Women’s golf fashion has exploded over the past few years. I know because I write about it every week and, quite frankly, sometimes I even have a hard time keeping up. There are new brands, new designers, better silhouettes, better fabrics and more choices than we have ever had before. Women are no longer settling for the same basic polo and khaki skort. We want fashion. We want fit. We want performance. And most importantly, we want choices.
So why is it that I can still walk into so many golf course pro shops across the country and feel like the women’s department is an afterthought? You know exactly what I’m talking about. Walk into the average pro shop and the men’s section seems to go on forever. Polos in every color. Shorts. Pants. Pullovers. Vests. Jackets. Belts. Hats. Shoes. Multiple brands, multiple fits and plenty of sizes. Then you wander over to the women’s section. One rack. Maybe two. A few polos, a couple of skorts, perhaps a dress if we’re lucky, and somehow there are always plenty of extra-smalls left.
The Female Golfer Has Changed
This is what I find so interesting. The golf fashion industry clearly sees the female golfer differently than it did ten years ago. We have brands designing specifically for us. We have established athletic companies investing more heavily in women’s golf. We have smaller women-owned labels creating thoughtful collections. We have fashion-forward brands bringing influences from tennis, streetwear, athleisure and luxury fashion onto the golf course. Still, much of that excitement gets lost somewhere between the brand and the pro shop.
I understand that retail space is valuable. A buyer has to stock what sells, manage inventory and make decisions based on the membership at that particular club. But I also wonder whether we’ve created a little bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. Are women’s clothes not selling because women aren’t interested? Or are women not buying because there isn’t enough there to get excited about?
I know how I shop. If I walk into a pro shop and see the same three predictable pieces I’ve seen everywhere else, I probably won’t buy anything. But show me something I haven’t seen before, a fabulous jacket, an interesting print, a flattering skort or a brand I’ve been wanting to try, suddenly I’m browsing. And browsing has a funny way of turning into buying.
Don’t Underestimate the Female Shopper
Here’s another piece of this that I think some pro shops may be missing: women don’t necessarily shop for one piece. We shop for the outfit. A man may walk into the shop because he needs a new polo, find one he likes and walk out with a polo. I walk in and see a great skort and immediately start thinking, What top goes with this? Do I need the sweater? Wait, look at that hat. And wouldn’t those shoes be cute with the whole thing? Suddenly one item has turned into an outfit.
Obviously, that doesn’t describe every man or every woman, but fashion has become a much bigger part of the golf experience for many female golfers. We mix pieces. We coordinate colors. We buy outfits for member-guests, invitationals and golf trips. And yes, sometimes we buy something simply because it’s fabulous and we want it. I’m certainly guilty.
This is exactly why I think giving women one small rack of merchandise can be such a missed retail opportunity. Give me three polos and two skorts and I may not find anything. Give me a thoughtfully merchandised collection where I can see the skort, top, layering piece, hat and accessories working together? Now you’ve got my attention—and potentially a much bigger sale.
All Women Don’t Dress Alike
There isn’t one “female golfer” anymore. Some of us love traditional golf clothes. Some want athletic. Some want fashion-forward. Some love the newer streetwear influence. Some want a 17-inch skort and others, like this 5’2″ golfer, definitely do not! Some of us are all of those women depending on the day. That’s what makes dressing for golf so much fun right now.
The best women’s golf brands are paying attention to different ages, body types and personal styles. I’d love to see more pro shops embrace that same philosophy rather than trying to represent every woman at the club with one small assortment. And please, can we move beyond the idea that putting a club logo on a pink polo constitutes a women’s collection?
About That Club Logo…
There’s another part of pro-shop shopping that I think gets overlooked: we want the logo too. When I travel to play a special course, I almost always wander through the pro shop. It’s part of the experience. I want something that reminds me of where I played. And there have been plenty of times when I was completely prepared to buy something, and couldn’t find anything I actually wanted to wear.
Meanwhile, the men’s side might have the club logo on polos, hoodies, quarter-zips, vests, sweaters, jackets and hats from several different brands. Why shouldn’t women have those choices too? That isn’t just disappointing for the female golfer. It’s a lost sale. I have to believe I’m not the only woman who has walked into a pro shop ready to spend money and walked back out with nothing.
Maybe It’s Not About More. Maybe It’s About Better.
I’m also not suggesting that every pro shop suddenly double its women’s inventory and hope for the best. In fact, I’d rather see a smaller, smarter and more interesting assortment. Curate it. Bring in a few pieces we can’t find everywhere. Merchandise them as outfits instead of random individual items. Give us different lengths and silhouettes. Mix an established brand with a smaller label. Put the coordinating hat next to the top. Add the jacket. Show us how the pieces work together.
Perhaps most importantly, make sure whoever is buying the women’s merchandise actually understands today’s female golfer. Women’s golf fashion is moving incredibly fast. If the person doing the buying isn’t paying attention to what women are actually wearing, which brands are gaining traction, how silhouettes are changing and what different age groups want, it’s easy for a pro-shop assortment to feel dated before it even hits the floor.
The Opportunity is Bigger Than the Rack
Women’s golf isn’t only growing on the course. There’s an entire culture growing around it—member-guests, invitationals, golf trips, girls’ weekends and themed events. And what do many of those things have in common? We want an outfit. Maybe we don’t technically need another golf skirt before a member-guest. That’s really beside the point.
Golf has become social, experiential and fashionable, and what we wear is part of the fun. That’s also what makes the female golfer such an interesting retail customer. There’s always another golf trip, another tournament, another guest day, another season, or simply another great outfit we didn’t know we needed until we saw it. The pro shop has an opportunity to become more than the place where we grab a sleeve of balls before our tee time. It can become part of the experience.
It’s Time for the Pro Shop to Catch Up
This isn’t about taking anything away from the men’s department. Men should have great choices too. It’s about recognizing how much the female golf consumer has evolved, and recognizing the retail opportunity that comes with her.
We are playing. We are traveling for golf. We’re participating in member-guests and invitationals. We’re planning golf trips with our girlfriends. We care about what we wear, and many of us consider shopping the pro shop part of the experience when we visit a great course.
Women’s golf fashion has moved forward at lightning speed. Maybe it’s time for more pro shops to move with us. The women are already there. The interest in golf fashion is already there. And speaking for myself, the willingness to shop is definitely there.
Give us one lonely rack in the corner and we might walk right past it. But give us a fabulous skirt, the top that goes with it, a great layering piece, a cute hat, maybe something with that club logo that we can’t get anywhere else? You might want to have the credit card machine ready.
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