Ladies weekend golf competitions...lack of...

Not sure how this post will be received but i'm literally thinking of ditching golf or making a stand for a change in the way ladies comps are scheduled.

I play off 17, been golfing for about 5 years and at times it can be fun out there (!). I'm a woman aged 41 years old, social and like to mix it up with the men. The competitions are what drives me. Those men who like to separate themselves from the ladies I don't have a problem with.....but the majority of ladies sections in the UK i do have a problem with.

Monthly Medals, Stablefords, County Comps, even LGA comps are 9 times out of 10 scheduled for weekdays.

Even the men are going to agree that by now things should be changing, surely. I can make time in the week to play in the comps but being self-employed i need to make time up at the weekends.

WHAT DO I DO? For the next 4 months there are 2 ladies comps at the weekend. How do ladies sections survive with just retired women playing, no new young ladies are going to stick at golf if the comps are mostly in the week?

It's a disgrace and the majority of ladies sections should be ashamed.

I suppose the change has to come from the ladies themselves.

Why do they schedule their competitions midweek?

The ladies at my golf club do play during the week, normally in club versus club matches.

They do participate in all the major competitions that are held at my golf club.

We do not have that many lady members, but they do seem to have an active competition calendar.

Again, the change has to come from ladies themselves.

Russ

I suppose the change has to come from the ladies themselves.

Why do they schedule their competitions midweek?

The ladies at my golf club do play during the week, normally in club versus club matches.

They do participate in all the major competitions that are held at my golf club.

We do not have that many lady members, but they do seem to have an active competition calendar.

Again, the change has to come from ladies themselves.

Russ

Hi Sam

Please don't give up the game. Have you looked at other clubs in your area to see if they offer a more active Ladies section at the weekends?

At my club the Ladies have just as many competitions at the weekend as the men and also the usual weekday comps. Also plenty of mixed competitions.

Have you put your views to your Ladies Committee? Do you have other Lady members who want more weekend comps? An option may be to play alongside the men in medals etc, I'm sure some clubs now do this to facilitate the smaller Ladies sections.

We have so few lady members, we run all competitions for everybody including the ladies. Why not ask to join with the men at your club ? Ladies scores can be seperated out if required. Surely this is the way things are going with governing bodies being unified etc.(quite rightly in my view).

Hi Sam,

Have you considered the Family & Friends Pairs Tournament? This year its at Goodwood Golf Club and is only £150 per pair and includes Breakfast, 18 Holes on Goodwood's Downs Course, BBQ after golf, Jeremy Dale Trick Shot Show, A sleeve of golf balls, Goodie Bag and Awards Ceremony.

Have a look at www.familypairstournament.co.uk

Good luck

Paul

It really does depend on the club. Mine is quite a traditional club but even we are changing. Each month we hold stableford and medal comps on both Tuesdays and Sundays. Our Lady captains day has been changed to Sunday so everyone can attend. There are more and more working ladies but interestingly the obvious choice of switching to Sundays isn't without controversy. A lot of our non-working ladies disappear off at weekends so they don't want everything moved to Sundays as they are not around. We are now trying to be inclusive as possible. All competitions can be entered at any time during the day. e.g. tomorrow I am teeing off at 6pm so I can enter the medal after work. We have a large mens section which takes up most Saturdays but once a month we have a mixed stableford so we can play then too. Ladies can enter both the Tuesday and the Sunday comps - they are not restricted to one or the other. With 4 standard comps a month, the major comps, the knockout comps and matches against other clubs I am golfing 3-4 times a week at the moment and I work full time!

My golf club has 5 lady members of which only 2 play with any regularity so it's not so much of a problem here, my wife has just joined on a years special offer of £300 for the year but she can only play Tuesday and Thursday