Young Women Tee Off to Save Golf [WSJ]

And yet, Girls Golf, a girls-only program for golfers under 17 run by the LPGA and the U.S. Golf Association, is booming. Launched in 1989 by Phoenix-area teaching pro Sandy LaBauve, Girls Golf enrollment has increased tenfold since 2010 to some 50,000. Overall, girls and women account for about 20% of golf participation, but girls now represent 25% of junior golfers, compared with 23% in 2011, according to the NGF.

Like most successes in women’s golf these days, the recent surge among girls circles back to Whan, who was a sports equipment executive before arriving at the LPGA five years ago. Whan has pulled the LPGA Tour out of its death-spiral following the financial crisis, when corporate sponsors cut much of their marketing expenses.

In addition to luring back corporate sponsors, Whan decided to invest heavily in the sport’s future. He realized if more girls in the U.S. didn’t start playing golf, there might not be many fans of the LPGA Tour a decade from now, to say nothing of widening the pool of potential U.S. talent. The LPGA now invests more than $500,000 a year in Girls Golf, helping to spawn some 300 programs around the country.

“We’re trying to build the message of golf courses being more welcoming to girls, women, and really all people,” said Nancy Henderson, the LPGA’s chief teaching officer and the president of the tour’s foundation. “There are so many restrictions for kids in golf, whether it’s a dress code or times they can play. It’s not the most welcoming environment.”