One of the more entertaining moments of my golf journey happened on the 14th tee. My playing partner and I, two women enjoying our round behind a slower fourball, were suddenly caught up by a man playing alone. We weren’t dawdling, just pacing ourselves, when he appeared out of nowhere on the 10th and had closed the gap by the 14th. We offered the courtesy: “You can play through, though there’s a group ahead so you won’t get far.” Without skipping a beat, he responded, “Yes, thanks, because you’re playing extraordinarily slow.”
I calmly teed off and simply said, “That’s really rude.” He did not play through that day. It was an interaction that stayed with me not just because of the audacity, but because of the expectation baked into it! That we would apologise, move aside, and make room. That our presence was an inconvenience to be corrected. It mirrored something I’ve seen repeatedly in my professional life too: women in corporate spaces expected to be accommodating, non-disruptive, and shrink even when they have every right to be there.
The parallels between golf and leadership are striking. I work with senior leaders in business, and I still notice that some confident, capable women leaders still hesitate to speak up in meetings, delay putting themselves forward for opportunities, and play small when they sense their presence may be “too much.” And on the golf course, I see the same behaviour play out: women rushing through shots, skipping the early tee times, avoiding competitions, quietly navigating around men.
Let’s be honest: some men hit the ball further, lose more balls, and have elaborate pre-shot routines that eat up just as much, if not more, time. Yet women are the ones apologising, being pushed, and constantly told to stay out of the way.
We Need A Mindset Reset
Women have every right to take up space on the course, just as we do in the boardroom. That doesn’t mean slow play (I have to be honest I have played with some women who do that) or disregard for etiquette. It means playing with presence and confidence.
Taking your time to line up a shot. Speaking up when a golf club’s policies disproportionately benefit one gender. And remembering that the group behind you doesn’t set your pace, the group ahead does. When I play with men it always makes me smile because they rarely ever look at the group behind.
Genelle Aldred on the press preview for Sky News
(Image credit: Genelle Aldred)
At one club…
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