As Women’s Golf Day celebrates 10 years, its founder looks forward to continued growth

Women’s Golf Day, a global movement that celebrates women and girls playing golf, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion, hundreds of locations and teaching professionals will be hosting Women’s Golf Day events from May 27 to June 3.

What is Women’s Golf Day? It’s an annual, four-hour experience that aims to introduce the game to women and girls simply and accessibly at golf facilities around the world. Women’s Golf Day events are open to women of all skill levels. The movement was founded by golf industry veteran Elisa Gaudet in 2016, and has since grown to include more than 1,350 locations in 85 countries.

The initial idea for Women’s Golf Day was born out of frustration, Gaudet says.

“Knowing that women were quick to try golf, but equally quick to leave — that’s like a client retention problem, and what were we doing wrong as an industry?” she said. “[Playing] took too long, it wasn’t friendly. So what we did is we took the information, just flipped it on its head and created an event that we felt would resonate. And it did.”

Women’s Golf Day events include both instruction and a social element.

“The first two hours, if you are new to golf, you’re going to take lessons,” Gaudet said. “If you’re an existing golfer, you’re going to play a 9-hole shotgun scramble, ideally, and the second two hours is social. That gives women who have questions, who are new, the opportunity to ask. It helps usher them in.”

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Women’s Golf Day official partners include the USGA, R&A and PGA of America. And perhaps not so coincidentally, since the movement’s inception, women’s participation in golf has been on the rise. Women now make up nearly one third of the recreational golfers in America, and according to the National Golf Foundation, females account for 39 percent of all beginners to the game, while young girls represent 35 percent of all junior golfers (ages 6 to 17). That’s music to Gaudet’s ears.

“It brings us immense joy that these things are happening,” she said. But she also acknowledges that there is still plenty of work to be done.

“I’d like to see a lot of the business community walk the walk and not just talk the talk,” she said. “I think all sports, women’s sports, is looking for that.”

And even given the impressive reach and breadth of the movement, there’s always opportunity for more growth.

“I would love for Women’s Golf Day to be as prevalent as possible,” Gaudet said. “More golf courses hosting and truly understanding the value of how this helps them. That’s a simple formula: More locations equals more women, more partners and sponsors really digging in.”

Traditionally held on the first Tuesday of June, Women’s Golf Day has expanded into a week-long activation around the world, spanning from the last Tuesday in May to the first Tuesday in June. To find a Women’s Golf Day event near you, click here.