![\"Becky](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/zhYUGrQhBkoMe7o5AvfGeR.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThere\u2019s a line I keep coming back to: I\u2019m not trying to tear down tradition. I\u2019m just asking for the same access, the same visibility, the same chance to compete and connect.<\/p>\n
I wrote that in The Telegraph last month, after what felt like a lifetime of biting my tongue. Since then, my inbox has been full: messages from scratch golfers sidelined from their club\u2019s flagship events, women who\u2019ve burned through annual leave just to play, and younger players quietly wondering if they\u2019re the problem or if the system is.<\/p>\n
For many women, Tuesday wasn\u2019t just a tee time. It was hard-won ground. Especially for older generations, that midweek slot offered something vital: structure, connection, and a sense of belonging. At a time when women paid lower fees, had limited tee-time access, and were treated as guests rather than members, Tuesday was theirs. And it mattered. It created community and safety in clubs that often didn\u2019t feel welcoming.<\/p>\n
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Becky Gee uses most of her annual leave to compete in golf events<\/p>\n
(Image credit: Becky Gee)<\/p>\n
But what was once a lifeline has, in many places, become a limit. Too often, Tuesday is now held up as proof that women already have \u201ctheir day,\u201d and used as a shield against progress and a reason not to offer more. And the assumption that Tuesday works for everyone? It doesn\u2019t. The problem isn\u2019t tradition. It\u2019s that tradition hasn\u2019t evolved.<\/p>\n
I grew up playing at a course where weekday and weekend competitions were open to everyone. No ladies\u2019 day. No gatekeeping. Just golf. The women\u2019s section thrived not because it had its own slot, but because it was part of the club\u2019s core.<\/p>\n
That experience left me with two things: a clear view of how golf thrives when it\u2019s built around modern lives<\/a>, and utter bewilderment that some traditional clubs still behave as if working women<\/a> don\u2019t exist. Often doing so with impunity, as if no one expects better.<\/p>\n Becky Gee on the golf course with her labrador, Luffy<\/p>\n (Image credit: Becky Gee)<\/p>\n At my current club, most events now have a weekend option. But two of the most prestigious women\u2019s competitions remain locked to a Tuesday with no alternative. And that\u2019s not unusual.<\/p>\n This year, I\u2019ve used most of my annual leave just to compete, whether that\u2019s club fixtures or external scratch events. That\u2019s my choice. But when the men\u2019s equivalent runs on a Saturday and mine runs midweek, it doesn\u2019t always feel like a fair one.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard from women across the UK facing similar barriers: those who can\u2019t schedule matches on Saturdays, working women expected to support the section but only on \u201cladies\u2019 day,\u201d and women who try to compete at weekends<\/a> and face resistance, quiet or overt.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve lived there too. And it\u2019s a lonely house to occupy. These aren\u2019t isolated stories. They point to a deeper design flaw. And the uncomfortable truth? Some of the hardest pushback hasn\u2019t come from men, but from those who see Tuesday as something to protect. I understand that. I respect the space it provided. But when a tradition becomes more of a drawbridge than a doorway, we have to ask: who\u2019s being left outside?<\/p>\n (Image credit: Skratch Women)<\/p>\n Too often, it\u2019s younger women. Women who work full-time. Women just discovering the game. Women who don\u2019t fit the mould the system was built around. And while careers, childcare and cost all play a role in why some people drift away from club golf, the systems in place rarely make it easy to return.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not just a hunch – it\u2019s in the numbers. The UK has some of the lowest female golf membership rates in Europe. Just 14% of members in England are women, and only 12% in Scotland. In contrast, Germany sits at 35% and Austria at 38%. The difference isn\u2019t interest. It\u2019s infrastructure. In countries doing better, golf is framed as a family sport. And critically, competitions are scheduled to include people<\/a>, not exclude them by default.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s the irony: golf is sitting on a goldmine. The R&A has reported a surge in younger and more diverse players taking up the game in non-traditional formats, like driving ranges and indoor simulators<\/a>, where women now make up 47% of participants.<\/p>\n Non-traditional formats, women make up 47% of participants<\/p>\n (Image credit: The Golf Groove)<\/p>\n![\"Becky](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ApAfFVxA3EQXWsSyZuejmd.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Women](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tRLo2DsumkMmF9YAz6wZ2E.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Players](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/yUvdQS9mWFWwPFjNKn5eo6.jpg\")
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