What makes a golf course "women-friendly"?

[ClairefromClare]

A lot of people are speaking about staff and friendliness towards women. I agree with this 100%. However some are speaking of more females on staff. Keep in mind that that is not always the clubs choice. There are still far more male golfers in this country than female. And that goes with staff as well.

I asked my club about this very issue and they said they have not had a woman apply for a staff position other than restaurant in almost 11 months. And our club is extremely female friendly. They have an entire section of the pro shop for women. Apparel, clubs, shoes, etc...They have a great ladies locker room. They also hold a womens clinic every Saturday Morning. And last every Sunday at 3pm, the course is closed for the ladies.

But some requests are just not feasible because if the course does not get enough female play than the changes that are requested cost too much to make.

We're very lucky--both the pro shop manager and the head of instruction are female. They've always been very responsive. The head of instruction is so popular with the members that she survived a recent change in head of golf--that doesn't happen often.

So do we GolfGal, so do we!
But that's all most places have, for anyone. I've seen some semi-real facilities on the course but not too often.

"Real" is hard--plumbing and zoning issues. Most courses could still do a lot better within the restrictions they face.

 

[JB]

We actually have real bathrooms on our course as well.

 

[dynarider]

Men in the drink cart. (A girl can dream!) Seriously, though, it's 80% staff.

One of the courses I play quite often puts a male in the cart everytime they have womens leagues.

 

[HardcoreLooper]

Men in the drink cart. (A girl can dream!) Seriously, though, it's 80% staff.

When the club I worked at had tournaments with no caddies (few and far between, but we did have a few outings that were all carts), all the guys in the shop fought over driving the drink cart. But if they were using caddies, short straw got it.

Only when we had a female working in the shop (for about six months of the nine years I worked there) did we have a woman in the cart.

Strangely enough, we did not have the cart out for regular play.

 

[HardcoreLooper]

Thanks Claire! I totally agree with what you've said. Let me add to the the point on landing area and which club we should hit next....I have no problem if I have to hit a hybrid or even a FW wood to hit the green on a par 4 while a man hits an iron. I just think I should be able to get there with something. Remember, forward tees aren't about being female - they are about skill level. And from the forward tees, with higher handicaps, it should not be surprising if the players doesn't get a GIR every time.

I would think that much of the decision on tee position should depend upon the design of the hole. I caddied for nine years and caddied (happily) for women every Tuesday and Thursday. Most of the women I caddied for had handicaps between 16 - 24 and could hit the ball about 150 - 180 off the tee (we had a couple excellent women with single digit handicaps who hit the ball well over 200 and often played from the whites).

On holes with no trouble in front of the green, I had no trouble having them bouncing the ball in with a fairway wood. I'd take a 16 handicap woman with a 7 wood in her hands from 160 over a 16 handicap guy with a 6 iron as long as there's no trouble in front of the green. She'll hit that green five times out of 10 and be in a good position to chip 3 of the other 5. The guy will hit the green 3 times out of 10 and put himself in jail 5 of the other 7.

It's when you have to carry water or a bunker that I think the club selection needs to be equalized. The course I worked at tended to do a very good job with this, and the woman's group was extremely active. They put $80 in my pocket every week with only 6 hours of work. :clapp:

 

[dynarider]

We actually have real bathrooms on our course as well.

More & more courses around here are going with actual brick & mortar restrooms as well.

 

[julie_m]

I hate when a blue/black tee begins with a nice drive, then a hazard to avoid around the second shot. But from the red tees, a drive around 200 yards drops you right into the river, so you have to either be Superwoman or lay up, which isn't fun since you're already long-drive challenged and could use the boost. (It's the same kind of scenario with dog legs.) There's two courses here I can think of right away that do that quite a bit. Drives me nuts.

haha...Julie, you are great. But if I hit 200 yards every time and ended up in the water, I'd be happy a golfgal And then, I'd move back to the whites

Most of the women I caddied for had handicaps between 16 - 24 and could hit the ball about 150 - 180 off the tee (we had a couple excellent women with single digit handicaps who hit the ball well over 200 and often played from the whites).

I rounded up...I did say "around 200," haha! I top at 180, but I'm not very good, so I wanted to leave some room.

Seriously though, I love you Harvey, but your course is a killer off the reds.

 

[Callaway Girl]

I would love to see a woman's only course equivalent to Augusta. The course would have numerous tees on each hole allowing all handicap levels to play.

The club house would include a exotic coffee shop, pub, fine dining restaurant, bistro, pro shop stocked full of golf items with custom club building onsite, indoor simulators (in case of bad weather), a spa, a complete workout facility.

Basically, a private country club for ladies.

