The Emergence of Women's Golf: Highlighting the Recent Achievements and Growing Popularity of Women's Golf

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Golf has been a well-loved sport for centuries. But women’s golf has taken a little longer to catch on… Although it’s now in full force. The emergence of women’s golf in recent decades has been a welcome involvement of the ladies in the sport, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting future.

While women’s sport is still a little less popular than men’s, it’s rife with amazing recent achievements and is growing in popularity by the day. Here’s what you should know about women’s golf and its current position in the sporting world.

How Women’s Golf Has Evolved

The earliest record of a woman playing golf was in the 1500s, Mary, Queen of Scots. She fell in love with the sport as a child and, as an adult, played regularly with the men. Mary also commissioned the now-famous St. Andrews golf course in the United Kingdom!

However, golf wasn’t considered to be suitable for women in the early days, to the extent that women were not allowed to join golf clubs. Even when women’s tournaments did start up, the prize money was so low that it was impossible for women to make a living playing golf.

Over time, certain women bent the rules and broke the mold. For example, Edith Cummings was the first golfer (male or female) to be featured on Time magazine’s cover back in the 1920s. Glenna Collett-Vare is the only woman golfer ever to win 59 out of 60 matches in one year. And Patty Berg was the first female golfer ever to hit a hole-in-one in a USGA event!

However, one of the biggest female inspirations who paved the way for women golfers was Babe Zacharias. This impressive lady started playing golf at age 24, and when she couldn’t get amateur status, she simply entered the men’s Los Angeles Open.

This skyrocketed her popularity, even though she missed the cut for the actual tournament. From there, she won 82 titles, including every single women’s golf title that existed at the time. She was also one of the founding members of the LPGA.

Did we mention that she set 4 world records and won 3 track and field Olympic medals, as well as gaining All-American basketball status and being an expert diver? Yep… This lady is one of the most impressive athletes ever to grace the world of women’s golf.

Recent Achievements in Women’s Golf

Women golfers continue to do amazing things! Here are some of the most recent achievements that the women’s golfing world is proud of.

In 2015, Lydia Ko became the youngest player ever (male or female) to rank no. 1 in professional golf at the age of 17 years, 9 months, and 9 days.
Inbee Park became the youngest player ever to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame at the age of 27 in 2016.
Ariya Jutanugarn became the first Thai golfer to win a major tournament after winning the 2016 Women’s British Open.
In 2021, Nelly Korda became only the 2nd US female golfer to win a gold Olympic medal for golf, after Margaret Abbott in 1900.

Empowering Women in Golf

In the past few years, women’s golf tournaments have become increasingly popular. The LPGA’s prize money has increased substantially, as have sponsorship opportunities, making it easy for women golfers to dedicate their lives to their sport.

Coaching and training opportunities are also much more accessible for women, as well as for younger girls, introducing them to the sport from a young age. As an example, the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program was designed to introduce girls to golf early, as well as provide opportunities for talented young female golfers to enter tournaments, be coached, and move into the competitive golfing world.

Women’s golf is also receiving almost equal exposure to men’s tournaments. The LPGA Tour is now broadcast worldwide, in over 200 countries, and it’s become one of the fastest-growing, most popular sports on TV.

With well-known female golfers like Pat Hurst and Suzy Whaley coaching young female golfers to success, and businesswomen like Mary Lou Bohn and Molly Solomon bringing golf to the masses, there are strong golf-mad women in almost every avenue, empowering other ladies to participate in sport.

The Future of Women’s Golf

Women’s golf has expanded 100-fold in the last century. It’s close to catching up to men’s golf, although there remains a divide in things like broadcast time, prize money, and so on. But regardless of that, the future looks bright for women’s sports!

For the first time in history, becoming a female golfer is a legitimate career path. More effort than ever is being made to attract young females to the sport, including things like LPGA’s Drive On initiative, which is all about creating better golf-related career opportunities for female golfers. They also put out content aimed at women, designed to encourage, inspire, and motivate ladies to play the game.

Awareness is higher than ever, with shows like the Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive”, featuring female golfers, analysts, and hosts talking about female golfers, tournaments, and stats. It’s ideal for golf-loving women and girls who want a female perspective on the game.

Even golfing apparel companies are getting on board with the idea of women’s golf being popular. Callaway now has a women-specific apparel line, and others are following suit.

Conclusion

The emergence of women’s golf has been slow over the decades, but it’s now firmly entrenched in the history, culture, and current sphere of the sport. And with the rise of some amazing female golfers, the sport is at an all-time high.

Whether you’re a male or a female golf fan, it’s well worth delving into the women’s sport a bit more. It’s rife with brilliant golfing legends, amazing current pros, and stories to be told… And an even brighter future ahead of it.

About the Author

Jordan Fuller is a retired golfer and businessman. When he’s not on the course working on his own game or mentoring young golfers, he writes in-depth articles for his website, Golf Influence.