Because of Abby Liebenthal, thousands of women can picture themselves on a golf course — in their city, in cities across the country and at golf destinations that once catered largely to men. That visual is powerful, and it helped Liebenthal turn Fore the Ladies into a vibrant women’s golf community.
Liebenthal, the president and founder of Fore the Ladies, works full-time as the assistant director of paid media at the USGA, but her dawn and dusk hours go to Fore the Ladies, a nonprofit designed to bring more women to the game. Liebenthal, 32, hosted her first clinic in 2019, hosted three more in 2020 and by the time pandemic restrictions eased in 2021, had 17 events on the schedule.
Social media was always a catalyst, with commenters asking when she would bring Fore the Ladies to “insert-city-here.”
“It was kind of a natural growth,” she said. “People saw what we were doing, and more people saw other friends playing golf and then they in turn wanted to bring it to their community so they could learn and grow their own network of people to play golf with.”
Liebenthal estimates that the events have touched 4,000 golfers since that initial clinic. Her 2023 schedule has ballooned to 105 events and while the flagship two-hour beginner program is still offered in some cities, Liebenthal has worked to reach a full spectrum of women in their golf journey. Fore the Ladies has added a four-week clinic series that focuses on a different part of the game each week as well as Happy Hour 9 events, which are low-key, non-competitive opportunities to play a round with like-minded golfers.
“We try to answer a lot of questions for that one,” Liebenthal said of the latter. “When you show up, a lot of times you’ll receive a card from us that includes how to play a scramble, because we find that’s a pretty welcoming game to play.”
At the top of the ladder are golf getaways and Liebenthal is currently tuning up for The Cookie Jar, a three-day, end-of-September getaway to Erin Hills, the 2017 U.S. Open site just north of Milwaukee.
The golf is the main attraction, but the cookies make it, well, a Liebenthal production.
“(Erin Hills has) the best chocolate chip cookies in golf,” she said, “and while that may not be super well-known, Fore the Ladies is going to start honoring it.”
Liebenthal’s brain for marketing (plus a masters degree from Northwestern), sharp wit and appreciation for the little things helped her breathe life into an experience no other women’s golf community was offering. She has taken the lid off the proverbial jar for golf-obsessed women –– and women who’d like the opportunity to become golf obsessed –– by building buddy trips not just to Erin Hills but Bandon Dunes (Camp Bandon), Streamsong Resort (Hearts and Darts, named for the Red and Black courses on the itinerary) and Pinehurst Resort (named The Lily in honor of Pinehurst architect Donald Ross’ daughter Lillian). In July, a Fore the Ladies group traveled to Scotland for the first international trip.
“It’s very cool that we have this community of people that want to support and be part of it.” — Abby Liebenthal
The inaugural Lily in spring of 2021 caught the attention of Michael Chupka, Bandon Dunes’ director of communications. He liked how much Fore the Ladies groups seemed to enjoy each other’s company –– something that falls in line with Bandon’s mission.
“I sent her a note about (Fore the Ladies’) interest in traveling to other resorts and we started planning,” Chupka said. “While Fore the Ladies does so much to introduce the game of golf within their clinic series, they also have a wonderful community who is willing and excited to travel. I think we were both a little shocked with how quickly Camp Bandon booked up.”
Now they’re working to plan a return trip.
In the early days of Fore the Ladies, Liebenthal was always on site, but that’s no longer possible with such a loaded calendar. Now she relies on volunteers to run many of the events. Three of Liebenthal’s girlfriends produce the content for a monthly Fore the Ladies newsletter.
“It’s very cool that we have this community of people that want to support and be part of it,” she said.
Amanda Herrington met Liebenthal in 2013 when both worked for the American Junior Golf Association. Despite working together in person for less than a year, the two have remained close friends, giving Herrington, senior director of communications at the PGA Tour, a front-row seat to Liebenthal’s drive to build Fore the Ladies. Herrington said Liebenthal has a level of motivation that’s downright exhausting.
“For me, it’s impressive she’s always up to date on whatever TV show is happening because I’m like, ‘How do you have the time?’ Herrington joked. “You have a full-time job and then I don’t even like to call it a passion project because she’s invested her life into this, what Fore the Ladies has become.”
In the very beginning, Herrington extended a work trip to the Genesis Invitational to help with a Los Angeles-based clinic and hosted Liebenthal at her Jacksonville, Florida, home when Liebenthal ran a clinic there (Herrington distinctly remembers watching Liebenthal sit in her foyer and hand-pack goodie bags for every participant). Herrington notes how important it was to her friend that a Fore the Ladies experience wasn’t like any other golf event.
“It was really her watching her friends, who knew she had this big part of her life in golf, but it was so … whether it was intimidating or inaccessible for them to go and do, that’s why she did it, to tap into all those people who can come to the game but are just too scared by it,” Herrington said.
Through her own Fore the Ladies experiences, Herrington noticed for the first time the disparities in the game for women. That hit her post-Lily in 2021, when she walked into work at the PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan asked her about the trip.
“He was like, ‘Well what was the thing that really stuck out?’ ” Herrington said. “I’m like, well, being with all these other girls that are lifelong golfers to see how recreational (golf) favors men.”
That kind of unbalanced gender representation in the sport is proof for Liebenthal that golf needs a community like Fore the Ladies. Long term, she hopes the events she’s created under the Fore the Ladies umbrella become a kind of accreditation for golf courses to show that they’re welcoming to a women’s demographic.
“We have so many participants come to events alone and leave with a community,” Liebenthal said. “As long as we are able to welcome more people to the game, the game needs Fore the Ladies.”