MYRTLE BEACH FEATURES

Is The Golf Capital Of The World Women Friendly?

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Take a look around the golf course the next time you are out knocking it around in the Grand Strand. What was once a veritable meeting of the Little Rascals’ vaunted “He-man, Woman Haters Club,” is looking more and more like an equal opportunity recreational experience.

As far as the game of golf goes, women have arrived, and by all indications, they are here to stay. Some men will lament this trend, feeling that sanctity of one of the last bastions of the old-boy-network has been violated.

Other more enlightened souls will rejoice in the notion that they can introduce their wives, girlfriends and daughters to one of the greatest games ever invented.

But with women’s participation in the game of golf on the rise, and Myrtle Beach claiming to be the “Golf Capital of the World,” it begs the question: Is the Grand Strand really a golf friendly destination for women?

“Things are not equitable around here and the people that need to change that are PGA professionals and architects,” says Christa Bodensteiner, head professional at the Myrtle Beach National operated Waterway Hills Golf Club and the Strand’s only female head golf professional. “If I had to guess percentages, I would have to guess 35 percent of the courses here are woman friendly.”

Three courses that recently got the nod as being woman friendly were the Myrtle Beach National triumvirate of South Creek, King’s North and Willbrook Plantation. Golf for Women Magazine recently rated the three facilities in the “Top 100” Fairways for Women.

Golf for Women has surveyed its readers for the Top 100 Fairways for the past six years in order to flesh out the country’s female friendly facilities. The golf courses were ranked in this reader’s poll according to course playability, the facilities, women’s programs and golf professionals.

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“One of the main considerations (in the ratings) was having multiple sets of tees,” she says. “You need to have different yardages for men and women alike. King’s north has six sets of tees and three of them are rated. It’s all about having more than one set of tees and having them rated (by the state golf association). Sometimes courses will throw another set of tees in there, but they need to have them rated.”

Bodensteiner also adds that having a proshop that caters to women is a key consideration in the rankings. Unlike men, she says, women enjoy browsing the racks for apparel, shoes, and other golf related gifts. If a proshop is all baseball caps and cigar boxes, women are less likely to want to return.

Oh, and memo to all-male golf course staffs: If you want to tap into the surging market of female golfers, simply follow an age-old adage – treat them like a lady.

“Just as important as multiple sets of tees is the attitude that they receive in the proshop,” Bodensteiner says. “Women are very sensitive to the attitude that they receive when they walk in the door. Whenever a group of women come in here, I try to give them some special attention, talk to them a little bit about the course and golf and maybe even buy them a drink.”

Yet with all the improvements and considerations that have gone into making golf more inviting and enjoyable for women in Myrtle Beach, there is still a long way to go to making the game truly equitable.

With Bodensteiner flying solo as the Strand’s only front woman, women constitute less than one percent of the beach’s professional golf staff. Moreover, the golf course design profession is dominated by men, most of which are single digit handicappers.

There could be relief in sight, however.

Bodensteiner believes that the competition for women’s play has led many golf course architects to change their approach to laying out golf courses.

“One thing that is changing around here is that is all the new courses they are building are sensitive to women,” she says. “Everyone is more conscious because there are a lot more women playing or they want to tap into that market.

“If I had to guess, I would say that the architects are being more sensitive. Alice Dye (wife of Pete Dye) is actually designing some courses now and more than just the length of it, they are looking at forced carries. With most the new courses around here, they are doing okay.”