A burgeoning community 

It was 1981, and Donna Hoffman was one of five newly minted female certified public accounts out of a class of 100 that joined a Boston-based public accounting firm. Not a golfer, she noticed that the other 95 male accountants played a lot of golf — and got choice assignments, promotions and raises.

She got out of the profession shortly after joining it.

That was a lesson learned for a lifetime and, in a circuitous manner, led to the formation of one of two national membership organizations in golf: Women On Course. Based in northern Virginia, Hoffman helms a 60,000-strong women’s golf community.

A community for women, designed by women. And she built it all by herself.

The seed of her idea came several years ago when a friend visiting from Florida described something called “Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing.” This was an effort by the fishing industry to develop more female anglers.

“They would teach you how to throw a line, drink beer and cuss,” joked Hoffman. “I said to myself, ‘How do we do this in go...