3pm.’”
In Scotland, where golf was invented, the 130+ year old golf course Muirfield only began admitting women in 2017. Pine Valley in New Jersey, which is often cited as the “number 1 golf course in the world” only began admitting women for unrestricted play in 2021.
“Golf has grown dramatically in the last five years,” Alyn went on. The growth of women’s golf, ever since COVID it’s like 80% growth. It’s the largest growth rate and the largest consumer rate, which it’s like ‘okay invest in women’s golf because they’re the ones buying’.”
According to the National Golf Foundation, “more than one-quarter of green-grass golfers in the U.S. are women and girls or People of Color”, two historically underrepresented groups in the sport.
“When you go to a range and you only see a bunch of men, it doesn’t make a woman feel welcome to go and do it,” Alyn shared. “Men feel very inclined to correct you when you’re there and you’re new. So yes, a lot of things I would change.”
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