Recently a reader wrote into Bunkered magazine to ask wether golf was returning to the elitism of the 20s and 30s. So is golf elitist?

Well; it can be. Same as any sport / environment. There are golf clubs where you are made to feel excluded if you are young, female, black, asian or even just middle / working class. There are also gyms where everyone is ripped, and wearing mankinis to exercise in; bars where everyone is wearing designer clothing, and drinking champagne; shops where the patrons and shop assistants give you affronted looks for daring to profane their doorstep.

Unfortunately, idiots abound everywhere, and you shouldn’t let them put you off the game.

Cost is another aspect that is reported to be problematic. Again, some golf courses will charge you upwards of £100 for a round of golf, and perhaps not even serve you in the clubhouse. Refuse to patronise these establishments. You can get a decent round of golf for under £20, often with a sandwich thrown in.

Again, golf equipment can be expensive, but it needn’t be. It’s like with cars; while a Porsche may be perfect, a Proton still gets you from A to B, with a certain amount of pleasure.  Likewise, a custom fitted set of monogrammed clubs may be the ideal, why not wait for a sale and pick up a great clearance set of irons, which will look great without bankrupting you or consigning the children to go barefoot.

Finally, remember that elitism is rather pathetic, very eighties and a little bit sad.

It’s interesting how in the 21st century (and under a Tory government) sexism still persists, in sport particularly. Google “male golfer” and you get profiles of famous male golfers, pictures of the game’s greats and awards given out. Google “female golfer” and you get so called ‘news’ articles called 9 women golfers we’d like to see naked plus a whole lot of photo-shopped porn. There’s a popular, PR 5 golf blog by a female called Golf Girl. Her profile pic has her in a bikini and she’s done a swimsuit calendar.

I had to search extremely hard to find a blog that wasn’t composed of gratuitous glamour photography, but came across a female golf blog called Real Women Golf, which challenges the stereotype of golf being purely male, punctuated by trophy wives and paid models (from companies like “Eye Candy Caddies” ick ick ick).

She’s a woman on a budget, who talks about how her golf shoes were the only shoes she bought that year, and how she had to drop caffiene because it made her hands shake during her game. Normal everyday stuff, which applies to lady golfers looking for a kindred spirit.

Gender should not be an issue in sport. Female golfers have to handle casual prejudice about their abilities (like female drivers), belittling and dismissive sexualisation, and the fact that women in golf at all is regarded as a joke.

Women golfers can – and do – challenge this unpleasant gender discrimination, but it also requires male golfers to adjust and improve their attitudes. Of course, it’s not all bad. The Leaderboard Golf company has banned the Eye Candy Caddies, saying “Exploiting outmoded notions of golf as a male bastion is not ‘just a bit of fun’—it damages the reputation of the sport as a whole as well as its appeal to members of the younger generation of either sex.”

(photo by Keith Allison)

I remember working in a golf club bar to pay for art materials at college. The majority of golfers were lovely people, who mainly favoured a lager top, with a whiskey chaser on special occasions. But there were a couple of times where my patience was tested and my ire was raised. And most of those times it was to do with the way the male golfers treated the lady golfers. On one particular occasion the men and ladies golf teams had a match against each other and the men’s team lost. They got in first and immediately proceeded to be patronising, rude and sexist about the ladies team, who had beaten them fair and square, on equal terms (perhaps because they used Taylormade Drivers).

Pam Swenson of the EWGA has pointed out that women face even more difficulties in terms of finding time for their golfing hobby; 70% of women in the UK now work full time, yet are still expected to do most of the housework and child rearing. Women are most likely to give up the game due to pressure from work, family and lack of time.

Yet I recall my father always had time for golf. Sometimes you have to put yourself first. I know it’s difficult; sometimes if you don’t do the task it simply doesn’t get done. But if you have kids they’re probably capable of learning how to do the washing; a husband or wife certainly is. Meals can be put on a rota; making time for yourself doesn’t make you a bad mother or partner, despite what the media might have you think. Golf provides a challenge, a sense of accomplishment and exercise; you will be walking several miles over possibly rough terrain. So make that time, and remember there are successful lady golfers out there, like Paula Creamer.

Order your Ladies VR Pro Cavity Irons set online today from the UK’s Premier Nike Internet Retailer and 360 Intelligent Custom Fit Centre – Golfbuyitonline.com.