{"id":546,"date":"2005-03-14T16:30:51","date_gmt":"2005-03-14T21:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/men_and_women_in_modern_times\/"},"modified":"2005-03-14T16:30:51","modified_gmt":"2005-03-14T21:30:51","slug":"men_and_women_in_modern_times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/swing_thoughts\/men_and_women_in_modern_times","title":{"rendered":"Men and Women in Modern Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AnnikaRewriting history is a big step. It appears that golf is trying to adjust to modern times, although still steeped in its old traditions. Gone are the days of plaid pants, wooden drivers and hushed galleries. Today, cheering fans, fist pumps and the interest for women to compete in men’s tournaments have thrown golf into turmoil.<\/p>\n

Peter Dawson, secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews is considering rewriting the entry form for the Open Championship<\/a> starting with the 2006 championship (the 2005 forms have already been printed) to grant women golfers entry to the oldest running golf tournament in the world.
\n
\nThere is a method to Dawson’s madness. He argues that golf must step out of the 1950s and into the 21st century. Also, club membership is at a historically low point, with golfers opting for pay and play courses rather than playing at one particular club. “It’s also true clubs are not attracting enough young girls and boys, which means that clubs should look at themselves and decide why they may be unwelcoming to certain kinds of people and put that right,” says Dawson.<\/p>\n

Why is it then, that men’s only private clubs are being nudged and prodded to change their bylaws and accept women into the fold but LPGA bylaws remain unchanged? The bylaws of the LPGA clearly state that men are not allowed to play at all. You must be a woman at birth to compete. But, women have been sneaking into PGA events through sponsor’s exemptions. Who could forget Annika Sorenstam’s 2003 Colonial entry or Michelle Wie’s recent sponsor’s exemption at past two Sony Opens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Should golf be allowed to evolve naturally through time or should men and women compete separately? Do we allow the change to occur in golf; to modernize the game and allow all players to compete if they make the cut? Do we change the original way the game of golf was invented? Do we mess with history?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If golf takes the next step, how should LPGA players be handicapped? Should women have to play from tournament tees? Obviously, handicapping should not occur. If women want to play on the tour, equality in all areas of the game must prevail.<\/p>\n

Allowing women to play in men’s tournaments, if they play at the same tees as men, should probably be given a chance, but should first be tried outside the normal tournament schedule. We have already seen Annika and Tiger in match-play events<\/a> on network television. The events have drawn interest. Perhaps this will be the staging area for the next generation of golf.<\/p>\n

Change should occur naturally over time. We have already seen young players like Michelle Wie smash a drive 300 yards, outdistancing some of the male players on tour. With new oversized drivers and nanotechnology being integrated into golf balls, it is only a matter of time before women are able to physically challenge men on their own playing field. However, physical strength should not be the only determining factor as to if and when women should compete in PGA Tour events. For example, if women were integrated into PGA Tour events it could weaken the LPGA. Top players like Annika would try out for the PGA Tour with the larger dollars and more challenging venues. Television coverage would deteriorate and purses would fall.<\/p>\n

Although the modernization of golf is inevitable, it is important to keep some of the traditions intact. The introduction of the LPGA to golf brought the sport into the 20th century, and that’s a good start. Only time will tell if the soul of golf, the essence of the sport, perserveres.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: © Golf World\/ESPN<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Andrews is considering allowing women to play in the 2006 Open. Could this be the beginning of a new era in golf?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swing_thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nMen and Women in Modern Times (Swing Thoughts) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/swing_thoughts\/men_and_women_in_modern_times\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Men and Women in Modern Times (Swing Thoughts) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"St Andrews is considering allowing women to play in the 2006 Open. 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