Women's Golf Equality
By James Sampson

Women have been trying for years to be viewed as equal competition for men, especially in sports. Unfortunately, society fails to measure women’s abilities on the same scale as men’s abilities. Golf is one of few sports that show great potential for women and men to compete on the same level. Recently, there have been many developments in the world of women’s golf.

Women’s golf has been become extremely popular over the past few years and there are currently as many professional women golfers as there are men. Golf equipment companies have also recognized the amount of women interested in the sport and have customized many pieces of golf equipment including golf clubs, drivers and golf bags to be more comfortable for women. You can also have your own golf equipment custom-made; making golfing more comfortable and efficient for women since men’s clubs were often to big. These are just a few of the steps which have been taken to welcome women into the world of golf and ensure that they are comfortable and treated as equally as possible.

Women’s golf associations such as the LPGA have also contributed to the popularity of women’s golf and given women the respect they deserve. Women golfers are now featured in Golf Digest magazine, Golf for Women and a number of other magazines dedicated strictly to women’s golf. Videos and TV shows are also contributing to the popularity of this sport and giving women the “drive” they need to pursue careers in this field.

It was not until earlier this year, that women’s golf took a leaping step in the right direction when professional golfer and top LPGA player, Annika Sorenstam was told she could play against the men in a PGA tournament. Many people predicted how they thought Sorenstam would do when she teed-off against some of the best male golfers in the world. Some people had positive encouragement to contribute while others were chauvinistic and down-right rude.

Phil Mickelson, 2nd in the overall moneymaking standings last year, had no problem playing against a woman and claimed that he thought Sorenstam would end up 20th overall, when she predicted herself to be 28th. Other golf professionals were not so eager to give Sorenstam the benefit of the doubt. Vijah Singh actually resigned from the tournament because he felt he could not play with a women. He claimed that Sorenstam simply “did not belong” in a men’s tournament.

Nonetheless, having a woman play in the PGA, even for a short while, was a huge accomplishment which could potentially pave the road for future development in women’s golf.

James Sampson is an avid golf enthusiast who has been golfing for 10+ years. While his career was in computers, his heart was in golf. Now retired, James spends his time on his favorite golf courses and also works as a contributing editor for http://www.golfballs101.com – a site that does reviews golf balls and offers unique information on things like logo golf balls.