By Steve Eubanks
Six innovators who are blazing new trails for women in golf
If the historical significance of women in golf was ever in question, look no further than the World Golf Museum in St. Andrews, a stone’s throw from the stately clubhouse of The R&A. There hangs a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, one of the game’s most enthusiastic matrons and early pioneers.
Unfortunately, like other women who have dared to embrace the game, Mary was scorned for her love of golf. In fact, one of the charges Elizabeth I made against her rival right before beheading her was that Mary played golf just a couple of weeks after her husband’s assassination, a sign of cold-blooded cruelty or insanity, or so the charges went.
Today, women occupy places of prominence at every level of the game, from corporate presidents to club captains. And in the business of golf, the female influence is stronger than ever. This month, Golf Business profiles a cross-section of women in the golf industry, the influence they wield, the challenges they face, and the future they see for other women and for the game overall.
A LEAGUE OF HER OWN
_Jun/psnancycho.jpg "Pioneering Spirit: Nancy Cho")
When Scott Oki retired as senior vice president at Microsoft and decided to build a golf company, he knew he needed help. But rather than look within the golf industry, the always-forward-thinking Oki found the perfect candidate sitting next to him on the board of one of his non-profits.
Nancy Cho was an accountant who served with Oki on the board of several charities. As a CPA, she earned a reputation for learning businesses quickly and asking the right questions from the start. She was also known as someone who specialized in not specializing. Oki hired Cho as CFO of Oki Golf in 1993 and made her CEO in 1995. Since then, the Washington-based course management company has purchased 11 golf courses throughout the Northwest, and Cho has become known as one of the most progressive and effective CEOs in the business, regardless of gender.
“I’ve never seen being a woman in the industry as being particularly challenging,” Cho says. “First, I’m a minority, and I’m small at 5-feet, 2-inches, and I have the voice that goes with my size. So if anything, I think I’m accustomed to blowing through obstacles.”
Cho worked her way through college as a waitress and owned a small restaurant during her time as a CPA, but her golf experience was limited before joining Oki, although she did understand the sport. “I started playing golf in high school,” she notes. “My mother got us into the game and insisted that we play fast because she never wanted anyone to think we were slow, so I had a player’s perspective when I got into the business but nothing more.”
That was more than enough. Oki has rebounded back to 2008 business levels, in large part because of Cho’s relentless insistence on improving efficiencies. “I have always asked a lot of questions,” she says. “And I do a lot of research on everything I tackle. That has been the key—not being afraid to ask and never being afraid to do what it takes to learn.”
CONNECTING WITH HER
_Jun/psdonnaorender.jpg "Pioneering Spirit: Donna Orender")
Donna Orender’s mission is simple, but it’s anything but easy.
“Fundamentally, we want women to feel welcome playing the game,” Orender says with all the fervor of an evangelist, which, in many respects, is what she has become. “We want the industry to embrace women, to understand the value of the consumer segment that is women and that it’s uniquely different, and take the proactive steps to make it a great experience for them.”
The former president of the WNBA and senior vice president of the PGA Tour has been tasked with leading the PGA of America’s “Connecting with Her” strategy as part of the Golf 2.0 initiative. Her job these days is getting the industry to understand that bringing women into golf requires more than offering a ladies’ play day. It requires transforming a culture.
One of the pioneers of women’s professional basketball, Orender later worked in television production, first at ABC and then in her own firm, Primo Donna Productions, before joining the PGA Tour. She’s the person who created “Inside the PGA Tour,” and was responsible for the wealth of quality content that came out of PGA Tour Productions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Orender was also instrumental in negotiating the Tour’s television contracts in 1997, deals that elevated professional golf to levels never before seen. Now, she’s bringing that same tenacity and salesmanship to the task of improving the game for women.
“As a woman consumer, I have an enormous influence on what my family purchases, how they purchase, and where they go,” says Orender, whose husband, MG Orender, is founder and president of the course management firm Hampton Golf. “If you want to keep me out, you’ll be keeping my family out. I represent an enormous upside, so why wouldn’t you try to understand me and build a business that’s attractive to me?”
It’s a rhetorical question, of course, but Orender’s point is abundantly clear. And, it strikes to the core of many issues facing the business.
“Don’t just have a Tuesday ladies’ event and tell me you’re reaching out,” Orender quips. “It’s a much more comprehensive and integrated approach. It’s about your culture, your language, your sales approach, your merchandising, your food choices and your programming experiences. It’s about all of those things and countless more that you can do to capture and maintain this massive market that will be loyal as long as you do the right things.”
NEW PERSPECTIVES
_Jun/pssallyrajcic.jpg "Pioneering Spirit: Sally Rajcic")
You could call her the accidental owner. In fact, Sally Rajcic likes that title. “It’s certainly accurate,” she quips.
Rajcic became the owner of Rancho Vista Country Club when her father, the original developer, passed away suddenly in 2010. A world-renowned art dealer who has owned a gallery in Orange County, California, for 28 years and serves on the board of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Rajcic didn’t play golf and knew very little about the game when she was thrust into the role of CEO.
“All of a sudden I had lawyers and accountants telling me to sell it, that the golf world is dwindling and courses are closing on every corner,” Rajcic recounts. “I realized after my father’s death that I’m more like him than I thought, so I knew right away that I wasn’t going to sell his golf course until I found out if what I was hearing was true.”
