Singapore: Suzy Whaley has urged golf facilities to embrace change and become more female friendly. Acknowledging that many golf clubs remain intimidating and unwelcoming places for girls and women, Whaley said the time for change is now.

Speaking during the Asian Golf Industry Federation’s Women in Sports series, the former President of the PGA of America said: “Women are spending the same amount of money as a man at a facility to play the game. They buy clubs, they buy clothes, they eat food. We are one and the same when it comes to that.

“However, we’re not looked at in that way in golf. It’s looked at more as: ‘We’re happy to have you here. Thank you for coming’, and ‘We’d love to have your friends come. Please have them join us’ … but let’s make sure they’re coming at certain times.

“To me that has to change. When you’re spending the same dollar at the facility, I tell women in the United States that if you aren’t having an experience that you feel is equitable, if you’re feeling bullied, if you’re feeling like this isn’t a place for you … then it probably isn’t.

“In the US, 75 per cent of the golf courses are public so there’s probably another facility right down the road that cannot wait to have your business and will welcome you from that perspective.”

Whaley believes it’s incumbent on golf clubs to take the initiative in bringing about change.

She said: “We need to start making sure we’re respecting women who come to our facilities, who come to our lessons, who come to our hospitality events and corporate events. In that process, we need to make sure we’re accommodating their work schedule or we’re considering what they’re looking for in that experience and that we’re delivering it – and that we’re delivering it in a way that they cannot wait to come back.

“When we start to do that, we will see courses have to shift. We will see tee boxes that are appropriate, we will see accommodations within facilities that are appropriate because women will start to demand it and we will see more females leading those facilities.

“But we need to do it together and we need to do it from a revenue standpoint so that all women are respected when they show up.”

*The full interview with Suzy Whaley can be viewed at the Asian Golf Industry Federation’s You Tube page or by clicking here.