No slam-dunk for former WNBA President leading Golf 2.0 initiative

The PGA of America has engaged former WNBA President Donna Orender as a consultant to lead the Golf 2.0 "Connecting with Her" strategy, a key component in the industry's overall goal of reaching forty million golfers by 2020. 

Golf 2.0 is the new long-range strategic plan for the golf industry to substantially increase the number of golfers, the rounds of golf played and the revenue generated from golf over the next decade among current and potential consumers of the game with three core strategies: "Retain and Strengthen the Golfing Core;" "Engage Lapsed Golfers;" and "Drive New Players" to the game.

If Orender wants to be successful in reaching her goal, start by attracting more women to the publinks. According to Greg Nathan, VP of the National Golf Association, "When women are made to feel as welcomed and comfortable at public courses, their play will go up.” Women also bring with them the "power of the purse" which will increase revenue in other areas of the sport such as clothing and golf  equipment.


Although I feel welcome, I am in the minority as I am comfortable with my level of play. I also actively make it my business to go out as a single golfer and meet and greet other players. Most women feel more confident playing golf with their peers, playing from the same tees. Waiting at the front desk of a public course, you will see about one in every ten golfers is a woman. 

In order to reach potential women golfers, it's also not enough to provide TV coverage hoping that women will see other women playing a sport and want to play it themselves. This new consultant is going to have to cross the great divide reaching out to sports fans in tennis and basketball to make golf more visible, fun and easy to start for non-golfers interested in fashion, travel, and exercise for example.


Orender, who served as Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) President from 2005-10, after working 17 years with the PGA Tour, is the founder of Orender Unlimited, a marketing, media and strategy company in Jacksonville Beach, Fla.

During her tenure with the PGA Tour, Ana Leaird, PGA Tour’s Director of Public Relations and Media Operations said of Donna Orender, "Since she’s been here, tremendous opportunities have opened up for other women. I call it the ripple effect.”


Does she play golf? Not that it's necessary for Orender's new position but, in my opinion, it's important to be able to identify with the core group you will represent in order to understand their needs and desires. And, the answer is yes, she does, according to her tweets, @DonnaOrender.



 In her consulting role with Golf 2.0, Donna Orender will:

• steer industry efforts to grow women's golf participation;
• identify and shape female-specific programming;
• create a welcoming environment for more women to enter the game.
• guide the establishment of partnerships with top women's organizations to leverage knowledge and resources in support of facility adoption and programs. 
• position golf as an anecdote for women achieving balance in their busy lives, all the while pursuing good health, business networking, and family time in a fun-filled environment.

Perhaps Orender should also be working with Mike Whan and the LPGA to stop the losses of golf tourneys?

According to Golf Digest’s Ron Sirak, "women will have played a woeful 23 contests this year -- only 11 of which fielded 144 or more golfers -- and competed for the fewest dollars since 2001."

"The PGA is thrilled to retain Donna Orender to lead in the strategic development of our 'Connecting with Her' initiative for Golf 2.0," said Darrell Crall, PGA senior director, Golf 2.0, for The PGA of America.  

"Donna's expertise in steering the growth of women's sports at the highest level will be critical in guiding the golf industry, as we tap new initiatives to appeal to women, who represent our game's fastest growing demographic."  

Among Orender's many accolades are being named to the 2005 Sporting News' Annual Power 100, 2005 Fox Sports.com's 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports, and the 2007 BusinessWeek's Power 100 Sports lists. 

"Donna Orender's name is synonymous with the growth of women's sports nationwide," added Crall. "We are delighted that she will serve as an advocate in the development of new programs for women to positively connect with the game of golf." 

"I'm excited by this incredible opportunity to make a difference in people's lives through the game of golf," said Orender. "Our goal is to build dynamic and engaging growth-of-the-game programs that passionately appeal to women on both a personal and professional level."



Will Orender be successful retaining/bringing more women into golf?
Voice your opinion on Twitter @Golf4Beginners and friend us on Facebook.

Ladies Playing Through. How women are changing the face of golf in Westchester.

There has been much Twitter buzz on the state of Women's golf and so I have reprinted an article I wrote for Westchester Magazine.

By Stacy Solomon, Golf for Beginners

Golf may or may not be growing nationwide, but here in Westchester one big segment of the game is robustly rockin’ and rollin’ along.  It is golf played by women, and literally thousands of them are smacking the little white ball all over the county’s public and private courses—more of them than you think right down the middle of the fairway.

Why?  As marketing executive Sherry Bruck, owner of The Harquin Group observed, "In what other sport can you take a sixteen year old, a twenty year old, a forty year old and an eighty year old and go out together and have such a blast?"

Nearly two-thirds of all new golfers across the country are women, according to the National Golf Foundation.  Local organizations reports high participation, too.  The Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association (WMGA) has about 800 Westchester/Fairfield members.  The Metropolitan Golf Association reports TKTK women maintain handicaps and play at private clubs, with an unknown additional number playing without handicaps. Peter Tartaglia, spokesman for the Westchester Parks Department, says about 5,500 golfers on the county's six public courses are women.  That’s a lot of ladies chasing par.

As you would expect, there are both similarities and differences in the way men and women play the game.  Golf provides the same challenges and satisfactions for women as it does for men.  "Creativity is needed as well as control over your emotions," according to Alice Odorico, a thirteen-handicapper at Bonnie Briar in Scarsdale.  She adds that golf is not just a physical sport but requires mental toughness as well. Once a private banker, Odorico now has more time to dedicate to competition and plays in interclub matches around the region, although she says, “I love golf as a hobby, not a career."