To find out, Rajcic went undercover, making trips to the course without the staff knowing who she was. She once asked some employees who owned the course and one responded, “Some old guys owned it and they died. Now their family owns it and they don’t care.”
“That broke my heart,” Rajcic recounts.
But the more Rajcic learned, the more she realized that Rancho Vista could be that rare comeback story in the golf business.
“A golf course, to my father, was an important asset to any community,” Rajcic explains. “It was a hub for their social life, a green-belt area and a symbol of the bond of the people who lived there. Well, those things don’t die when an owner passes away.”
Today, Rancho Vista is thriving. Rounds and revenues are up, and capital improvements are currently under way.
“The golf course is back,” Rajcic proclaims. “Sometimes, it just takes a fresh perspective—an eye for the art—to see the value that others don’t see. Now I can tell you, this place isn’t going anywhere.”
CHANGING PERCEPTIONS
_Jun/psjennyjudd.jpg "Pioneering Spirit: Jenny Judd")
When Jenny Judd showed up for her first day of work at Magnolia Creek, she expected some confusion. This was, after all, Texas.
“I look young for my age, so even though I’ve been a head golf professional and a PGA member for a number of years, on my first day, the men who came in assumed I was part-time shop
help fresh out of college,” she remembers.
Far from it. Judd, an outstanding collegiate golfer at Boise State University, had more managerial experience than any member of the professional staff, another jarring revelation to a number of the men at her new club.
“There’s always the challenge of perception, especially if you’re female,” Judd admits. “The bulk of the golfing population is still middle-aged to senior men, so as a young female, the perception is that you don’t know what you’re doing, you don’t understand the game, you don’t play the game, and if you do play, you aren’t very good and you’re probably slow.”
Judd, of course, could have taken offense at that bias, but that would have gotten her nowhere. Instead, she set out to overcome it the way she had at her previous jobs.
“I played golf with the guys, and I sat down with them and talked,” Judd explains. “Once they got some interaction with me, perceptions changed.”
It was a process rather an event, but the effort is bearing fruit. “There are very few female PGA professionals in the country and even fewer of those who are in managerial roles—most are teachers or membership directors,” Judd says. “So, you simply have to accept people’s first impressions and work to change their perceptions of you.”
FINDING FAVOR
_Jun/psdesaneblaney.jpg "Pioneering Spirit: Desane Blaney")
You never know where a favor might lead.
When Lonnie Nielson, a former PGA Tour player, took the job as the head professional at Crag Burn Golf Club in East Aurora, New York, he knew absolutely nothing about the women’s section of the golf shop, and he really didn’t want to learn. So, he asked an old friend and one of his members, Desane Blaney, if she would own and operate the women’s department of his store.
Blaney agreed as a favor to a friend, but soon discovered a thriving business. It turned out there were lots of professionals in New York who didn’t want to be bothered with women’s merchandise. So, Blaney struck similar cooperative deals with them. The business grew to 20 clubs before she sold it.
That success prompted Blaney to become a charter member of the Association of Golf Merchandisers. She became deputy director of AGM in 1998 and executive director in 2003, a job she still holds.
“Obviously, it’s no secret this business is dominated by men,” Blaney says. “However, I also acknowledge that a good education, exceptional business acumen, a good work ethic, and organizational and communication skills transcend gender and go a long way in leveling the field. Not to forget, a good mentor and a bit of luck.”
No one has their finger on the pulse of the golf merchandising business like Blaney. And she sees a bright future now that the worst of the Great Recession appears to be over.
“The downturn in the economy was a wake-up call for retailers and manufacturers alike,” Blaney notes. “The steady climb in the economy was not infinite, and the stark reality was the realization that we need to change the way we do business to stay in business. The successful ones did just that.”
Blaney has data to support her assertion. Surveys of the AGM’s membership indicate that the golf merchandise business is healthier than it was five years ago, and seasoned buyers are implementing retail principles that enhance their profitability. “They recognize the golf shop is no longer viewed as a mere convenience for the members and guests,” notes Blaney, “but as a retail business that impacts the bottom line.”
ADAPTING TO THE TIMES
_Jun/psdawnawaterbury.jpg "Pioneering Spirit: Dawna Waterbury")
Change comes hard, especially in a staid industry such as golf where traditions are held like sacred scrolls. But for Dawna Waterbury, chief operating officer and general manager of Louisiana’s Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club, change is the only way to grow. And growth is the only way to survive.
“My background is marketing and indentifying marketing trends,” Waterbury says. “So I’m constantly looking, not just at the needs of our current membership, but at who our future members are going to be and what we need to do to position ourselves to be an attractive place for them.”
That goal is often accomplished through the simplest of tasks: talking to people. Even though survey data and market analysis are important, Waterbury still believes that nothing is more relevant than the one-on-one interaction with current members and others in the community who could be members in the future.
“You can’t plug in strategies from one market and expect them to work in another,” she notes. “If I come into south Louisiana from another area, what worked in that other market might not work here. So it’s about truly understanding where you are and who you’re working with. Who’s using what areas of your club and why? And who isn’t?”
As simple as that sounds, it’s no easy task. “You have to be very proactive in finding out what your members want and provide it for them,” Waterbury adds.
One such discovery involved Le Triomphe’s gym. After listening, Waterbury discovered that members want to come into the club in their workout clothes and go straight to the gym without feeling like they’re out of place without a collared shirt or some sort of formal clothing. “That’s a simple request, but it requires listening and being able to adapt to make those people feel comfortable, to let them know that being casual is what a club is all about,” she notes.