Lady's Day--Uh Weekend: Part 4: Conclusion (This Is It, I think)

      I think that this may be the final installment of this series of blogs on bringing women into the game of golf and making them feel welcomed.  There were a lot of responses and suggestions of which I wanted to share with you. One of the biggest challenges that we all face in this question is the changing of attitudes.  As golfers we must be accepting of all players and understand that our is a fellowship of golfers and a community.  It is not an us versus them war.  We are a diverse community of golfers and all must feel welcomed, no matter who the player is.
      One of the first suggestions was to have more women's days and clinics designed to meet the needs of women players of all abilities. Along with this goes women's league play with different formats and activities after the league event.  Included in this are more tournaments for women only.  I know that sounds a bit separatist, but we men play in men's only events don't we.  What would the difference be. These women's tournaments and leagues can mix formal events with casual events to make the golf experience more varied and fun.
       I had a couple of comments about women's leagues and tournaments and those were about prizes and rewarding accomplishments. There was a complaint that in women's club events prizes were not comparable to those prizes offered in men's events.  I have not run across this in the lady's club tournaments that I have seen in courses I have been at. This does have to be looked at as a simple respect issue. Scores may be higher in a lady's event, but it is still an accomplishment to place, even with a score of 109.
       I got a lot of feedback and suggestions about couples playing together and what can be done to get couples playing together. All the suggestions were great, but what happens when you have a woman that is not in a couples relationship?  What do we do in that case?  I think that is where the women's leagues and tournaments come into play.  Why not open couple's play to singles with a playing partner as well.
       Several of you shared what was happening at the course you play at and events that bring couples to the course to play.  It was clear that many courses offer couples tournaments and offers. One person talked about a "Nine and Dine" evening for couples--singles with playing partners were also invited--which included a nine hole tournament with dinner.  If the one spouse did not play golf, the non golfer's part of the deal would translate into a golf lesson for the golfer or a beginner's lesson for the non-golfer. There was also a suggestion for a "Couples Club" with a nine hole tournament and then Bar-B-Que with raffle and prizes. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it?
       How about holding more mixed tournaments?  At the course I used to belong to we had a Senior's Tournament which was open to both the Men's and Women's club.  The turnout was fantastic and everyone looked forward to the event.  It was an 18 hole scramble event with a blind draw.  We had a lot of laughs and the competition was fierce even for a scramble event.  By the way, when we had a club event it was always open to women or at least had a women's division with equal prizes.  
       I play golf with my wife a great deal. I enjoy the time being with her and the time on the golf course with her is well spent. She also is going to play a lot this summer without me and that is great. I would love to see more women on the course. We as golfers need to encourage women to get out and enjoy the game.  Come to think of it, we need to encourage more people to come out and enjoy the game.  Golf is after all, for everyone.

This was a mixed senior event and she cleaned everyone's clock.