Years ago, whenever Tuscany Williams traveled with her husband, they would make a habit of trying to meet new people through one of their shared hobbies: golf.
But every time, Williams would notice something different about their experiences on the course.
“He would step on a course and have like, a thousand guys that he could hang out with, and then they’re all mates by the end of the round,” the 32-year-old Williams says. “And I’d step on the course and go, ‘Where are the girls at?’”
In a bid to find them, Williams launched a page called “Women Who Golf” on Facebook. The now 87,000-member group promptly exploded during the pandemic, a surge in popularity that also reflects a quiet but powerful trend propelling the sport’s overall popularity: The golf boom is being fueled by women.
This sudden growth, which stretches from the recreational level all the way through to the professional ranks, will be on full display this week at the Solheim Cup, the biennial women’s competition between the U.S. and Europe. A record crowd of well over 100,000 fans are expected to line the galleries at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, where the American squad led by Nelly Korda is angling to win for the first time since 2017.
Source: Aaron Doster/Reuters
Story by Rachel Bachman, Andrew Beaton