 

[Sir Shanksalot]

The club I belong to is very women friendly. They really have no choice because there happen to be lots of female members who like to play. I think if lots of female members show interest the club will do what they can to promote it. After all, the female members can spend money there just as well as the males. Augusta National might be an exception, but most clubs are in business to make money, right?

 

[HardcoreLooper]

I would love to see a woman's only course equivalent to Augusta. The course would have numerous tees on each hole allowing all handicap levels to play.

The club house would include a exotic coffee shop, pub, fine dining restaurant, bistro, pro shop stocked full of golf items with custom club building onsite, indoor simulators (in case of bad weather), a spa, a complete workout facility.

Basically, a private country club for ladies.

I swear I read somewhere about a group of women who attempted this, years ago (minus the exotic coffee shop, I'm pretty sure). If enough of those 12 women on that list I posted play golf, that idea could have some legs.

 

[HardcoreLooper]

Another idea -- marking sprinkler heads inside 100 yards. The course I'm playing this week doesn't.

 

[907golfer12]

I would love to see a woman's only course equivalent to Augusta. The course would have numerous tees on each hole allowing all handicap levels to play.

The club house would include a exotic coffee shop, pub, fine dining restaurant, bistro, pro shop stocked full of golf items with custom club building onsite, indoor simulators (in case of bad weather), a spa, a complete workout facility.

Basically, a private country club for ladies.

If a club was built like that...I may have to suddenly turn into a woman!

Spoiler

Just kidding, but I think that's a great idea.

 

[JB]

I would love to see a woman's only course equivalent to Augusta. The course would have numerous tees on each hole allowing all handicap levels to play.

The club house would include a exotic coffee shop, pub, fine dining restaurant, bistro, pro shop stocked full of golf items with custom club building onsite, indoor simulators (in case of bad weather), a spa, a complete workout facility.

Basically, a private country club for ladies.

Ok, while my personal thoughts are that this is a great idea. Please someone explain to me why this is okay and Augusta would not be?

 

[Callaway Girl]

Ok, while my personal thoughts are that this is a great idea. Please someone explain to me why this is okay and Augusta would not be?

Personally, I see nothing wrong with Augusta being a men's only club.

 

[Golfgal]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm off to Phoenix tomorrow to play and review:

Legend Trail
Sunridge Canyon
Grayhawk
Hilton Sedona

Cheers
Gayle

 

[RocketSauce]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm off to Phoenix tomorrow to play and review:

Legend Trail
Sunridge Canyon
Grayhawk
Hilton Sedona

Cheers
Gayle

cool. ive played Grayhawk a few times. Troon is my favorite though. have fun

 

[TheGasman]

Have fun, it should be nice and warm.

 

[ShortButCrooked]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm off to Phoenix tomorrow to play and review:

Legend Trail
Sunridge Canyon
Grayhawk
Hilton Sedona

Cheers
Gayle

Have a great time. My wife and I go out to Scottsdale every June. Grayhawk and Sunridge Canyon are both great. We-Ko-Pa and Eagle Mountain (both near Sunridge canyon) are also very nice. We also like the Boulders courses. But the two courses at Troon North are our favorites. We haven't played Legend Trail or Hilton Sedona. I'm sure those will be nice as well.

Getting back to the original question, my wife says having a choice of tees is the one thing she looks for. One of the reasons we like Troon North so much is they have five sets of tees. The forward tees are something like 4,800 yards. The second set is like 5,200. She likes being able to choose between the two depending on how she's playing and whether she wants a challenge or not.

 

[Golfgal]

Have a great time. My wife and I go out to Scottsdale every June. Grayhawk and Sunridge Canyon are both great. We-Ko-Pa and Eagle Mountain (both near Sunridge canyon) are also very nice. We also like the Boulders courses. But the two courses at Troon North are our favorites. We haven't played Legend Trail or Hilton Sedona. I'm sure those will be nice as well.

Getting back to the original question, my wife says having a choice of tees is the one thing she looks for. One of the reasons we like Troon North so much is they have five sets of tees. The forward tees are something like 4,800 yards. The second set is like 5,200. She likes being able to choose between the two depending on how she's playing and whether she wants a challenge or not.

Your wife and I would get along well - I feel the same way. Two of the courses (Legend Trail and Grayhawk) were awarded "women friendly" awards from GFW magazine. But I found all 4 courses fun to play because they did offer multiple tee boxes for women and I was treated very well at all of the courses. I was surprised how much merchandise they all offered for women - things are definitley better there than up where I live in that regard.

I have written two reviews so far that are with the publisher - two more to go.

Now my golf bucket list contains: Troon North, Boulders and We-Ko-Pa. I can't wait to go back!