Women Find Opportunities On The Greens
Jobs in golf management on rise

By Lynn Kinney
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

If the flap over Augusta National's all-male membership paints a picture of sexism in golf, Julie Brown represents the sport's increasingly warm embrace of the woman professional.

Brown, the teaching pro at Woodmont Golf and Country Club in Canton, calls the woman professional "the lady ambassador," because she is the one who conveys to women they belong on the course, too.

"They [club management] see the advantage of having a woman on staff," said Brown, who has worked as a golf professional 23 years. "They've experienced that the ladies coming to the club can relate better to a woman."

Women are not only assuming the roles of teaching pros and assistant pros in escalating numbers, but they are beginning to emerge as head professionals and general managers of golf clubs.

Brown, who played on a golf scholarship at Miami-Dade Community College and Florida International University, was a head pro in St. Louis for two years.

But perhaps nowhere is the trend playing out so dramatically as at Summer Grove Golf Club in Newnan, where the general manager, head pro and assistant pro are women.

"We're probably the only championship golf course in America run by so many women, with the exception of LPGA International," said Oneda Castillo, assistant pro at SummerGrove. Castillo divides her time between the Newnan club and Bobby Jones Golf Club in Atlanta, where she works as director of instruction.

Women have not always enjoyed such favor and opportunity in the golf world. But as the number of women playing golf has increased, more of them have moved into the pipeline to become golf professionals; at the same time their numbers have boosted the demand for them as employees in golf facilities..

The number of female golfers was nearly 6 million last year, up from 4.7 million in 1999, according to the National Golf Foundation.

"Golf has had more visibility in recent years," said Cathy Mant, who played on the LPGA tour from 1976 to 1986 and is director of instruction at Eagle's Landing Country Club in Stockbridge.

She cites television coverage of LPGA events and the availability of golf scholarships for women post-Title IX as factors that have brought women into the sport.

"More and more girls are playing," she said, "and there's lots of talent."

Besides working at Eagle's Landing, Mant coaches the Georgia State University women's golf team.

Golf's role in the business world also has brought women into the game. "I'm seeing more women who come and say they want to play, not because their husband wants them to, but because of their jobs," said Mant.

Women still are much of a minority among club professionals. Of the approximately 27,000 members of the PGA, fewer than 1,000 are women. In the

LPGA's teaching and club professional division there are about 1,100 women.

Jackie Cannizzo, head teaching pro at Roswell Country Club and a member of the PGA, sees contradiction in the dialogue over gender that has swirled around golf in the wake of the Augusta National controversy.

While she can belong to the PGA, her male colleagues cannot join the LPGA. Recently, a few men "have made noise" about wanting to be able to qualify and play in some of the women's tournaments, she said.

Cannizzo was the first PGA member to qualify and play in the Women's U.S. Open in 1997.

With women accounting for 22 percent of all golfers and taking up the game at a greater rate than men, the golf industry has begun to understand women represent its growth segment, said Nancy Berkley, an industry consultant. "The more courses understand what it takes to be women-friendly, the more women golfers there will be," she said.

C.A. Phillips, director of communication for the Georgia PGA, said he has noticed the employment opportunities received by his office increasingly request applications from women.

"I think it's a great industry for a gal to be in," said Robin Myers, assistant pro at Eagle's Landing.

"Now it's just such a popular game for girls to play that there's a demand for the female professional."