THE GBQ PODCAST
‘If you want to pay my bills, you can shame me all you want’
How can we make it easier for women to get into golf and enjoy the sport? Elisa Gaudet, founder of Women’s Golf Day, says it’s all about having a good time
Those who don’t understand that golf is an entertainment industry are “missing the boat”. That’s the view of Women’s Golf Day founder Elisa Gaudet, who says the sport needs to make the experience fun, positive and welcoming if it wants to engage a female audience.
Speaking to Sarah Stirk on The GBQ Podcast, Gaudet said while that didn’t need to be “lights and whistles going off” it did need to be positive.
Women’s Golf Day this year celebrates its 10th anniversary. Starting off as a grassroots project, it has now enabled more than 1,350 events in 85 countries and has been phenomenally successful in helping to grow participation among women and girls.
But in places like Great Britain & Ireland, that hasn’t translated into golf club membership, which remains massively male dominated at around 85 per cent.
Asked by Stirk how that could be changed – and whether women even desired to be members of golf clubs in the same way as their male counterparts – Gaudet said: “It all comes down to time, and if they don’t make it friendly to play 9 holes [then] personally I wouldn’t want to.
“If you’re going to shame me because I can’t play 18 – well, if you want to pay my bills, you can shame me all you want.
“That’s the reality of the situation that we have. Even if they’re stay-at-home moms, you have children, you have responsibilities.
“We’ve got to make it [work] time wise. Still, if I’m playing 9, I want to go warm up and I want to have a bite or a drink or something with my friend. I’m not robotic. I’m there to have a good time.
“I don’t care what part of the world you’re living in. People want to be entertained”
“The industry has given us the information. If you want to listen to it or not, it’s up to you. [But it’s] loud and clear. Whether you see the advent of Topgolf, or TGL, if you have not grasped that this is entertainment and we are not here to train for the Olympics at these golf clubs then I think you’re missing the boat.
“I don’t care what part of the world you’re living in. People want to be entertained. They want to disconnect from their jobs, or other stuff, and you have to provide them a welcoming reprise from that.
“The percentage of mega league players and people that are super competitive is very small in comparison. If you’re looking at the totality of a business, then I think you need to look at what the majority is going to want – and the majority want some fun, [to] feel good, to connect with friends.
“They want an entertainment experience. I’m not saying you have to have lights and whistles going off but you have to have them feel like it’s something positive.”
Asked if we needed more shorter courses, or for clubs to better market the ability to just come and play 9-holes or shorter combinations, Gaudet said she played in a 9-hole league on a Tuesday night and “that’s all it took. It’s so lovely and so easy.”
“Women are coming from work, hustling to get there, and it makes sense. They just want to enjoy camaraderie. That’s the thing I’ve noticed with women too. It’s less competitive.
“I think clubs need to understand that. Even though it’s two against two when we play, they are rooting for me to succeed as much as my teammate is.
“We really say our thing is celebratory that day. So I think [it’s] infusing something that’s celebratory.
“If you have an 18-hole course and you’re worried, why don’t you do something? Hey, it’s only 9 but you send half the people off 1 and half the people off 10 and have two hours. There, your golf course is full.
“Do something. I don’t care. You stick men on one side and women on the other – or all women, or all men, but making that 9-hole experience OK is one thing. And ours are all [9-holes] unless there are extenuating circumstances.”
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