4. The Emotional & Cultural Factors Shaping Participation

Why women play, stay, leave — and return

Overview

Women’s golf is not sustained by structures alone.
It is held together by the emotional and cultural fabric of the women who play it.

Across every generation — from the pioneers of the 1890s to today’s senior women — the same themes appear with remarkable consistency:

camaraderie and companionship
humour and shared resilience
mutual respect and encouragement
aesthetic appreciation of landscape and course
identity, belonging, and emotional safety

These “soft factors” are, in truth, the hard drivers of participation.
When they are strong, women stay — even in the absence of perfect structures.
When they weaken or disappear, women drift away — regardless of talent or desire.

This page outlines the emotional architecture of women’s golf and why understanding it is essential to building the future.

Why Emotional Culture Matters

Golf for women has always been more than a sport.
It is a place where:

friendships are formed
life stories are shared
humour bridges generations
confidence grows
autonomy is expressed
identity is affirmed
wellbeing is supported

Where men often stay for the competitive ladder, women stay for connection.

This does not diminish the competitive spirit of elite players like Joyce Wethered or Molly Gourlay — if anything, it shows how rare and resilient their competitive environments were.

Where structure was lacking, culture filled the gap.

Key Elements of Women’s Golf Culture

1. Camaraderie & Companionship

Women’s golf has always operated through social networks:

playing partners
teams
inter-club friendships
informal support systems

The emotional safety of these relationships is one of the strongest predictors of lifelong participation.

2. Mutual Respect & Shared Improvement

Women historically support each other’s improvement rather than compete at the cost of belonging.

This culture:

develops confidence
encourages persistence
builds trust
strengthens teams
counters feelings of inadequacy

It is the opposite of the “performance-only” culture that drives attrition in other sports.

3. Aesthetic Appreciation — Courses as Characters

Women respond strongly to the sensory and aesthetic aspects of golf:

landscape
atmosphere
seasonality
tranquillity
beauty
rhythm of movement

This is not decorative — it is deeply psychological.
Golf becomes a place of emotional restoration and groundedness.

4. Humour, Storytelling & Shared Memory

Laughter, anecdotes, and shared stories are a defining feature of women’s groups.

These narrative bonds create:

continuity
intergenerational bridges
emotional resilience
meaning that transcends scorecards

This is why senior women recall decades of matches and friendships with such clarity and affection.

5. Identity & Belonging

At its best, a women’s section offers:

a place to be oneself
a community outside family and work
visible models of ageing well
continuity across life transitions

This identity is often lost during the mid-life gap — which makes returning harder.

History Links

Across eras, we see these patterns repeat:

Late 19th and Early 20th Century

Women travelled together for opens, shared rooms, wrote letters of encouragement, and formed the first lifelong golf friendships.

Interwar Period

The camaraderie between Wethered, Leitch, Gourlay, Bergman, and others shows a culture of mutual admiration and shared improvement.

Post-War Generations

Women’s sections became centres of social life, emotional support, and multi-generational continuity.

Senior Women Today

Senior golfers carry forward the same cultural values — companionship, respect, humour — forming the emotional backbone of modern women’s golf.

Modern Relevance

Today’s participation challenges are often framed as:

lack of time
lack of access
lack of pathways

All true — but incomplete.
Women leave because the culture that sustained them becomes inaccessible.

When mid-life women lose:

their group
their team
their weekly rhythm
their sense of belonging
their emotional anchor

They lose the cultural scaffolding that makes golf feel like home.

Implications for the Future

1. Culture must be treated as infrastructure.

Just as important as pathways, formats, or calendars.

2. Clubs need to prioritise community-building.

Mixed, flexible, and intergenerational spaces that maintain connection through life transitions.

3. Senior women should be cultural mentors.

They hold the emotional memory of the game and can guide new and returning players.

4. The mid-life pathway must include emotional continuity, not just competitive access.

Weekend leagues, regional structures, and return-to-golf programmes must incorporate community.

5. Storytelling and visibility must increase.

When women see themselves reflected — across ages, body types, abilities — belonging strengthens.

The Core Insight

The emotional culture of women’s golf is not a by-product of the game.
It is the engine that keeps women playing for decades.

Any future strategy must protect, elevate, and modernise this culture alongside structural reform.