Why are male and female golfers still so divided?
The discussions around the separation of men’s and women’s golf have caught my ear more than any others recently – whether it’s changing the President’s Cup format to mixed teams, or maybe it was while compiling the tee sheet for this year’s Champion of Champions, where all three events took place simultaneously over one course?
That this format in particular, where two or even three events take place simultaneously, hasn’t become mainstream by 2022 baffles me. It has proved successful at the handful of North East clubs which I know use it, and at events such as the English Amateur.
As we continue to strive for greater equality, why is it that men and women are still not allowed to compete at the same time on the golf course?
The World Handicap System and tee booking software make this a doddle, yet so many clubs appear to have no interest in opening tee times to whomever wishes to take them.
The idea that men play on a Saturday and women have a midweek day should have passed into legend years ago. The way people study, work and organise their lives doesn’t fit into that system. Instead, golf clubs need to ensure they deliver equal playing opportunities to everyone.
At one of the clubs I know runs all of its competitions for men and women, in same sex groups or mixed, the concept is an important part of the experience for many female members. They are able to play when they want and while the competitions share the same names, each has a male and female winner, and everyone manages to get on with it without any fuss. Imagine that?
Club golf is supposed to be enjoyable. If you’re a man who wants to play golf with your wife on a weekend morning, why should anyone stop you? Why should a woman who works five days a week be told she cannot play competitively on a Saturday when the course is setup for a competition? If a man has some free time on a Tuesday, why shouldn’t he be able to roll up to the tee, join a two-ball of female members and play a competitive round too?
Those who want to play in all-male or all-female groups can of course continue to do so, but golf needs to move forward and this is a really simple step in the right direction.
Our sport is one of the only ones which allows players of all abilities, ages and genders to play alongside one another using a handicap system and different starting positions. Let’s utilise that and behave like it’s 2022.
