Women & Golf Clubs: A Story of Access, Independence, and Equity

From the first putting greens of the 1860s to today’s senior societies and global tours, women’s golf has always been about far more than leisure. It is a story of sport, competition, community, and quiet determination — of women who turned limited opportunity into lasting legacy.

For over 150 years, women have built clubs, organised competitions, and shaped the culture of golf itself. Yet their experience — and the structures they built — are still too often misunderstood, undervalued, or treated as something to be “replaced” rather than respected and expanded.

This is not just a history. It is a foundation for the future.

From Permission to Purpose: The First Women’s Clubs

In the late 19th century, men granted women small spaces in which to play — short putting greens beside their own courses. At St Andrews in 1867, a group of women were given access to a hilly patch of ground near the Old Course. From that modest gesture grew the St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club, later known as The Himalayas.

What men viewed as polite recreation quickly became something far more serious. The women organised formal competitions, kept scores, elected committees, and established rules — a genuine sporting club. Their determination was echoed across Scotland and England, with new ladies’ clubs emerging at Monifieth, North Berwick, Westward Ho!, and Musselburgh.

Even when men provided land for women, such as at Troon in 1894, where a separate 18-hole course and clubhouse were built on the opposite side of the road, women turned those spaces into thriving centres of competition and community.

These pioneers were not playing for tea and conversation. They were playing for trophies, pride, and progress.

Women’s Sections and the Challenge of Access

As women’s enthusiasm grew, many established men’s clubs created “Ladies’ Sections.” These were framed as inclusive — but came with limits.
Women could play, but at specific times. They could compete, but under men’s oversight. They could join, but without full membership rights.

Men’s attitude was often: give them their own space, and let them get on with it.

Yet within those boundaries, women built an extraordinary sporting world of their own. Behind the clubhouse walls, women’s committees organised full seasons of competition, inter-club leagues, and charity events. They developed administrative expertise that rivalled any men’s section — all while balancing the expectations of home and family life.

What men saw as “ladies’ golf” — gentle and social — was in truth a powerful sporting movement grounded in competition, organisation, and belonging.

The reality: men gave women access; women gave golf structure.

Independence and the Rise of Women’s Clubs

By the turn of the 20th century, women’s golf had matured into a serious sport, and dependence on men’s clubs could no longer contain it.

Independent women’s golf clubs began to appear, including Royal Portrush Ladies’ Golf Club (1888) and Formby Ladies’ Golf Club (1896) — both wholly self-governed, owned, and managed by women.

Then, in 1893, came a defining moment: the formation of the Ladies’ Golf Union (LGU), the first national governing body for women’s golf. It gave women control of their championships, handicapping, and development — a clear declaration that women’s golf was not a subset of men’s, but a sport in its own right.

This independence laid the groundwork for everything that followed: the rise of women’s championships, international matches, and the growth of senior and veteran associations that continue to this day.

Women’s Golf Across the Lifespan

Over time, social and cultural shifts shaped who could play — and when.

Historically, golf clubs reserved weekends for men’s competitions. As a result, women’s golf evolved primarily as a weekday sport, with competitions and roll-ups held between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

This created a vibrant weekday community of women — often described as the heart of the club. They became organisers, captains, and volunteers, sustaining the game while working women and mothers had limited access to play at weekends.

Even today, the pattern persists:

Women aged 25 to 49, balancing work and family, remain underrepresented in club membership.
Senior and retired women continue to form the most active and loyal group of players, keeping the social and competitive heartbeat of the game alive.

The issue has never been about women’s interest — it has always been about access and time.

Equity, Not Sacrifice: A New Conversation for Women’s Golf

As golf modernises, the call for equality has grown louder — and rightly so.
But the conversation must move beyond a binary of weekday or weekend, and toward an understanding of equity.

When younger women raise concerns about weekend access, the response is too often:

“If women want equal weekends, they must give up their weekday play.”

This argument misses the point entirely. It treats women’s progress as a trade-off — one group’s gain as another’s loss — while leaving the men’s schedule untouched.

Women should not be asked to give up what they have built in order to gain what they deserve.
The weekday women’s experience — the camaraderie, organisation, and stewardship they have created — is not an obstacle to progress; it is the model on which golf should build.

Real equity means recognising that golfers are not one homogenous group.
They differ by age, ability, work, and family commitments — and the game should adapt to reflect that.

Senior and weekday women deserve to preserve their traditions and community.
Working and younger women deserve genuine weekend access and visibility.
Men and women together should learn from each other’s experiences to create a fairer, more inclusive future for all.

Golf’s strength lies in its diversity. The task now is not to flatten that diversity, but to build upon it.

Legacy and the Path Forward

The history of women’s golf is one of transformation — from the putting greens beside men’s courses to a global movement of players, leaders, and pioneers.
At every stage, women have created progress from limited means and built belonging where none existed before.

To move forward, the game must now do what women have always done:
balance competition with community, protect tradition while expanding opportunity, and ensure every golfer — regardless of age, gender, or schedule — has the freedom to belong.