Female GCA Posters

[Jim Hoak]

I just got done looking over the list of contributors to GCA and I noticed that there are no--or at least very few--female names on the list.  Does that mean we have almost no posters on GCA who are ladies?  Why is this?

[Nigel Islam]

Maybe the women are actually playing golf rather than posting on the internet

[Greg Gilson]

I remember responding on a similar topic sometime in the past year. I did a quick search & found nothing. There are a couple of female posters on GCA and I would love to hear more ....if only to see if any differences of opinion were gender based! If 20-25% of golfers are female, you could logically expect 300+ of the Discussion Group to be female....which it isn't, obviously.

My wife is a decent player, works in the golf industry & has played all around the world. She knows what she likes and what she doesn't like when it comes to course design. That said, she has difficulty recalling features of different courses, has zero interest in contributing to discussions like here on GCA and used to actually rate courses based on the quality of their hot dogs! (she has moved on from there a little). I am not saying she represents 100% of females but she pretty much represents 100% of the female members ( I socialize with) at our 2 clubs. We will need someone with more of a social science skill set to tell us if that's indicative of females, the younger generation or whatever.

[Jud_T]

At least some of us hit like a girl...I also understand that JC Jones is scheduled for gender reassignment surgery sometime in the new year...

[Howard Riefs]

None?  You don't have to look too far.  Right there on the 1st page is a thread started by Angela Moser today:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,57356.0.html

Read about her firm and career here:

http://www.moser-landscaping.com/index.php/angela-moser

[Greg Gilson]

Howard, I did see those. I don't think anyone said there were ZERO female posters. Can you find any of the earlier threads on theories about why females seem less interested in GCA discussion?

[Richard Choi]

Considering the fact that misogynistic comments are pretty common around here, you should not be surprised with lack of female posters.

[JC Jones]

At least some of us hit like a girl...I also understand that JC Jones is scheduled for gender reassignment surgery sometime in the new year...

I want to be a real "Michigan Man"

[Patrick_Mucci]

I just got done looking over the list of contributors to GCA and I noticed that there are no--or at least very few--female names on the list.  Does that mean we have almost no posters on GCA who are ladies?  Why is this?

Jim,

Probably for the same reason that not many guys post on fashion websites.

Our interests are different.

A few women posted on the site, I recall four off the top of my head, but, it's mostly die hard, fanatical GCA enthusiasts

[Joel Pear]

As my wife would say, "I should use my feminine side, you know, my brain" more often!

[Jim Hoak]

Pat, I suppose you're right.  But I'd like to understand if women golfers see golf architecture issues different than men.  Or is it totally a non-gender thing?  I think there's value in hearing from a broad range of golfers--and what is it, 20% of golfers or so are women.  But my comment was more of an observation than an argument point.  We're not all low handicappers, we're a span of ages, we come from all over the world, we play golf at all kinds of clubs or courses, and yet we're almost all male.  Just an interesting fact.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jim,

Of all the parties and social events I've ever attended, I've never run across a group of women discussing golf course architecture.

I just don't think it's high up on their totem pole of interests.

[Joel Zuckerman]

Jim, where do you get your information stating that 20% of golfers are women? I would guess that the percentage in this country is far lower, I would be surprised if it was even 10%.
A recent survey by a national sporting goods concern indicated that golf ranks 112th out of 123 recognized pasttimes as far as women are concerned, behind such traditional female favorites as rugby, flag football and weightlifting! So perhaps there reason there are so few women on this site is the fact that there are so few women interested in golf generally.

[Ross Tuddenham]

Jim,

Of all the parties and social events I've ever attended, I've never run across a group of women discussing golf course architecture.

I just don't think it's high up on their totem pole of interests.

Have you ever come across anyone discussing golf architecture at a party?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jim,

Of all the parties and social events I've ever attended, I've never run across a group of women discussing golf course architecture.

I just don't think it's high up on their totem pole of interests.

Have you ever come across anyone discussing golf architecture at a party?

Yes, quite often, but then again, many parties I attend are densely populated with golfers

[Gib_Papazian]

Richard Choi,

Cut the politically correct horseshit, feed your dogma a biscuit and listen up - even Gloria Steinem eventually saw the light and needed some ching-ching. You can put the gender card back in your stacked deck because we only allow two jokers in the shoe - and Spartan Boy and I have already filled first and third base at this table.

Her Redness was a frequent contributor to GCA in the early years and spent quite a bit of time with several dozen Treehouse dwellers. I can state without the slightest reservation that she was treated with unbelievable respect - Uncle Bob was not the only one to remove his hat in Darva's presence and I cannot recall a foul word uttered - aside from me, for whom flatulence is a mating ritual.

