Breaking the ‘Grass’ Ceiling

We All Win When More Women Golf

By Dr. Deborah M. Gray

Professor of Marketing at Central Michigan University

There has never been more woman playing golf than right now. 

According to the National Golf Foundation, from 2020-2023 golf has seen an increase in 1.29 million new golfers. The key driver?  Women. 

Women and girls accounted for 63% of that increase resulting in 800,000-plus new players. Interestingly, girls represent about 35% of all golfers under age 18. The National Golf Foundation reports there are now almost the same number of female golfers under the age of 30 as over the age of 50. Yet, according to Bloomberg, women only represent 25% of all golfers. Ten years ago, women only represented about 19% of all golfers and so the last 3 years of growth has contributed to making golf more of an equal opportunity sport, but the industry can do better. Getting more women of all age groups to golf is important for the future of building golf into a welcoming sport.

At least some of the growth in the sport should be credited to the LPGA which has been a prominent leader in bringing more awareness of golf to both women and girls. For example they have made significant investments in three marketing campaigns: #InviteHer for women, #DriveOn for girls and most recently their One Million More Girls campaign. Women’s Golf Day has also helped get more women golfing and now includes golf events in 84 countries across 1300 locations. 

Breaking the ‘Grass Ceiling’ in Business

Golf is widely accepted as the ‘language of business,’ yet research shows that women are often excluded from male dominated networks or from networks in male dominated industries, including golf (Biggerstaff et al, 2023). Women’s success in the sales industry is directly tied to their ability to network and build relationships (McGinnis and Gentry, 2006) and women who golf say that the sport has significantly helped their career (Gray, Hicks, and Rundels, 2020). 

For those women who choose to participate in golf for business, a recent study from the Journal of Management suggests that golf is directly tied to women’s success in climbing the corporate ladder (Biggerstaff et al, 2023). The same study suggests that male executives should be mindful that golf can result in exclusionary office behaviors that hinders non-golfing women’s ability to climb the corporate ladder. 

For women who do choose to get in the game for business, most fortune 500 companies have business resource groups that are dedicated to activity-based networking, including golf. In a 2016 study, Sports & Leisure Research group reported that woman are more apt then men, to attribute golf to their business success. In fact, women who have successfully broken through the ‘grass ceiling’ close a median of 5 deals a year on the golf course, about the same as men.  There are several non-profit groups like HerClub who help women learn to leverage golf for their careers and to help them understand how to break through the “grass ceiling.”

Why Aren’t More Women Getting in the Game?

Women don’t have as much time to golf but those who do say it has helped them build lasting friendships and wider networks. According to the Wall Street Journal, married men spend about 3.5 hours more per week on leisure then women. And, gender imbalances persist in both caregiving and household responsibilities, in fact, 61% of the caregivers are women. Some women just do not have 4-5 hours to spend on a round of golf. 

Yet, some of the growth of on-course golfers is attributed to off-course experiences like Top Golf and indoor golf simulators where there is less of a time commitment. More than a third of non-golfing women in the U.S. report they are “very interested” in taking up the sport. Introducing women to golf by using off-course experiences could be a great low-risk way to reach time-poor women.

Unwelcome to the club. 

The golf industry is making strides toward making golf courses themselves more inclusive and welcoming to women. Most golf courses have color-based tees but golfers often refer to tees by gender and it will take time to change player’s vernacular such that women feel less singled out. It is still common to hear players and golf staff say ‘women’s tee’ instead of ‘forward tee.’ Yet the opposite is not true as most people do not refer to back tees as ‘men’s tees.’ It is also common to hear the men’s forward tees referred to as the ‘senior tee’ drawing attention to age. 

Instead, golf courses should structure tees so they are based on the player’s handicap or the average length of their drives – not gender or age.

Play faster please. 

There is no evidence that women play slower than men, yet the stereotype persists that women aren’t great golfers and they aren’t fast golfers. The reality is that most people who play golf are not close to being scratch golfers. According to the USGA the average men’s handicap is 14 and the average women’s handicap is 27.7 (about one more stroke a hole). However, only about 8% of women report a handicap compared to 36% of men so it is very difficult to determine if the majority of male golfers are any better than the majority of female golfers. Slow play is not a gender-based phenomenon. Actively correcting this stereotype can help the sport grow.

Getting More Women Golfing is Good for Everyone

Unlike other sports, golf is conducive to socializing while playing the sport. It also accommodates all ages and skill levels. In the U.S. walking, instead of using a golf cart, is becoming more common and certainly increases the health benefits of the sport. It is time to get more women in the game so they too can enjoy all of these benefits. 

So, the next time you plan to play a round of golf, ask women to join in. All golfers start as new golfers and even if the invitation is turned down, just by asking you have helped the sport to become more welcoming.