The Lady Captain is part of the tradition at members’ clubs. In my book it should be regarded as a real honour to be asked. However, it seems that at many clubs this long-standing institution is slowly dying. I belong to two very different golf clubs, one which has a thriving women’s section with over 100 active playing women and consequently almost a waiting list of those willing, able and keen to take on the Lady Captain’s role. The other, has only a handful of women and no Lady Captain for a number of years now, simply because no-one was prepared to take on the job.
Let’s face it, the word ‘job’ is literally the best description for this role. It requires dedication and commitment to the club for a year of your life (two if you count the vice-captaincy). It’s unpaid, although usually in exchange for free subs, and often not as rewarding as it seems.
Such is the opinion of Morgan Porter, Lady Captain at Lee-on-the-Solent Golf Club in Hampshire who has found her time in office extremely demanding. “I started my captaincy last November and to be honest there have been days when I’ve thought, what on earth have I done,” she explains. “You have to be pretty thick-skinned to do this job. I only agreed to do it because I was a bit tipsy and no-one else would. Despite not being your usual Lady Captain I got voted in unanimously. I turned 50 last year, I’m gay and my wife plays at the same club. Ninety nine per cent of the women are very accepting, but there is always the odd one or two who treat you disrespectfully, don’t join in and don’t even say hello to you.”
According to Porter there are positives and negatives of the role. Highlights include raising money for captain’s charity days and trying to put things in place for future generations, to bring the club together so that there is less segregation, progressing it into the 21st century. One such change is moving the women’s honours boards from the ladies’ locker room to a more prominent position within the clubhouse. “Our new chairman agrees that we should be out on show alongside the men’s boards but the old boys brigade is being awkward,” she complains. “I’ve been met with many misogynistic comments about changes I’ve introduced because they think that I am removing traditions,” she adds. “The way I see it is I am making new ones.”
Time, or more specifically a lack of it, is a huge hurdle to overcome to convince women they can handle the role….
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