News

Survey: Getting to Know the Female Golfer

BY Tony Covey
Mar 17th 2017
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As female participation grows, it’s no longer completely about pastel paint on trickle-downs from the men’s line; golf clubs are being engineered specifically for women. The push is stronger than ever.

The problem from the industry side is that the equipment companies haven’t quite figured out to reach the growing and, I believe, receptive demographic of avid female golfers. As the father of a 6-year-old girl who’s beginning to show interest in the game, I have a small personal stake in solving the problem.

I’ll save you my mansplaining about what I believe are the core issues for another day, but I do believe that like any problem, the solution begins with knowledge.

To that end, today we’re hoping to learn a little bit more about our female readers. Frankly, we don’t know how many of you there are, and in the interest of full disclosure, we know very little about how often you play, your club buying considerations, and your interest in female-specific equipment coverage.

We have a knowledge gap, and we need your help to narrow it.

It would be greatly appreciated if you would take a few moments to complete our survey. Guys, you too. We’d also like to know just a bit about the female golfers in your life.

After you’ve completed the survey, we’d love to hear your perspective on golf and golf equipment. Please share any additional feedback, thoughts, etc., in the comment section below.

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Please consider sharing this post with other female golfers.

[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”]If you’re a female golfer or know any female golfers, please take and share this quick survey.[/inlinetweet]

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Tony Covey

Tony is the Editor of MyGolfSpy where his job is to bring fresh and innovative content to the site. In addition to his editorial responsibilities, he was instrumental in developing MyGolfSpy's data-driven testing methodologies and continues to sift through our data to find the insights that can help improve your game. Tony believes that golfers deserve to know what's real and what's not, and that means MyGolfSpy's equipment coverage must extend beyond the so-called facts as dictated by the same companies that created them. Most of all Tony believes in performance over hype and #PowerToThePlayer.

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Driver Titleist TSi3	3-Wood Titleist TSi2 13.5°
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Join The Discussion

glee

7 years ago

I am forever searching for the right club. I’m a 20 handicap, recreational golfer and I am very interested in golf equipment. I was using titleist 712 ap1s for several years until I discovered that the heads were used on both men and women. I contacted a titleist fitter and he flattened it 2 degrees – this made all the difference. I wish there were more articles and information for women.

FINCL

7 years ago

My 10 year old daughter plays competition (in Australia). I take her to a large store so she can pick a new putter. While looking at the large putter selection a sales guy asks if we need help. I say we’re here to buy a putter for my daughter. He dissappears and comes back with a tiny pink plastic putter and tells us that this would be perfect for her!

On another occassion she wins her local mixed event and has to have the presentaion with the men in the club house. A drunk older man is on the mic calling out for Eddie to come collect his prize. Edie is standing in front of him while he sways from side to side in his drunken stupor looking past her still calling for Eddie because he assumes its a boy who’s won!

What chance does she or any girl have?

Rebecca Ahlbrecht

7 years ago

I last year purchased my first set of golf clubs and they are considered a hybrid version. Growing up, I had played with a set that was passed down to me from my father, I actually learned how to play relatively consistent with the set. It took me close to four months in to understanding the significance of the hybrid golf club. My question is considering women are built differently than men, what can a female adult golfer do to better approach her shots with the hybrid golf club?

Nik S.

7 years ago

I love this article. I think there absolutely needs to be more research done into this area – retailers can’t just assume that women are exactly like men in their golf needs. Companies definitely need to take note of the wants and needs of their consumer base.

Bob M

7 years ago

A golf magazine I subscribe to has reviewed different clubs on different occasions and the field of testers( approx 50) was always all men. Try finding a review of woman’s equipment, good luck. My partner picked up the game in her late 50’s and we have a granddaughter whom we hope to get started in the game. However how can we expect to grow the sport if we treat women golfers as less than deserving of the info, equipment, etc, that men have access to. Granted more men play than women currently, but how can we expect to gain more women playing golf if they don’t have the same kind of access as men.

Woody

7 years ago

At 5’10” as a normal western woman, normal build, I have no expectation of getting help with golf clubs that fit me as my last fiting gave me a woman’s flex light weight shaft.
I have since discovered these are the wrong lie and shaft.
Also I cannot find attire to fit my frame. I am not a size 6. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nik S.

