Along with the new millennium has come a dramatic surge in the popularity of womens golf. The number of both professional and amateur female golfers has risen sharply. That means the perception of golf is being changed in dramatic fashion, as golf is rapidly losing its reputation as an ?old boys? game.?



Although it may surprise some, women have been playing golf professionally for hundreds of years. But traditionally, golf has been a hugely male-dominated sport, with many golfing clubs not even permitting women players to set foot inside their doors. The journey to playing golf has not been a painless road for aspiring women.

Usually, it takes a spark of some sort to set off an explosive increase in popularity for any given sport. For men's golf, that spark was Tiger Woods, whose unmatched achievements over the last decade or so drove up the popularity of golf to never-before-seen levels. It is quite interesting to note that, as a boy, Tiger was denied entrance to a golfing club simply because of the color of his skin, a club which now welcomes the golfing champion with open arms.

For women's golf, sensational teenager Michelle Wie has without doubt been a catalyst in bringing major attention to the sport of women's golf in general, as she has endeavored to utilize her formidable golfing abilities to challenge men directly. Similarly to Woods, maybe her efforts will help wipe out the last barriers standing in the path of women golfers, including those few remaining clubs that still discriminate based on gender.

Regardless of Wie's actual level of success in her quest to play with the men, in the past five years, women's golf has seen a vast rise in popularity partly thanks to her efforts as well as the inspired play of many other great women golfers such as Annika Sorenstam. And that popularity is predicted to rise even further. Women are now entering the game at an unprecedented pace, with the fastest rising demographic taking up the sport being women in their 20s and younger.

Interestingly, however, there is a slight difference in the way men and women approach the sport. Women tend to view golf primarily as a social activity with competitive undertones, while men see golf primarily as a competitive activity with social undertones. So, while male golfers are stressing about their score, female golfers are just trying to have a good time.

Nevertheless, despite the ultimate motive, women have irrefutably embraced golf in the new millennium, and the result has been a great boon for the sport.