Are Career Plaintiffs Crippling Golf"s Growth?

Raquel Hoover, Intern, Golf Channel, USA

The golf course is not always an inviting place for women – sometimes they are not even allowed through the front gate. The Royal & Ancient, one of golf’s governing bodies, recently found itself embroiled in controversy for hosting The Open Championship at World famous Muirfield, a mens-only club. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond boycotted the event in his homeland – saying “This is not only about golf, it’s about women’s place in society…excluding women from joining excludes them from some important circles of influence…I can see nothing honorable in their continued exclusion of women.” In addition to the exclusionary membership policies of many private clubs, many courses without explicit anti-female policies remain uninviting to women – and oftentimes overtly discourage female play. Meanwhile, those invested in the health of the sport and business of golf have identified women as an underrepresented demographic and one that with increased participation could stem the industry’s recent decline.

Raquel Hoover is a recent graduate of Florida A&M University College of Law and spent last year as a Business Development Intern at Golf Channel working on a variety of legal and business growth matters. Hoover is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies and Psychology and a minor in Spanish for the Professions.

Golf Channel, co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and now part of the NBC Sports Group, is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Florida and available in more than 120 million homes and 83 countries worldwide. Exclusive partnerships with the world’s top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, as well as a programming schedule distinguished by golf’s highest-quality news, instruction and original programming. GolfNow is the largest digital golf business in the world, partnering with over 5,000 golf courses in over 80 markets to promote and sell their tee time inventory to GolfNow’s active databases of golfers. GolfNow also provides reservation management and other technology to over 2,500 golf courses throughout the world.