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 like 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 the 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 OK 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 that 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 playing alongside an 85-year-old, but that is possible in golf, so it really is for everyone.
On-course participation
Off-course participation
Nicola Bennett
Teaching Professional at Bush Hill Park Golf Club and winner of England Golf Diversity & Inclusion Award 2024
Why is it so important to you to be involved with coaching women?
Honestly, I feel like it’s a life purpose to build connections and golf has been the platform. When you actually experience the bond and see the community that’s built, it’s priceless.
Some of these women have been through a lot, whether it’s menopause, cancer, divorce, problems with their kids or whatever it might be, everyone just becomes so unified through golf.
They’re all normal working-class women, and they thought that there were so many limitations in the sport due to financial reasons and stereotypical reasons about golf clubs being snobby, so it is really important for me to break down all those barriers. It’s just the best feeling in the world.
How can we reach different communities of women?
To get new people, something needs to change. You need to think, ‘how am I going to attract women of colour, women from different backgrounds? How am I going to actually make this more inclusive?’.
The power is actually in the action. I feel like a lot of organisations, firms and brands say that they want to do things but there’s not much action behind it. The force comes from those actions and actually making those steps, going out, speaking to these women, creating the leaflets, telling them all the benefits of golf.
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