Haggin Oaks has been named the most female-friendly golf facility in California by the Pacific Women’s Golf Association. Photo: Courtesy Haggin Oaks
When Dixie Reid was introduced to the game of golf about 20 years ago in Houston, there was no second date.
It wasn’t that Reid wasn’t athletic, or that she was too busy. She simply couldn’t abide the male vibe of the experience. “The guys behind us were riding us all day, really unforgiving guys. It wasn’t fun. At the time I was playing softball, tennis, soccer. Why deal with that?”
The fact that Dixie Reed is now a passionate golfer who plays three times a week – and makes golf purchases almost as often – is the kind of story golf loves to tell, but too often cannot. Each year the National Golf Foundation reports on the “latent demand” of females interested in the game and the number is huge, ranging from 15 to 18 million. Activity at ranges and other “off-course” venues, such as Topgolf, suggest that the interest is real. Forty-two percent of off-course-only players are female. And yet...