Women also use golf as a business aid just like their male counterparts.  Avril Dawkins, an account manager at Aetna, says “I try to incorporate golf into every opportunity I get.  If we have an outing, I'll bring clients or consultants.”  Although she took lessons and practiced on the range, Dawkins was hesitant to play on a golf course until she joined the Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA). The plucky Mount Vernon resident now confidently drills her shots accurately down the fairway.  Dawkins cautions that when she plays with male business partners, it can be unnerving because they evidently feel they have to prove their manhood: "They pull out the driver even when they know they have no business hitting that club!"

All too often, a woman is still greeted with a sneer and a guffaw until she has proven herself on the tee because tolerance doesn’t come easy for some men. Beginner Karen Clark, a school teacher who plays at Maple Moor, says, "Initially, when you're out there and paired with men, they look at you like 'oh god...there goes my game.’ Then they see you can hit the ball and their jaws drop."

Cara Vietri, an analyst for Mastercard who averages 27 holes per week, points out that there are some basic differences between the way men and women approach the game.  "A guy who plays once a year will hit it 220 yards into the trees and spend ten minutes looking for it!" she says, whereas women are more sensitive to golfers behind them and will pick up golf balls during a blow-up hole.  “Men have that hunter-gatherer instinct. It's not hard-wired into women to search until we die!"

Bruck points out, men have always complained about the pace of play by women on the course even though, she asserts, "You'll actually find women play faster than men because women are so self-conscious about it."

Just like men, women are involved in the game at many levels, from hard-nosed formal tournament play to casual chase-it-around-the-pasture rounds with a weekly foursome.  On the competitive scene, the WMGA holds thirty hotly-contested events for golfers with an 21.0 or better handicap index.  "It's very intense," says WMGA Director of Operations Nancy Early. “The women can't wait to challenge other clubs to see how they're doing."

The EWGA, on the other hand, welcomes rank beginners as well as serious competitors.

"We offer women the opportunity to play the game for business and for life," says Westchester chapter President Sherri Wilson of Hawthorne, who adds that her day job as a manager of shopping center properties fuels her passion for golf as a getaway. She reports that the local group has 174 members, 34 of which are new members.

At Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, Assistant Pro Reid Johnson says a core group of twenty to thirty women still gathers on Wednesdays for regulation events and compete in WMGA-sponsored interclub team matches.  He adds that a new group of about twenty "niners" (who play only nine holes) has developed on Thursdays.  Different events such as seniors versus baby boomers and a new Ryder Cup format, where teams (the "Wings" versus the "Feet") compete in alternate shot and individual matches, add diversity to the weekly games.

Organized events at public venues have faithful followings and players must sign up early in the season to reserve a space.  One of the more competitive EWGA nine-hole twilight leagues takes place at Doral Arrowwood while other groups form weekly at Maple Moor and Sprain Lake.

As vibrant as the Westchester women’s golf scene seems to be, there may be clouds on the horizon.  Former Leewood Country Club member Bruck complained about her daughter’s lack of interest.  "Its hard to get her out on the golf course, and then she goes out and hits the ball like, a mile," Bruck says.  “When I ask her why she doesn't want to play, she says it takes a lot of time, its expensive, and her friends don't play."

Troy Tingberg, teaching professional at Bonnie Briar, points out, “I see lots of kids from five to ten years of age running around hitting balls and practicing in clinics" but there aren't any formal leagues at most country clubs for them.

"One of the problems is that we lose a lot of girls to other sports,” Westchester Country Club's Monique Thoresz adds.  “If a girl is athletic or strong or shows lots of promise, all the coaches from other sports want them too. So field hockey, lacrosse, softball and all the other sports compete with golf for players." The teaching professional pointed out that girls can and do compete on women’s interclub teams but none currently exist just for them.

That may change as more women become active in the sport, which will in turn create more role models for younger players and create more demand for instruction and structured competitions for youngsters.  Who knows, the growing number of women golfers might even force men to play faster.

Golf for Beginners Podcast: Women's golf clubs challenge men's, RedEye i330 laser putter review and a golf tip by Bob Toski

Click here to listen.

Our first battle of the sexes debate originated from an article featured in
Golf for Women Magazine. Leave it to Stina Sternberg to cause more controversy ;-) as she claims in the February 2007 edition of Golf Digest Magazine, "Now your wife can start beating you".

Do golf clubs really make the player or can a player hit any golf clubs and score?

"Effortless power", a thought mentioned by PGA Tour golfer/instructor extraordinaire Bob Toski, is our golf tip of the week. Toski regularly maintained that golf is not a game of brute strength. "An ounce of touch is worth a ton of brawn", he claimed.

Accuracy in putting brings confidence which translates into lower scores. With this thought in mind, Barry and I review the RedEye i330 Laser Putter. The on-board laser guidance system quickly and easily unscrews to allow use of this USGA-approved putter on the golf course. The Electronic Smart Target laser sensory system showed Barry that his alignment needs work.

We believe that this combined putter/training aid will improve Barry's putting over time (for now it only comes as a right-handed model; lefties like me have to wait until next spring) but we reserve rating the i330 and will bring you part two later in the season.

Congratulations to short game guru and Champions Tour golfer Tom Watson on his terrific victory at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

Continue sending your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

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You can also download our previous Golf for Beginners episodes by clicking here.

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by Pioneer Golf and Florida Golf Travel.