Case study: Coaching impact
Meet two female coaches who are helping to grow the women's game
Women and girls are a growing demographic within the sport, but female participation in on-course golf is still lagging behind. We spoke to two PGA coaches about the work they have been doing to attract more women and girls to take up golf
Sally Hinton
Senior Teaching Professional at Close House and Female PGA Coach of the Year 2023.
What has your journey been with coaching women and girls?
"I started to do women's coaching at Close House after becoming qualified in 2010. I realised very quickly how important the social side of it was in terms of group coaching, so I started to do events ike afternoon tea and golf. The ladies found it important to have the time to chat and get to know other women who play golf.
"A lot of women join a club and there's not that kind of safety net of other women your age that are also just starting out, so it's really valuable to have those opportunities to meet others and socialise.
"In terms of the girls coaching, I've been involved with Girls Golf Rocks for four years and that's a fantastic initiative that brings in people from far and wide.
"We offer a pathway from that programme into coaching and into membership, so that's been a real success story for us."
How much has changed regarding inclusivity and participation since you first took up golf?
"It's very different now to when I started 14 years ago, and if you go back even further to when I was a junior, I was the only girl at the golf club – I didn't realise other girls played golf!
"It's so much better now with the initiatives that are available and it's also okay to have girls-only sessions and offer that safe space.
"Another thing that's improved is the number of female coaches and the level of visibility and awareness in terms of women joining the PGA."
What would you say to anyone, female or male, who believes golf isn't for them?
"It makes me sad that people would think at because we know from being inside the sport that it's not the case.
"I'd say get yourself along to a golf club or driving range and you will see there are people there who are like you and it will be a welcoming environment.
"There aren't many sports where you can have a professional playing with a beginner or a five-year-old and playing alongside an 85-year-old, but that is possible in golf, so it really is for everyone."
On-course participation
Off-course participation
Hannah Crump
Teaching Professional at Stonebridge Golf Club and winner of the Women and Girls Trailblazer category at the 2022 England Golf Awards.
What has your journey been with coaching women and girls?
"I never saw myself specifically getting into coaching women, but I realised quite quickly there was a real opportunity for growth in this area and I advertised myself as a female specialist with a focus on getting women into golf.
"It was a little bit scary to be honest because by doing that you're only appealing to what is around 22% of the market at this point, and when I started out I had maybe 20 women and now four years on it's around 80-85 in different formats of group coaching.
"Nothing's changed in terms of how I do things, but what has changed is the growth I've seen through word of mouth. People find they're enjoying it and they ask, 'Can my friend come along?', and it's just accelerating year-on-year."
There are groups within the female demographic who are even less represented – what work have you done in those areas?
"I was approached by the Muslim Golf Association and Julia Regis, who is doing some great work with inclusion and growing participation, to support them.
"I was delighted to accept their offer to come along and get involved. It's so important to have this sort of outreach to attract those minority groups.
"There is still a perception of golf as being a male-dominated sport and mostly white males as well, so to be a woman, let alone a woman of a different ethnicity, can leave you feeling really outnumbered.
"My attitude has always been that you need people who will open the doors within the industry, so for me anything that brings people in and gets them to feel a part of it is absolutely something I can get behind."
What would you say to anyone, female or male, who believes golf isn't for them?
"I understand it, but my motto is: don't judge before you try. I recently had a group of 40 women come and try golf for the first time and their faces when they come in are like they're going into a dentist's surgery!
"It makes me think, 'Wow, this is our hobby, our sport, a thing we love – and look how it can make people feel who are coming in from the outside'.
"I try to make sure from the minute they arrive that it's not as scary as it looks, that they are welcome there, and that ultimately it's something they can enjoy.
"I think we underestimate how much small things can put people off – they might be coming to a golf club for the first time and there's a bollard or a gate stopping their car and then signs telling them they can't park in certain spaces. Once they get past all that they come to a clubhouse with a door they need a code for, and there's a dress code.
"All this stuff can be quite intimidating and we have to think about whether it's sending the right message.
"We need to be removing those barriers and making sure the message is clear that golf is for everyone."
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