The reason that (most) women do not care about this website has about as much to do with sexism as Buddhism. Walk by a magazine rack and see what sells to women v. men. We are hardwired differently and women who play golf overwhelmingly view it as either a social activity or competitive challenge. Yes, low-handicappers do too, but the study of architecture is like the study of baseball trivia . . . . . we are concerned with the minutiae because I suspect many of us here are fellow Aspergers cases . . . . . . why else would anybody care whether the specific slope angles of a Redan hole are preserved or not?

Nobody gives a shit but us!

Do you really and truly believe there are only a couple women on this site because of misogynistic comments? Please name one. You're just pissed because hot chicks don't hang with dorks like us. Reminds me of the day I conned three of our cheerleaders at Burlingame High to come gallery for a match against San Mateo. I'm not sure if they came out of curiosity, pity or amusement, but nobody on the golf squad got pussy like the macho-ass football players, so feel free to add that to your half-baked illusive conclusions - or is it the other way around? . . . . . . . but I digress into plaintive tales of unrequited misogynistic woe.      

[Greg Gilson]

Hi Joel, I also used the 20-25% split. Its a number I've had in my head from doing my Business Plan 10 years ago. There's lots of ways you can measure it I guess (people who played once/year, people who play 10 rounds+, club members, social golfers, differs by country etc etc). However, in general I think most in the industry here are comfortable with something like an 80:20 split. I did not have much time to search but here is some basic info off the Golf Australia website. It's a little dated. It's Australia only. But its probably indicative of a mature, western golf market?

Male 2008     942,900
Female 2008   238,200
Total 2008   1,181,100


How often do they play?
20% play less than 6 times per year, whilst 27% play more than once a week.

What % of these are female?
20%. The female % of the population is 50%!

What % of the population plays golf?
Approximately 6% of the population.

[Thomas Dai]

It would nice to have more females involved generally in golf including all aspects of the 'golf business'. For example, as I get older, and the distance I hit the ball declines, so my interest in the location of the ladies tees increases, playing angles, forced carries, etc, so more specialist input would be valuable.
Richards point about misogynistic comments around here (and elsewhere) is unfortunately also relevant.
ATB

[Patrick_Mucci]

Thomas,

What misogynistic comments ?

Would you provide the quotes for us ?

Thanks

[Mark Pearce]

At least some of us hit like a girl...I also understand that JC Jones is scheduled for gender reassignment surgery sometime in the new year...

Patrick,

This wasn't a great start to the thread.......

Perhaps not quite misogynistic but hardly likely to encourage female posters. 

[Jud_T]

So in addition to insularity and naval-gazing, we should add humorlessness and overweening political correctness to our Spanish fly...

[Patrick_Mucci]

At least some of us hit like a girl...I also understand that JC Jones is scheduled for gender reassignment surgery sometime in the new year...

Patrick,

This wasn't a great start to the thread.......

Perhaps not quite misogynistic but hardly likely to encourage female posters. 

Why ?

[Mark Pearce]

Jud, Pat,

If you really need an explanation as to why the sort of humour that might prevail in a teenage boys school dorm might put off female posters then I'm not going to be able to provide one that you will understand.  

This board often has the feel of a men's locker room.  That isn't neccesarily a bad thing but we shouldn't be surprised if women don't feel much like joining in.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jud, Pat,

If you really need an explanation as to why the sort of humour that might prevail in a teenage boys school dorm might put off female posters then I'm not going to be able to provide one that you will understand.  

I knew that before I posed the question to you.
Stop being a politically correct wimp.
I liked you much better when you were just a moron

This board often has the feel of a men's locker room.  That isn't neccesarily a bad thing but we shouldn't be surprised if women don't feel much like joining in.

How would you know how women feel about this site ?

I think you may be wearing white knee socks a little too high.
If you add a garter belt, it'll remove all doubt.

Is the phrase, "hitting like a girl" or "punching like a girl" any different from the phrase "kicking like a mule" in terms of a descriptive phrase referencing something easily related to ?

[Jim Hoak]

I was guessing at 20% of golfers being women, but I just Googled it.  The last numbers I see are from the National Golf Foundation for 2010.  In the US, adult women golfers were 4.7 million of 23.6 million for 19.97%.  When including child golfers, the numbers are 5.3 million of 26.2 million for 20.22%.
Pat, you are right that I have never heard women discuss golf course architecture, but I hang around with a lot of couples where both the man and woman play golf, and I hear a lot of discussion of golf courses, and what they like and don't like, from women.  
Not to beat too hard on the subject, and not to cross over into political correct territory, but as I get older I like to watch the LPGA on television more than I used to.  Maybe it's the shorter skirts they are wearing now, or the increase in really attractive women on the Tour, or maybe it's because I am now hitting the ball more like them and less like the PGA Tour players.  But what that has to do with golf course architecture I don't know.