Girl Power; Nothing Soft Here

We can continue to moan and complain about the state of golf; rounds and revenue.  We continue to complain while one of the world’s top economies sits all around, waiving a red flag and an American Express card in our faces.  If we are truly serious about executing a growth plan for golf, all we need do is look toward Girl Power and begin the fix in earnest.  Here are 5 good reasons;

1) Women rarely do anything alone.  They bring a friend, probably several, for partnership and support.

2) Women run the family. With the game looking to improve in all areas, why not build after work programs with women leading the charge.  Adding a meal program will make her happy.

3)Women are constantly concerned about the health of their spouse or significant other.  Promote learning and walking programs for both.

4) Women talk and type.  They are building relationships all day, every day.  They are the social straw to stir this drink.  Build long-term programs for learning, playing, and improving.  Women today hold over 50% of all management positions in the US.  Do you think they may want to learn the aspects of business golf?

5) Women have the money!  Did you know that 75% of the people laid off during this recession were men?  Fact; women drive the financial decisions in the household.  How much?  Try 81% of every economic decision is driven by a woman; from cars, to homes, bank accounts, vacations, etc.  They make the $$ calls.

They are five fair reasons to get serious about Girl Power and the opportunities that sit just behind the words.  Women want to play; the NGF states that as many as 13 million women want to learn the game.  Look, it is time to look hard at the real picture.  It is ugly and not improving on its own.  We can decide however, to take a course correction with better values, long-term improvment programs, mentoring initiatives, leadership using women and men to execute the mission, and then patience, as nothing good happens overnight.  The game has not respected women for decades (my opinion) so things will turn slowly, but they will turn.  Title IX turns 40 next June on the 23rd.  It is a Saturday, so why not begin to plan a great weekend of golf, special events, and recognition of Girl Power.  Women can erase much of that white space on our tee sheets.  Do you have the courage to let them play through?