What Does a Golfer Look Like?

Chrissy McGrath Richards signed up for Ladies on the Links this season planning to play with a group of friends. When the season started, they did not end up joining the league, so Chrissy came anyway, on her own, not knowing anyone or anything about picking up a golf club.

Most people would have found a reason not to show up, and a missing friend group is a pretty good excuse! Golf especially can feel like a sport you need permission to play. The right clothes, the right swing, years of practice before you are allowed to call yourself a golfer. One of the reasons I started this league was rooted in my own desire to feel more confident. After 20 years of golfing, I still felt inadequate.

Chrissy joined our beginner program and kept showing up, week after week, taking the various lessons we offer. Eventually she moved from those lessons to on-course sessions with our golf pro, all the while learning the game around other women instead of alone. That is the thing, you are never alone with Ladies on the Links. There is something for everyone, and a group that cheers one another on.

This past Monday, after one of those lessons, she sent me a photo of herself mid-swing with a message: “I actually look like a golfer.” Then she thanked me for everything we do here.

I have thought about that sentence since I got that text Monday evening. A lot of women decide golf is not for them, or decide to try it later, after they know more people, after they feel more confident, after someone invites them. Chrissy did not wait for any of that. She decided she belonged on the course and then showed up, which is the hardest part. Taking that first step, whether it is showing up to a pop-up clinic, booking a lesson, or signing up for our beginner program when you do not know anyone or even own a set of clubs. (Yes, we have clubs for our beginners, so you do not have to worry about that part.)

That is the whole idea behind Ladies on the Links. Not a league where you need a foursome already lined up, instead a place where you can show up on your own and turn into a golfer here, with us.

Chrissy, thank you for showing up, and for reminding me why I built this.

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For the love of golf 💚