7 years ago

This is a really good point. Women may be outranked by male players now, but with better access and more information, there’s no reason that their share of the game can’t grow.

Sara

7 years ago

As a female that works in the golf industry, there is nothing worse than seeing women show up with clubs that are completely incorrect. Most women should never play ladies club! For the majority under 50, they are strong and capable enough to swing other equipment. I myself have played light weight steel shafts since I started playing at age 13. With the limited knowledge most people have on equipment they assume because it says ladies or it’s pink/purple it’s for us. Would love to help in anyway to helping get the right information out to female golfers!

Jennifer

7 years ago

Female golfer dreading the idea of buying a new set of clubs! Currently playing with men’s senior flex I have had for 10 years but need a second set. I would love to take advantage of advances in golf club technology. Big box stores have little knowledge of women’s needs and few options available. Even Pro shops cater to men. It’s time for change!

Allan Ano

7 years ago

I am a PGA Life Member also was PGA Professional in the 70s, 80s 90s & 2000 at Waialae CC home of the Hawaii Open & currently Sony Open
I am a custom builder for KZG, Wishon, Miura & defunct Hogan.
I totally into fitting women & the different articles did not surprise me.
I enjoy you news on golf.

Allan G Ano

Kip

7 years ago

My daughter has play this game since she was 4 years old. She just turned 13 and is a single digit handicapper. We are out on the course about 5 days a week and she plays competitively. I can to this site through the recommendation of a great club fitter. Finding the right equipment is hard. That’s why I looked for a good club fitter. Information on products for women would be extremely helpful.

Susan

7 years ago

I’ve basically been playing all my life. I don’t buy clubs I haven’t tried either at demo days or loaned. The practice center where I take lessons when golf game is having trouble has both. I don’t like colorful clubs. I had a Taylor Made driver one year when the white adjustable ones came out which I won and I couldn’t even stand looking down at that diver head. I turned it in and changed to a Calloway. I’ll probably buy new hybrids and irons this year because my cobras are getting old and beat up. I play about 100 times a year with handicap that hovers around 15. I love reading the golf testing articles you do but of course they are for men’s clubs so far. I think those all in one sets are fine for beginning golfers but I don’t think they need to be pastel.

Tom Duckworth

7 years ago

Want to grow the game? Maybe appealing to the other half of the population would be a good place to start. In general everything about golf is male oriented. Look at GOLF, Golf Digest and most golf web sites.
My granddaughter loves golf we started her playing at six years old but at thirteen all her school friends think golf is “an old mans game” and I can see it having an effect on her. Golf really is a perfect game for women it’s a true thinking “persons” game.
I hope we see more events planed where the PGA and LPGA play together that would make for some great TV. As far as equipment goes stop worrying about pretty colors and just make quality gear for women and lets see some testing data and reviews from My Golf Spy.

Nik S.

7 years ago

Completely agree! Quality and engineering are what matter when it comes to equipment. I also think it’s key to mention the male oriented culture of golf – the foundation of establishing equality in the game really starts there.

Greggytees

7 years ago

Have been waiting for years for anyone writing a forum to address this. MGS you guys just nutted it. I am a guy and have been working with the left-out female golfers for 21 yrs. Top Certified club maker, fitter, instructor. Pat Riley was never a great NBA player, but a great coach-get it. I have always catered to the lady golfers, very successful I may add, because I saw years ago just the plain crap they put up with. The big box stores, what’s left of them, just totally ignored or did the absolute minimum dealing with the ladies. Lost millions of dollars in sales. From Forest Gump, stupid is what stupid does.

I am in the northern part of Il. Golf is limited to the seasons. Guess what, I stay busy year round. I would really like to hear your feedback on what I had to say. Thanks.

Monty Martin

7 years ago

Having been a course marshal, I’ve seen all ages of women on the course, some being friends. One of the biggest problems is the fact in the schools the women’s minor sports tend to get the shaft. As a high school and college athlete and then a 20 year small college and high school sports official I have seen a lot of changes in girls and women’s sports. I’m 73 years young and I can remember girls basketball in the lat 50’s and early 60’s and they were playing half court. It is examples like this that women have had to fight through to get were they are today and they still have a long way to go.

Susn

7 years ago

I read mgs. However there is next to nothing on equipment for women, except for putters. No Most Wanted Drivers, Irons, Hybrides. And you should not assume us ladies only play with women’s equipment. My playing partners use “A” type shafts except one with “R” type.

