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Calling all women, is the golf industry addressing your needs?


Golfer23342
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So I played with a woman today who told me the golf industry doesnt properly address womens equipment and accessories, among other things. Before getting into the details the round was over and I didnt get a chance to ask her what she meant. Ive heard from other women that the golf industry approaches everything from a male perspective, even when designing womens items. Im wondering what impact this is having on the game as statistics show that 2/3 of all new golfers are women, but most of the women leave the game shortly after starting.

So my question for all women golfers is A. do you feel the golf industry is properly addressing your needs and B. If your answer is no, what is missing and needs to be addressed

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Not being female, I certainly can't answer this question with any great authority.  My observation has been that women, for the most part, play golf for the social aspects of the game.  They play to be with their spouse,partner, boy friend, friends.  One will rarely see a single woman on the course.  It is not common to see a woman alone at the range beating balls.

Of course a significant number of men play golf for the social aspects, too.  But a great number of us play because the game is more than a way to hang with our buddies.

If one wants to attract more women to the game, the game needs to address the social aspects.  How one does that, I haven't a clue.

Brian Kuehn

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Sounds like a woman who just wants to cry about something.

That was uncalled for.

I would have to agree.  The choices are much more limited from an equipment perspective.  My wife plays and I have a few woman friends who play.  Add to that the lack of knowledge at major golf stores on how to fit woman golfers.  My wife is also a lefty.  Try finding clubs for lefty woman!

It comes down to numbers.  Club companies will spend the majority of there research and marketing dollars on the male market because it is a much higher percentage.  I would recommend to any serious women golfers to spend the extra money and go to a good fitter.  I recommend this to men too.  You will get the proper equipment for your swing and body size.  You will also support the local fitters.

Clothing and accessories are the opposite.  There are plenty of choices there.

Scott

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As a lefty, women aren't going to get much sympathy from me.  It's about the numbers, there are less women and lefty players so manufacturers don't offer us their full lines and stores don't buy much stock for us either.

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Joe Paradiso

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Not being female, I certainly can't answer this question with any great authority.  My observation has been that women, for the most part, play golf for the social aspects of the game.  They play to be with their spouse,partner, boy friend, friends.  One will rarely see a single woman on the course.  It is not common to see a woman alone at the range beating balls. Of course a significant number of men play golf for the social aspects, too.  But a great number of us play because the game is more than a way to hang with our buddies. If one wants to attract more women to the game, the game needs to address the social aspects.  How one does that, I haven't a clue.

I joined the forum so I could answer this question. I have no problem with going to the range or even playing a round alone. It gives me time to really focus on my technique. Occasionally, I'll be asked to join the group either ahead or behind me and I will usually accept the offer. Playing in front of strangers is a great way to build confidence. I'm a pretty strong player and hit the ball well (usually) so I don't slow down the group. From what I have seen, women have a large choice of equipment and clothing (though $90 for a golf skirt is insane). Being 6'1", I just wish that the shoe manufacturers would expand the sizes they make-that's my chief complaint.

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The more I play this game the more I think I'd hate it if I were a woman.  It's pretty important to be able to poke the ball out there and I've never seen a woman (amateur) who was able to really smoke the ball so taking 3 or 4 or 5 shots to reach all the greens I think would be tremendously discouraging and eventually make me quit.

Anyway, yeah I can't answer for the women on the equipment thing either but I think it would be great if more played.  In fact, I'm more curious to know what keeps them away that isn't equipment related.  Is it too difficult?  Does it seem like a silly thing to be good at?  Are the challenging aspects of the game not appealing?  Etc.

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The more I play this game the more I think I'd hate it if I were a woman.  It's pretty important to be able to poke the ball out there and I've never seen a woman (amateur) who was able to really smoke the ball so taking 3 or 4 or 5 shots to reach all the greens I think would be tremendously discouraging and eventually make me quit.

Anyway, yeah I can't answer for the women on the equipment thing either but I think it would be great if more played.  In fact, I'm more curious to know what keeps them away that isn't equipment related.  Is it too difficult?  Does it seem like a silly thing to be good at?  Are the challenging aspects of the game not appealing?  Etc.

