It’s no secret that playing golf can help you develop business relationships. While business has a long-standing place on the golf course, women haven’t had a prominent place on the green. According to Forbes, women are interested in playing golf, but they don’t because they haven’t been invited or don’t feel especially welcome. When only 19% of adult golfers are women, it’s intimidating to start.
That’s why Gross Mendelsohn’s Women’s Initiative offered golf lessons to the firm’s female staff members. Six women took the firm up on the offer, and headed to the golf course for six lessons with a local golf pro.
Our golfers participated in the “Get Golf Ready” program, created by the PGA to teach rookies how to get better at golf. Among our team members were:
Those of us who participated came from different departments, backgrounds and experience levels. The instructor, Erick Brock, PGA, broke down each session to focus on a particular skill set.
Lisa Johnson noted, “I’ve always been curious about golf, but I was intimidated to learn the game. I thought this program was the perfect way to start playing. Our instructor made us feel comfortable and confident from the beginning, which erased any intimidation we had. Doing this as a group made a huge difference as we encouraged each other and celebrated our successes. I look forward to continuing the program.”
Instructor Erick Brock guides our staff through the shot.
Condoleezza Rice says that playing golf is an essential tool for building relationships that help women advance in their careers. It’s usually played in beautiful settings and a cocktail awaits you at the clubhouse. Raising the glass ceiling AND raising the cocktail glass? Seems like a no-brainer that women would love this sport just as much as men. Our Gross Mendelsohn team sure did!
“I initially signed up to learn to play golf with the intention of it being something that would help me in the area of business development,” Becky Spezzano explained. “The unexpected bonus has been getting to spend time with women from all departments in the firm and bond over learning a new skill.”
Each week, the lessons focused on building small movements, up to the final lesson: using the driver. By the end of six sessions, all our golfers passed Erick’s final exam and succeeded in getting their balls on the green.
Another one of our golfers couldn’t have appreciated the opportunity more. “Erik’s teaching style made it fun and exciting. He connected concepts to everyday things you do so he made it relevant, but also included important etiquette and tons of helpful tips. As soon as he explained what I was doing wrong, I was able to correct it. I have been inspired to learn more on my own even with my busy schedule. I can now watch it on TV instead of changing the channel.”
“My favorite part of the lessons was seeing everyone’s progression each week. We built upon the skills we had learned in the previous weeks and applied it to the next phase of our lesson. We also had a great group of women who all supported each other,” explained Brooke Snyder.
We’ll let you see for yourself…