1.1 Structures & Systems — Overview

How women built the architecture of the game — and why it still shapes golf today

For more than 130 years, women have played golf within systems they largely built for themselves.
Across the world — from the UK to the USA, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America — women created parallel governance structures, championship calendars, handicapping models, and community networks that allowed the women’s game to grow even when access, resources, and recognition were limited.

These structures were not simply administrative.
They were acts of pioneering organisation, born from necessity, determination, and a desire to belong in a sport that did not always make room for them.

🌍 A Global Story of Parallel Pathways

Unlike the men’s game, which developed through unified national and regional bodies, women’s golf evolved through multiple, independent, and often disconnected systems:

National women’s unions and associations
Independent senior women’s bodies
Professional tours built entirely by women
Club-level committees operating separately from men’s committees
International collaborations formed long before modern governing frameworks

This global patchwork is not a flaw — it is evidence of women’s ingenuity in creating the structures they needed when none existed.

🧩 Why Structures Matter

Every part of the modern experience for women golfers —
from beginner pathways to elite amateur circuits, from professional tours to senior women’s associations —
is the product of these historical governance choices.

Structures determine:

who gets to play
when they can play
what pathways exist
who has a voice in decisions
where recognition flows
how opportunity is distributed

Understanding structure is therefore essential to understanding participation, equity, and the future of the game.

🌱 How This Pillar Works

The Structures & Systems pillar maps the architecture that has shaped women’s golf worldwide.
It includes:

1.2 The Timeline of Women’s Golf (Global) — the long arc of development
1.3 The Architecture of Women’s Golf — how the whole system fits together
1.4 Women in Golf Governance (1893 → 2025) — the origin story of global governance
1.5 Why Women’s Golf Needs Modernisation — insights into structural gaps
1.6 Player Categories & Life Stages — how systems shape identity
1.7 Amateur Organisations (Global) — national and regional bodies
1.8 Professional Tours — LPGA, LET, JLPGA, KLPGA, LATAM, and others
1.9 WPGA & Women Coaches — the professional landscape of coaching

These are not isolated pages.
Together, they create a unified global explanation of how women have shaped, sustained, and reinvented the game — and why modern structures must evolve to reflect women’s lives today.

🎯 The Core Message

The history of women’s golf is a story of systems built from scratch — and systems overdue for renewal.
By understanding the structures that carried women for 130 years, we can finally design the ones that will elevate the next generation.