I had a great time playing with the ladies in Seattle, which was my inspiration for this blog. I hope you enjoy! Women’s golf is so important to our growth as a sport it need to be understood what impact women have on our great sport. When I was a little ten year old tyke, I played every chance that I had and I hated to skip the weekends. Becky Lane took me under her wing and played with me and I enjoyed every minute of watching her, listening to her advice, and most importantly watching her fluid very strong swing. She could outdrive me easily when I started but as I was able to reach her mark, or tree on the right of number ten hole, I was ecstatic to know that I could finally keep up with her. She was a very fine player with very few faults in her technique or attitude. Becky was deaf but could communicate very well with me. I loved her and will always feel a great bit of gratitude to her for all her love, support, and help learning this great game. Without the women at Highland Country Club in Fayetteville, NC, I’m sure I would have never made it to the top of professional golf. The women would always keep score during our tournaments which I learned a lot from. I’m sure of how to count every stroke, the rules and their infractions became known to through their tutelage. What more could a child hope for, other than, getting expert advice from people that know you, your family, and all your friends. These formative times have never been forgotten by me, because, I love the people so much that sparked my love for the game and helped it grow with kindness and love. Right now, there is a movement to speed up golf and change the way golf is being played, with bigger holes, shorter courses, and nine hole par three courses. I love all the ideas and people’s passion for what they think will grow the game, however, golf is so different than most endeavors, in that, it requires leisure time. Hence the sport is termed a leisure sport. For me, I love all the time spent on the course and wouldn’t change a thing as far as the rudiments of the game go. However, faster play helps everyone, most tours play in just over four hours and twenty two minutes. I can’t imagine flying to Scotland or Ireland and only having a couple of hours of playing and the rest of the day practicing or looking for something to do. One of the real attractions to me was the difficulty of playing great golf. No one could speed up your progress other than you. Every golfer has to make the decision to practice the weak parts of their games to improve. Even Ben Hogan said he loved playing golf as a beginner because he had so much to improve and learn. This drove him to get up before dark and head for the course with so much enthusiasm for the day of golf ahead. Every golfer has these feelings, and believe it or not, not everyone is cut out to be a golfer, due to their lack of patience, drive to improve, dedication to practice, and attention to self improvement and details. The game is very hard for most people, therefore, I recommend that you start off with a plan to spend a few hours putting and work your way back to the tee shot. One thing for certain it will take time for most, but with a PGA Pro more than likely, you’ll improve much quicker, because they can tell you in five minutes what will take you a year and a half to learn on you own. So don’t be afraid to ask for some expert advice. Now back to the women that help the young boys gain interest in playing. Everyone that has any interest in playing themselves, be aware that golf is a very social game that requires honesty, hard work, and integrity. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because the missed shots and mistakes will help you improve faster than you could ever imagine, if you take the time to listen and learn from your mishits, versus, getting angry and reacting out of frustration. Now I know that very seldom in my play with women did I ever see a display of anger and frustration that was inappropriate. And on top of all that, I’ve never seen a girl get so upset that they quit. Most of the time, Women, because they are so good socially, learn to accept with gratitude all that the game can give without any other expectations. Thereby, enjoying the game with so much vigor that they are fun to be around. So encourage women to play in the Pro-Ams, and other event that they support with all their hard work and dedication. I’ve always loved the people that take time off from their busy lives to help the tour pro’s become settled and welcomed into their community for the week of their golf tournament. For me, I encourage and want all my friends and associates to embrace the power of women at work in all our communities, and this is one way to help golf grow for the future.