Golf Articles

Womens Golf Equality

Women have been trying for years to be viewed as equal competition for men, especially in sports. Unfortunately, society fails to measure womens abilities on the same scale as mens abilities. Golf is one of few sports that show great potential for women and men to compete on the same level. Recently, there have been many developments in the world of womens golf.

Womens golf has been become extremely popular over the past few years and there are currently as many professional women golfers as there are men. Golf equipment companies have also recognized the amount of women interested in the sport and have customized many pieces of golf equipment including golf clubs, drivers and golf bags to be more comfortable for women. You can also have your own golf equipment custom-made; making golfing more comfortable and efficient for women since mens clubs were often to big. These are just a few of the steps which have been taken to welcome women into the world of golf and ensure that they are comfortable and treated as equally as possible.

Womens golf associations such as the LPGA have also contributed to the popularity of womens golf and given women the respect they deserve. Women golfers are now featured in Golf Digest magazine, Golf for Women and a number of other magazines dedicated strictly to womens golf. Videos and TV shows are also contributing to the popularity of this sport and giving women the drive they need to pursue careers in this field.

It was not until earlier this year, that womens golf took a leaping step in the right direction when professional golfer and top LPGA player, Annika Sorenstam was told she could play against the men in a PGA tournament. Many people predicted how they thought Sorenstam would do when she teed-off against some of the best male golfers in the world. Some people had positive encouragement to contribute while others were chauvinistic and down-right rude.

Phil Mickelson, 2nd in the overall moneymaking standings last year, had no problem playing against a woman and claimed that he thought Sorenstam would end up 20th overall, when she predicted herself to be 28th. Other golf professionals were not so eager to give Sorenstam the benefit of the doubt. Vijah Singh actually resigned from the tournament because he felt he could not play with a women. He claimed that Sorenstam simply did not belong in a mens tournament.

Nonetheless, having a woman play in the PGA, even for a short while, was a huge accomplishment which could potentially pave the road for future development in womens golf.

James Sampson is an avid golf enthusiast who has been golfing for 10+ years. While his career was in computers, his heart was in golf. Now retired, James spends his time on his favorite golf courses and also works as a contributing editor for http://www.golfballs101.com a site that does reviews golf balls and offers unique information on things like logo golf balls.

Related Links:

Improve Golf Swing The Non-Traditional Way

Golf Fitness Training Equals Better Golf

Need Some Help With Your Golf Swing?

Latest Golf News

About.com Golf
Get the latest headlines from the About.com Golf GuideSite.

• Sweden In the Spirit
  11 Oct 2008 at 4:03am
  Team Sweden completed a dominant performance on Sunday in the World Amateur Team Championship women's golf tournament, also known as the Epirito Santo Trophy. The tournament, in which teams of...
  
• Lowest 72-Hole Scores on the PGA Tour
  9 Oct 2008 at 3:56pm
  The Texas Open and the Phoenix Open (now known as the FBR Open) are two tournaments that have produced some of the lowest stroke totals in PGA Tour history. How...
  
• New Equipment: Titleist 909 Drivers
  8 Oct 2008 at 7:09am
  Coming in early November, 2008, are the latest drivers from Titleist, the three drivers of the 909 Series: the DComp, the 909D2 and the 909D3. The drivers debuted on the PGA...
  
• New Equipment Gallery: Cobra Driver, Ultra-Premium Irons
  7 Oct 2008 at 8:46am
  The Cobra L5V driver leads off our latest roundup of new golf equipment coming to pro shop aisles near you. There's also an ultra-premium set of irons, the Miura Small Blade...
  
• "Big Break X" Premieres Tuesday
  6 Oct 2008 at 10:58am
  Have we really already arrived at the 10th season of the Golf Channel's "Big Break" series? It seems like only yesterday that Justin Peters was winning the inaugural season of...
  
• This Week: Valero Texas Open
  6 Oct 2008 at 4:14am
  The Texas Open is one of the oldest tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule, first played in 1922. These days, the Valero Texas Open is part of the Fall Finish,...
  
• Creamer Notches Win No. 4 in 2008
  5 Oct 2008 at 1:55pm
  And why is that notable? Because when Paula Creamer won the Samsung World Championship on Sunday to get her fourth LPGA win of the year, she became the first American...
  
• Second LPGA Q-School Sectional Wraps Up
  3 Oct 2008 at 11:36am
  The first sectional qualifier for LPGA Q-School got all the attention; it had Michelle Wie and Stacy Lewis in the field, after all. The second one, which began Tuesday and...