Don't you think women's tees and having a separate Ladies' Par on some holes takes care of the distance difference? When I started golf I was a very short hitter and couldn't used my driver so I played from the Ladies' Tees a lot. It didn't make me score that much better because my technique still sucked but it pretty much took care of my distance problem. I'm still relatively short but I play from the white tees (second longest of 4 sets of tees at my course). I played the red tees once just to see how well I could score, and while I didn't post an amazing score it was pretty boring from a distance perspective. Other than the lone Par 5 (9 hole course) I was hitting a partial sand wedge on every 2nd shot with the exception of 2 holes (which are both all uphill by about 50 yards and both play as par 5s for the ladies). The easiest hole on the course is a downhill dog leg left 257 yard par 4 with trees along the left side that I can hit over with my driver and usually end up within 20 yards of the green in any direction. From the ladies tees it plays as a straight 198 yard par 4. When I played from those tees I flew the green by 20 yards with a 4 iron (which I average 182 yards with). All together the ladies get 678 yards and 2 strokes on a 9 hole course.

I don't know what distance the average female golfer drives the ball (I guess I don't know that stat for all male golfers either) but on my course from the red tees you would have to average a drive of 146 yards to have a 2nd shot from 100 yards. On the 3 ladies par 5s you would have to average 120 yards on your first 2 shots to have a 100 yard approach shot. I would guess that I am fairly far towards the short hitter end of the spectrum for adult males and if I played the ladies tees I could accomplish these distances using nothing more than an 8 iron for my tee shots. I would guess that a female with similar swing technique skill as myself should be able to at least match my 8 iron distance with their driver.

My course is very short to begin with though so I don't know what these numbers would look like on a longer course but it seems pretty doable to me.

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Don't you think women's tees and having a separate Ladies' Par on some holes takes care of the distance difference?

In theory I suppose, I dunno.  The women's tees on the courses I've played usually aren't that far ahead of the men's tees so I'm not sure what to make of it.  I think I mostly just need to play a round with a woman who at least swings hard, the few I've played with take some pretty dainty looking swings at the ball so it's hard telling what's going on.  lol

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I have increased my swing speed and have noticed a difference lately. I usually drive between 150-200 (more if the ball gets a lot of roll downhill) and my irons are increasing as well (my 9 averages around 100). I played a course recently that was mostly uphill and it was quite discouraging as it was sometimes difficult to reach the green in regulation. Even from the women's tees some of the holes were around 450-uphill. I think some women find it boring and a "men's game". I love it myself. I can't wait to get out on the course and challenge myself and learn more by watching better players.
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I joined the forum so I could answer this question. I have no problem with going to the range or even playing a round alone. It gives me time to really focus on my technique. Occasionally, I'll be asked to join the group either ahead or behind me and I will usually accept the offer. Playing in front of strangers is a great way to build confidence. I'm a pretty strong player and hit the ball well (usually) so I don't slow down the group. From what I have seen, women have a large choice of equipment and clothing (though $90 for a golf skirt is insane). Being 6'1", I just wish that the shoe manufacturers would expand the sizes they make-that's my chief complaint.

I have been seeing someone who plays golf and the equipment that is painted all pretty is a little sparse but if you can get past this the equipment is no different than the males sans shafts. If you are a serious woman golfer you can get as good of equipment set up for you as any male. The clothes aspect is another thing. There's a ton of stuff for men and not many deals or reasonably priced for female apparel. The women that the op was talking about probably wanted more clothing choices.

"My ball is on top of a rock in the hazard, do I get some sort of relief?"

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So I played with a woman today who told me the golf industry doesnt properly address womens equipment and accessories, among other things. Before getting into the details the round was over and I didnt get a chance to ask her what she meant. Ive heard from other women that the golf industry approaches everything from a male perspective, even when designing womens items. Im wondering what impact this is having on the game as statistics show that 2/3 of all new golfers are women, but most of the women leave the game shortly after starting.

So my question for all women golfers is A. do you feel the golf industry is properly addressing your needs and B. If your answer is no, what is missing and needs to be addressed

The golf industry does address women, the local pro or buyer for the club or independent store is another thing. Because there is a ratio 1 out of 15 golfers are women and that women often from an apparel perspective  come in many different sizes  and shapes. Women who typically invest in apparel- such as skirts blouses etc, tend to  be in the size 6,8,10 & 12 size. More women that are coming into the game will often be in the 12, 14, 16 and even 20+ size. Of course cut and color can be complimentary to smaller sizes and less desireable for the larger sizes. Typically the larger size women do not historically shop for everyday or business clothes at fashion forward apparel stores-such as small boutiques stores ( which do not carry the larger sizes to begin with) instead opting for larger chain stores.  So  indeed its challenge.

Conversely for men you could buy any shirt 1/small, 2/med, 3/large , 3/XL and 2/XXL and have decent sell thru in any color by any brand shirt. ( the men's size small is optional).  In women it could be as many as 7 or 8 sizes by a small percentage of women coming thru the store with no guarantees of sell thru. Small Med and large doesn't cut it

With equipment there is far greater options today than there was even 5 or 10 years ago. Getting women to realize the value is the challenge. There is no secret sauce that will give a middle age women that 20 extra yards. almost all the technology is geared for a minimum club and ball speed and for a vast majority of women they are not there. light weight shafts, slightly shorter, higher lofts help.

