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Photo from Golf DigestIn this month's issue of Golf Digest, "Woman Undercover" details an interesting social experiment conducted with professional LPGA player, Kim Hall, and Golf Digest writer, Peter Finch.  The two of them golfed at five different courses in the Chicago area in three days and pretended not to know each other in order to get paired up in a random foursome.  Hall, currently on a leave from the LPGA, played on tour for four years and played for Stanford during her college years.  She dressed differently at each course and matched her game to her look.  There was the beginner golfer and ugly duckling combo, the pro-skills and tomboy look, the beginner golfer dressed to the nines "damsel in distress" stereotype, the decent player and average jane alias and finally the pro-skills to go with the pro-outfit ensemble.  At each course Finch played himself, more or less, an 11-handicapper.

One of the main points made in this article is that men don't seem to care what you wear or how you golf as long as you don't slow them down.  There is, however, an exception to every rule and in this case (and really in countless others) ladies you can golf as slow and as poorly as you want to long as you play the hot damsel in distress role:

The one exception was when Kim was dolled up as the girliest character...Then, nothing she did seemed to bother anyone. "I totally could do no wrong," as that character she says.  "I could have spent 20 minutes in the bathroom at the turn and gotten away with it."

The writer admits that it is not the most scientific research produced; however, I do think it is largely representative of what happens on golf courses (I will get more into this later on).  Here are the shorthand results of each character played:

Round 1 (Beginner + Ugly Duckling): Hall played up her part by hitting some horrible grounders on the practice range, which led the club refusing to pair Hall and Finch up with any other twosomes.   During the round, Hall was ordered by a course marshall to hit from the red tees (commonly known as the "ladies" tees because they are closest to the green).

Round 2 (Golf-pro skills + Tomboy look): The twosome they were paired with teed off and took off down the fairway before Hall and Finch could join up with them.  They continued their round as a twosome until the pair ahead of them realized that they were slowing the "lady" down and offered to let them play through.  Hall and Finch suggested they join up, to which they agreed.  Cranky at first, the twosome warmed up when they realized that Hall had skills and she could hit from the blue tees ("men's" tees).  Soon came the question, "Did you play college golf?"

Round 3 (Beginner golfer  + Damsel in Distress): This time when Hall rolled into the clubhouse all the men "snapped to attention."  The attention Hall received on this round was markedly different from her previous two:

The starter saw her first, from about 150 yards away, "Hey, here comes your fourth," he said.  "You guys mind?" He emitted a low whistle.  "I don't think so! I don't think you guys are gonna mind!"  We turned to look at Kim, and I dutifully laughed along with the other guys.

Kim played as a beginner, and because of that we were moving slowly. By the fifth tee, there was a hole and half open ahead of us, and I saw a ranger approaching in a cart.  I was certain he was going to tell us to get a move on.  But no.  It turns out the ranger had heard from the starter that Kim might be low on tees, so he went to his golf bag and found some extras. "Here," the ranger said holding out a handful for her.  "I heard you might need these."

Hall was complimented for her "braveness" for venturing onto the course by herself and was offered words of encouragement when she hit poor shots.

Round 4 (Decent player + average Jane look):  When Hall and Finch asked to join up with a twosome their immediate response was "We were kind of hoping to play fast."  After some reasoning, they agreed to join forces.  Unlike the encouragement that the "damsel in distress" received, "decent Jane" did not impress the fellas' and at most they acknowledged that she was consistent.  There was little conversation during the round and once Hall mentioned she was a mother the conversation fell off a cliff.

Kim Hall at Bell Micro Classic.  Photo from Zimbio.

Round 5 (Pro-skills + Pro-Threads): "For the second time in three days, Kim and I arrived at the first tee on time only to find the men we'd been paired with had begun without us."  This time they were golfing with a couple of gents in their mid-60's.  Hall stepped up to the blue tee and crushed a drive down the centre of the fairway.  Once they realized that her shots weren't flukes the question posed was "So where did you play golf on a scholarship?"  Shortly after, the question turned into "Did you ever think about going pro?" to which, Hall replied "Actually, I am a pro."  Suddenly, conversation was not a problem as the men peppered her with questions about the tour and Tiger Woods.  Nothing but compliments on this occasion.

One of the conclusions made from this social experiment is that in a man's mind "there's no such thing as a speedy woman golfer"; thus, most men don't want to be slowed down by women in their foursome.  Personally, I would replace 'speedy' with 'competent'.  As I have expressed in a previous blog about female coaches, women are rarely deemed competent in traditionally male domains until proven otherwise.  In my own experiences as a bogey, fairweather golfer I would say that beginner men and women equally slow down competent golfers, it's just deemed more acceptable if a man sucks at golf because he did not start as an automatic outsider.  I can say, as a woman, that I am annoyed to no end by the damsel in distress golfer, which ironically (yet understandably) is the one the men have the highest tolerance for.

The article also explains that one reason men don't like golfing with women is because golf is supposed to be "boy time."  Well guess what boys, EVERYTHING that isn't darning socks, rearing children or baking pies IS STILL boy time.  As the article writes "It's not 1950 anymore", but I think the expectation that such male entrenched institutions should be more 'enlightened' is pretty naive. Women have gained more opportunities, begrudgingly so, but do not confuse increased opportunities with equity and respect.

I think the best part of the article was the section where women golfers were surveyed on their experiences.  The suggestions for what they would like to change about the game were: having locker rooms that are more comparable to the men's (i.e., size and amenities), more forethought about tee placement ("The forward tee boxes should not be an afterthought but an integral part of each hole's creation and setup."), starters and marshalls should not assume that women are slow golfers, and general respect ("I would like to feel like I'm as important as my spouse at our club.").  All of these suggestions highlight the fact that women are an afterthought to golf clubs, almost an inconvenience.  I think the comment about the tee boxes is very important.  At many of the courses I have played, the blue tees are like flying first class (there's a lot more thought and effort that goes into the experience) and the forward tees are like flying coach (just the necessities). The only difference is that regardless of which tee box you hit from you pay the same green fees.

Many academics have written about how women's programs, positions, and interests are commonly add-ons and this article is no different.  Golf clubs were never created for women; thus, as intruders we must fill either one (or both) of the following roles: the desirable woman who will facilitate the male gaze during 'boy-time', or the competent intruder who contributes nothing to the male experience but also does nothing to detract from it.  To conclude, what we must remember is that "redressing inequities - no matter how successfully - does little to address relations of power" (Darnell, 2009:316).  Hence, getting in the door was step number one, but just because you are there doesn't mean you are welcome.  Until women are valued, not only as consumers of golf, but as golfers men will continue to tee off without us.

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