🌿 3. Women in Motion: Travel, Rituals & Shared Journeys

How movement shaped identity, freedom, and lifelong community in women’s golf

🌿 Introduction

From the earliest days of organised women’s golf, travel was never just a practical necessity. It was a source of independence, excitement, discovery, and deep companionship.

Women travelled by steam train to the early LGU Championships, by shared cars to county matches, and by ferries and planes to international events. Today, women still set out together for opens, senior competitions, and social trips — forming bonds along motorways and fairways alike.

These journeys created a culture of motion, where women experienced freedom, fellowship, and a broader world than society often allowed.
Travel became part of the story of who they were — and who they could become.

This page explores the emotional, cultural, and historical power of travel in women’s golf, and how it continues to sustain wellbeing and community in a world where mobility, connection, and active ageing matter more than ever.

🌿 Why Travel & Shared Journeys Matter

Travel is one of the most under-recognised engines of women’s participation and longevity in golf. Across generations, journeys to matches offered:

independence in eras when women had little freedom of movement
adventure and discovery — new landscapes, new people, new experiences
bonding through shared car rides, trains, ferries, hotels, packing rituals
identity formation — the feeling of belonging to a team, a community, a wider world
emotional safety — shared journeys reduce anxiety and strengthen connection
continuity across decades, especially for senior women

Travel isn’t the space between the golf.
It is one of the places where the culture of women’s golf was born.

In the context of the Longevity Economy, travel also supports physical activity, social engagement, cognitive stimulation, and purposeful routine — all key dimensions of healthy, long-lived lives.

🌿 Women’s Travel as Early Liberation

For the pioneers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, travelling to competitions represented a form of expanded life.

Women who travelled for golf experienced:

freedom from domestic expectations
exposure to new regions and communities
time in the company of women peers
independence from male supervision
a chance to grow confidence and self-reliance

The journeys themselves were formative experiences — some women saw more of Britain through golf than through any other part of their lives.

The interwar generation, including Joyce Wethered, travelled extensively for matches. Photographs of these trips show joy, solidarity, friendship, and a collective sense of possibility.

🌿 The Rituals of Travel

Women’s golf has always been rich in rituals around travel:

1. Packing

Clubs, dresses, jumpers, shoes, sandwiches, letters home — carefully assembled items that signalled an adventure ahead.

2. Train Compartments & Car Caravans

Laughter, snacks, quiet nerves, last-minute strategy.
A moving social space.

3. Arrival Rituals

Checking in, exploring the course, sharing first impressions, settling into the moment.

4. Evening Gatherings

Stories, debriefs, teasing, encouragement — the nightly rhythm of companionship.

5. The Journey Home

Reflection, storytelling, decompression, and the quiet satisfaction of the day.

These rituals became a cultural inheritance, passed down across generations of women golfers.

🌿 Shared Journeys & Emotional Bonding

Travel bonds women in ways the golf course alone cannot:

Sitting side-by-side encourages vulnerability and open conversation.
Shared mishaps build humour and lifelong stories.
Seeing the world together strengthens trust and emotional safety.
The physical movement mirrors emotional movement — a shift from everyday life into a shared space of purpose and joy.

For many women, these journeys are among the most treasured memories of their golfing lives.

🌿 Continuity into the Modern Game

Today, the tradition continues:

County teams travel together for championships.
Senior women organise trips across the UK and abroad.
Friends form car shares for opens, league matches, and social days.
Golf travel companies see women as a growing, powerful market segment.

These journeys support active ageing, purpose, routine, and social connection — essential components of long-term wellbeing.

Golf isn’t only improving swing technique; it is improving the quality and richness of women’s lives through meaningful movement.

🌿 Core Themes of Women in Motion

1. Movement as Freedom

Golf travel expanded women’s worlds long before society did.

2. Movement as Identity

Belonging to a team or travelling group creates continuity and confidence.

3. Movement as Connection

Shared journeys transform acquaintances into lifelong friends.

4. Movement as Wellbeing

Travel stimulates the mind, strengthens the body, and enriches emotional health — key elements of the Longevity Economy.

5. Movement as Cultural Tradition

The rituals and rhythms of travel are woven into the heritage of women’s golf.

🌿 Closing Reflection

Women’s golf is a game of journeys: literal, emotional, social, and psychological.
From steam trains to the LGU Championship to modern car trips to senior opens, movement has been a defining feature of women’s sporting experience.

Travel gave women freedom.
It gave them friendship.
It gave them identity.
It gave them stories that lasted a lifetime.

And in today’s ageing world, those journeys continue to support health, joy, purpose, and connection — proving that the motion of golf is as meaningful as the game itself.