The ‘Women and Golf’ programme is an initiative with a unique twist coordinated by the Danish Golf Union (DGU) with the goal of introducing more women to the sport.
The programme, supported by The R&A, was run by 35 golf clubs in Denmark last year, each with groups of roughly 20 participants. Lasting eight weeks, the sessions proved highly successful in keeping the women engaged in the sport. Of all the women that have completed the programme, 75% still play golf actively today.
Now entering its fourth year, the ‘Kvinder & golf’ programme continues to grow in popularity in Denmark, with 59 clubs now signed up to run a version of the course.
But what makes the programme so effective? It may not just be experiencing time on the golf course that has kept the women playing, but also time together off it. Dance lessons, yoga sessions, swimming, picnics, and visits to the sauna were just some of the many activities that have also formed an integral part of the eight-week programme.
“What we found out was that the social part was almost more important than the golf part.” Said Sarah-Cathrine Wandso Development Consultant at the Danish Golf Union. “If we have them socially, they will keep playing golf. We wanted them to do something after every session to make sure that they were together having fun. After the eight weeks we had a full group of women who wanted to keep playing golf.”
Part of the success in getting women to sign up is how the programmes are advertised. After noticing more success with women than men in lead-generating activities on social media, the DGU decided to run campaigns on Facebook targeting women in the region of each of the clubs offering the programme. The campaigns, which have helped attract roughly half of the participants so far, are run as a service with zero cost to the clubs involved.
Another element of the programme’s success might be how quickly the women were able to get out on the course and play. “Once each week they practice and once each week they go and play on the course.” Said Sarah-Cathrine Wandso. “They do that from the beginning, because we want them to be ready as golfers as soon as the eight weeks are gone.”
The DGU helps the clubs find the participants and plan out the programmes, but leaves it up to the clubs to find their own volunteers and organize their own social activities. The money from the fee, which equates to roughly 175 euros, goes entirely towards the programme and the women to pay for things such as polos, fun activities, or evening meals.
"The value proposition for the Federation was that we paid for the advertisements, we helped them with manuals, offered consultants, we did workshops.» said Sarah-Cathrine Wandso. “We helped them create the structure and the programme and the setup, but they paid the expenses themselves except for the marketing.”
The programme will run again in 2023, with 59 golf clubs currently signed up to offer the course.