Golf is the type of sport that occupies an apartment in your head. This is a jarring realization for me, someone who took it up in her thirties. I realized that I not only love playing golf, but I love talking about it, too. My journal is now full of post-game analysis—I think of the games that I aced and the games that humbled me. I have five types of sunscreen on me at any given time. I thrift for golf clothes. I truly believe that if I started playing golf at three years old and not 30, then I would be in the LPGA (or the Ladies Professional Golf Association) by now.
I understand why men in their middle age would wake up at the crack of dawn to hit a tiny ball as far away from them as possible. If I could also spend my time doing hot girl walks in nature with my friends while we wear cute outfits, I wouldn’t mind it at all.
Golf is a seductive sport but rarely easy to pick up. It’s highly prohibitive; the cost to play includes green fees, equipment, and proper attire. The mechanics of a golf swing are difficult to learn and even harder to master. There are many regulations, penalties, and even rules of etiquette to remember. For these reasons, I wasn’t immediately keen on taking it up when I was younger. It also didn’t help that golf wasn’t a popular sport among girls my age.
Golf can feel like an exclusionary environment, but having ladies’ clubs makes it easier to make new friends at any age.
In the Philippines, golf has only been around in the last century. Some private courses catered to a few people, and even fewer women. It wasn’t until the 1930s that Filipina golfers became known for their skills at the competitive level. During the 1938 Philippine Women’s Open Golf Championship, golfer Dominga Capati bested players from Europe and the United States. Capati was a laundrywoman who worked in a sugar plantation in Calamba, Laguna. She took time off work to improve her golf game, and at the 1938 championship finished five strokes ahead of her competitors.
It would take years after Capati’s historical win for golf to become a sport of choice for Filipino women. Today, more young players are beginning to take interest, evident through the rise of social media content featuring professional and amateur female golfers. Indoor golf and mini golf establishments are now popular hangout spots. Other industries are responding accordingly: There has also been a growth of golf clothing for women and beauty products like sunscreen patches and spray-on bottles catered to outdoor sports.
Many Filipina golfers I have met said that they picked up golf over the pandemic. Golf was one of the first outdoor sports permitted under the government’s community quarantine guidelines, so people saw it as an opportunity to be outside and get active. It attracted beginners, as well as comeback golfers like Mel Lerma and Cindy Burdette, both of whom learned the sport in their younger years and eventually stopped. They’re now back on the fairway, investing in not just improving their own game, but also gathering more female players who share their passion for golf.
I met both Lerma and Burdette in the Eastridge Lady Golfers Club or the ELGC, an association of female golfers representing the Eastridge Golf Club in Binangonan, Rizal. The members vary in age, career, and background. The club came together after Lerma joined a tournament with three other female golfers, and their team ended up winning. It motivated them to find more women members to gather and keep playing.
These days, women players are slowly gaining access to facilities and competitions that have historically been dominated only by men.
“There were several attempts to have a ladies’ group here [in Eastridge.]” Lerma says, who is currently serving a second term as president of the club. “I just asked them, ‘If you really want a ladies’ group, I can commit to it. But you also have to commit.’”
Golf can feel like an exclusionary environment, but having ladies’ clubs makes it easier to make new friends at any age. Club officers regularly post sign-ups for weekly games that everyone is welcome to join, and this has given beginners like myself an avenue to meet fellow players in the process. We have quarterly birthday tournaments to encourage camaraderie among players and train us for more competitive play. Socializing and making friends is one aspect of it, but the long hours on the golf course are also an ideal environment to network and gain work opportunities through fellow players.
“It’s a sport where you can practically develop friendships overnight as I did. The waiting and downtime allow us to create meaningful conversations,” Lerma says.
Golf is a sport that people of any age can enjoy, which is why a lot of retired athletes take it up after their professional careers. I’ve played golf with women in their seventies who can hit a ball farther than players much younger than they are. It isn’t physically strenuous, but it helps to build muscle and flexibility through complementary workouts like strength training, yoga, and pilates. Learning the golf swing is one aspect of it, because every beginner golfer must know the proper setup to hit every club in their bag, especially when they’re on the fairway.
“There’s golf as a game. Etiquette is important. I was overwhelmed by that at first. ‘How many balls can I play? If my ball goes into the water, what should I do?’”—Cindy Burdette
Longtime golfer Burdette is part of the ELGC as our tournament chairman and coordinates with the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines (WGAP) on behalf of Eastridge for inter-club competitions. She says that even for those who just want to play it casually, golf can be intimidating to learn, which is why professional coaching or learning from seasoned golfers is a good place to begin.
“It removes so much anxiety when you have someone certified and authorized to teach,” Burdette says. “There’s also golf as a game. Etiquette is also important. I was overwhelmed by that at first. ‘How many balls can I play? If my ball goes into the water, what should I do?’”
Burdette adds that while investing in a pro can curb any bad habits that new golfers may develop in their swing, there’s no need to splurge on expensive gear just yet. “The more you get into golf, the more you’ll realize that equipment does play a role more than in other sports. But if the pro you work with is worth their salt, they’re going to be the first ones to tell you, don’t buy a set just yet,” Burdette says. “You could borrow sets in the meantime to figure out first if you like golf.”
“When I engage with fellow ladies and we try to create activities, I feel empowered. And especially when we organize the golf cup.”—Mel Lerma
There’s been a notable shift in golf culture towards women in the last few years. These days, women players are slowly gaining access to facilities and competitions that have historically been dominated only by men. As more women and younger people play, opportunities also open up for potential players and other members of the golf community. In March, entrepreneur Corazon Tamase held a fundraising tournament in Eastridge to help support young Filipino golfers who have the potential to join professional golf tours but lack the funds to do so. Our club’s own ELGC Golf Cup was founded with the goal of providing medical insurance for the golf caddies at Eastridge.
“When I engage with fellow ladies and we try to create activities, I feel empowered. And especially when we organize the golf cup,” Lerma says. “The fact that we’re helping the caddies… it reminded me of what was important to me when I was working full-time. I couldn’t imagine life as a retired woman without anything fulfilling to do.”
A sense of fulfillment is perhaps what draws anyone to golf, the feeling of working on something that is wholly your own. When you play golf, even in competition, you are your greatest opponent. It demands physical strength. Responding to triumphs and failures on the golf course is a test of character. It’s like playing outdoor chess with yourself.
This is why golf occupies some serious real estate in my head. But what I later on realized is that what has made this sport feel worthwhile is the community I found through it, from players in other golf clubs to the ladies I get to play with on weekends. I find that women are just as passionate about the sport as men are, but having more women playing it has made it less intimidating to learn. Plus, they come with prepared snacks, fun gossip, and advice. That, I think, makes them infinitely better company.
