This Page About Golf Puts Women Execs on the Right Course

Golf Puts Women Execs on the Right Course

More professional women are taking a swing at golfing as a way to network, land jobs and get promotions.

Linda DeWitt was looking for nothing more than a casual round of golf, but the unemployed California businesswoman scored something entirely different: a six-figure job at a telecommunications company.

One of the women in her foursome said that her husband was looking for a senior manager, and she offered to speak to him on DeWitt's behalf. Within a week, the husband called and invited DeWitt to Santa Barbara, where after a round of interviews, she scored the position.

"I felt relieved," DeWitt said, "to get such a good job so quickly. It was also a reminder that seemingly innocuous situations can have an unexpected impact on one's life."

Golf, the unchallenged center of the old-boy network for business, isn't just for men any more. Now, women are beginning to reap the same benefits found on the green.

"Women are seeing golf as an informal network to advance their careers," said Carol Bresnicky, spokeswoman for the Executive Women's Golf Association in Palm Beach. The group, which has 20,000 members in Canada and the United States, works to help professional women better mix their golf and business.

Although there has been no formal study on the number of executive female golfers in North America, the recent growth of women golfers would suggest the numbers have shot up in recent years. The EWGA's membership has soared from 1,500 in 1991, and according to the National Golf Foundation, the number of female golfers in the United States surged 28 percent to 6.9 million in 2004, from 5.4 million in 1998.

"Three-martini-lunch days are gone," said Patricia Stephenson, a business golf speaker in West Palm Beach. "Women have gotten on the bandwagon to use golf as a business tool. You can't beat it."

Ten years ago, it was uncommon to see women and men golfing together. But on most courses across the country that's not the case anymore. Continue to learn more about golf, please visit Times Leader.

Outnumbering Men

"I see so many more men and women playing together," said Mark Bishop, vice president and chief marketing officer of the Scottsdale Golf Group. At a recent golf outing, for example, women executives at a large bank actually outnumbered their male counterparts, 12 to eight, he said.

"Many women believe that the golf course is a man's turf," said Suzanne Woo, founder of BizGolf Dynamics in Berkeley, Calif., which teaches companies and individuals how to use golf to strengthen professional relationships and increase their business success, and author of On Course for Business: Women and Golf. "But golf is not meant to be a man's game. The game has built-in equalizers," like shorter distances between tees and greens for women, she said.

To get the most out of golf and business, in which players have as long as four to five hours with potential clients, women should take classes in the game and its etiquette, Woo said. "If it looks like a woman lacks confidence or is insecure on the golf course, it is assumed she is like this in business," Stephenson cautioned.

Many golf schools now have special classes and events tailored for executive women. The Texas-based John Jacobs Golf Schools, which are leaders in the industry, have specially designed classes for professional women across the country.

To be invited into traditionally male circles, women should take steps in the workplace to indicate their interest. Woo suggests hanging golf pictures or having a putter with golf balls in the office as ways for women to let their business partners know that they golf, too.

"Even if you do not play with the partners, the fact that you can talk about golf helps build relationships and rapport," she said.

The link between golf and business isn't always a success story, however. After six years with a Fortune 500 consulting firm, a woman who spoke on the condition of anonymity was up for a promotion.

High Expectations

Key among expectations was that she learn to play golf. But a physical disability prevented her from playing. The woman was a sailor and contributed to corporate events in that way, which she thought should substitute for her not playing golf. Nevertheless, her final performance review before she left company included the criticism: "Still doesn't play golf."

"When you get to a certain level of management, you are expected to play golf," the manager said. "If you can't, you are at a huge disadvantage. Golf is the sport if you want to move forward."

Now, though, with more women on the links, those obstacles to career advancement appear to be more sport-based than gender-based. Nongolfing men are just as likely to forgo the fast track, according to executives.

What's more, women are realizing another benefit of the game: It's fun. Now retired, DeWitt continues to play out of love for the sport. But she cannot forget how she profited professionally from golf.

"As women move up the ranks in management," DeWitt said, "they have the opportunity to use golf to dominate in business."

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