The CHRYSALIS MOMENT

What do butterflies and women’s golf have in common? More than you might think. Beyond the simple superstition that a kiss from this ethereal creature to a golf ball is a sign of good luck, butterflies are generally symbolic of renewal, hope, endurance, courage and change.

Butterflies do not evolve from smaller to larger versions of themselves. Rather, they undergo complete metamorphosis from egg to larva (caterpillar) to pupa (chrysalis) before emerging in final form. Women’s sport – of which golf is a sub-species – has also evolved in stages rather than on a continuum.

To see how far Australian women’s golf has come – and what comes next – we first need to examine some numbers.

The participation ratio of females to men in the modern era peaked at 34 percent in 1970, 51 years ago. By 2018, when Golf Australia launched Vision 2025 and the R&A its Women in Golf Charter – both a call to action – this was down to 20 percent. By the end of 2019, momentum had shifted positively.

Then, the pandemic.

Figures from the New Member Demand in Australian Golf Clubs published in November 2020 show a boom in numbers. Against this is the sobering figure that only 12 percent of the increase was in females, effectively lowering the participation ratio.

But numbers do not tell the whole story and club membership is