Women Need Input Into “Bridging The Gap”

Dawn Anderson, the director of brand management for what is now Golf Canada, raised an eyebrow in my direction at last week’s press conference at Glen Abbey and took me to task for something I’d written in a blog last week.

If you recall, I mentioned that the silhouette on the Golf Canada logo was male, which seemed odd since Golf Canada represents both genders and is trying to be more inclusive with the rebranding of what was the Royal Canadian Golf Association.

To its credit, Golf Canada is publishing its literature in several different languages in order to reflect this country’s diverse population and attract members of different ethnic groups to the game, but seemed to be slipping into old habits with the guy on the logo.

Anderson argued that they had gone to great lengths to ensure that the character was gender-neutral, if that can be achieved, and she felt Golf Canada had achieved that result. I still say that’s a dude, but we’ll agree to disagree, I guess.

With what it’s trying to accomplish, Golf Canada is bound to strike some sensitive spots in its mission to change its image from an old boys’ club and an association that represents the interests of private clubs, but doesn’t relate to the masses that play public golf.

A perfect example might be the task force it’s forming with the Canadian Tour and the Canadian PGA with the objective of making the transition from amateur to professional golf a little smoother for Canadians.

Whether any of these groups have the resources in terms of finances and/or manpower to make that happen remains to be seen, but one of the catalysts for this task force was a discussion paper released last week by the Canadian Tour that outlines the challenges faced by young pros.

The paper did touch briefly on women’s golf, but its essence was anecdotes from Canadian male players, which is understandable from a Canadian Tour perspective. However, women’s golf definitely does need to be addressed and at the same time as men’s golf if this is about the 2016 Olympics, as the paper points out.

In fact, a woman may be in a bigger hurry to get to the top levels of professional golf since their careers might be that much shorter if they want to raise a family, as the sudden retirement announcement by Lorena Ochoa pointed out last week.

Given the inclusive image that Golf Canada is trying to forge, and this applies to the Canadian PGA as well, it would be in their best interests to include women in their Bridge the Gap discussions, in order to properly understand the unique challenges women face in professional golf.

That’s not to say that women won’t be given a voice on the task force. It just hasn’t been mentioned yet as this comes together.

To be fair, Golf Canada runs the three-event CN Canadian Women’s Tour, a development circuit that has added some cool incentives such as LPGA Tour sectional qualifying and eligibility in Duramed Futures Tour events, as well as exemptions into the CN Canadian Women’s Open. You can read about it here.

Golf Canada is involved in other aspects of women’s golf as well and the Canadian PGA has its own Women’s Championship and several female members including GNN blogger Tiffany Gordon, who also doubles as president of the Alberta PGA.

From Sandra Post to Dawn Coe-Jones, Gail Graham, Jennifer Wyatt, Barb Bunkowsky, Lisa Walters to Lorie Kane and Alena Sharp, among others, the women’s game has played an important role in Canadian golf and this country has several resources from which to draw if it is to take the next step in helping developing pros.

Besides the names mentioned above, former tour player Jocelyne Bourassa built the foundation for what is now the Canadian Women’s Tour with her involvement in the former du Maurier Series. Certainly, she could lend some insight into the lives of aspiring women pros.

One person who would be easy to overlook, but has a passion for this topic is Kim Brozer of Red Deer, Alta., who is looking to establish herself in the Canadian golf industry after years on the LPGA Tour, Futures Tour and Canadian circuits.

How about Samantha Richdale or Lisa Meldrum, two Canadians who now have their LPGA Tour cards after coming up through the ranks, including the Futures Tour?

All could offer unique perspectives on what women require as they climb up the professional ranks.

The worst thing that could happen is that women are made to look like an afterthought in Bridging the Gap discussions. From a Golf Canada perspective, and that of the Canadian PGA as well, it also wouldn’t be good to come off as men deciding what’s best for women.

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