Golf play expanding social horizons for women
When Leslie Templer moved from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale, she quickly noticed that she was behind some of her male colleagues in one area.
“I’ve been doing marketing for years, and here (in Florida) I’ve learned that I’m way behind in making connections because I can’t join the golf tournaments. That’s where these guys make their best connections,” said Templer, 30. “I decided it was time to learn how to golf.”
So she signed up for a women’s golf boot camp, taught by Professional Golfers’ Association Class A member Kevin Battersby.
“There’s so much business done on the golf course,” Battersby said.
In Templer’s case, her job is referral-based, which means going to conferences and networking events, such as golf tournaments.
Battersby started the class six months ago, and about 30 women from all walks of life have come through the program.
“There’s a lot of etiquette involved: where to drive the golf cart, where to stand, who plays first, all of the lingo and stuff they need to know,” Battersby said. “The strength of the program is that a group from one company can come and form a group of people to take the class together.”
Cynthia Malloy, an accountant at Citrix, is one of the women who joined Battersby’s golf camp as part of a company group. She started playing sporadically four years ago.
“I had some basic knowledge of the game, but not much knowledge of the etiquette and when to use what club,” Malloy said. “Now I can discuss golf as small talk and have met some other people at the company through it.”
Most of the women taking the class are beginners, like Templer and 31-year-old Emily Tiernan, a real estate agent from Margate.
“I wanted to learn because I’m a competitive person, and golf has a lot of business benefits to it,” Tiernan said. “I had a client recently who said she really wanted to live near a golf course. So being able to say ‘Oh, I’m learning how to play’ … it helps bridge the conversation.”
Students start by learning the basics of putting, chipping and gripping the golf club. At one recent class at the Toski-Battersby Golf Learning Center on Broward College’s Coconut Creek campus, Battersby began with a short putting lesson, then the women teamed up in a scramble-style competition involving chipping and putting to specific holes while Battersby offered tips.
“Where most people stumble is when they go to the tee to practice when said.
Some women, like 73-year-old Patty Sloan, already have the basics mastered. Sloan has been playing golf for 40-plus years but continues to take lessons because “you
they
can’t
putt
or
chip,”
he can pick up a bad habit real fast.”
“I’m working on being able to hit the ball harder. As you get older, you lose a little bit of your swing, so Kevin is working with me to hit the ball farther and straighter,” she said.