Women And Girls Are Golf's Fastest Growing Market.
Are We Doing Enough To Keep Them?
The golf industry has a reason to celebrate. Women and girls are the fastest-growing segment in the game. According to the National Golf Foundation, women and girls accounted for more than half of golf's net participation growth between 2020 and 2025. Female participation has increased by 45% over that period, reaching more than 8 million on-course golfers, the highest number ever recorded. Women now represent 28% of all on-course golfers, another all-time high.
Even more encouraging is what's happening with junior golf. Girls now make up 35% of all junior golfers, compared to just 15% in 2000.
The future of golf is increasingly female.
Yet for all the attention we pay to growing participation, we don't spend enough time asking a more important question: What are we doing to keep them?
Because attracting women and girls to golf is only half the battle. Retention remains one of the industry's biggest challenges. Research from the NGF shows that women who start playing golf lapse at higher rates than men, and the conversion rate from beginner golfer to committed golfer is less than half that of their male counterparts.
That should be a wake-up call.
The issue isn't whether women are interested in golf. The numbers clearly show they are.
The issue is whether the golf experience we're offering was designed with them in mind.
The Industry Was Built for a Different Golfer
For decades, golf facilities were built around a very specific customer: the traditional male golfer.
Eighteen holes.
Five-hour rounds.
Men's leagues.
Men's merchandise.
Men's locker rooms.
Men's social networks.
Women weren't simply overlooked by golf's traditions, they were often excluded by them. For much of golf's history, women faced barriers to membership, competition, leadership positions, and access to many of the game's most influential networks. Augusta National, arguably the most famous golf club in the world, did not admit its first female members until 2012. That’s 80 years after the club was founded.
While many of those barriers are slowly disappearing, their impact remains. The culture, traditions, and business models of golf were largely built around male golfers. If women and girls now represent the fastest-growing segment of the game, the industry must do more than simply welcome them, it must evolve to serve them.
The goal shouldn't be to simply fit women into the existing golf experience. The goal should be to create experiences that reflect how women actually engage with the game today.
Girls-Only Programs Work
One of the most successful developments in junior golf has been the growth of girls-only programming. Why? Because beginners are more comfortable learning alongside people who look like them and share similar experiences. The results are significant. According to LPGA-USGA Girls Golf research, junior programs that offer girls-only opportunities experience retention rates that are 50% higher than programs that don't.
That's not a coincidence. It's community.
Girls stay in golf when they build friendships. They stay when they feel like they belong. They stay when they don't feel like they're the only girl in a clinic full of boys. The lesson for facilities is simple: creating female-specific programming isn't exclusionary. It's often exactly what's needed to create inclusion.
Not Everyone Wants Four and a Half Hours
One of the most common barriers women cite is time. Many women are balancing careers, family responsibilities, social commitments, and countless other demands. When the industry presents golf as an all-or-nothing, five-hour commitment, we're losing potential lifelong golfers. This is where 9-hole leagues, short-course options, forward tees, beginner-friendly events, and flexible programming become incredibly important.
The NGF has identified shorter forms of golf as a significant opportunity to improve female retention.
The future isn't convincing more women to play 18 holes. It's giving them permission to enjoy golf however they want.
Let's Talk About the Golf Shop
Walk into many golf shops and you'll still find a familiar pattern. The men's section takes up most of the floor. The women's section occupies a corner. And too often, women's apparel is simply a smaller version of the men's collection in pink.
Women deserve better than "shrink it and pink it."
Today's female golfers want apparel that reflects modern fashion, performance, and lifestyle trends. They want brands that understand them. The golf facilities that invest in thoughtful women's retail offerings aren't just selling clothes. They're sending a message: "You belong here."
Customer Service Matters More Than We Think
The biggest factor influencing whether someone returns to a golf facility often isn't the golf course.
It's how they were treated.
Think about the experience of a beginner woman walking into a golf shop for the first time.
Does the staff greet her?
Do they assume she's a golfer and not just a mom of a junior member?
Do they offer help without being patronizing?
Do they make her feel like she belongs?
These interactions matter.
Creating a welcoming environment isn't just the responsibility of female staff members. Every employee needs to understand how their words, assumptions, and actions shape the customer experience. That includes training male staff to recognize when comments, jokes, or behaviours create an unwelcoming environment. The "old boys club" culture may have been accepted in the past. It isn't acceptable anymore. And the facilities that recognize this will be the ones that thrive.
The Secret Might Not Be Golf
One thing the industry often overlooks is that many women are drawn to golf for reasons beyond the scorecard. They enjoy the social connection.
The friendships.
The atmosphere.
The food and beverage experience.
The opportunity to spend time outdoors.
The game is important. But the experience surrounding the game is often equally important. That's why facilities that invest in patios, social events, wine nights, beginner scrambles, themed leagues, and welcoming clubhouse environments are often seeing success with female golfers.
Women don't just want a golf course. They want a community.
Growth Should No Longer Be The Only Goal
We've proven that women and girls want to play golf. The participation numbers speak for themselves. The question now is whether the industry is willing to evolve.
Can we create facilities where women feel welcome from the moment they arrive?
Can we offer programs that fit their lives?
Can we build communities instead of simply tee sheets?
Can we rethink traditions that no longer serve the people we're trying to attract?
Women and girls are no longer an emerging market in golf. They are the market driving the game's future. The facilities that understand that won't just grow participation. They'll earn loyalty.