RayAnnRN

7 years ago

Agree with Leah about mens clubs vs womens. I was told many years ago by a local golf instructor to avoid women’s shafts as they were “too whippy” for my swing and have happily played with men’s regular flex ever since– which by the way was a great improvement. I am 61 years old and a 15 handicap. Still reluctant to consider women’s shafts as I get older.

Mae

7 years ago

I am 5′ 1″ and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have to cut down my shafts. Not only does this change the flex of the shaft, but it is expensive. I would love to see women’s clubs made with shorter shafts. Thanks for writing this article and being aware of the specific needs of women golfers.

Dave

7 years ago

If people out there think it’s hard finding women’s clubs in stores that you can try out, just try finding left handed women’s clubs :(

My wife is left handed and when we get her clubs, we almost always have to order them sight unseen.

Fortunately, a few online sites allow for returns so that takes a little of the risk out of it

Madeline Morgan

7 years ago

I don’t presume to speak for anyone but myself and I recognize that I may not be a “typical” woman golfer (whatever that is) but I’m just as interested in performance as I am with looks when it comes to choosing my equipment. I’m an avid golfer in my 60’s playing to a 6 hdcp using Mizuno MP irons, Miura wedges, an old Alpha V5 driver, and even older Sonartec fairways, all with regular flex shafts in standard lengths. And none of these were hand-me-downs from men, either. They were simply clubs that I tried, liked, and bought despite the salesman’s efforts to sell me one of those complete sets in a pretty, color coordinated bag. I’ll admit that there’s probably a place for that kind of equipment, particularly for those who are new to the game, but it’s a mistake for manufacturers to assume that women will be satisfied with the second rate gear they’re trying to push at us just because they’ve put a little pink paint on it.
If I want pretty, I’ll wear it, not swing it.

Leah

7 years ago

Would have loved a question on playing men’s clubs versus women’s and it would have been really interesting to see that answer correlated with handicap ranges but I’m a bit of a statistics nerd. I’m a 10 handicap and can get down to an 8 if I up my practice time and have zero interest in women’s clubs from a performance perspective and on principle. I want to play the mainline options or what is being used on tour (fitted to my specs of course) not shorter, more flexible, more colorful clubs with cute names like “Gems.” Also if someone could fix women’s golf shoes too that would be fantastic – they’re all lower quality (no or only one year waterproof usually) with terribly fitting lasts. Again, if a serious player wants durable and high performing equipment, it’s back to the men’s side of the store. It’s insulting that companies think women only care about color options/fashion.

Kristen

7 years ago

I completely agree, I am an 8 handicap and I play men’s clubs. I would love to see how they test and perform with women hitting them. I am not interested in womens clubs

Fiona

7 years ago

Same here. I also use men’s golf clubs. Although I would be interested in reading case studies of how products made specifically for women will help improve one’s game.

Neil

7 years ago

I am glad that OEMs are finally designing women specific golf clubs. I know that Cobra driver and wood heads are lighter than men’s and senior ones. TM has a women’s line that has proper gapping between clubs. Odyssey has putters with women specific lengths and weights. Hopefully this will be the start.

There is one observance about women golfers. They tend to hang on to their clubs longer than men. Women golf clubs are rare in used racks in the golf stores.

Steve

7 years ago

Eased my wife into the game with off the rack ladies stuff. Probably not the smartest move with her being a whole 5’2″. When her handicap started to approach 15, took her to the fitter I used for my set. A bag full of Wishon later, 11 handicap and makes me stay sharp when we have a game going. Does she like fashion, of course. But the equipment and fitting options are abysmal for the avid female. All you have to do is go to a demo day and ask the rep to work with your significant other. Thank goodness for non oem equipment and some really good fitters out there as an option. I think they cater better than OEM manufactures.

Michael Husting

7 years ago

My wife is a avid golfer when the Wisconsin weather permits we golf 5-6 days a week. My wife clubs are all men’s shafted with graphite shafts in her fitted flex. I very rarely get clubs for her at a retail outlet. We buy them on e-bay from a authorized retailer and then I have them reshafted. Quite expensive but worth it.

TonyG

7 years ago

Hope this isn’t sexist (shouldn’t be if it’s true, right?), but the amateur women I know that play golf are much more into fashion than equipment. In fact, they often ask me to suggest clubs, while they look at cloth and shoes.