The key to growing golf however will be the social aspect of the club or course. Without a doubt each club must aggressively redefine the club house, activities, social aspect, including offering day care , meeting rooms for non golf activities and socials, yoga studios, a low fat diet menu and kids programs. The basic idea is if you embrace the single women, soccer moms, professional women, with professional instruction, free clinics, wine and dine 9 hole leagues, coed leagues and tourneys, a very outgoing female pro helps tremendously. You get women involved and the kids will follow. Women may not earn all the money but they are the key decision makers  of how it is spent within the family.

Clubs and courses have keyed in on Men, things are different now, men are leaving due to age, cost and injury, fewer and fewer young men are coming into the game, growth need to start with the family and women are the key- it will take 10-15 years to turn things around, IMO

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In theory I suppose, I dunno.  The women's tees on the courses I've played usually aren't that far ahead of the men's tees so I'm not sure what to make of it.  I think I mostly just need to play a round with a woman who at least swings hard, the few I've played with take some pretty dainty looking swings at the ball so it's hard telling what's going on.  lol

A lot of courses do not have enough of a difference for the women to have a realistic shot at the green in regulation. My wife plays golf, and she's one of the longest female hitters I've ever played with. She'll consistently get it out there 180 or so. I'd say on the majority of par 4s, she's using at least a hybrid into the green. For most women to have a chance at the green in regulation, a par 4 will have to be under 300 yards. And most courses, out here at least, have a lot of par 4s longer than that.

She doesn't seem to mind having to play longer clubs into the green, but I very rarely hit anything more than a 7 iron into the green on a par 4 (I also could be playing back a tee). I would have a lot less fun hitting hybrids and woods into greens all of the time.

-- Daniel

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A lot of courses do not have enough of a difference for the women to have a realistic shot at the green in regulation. My wife plays golf, and she's one of the longest female hitters I've ever played with. She'll consistently get it out there 180 or so. I'd say on the majority of par 4s, she's using at least a hybrid into the green. For most women to have a chance at the green in regulation, a par 4 will have to be under 300 yards. And most courses, out here at least, have a lot of par 4s longer than that.

She doesn't seem to mind having to play longer clubs into the green, but I very rarely hit anything more than a 7 iron into the green on a par 4 (I also could be playing back a tee). I would have a lot less fun hitting hybrids and woods into greens all of the time.

Same here....if I'm just outside my 6 iron length it's a hybrid to the green on a par 4. It does get a little frustrating on the longer par 5's. I've been working on my putting to save me a stroke or 2 on the green once i finally get there!

I don't think the courses are set up for the "average" woman golfer.

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My wife and I started golf at the same time, and we play probably 120+ rounds/year together.   Since I am the golf equipment supplier for both of us, I can tell unequivocally that golf industry does not cater to women adequately.   There is far less choice of everything from golf gloves to driver.   For example, it's almost impossible to find a pair of golf shoes that fits my wife's.  There aren't too many good choice for golf balls either and she ended up favoring Bridgestone E6.  The list goes on and on.   This is probably b/c the market is far too small compare to men's.

Golf courses are even worse.  On one course we frequented, there were no properly built women's tee boxes.   They were just small mounds in middle of fairway.   Hole yardage seems to be done at random.

RiCK

(Play it again, Sam)

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I actually use men's clubs as the women's clubs are just too short. Shoes? Men's - as the ladies sizes do not cater to us taller girls. ;) - 6'1"

I'll agree the ball selection is low - I finally settled on the Bridgestone Lady Precept and I've been happy with it (the Noodles were no good for me). I also like the Titleist DT 90.

Gloves? I use a men's size as the women's are too short to fit my fingers.

It is kind of a square peg in a round hole when it comes to women and golf.

But they aren't shy about the prices of clothing. As mentioned, $90 (or MORE) for a skirt?!

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But they aren't shy about the prices of clothing. As mentioned, $90 (or MORE) for a skirt?!

I've noticed that, too.  There was a huge sale on apparel in a golf shop.  My wife picked one up and asked for the discount to be applied.   And the store clerk said, the price already includes the discount. :cry:

RiCK

(Play it again, Sam)

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I've noticed that, too.  There was a huge sale on apparel in a golf shop.  My wife picked one up and asked for the discount to be applied.   And the store clerk said, the price already includes the discount.

Yes...to which I reply "are you sure?" :bugout:

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