Mandy

7 years ago

Are you approaching all women in the store? Or are these women approaching you? Many of the women I know (who play a minimum of 50 rounds during the summer season) have a hard time getting proper attention when we go to golf stores (big box or independent retailer), with many of the clerks assuming we are there with our husbands and aren’t the ones looking to buy. When I went with my husband to look at clubs for me, no sales person acknowledged me, instead they went and talked to my husband, and talked to him about what *I* was looking for. That’s a whole different survey, though.

Bob

7 years ago

Finding ladies left handed clubs for my wife that are good is nearly impossible so she uses men’s clubs (or just golf clubs as she calls them)

Betty

7 years ago

Im an avid golfer and i hate going in to look at clubs. If a salesman even talks to me they send me to ladies starter sets. Argh.. I’m not great but I’m not bad with a 15 handicap. I do want the option of having “pretty” clubs. I love color, my favorite club is a men’s flex 9 wood in orange. I use it 75-150 yards. I currently have sr men’s flex graphite wilson C200s. They’re better than the women’s clubs i had but may not be just right-I’ll know after this next season. I do golf @160+rounds a season and shoot 80-95. I’m also 50 and 5’7″. I believe womens clubs should be just slightly longer than needed as we have to learn how to swing over or under our chest, something men dont have to consider. Additionally have to looked at a women’s driver vs a man’s. They’re giant blocks, i want the technology available to men in my clubs. In lengths for me and evenly weighted. Women’s clubs are such light shafts with heavy club head that shots get peppered everywhere right or left.

Cathy

7 years ago

Thanks for the opportunity to answer some questions!! On #8 there is no, on-line choice to pick from (ie, Rock Bottom, Budget Golf, eBay, etc). Another great question might have been, do you purchase women specific clubs? In my case and I’m guessing in many others were buying men’s clubs with reg. or senior shafts. I also concur with an above comment that not all of us are looking for pastel shafts or club heads. I’d love to hear from more women on how they choose equipment. Thanks again!

JD

7 years ago

So I’m currently going through this as my wife (avid golfer, former HS golfer) is looking to upgrade and would probably leave me if i ever came home with a woman’s club for her. She just upgraded her irons last year to PING i’s and shafting was the biggest difficulty.

In my opinion, the key to the woman’s market is making better shafts or swing weights available, targeted for women, utilizing a men’s club head. Why would we ever spend money on women’s clubs, only to hear everyone rave about how well they’re doing with the M1’s and Epic clubs?

It’s easy to make fun of Cameron nowadays, but to my knowledge he might be the only manufacturer exclusively retailing men’s quality clubs for shorter individuals via the Cameron & Crown.

Laurel Bailey

7 years ago

My biggest beef with golf equipment for women is the assumption that we want girly-looking clubs. I’m not that good a golfer, but I have a bad-ass attitude. I’d like some bad-ass looking clubs. Currently, I have Callaway X Hot woods and Adams hybrid iron. I’m happy with both.

Thanks for the survey. We appreciate being heard.

Kenny B

7 years ago

There are several women golfers in my life. My wife is 61 years old and has been playing golf since she was 8; likewise her sister. For the past 12 years she has been playing men’s senior flex clubs. A few years ago she switched to women’s clubs but only in the woods. She still plays men’s Burner irons. She was hesitant to switch to women’s flex because when she tried a Cobra hybrid about 8 years ago, she sprayed it everywhere. When the TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 woods came out, she replaced all of her woods, except one… an old Arnold Palmer Trouble Wood in stiff flex.

Our local golf store carries only a few individual OEM clubs in women’s flex, mostly stocking a complete bag of OEM clubs. Maybe that suits some women, but avid women golfers are just like us guys… they want to try specific irons and woods. The women’s market is completely untapped.

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Survey: Getting to Know the Female Golfer

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comments

glee

FINCL

Rebecca Ahlbrecht

Nik S.

Bob M

Woody

Nik S.

Sara

Jennifer

Allan Ano

Kip

Susan

Tom Duckworth

Nik S.

Greggytees

Monty Martin

Susn

RayAnnRN

Mae

Dave

Madeline Morgan

Leah

Kristen

Fiona

Neil

Steve

Michael Husting

TonyG

Mandy

Bob

Betty

Cathy

JD

Laurel Bailey

Kenny B

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