Joondalup Country Club has become the latest WA club to sign up to the R&A’s Women in Golf Charter.
The northern suburbs venue becomes the eighth WA club to become a Charter signatory, following the example of Gosnells, Busselton, Sun City, Lakelands, The Vines Resort, Exmouth and Mount Lawley.
The Charter outlines a set of principles to promote gender equality in golf. These include measures to encourage more women and girls to play golf, improve access to facilities and coaching, and create more opportunities for women to work in the golf industry, including in leadership roles.
After working with Golf Australia to develop an action plan, Joondalup Country Club (JCC) established a sub-committee to ensure the plan is adhered to.
Norma McCarthy, JCC’s Lady Vice-Captain and a sub-committee member, says the whole process has been of great value to the club.
“Whilst we have been running gender-neutral competitions for some years, we still had large disparities across our membership base, with low numbers of women and girl members,” she told GolfWA.
“We looked at the Charter and found that we were already addressing many key items, but it also highlighted areas for us to tackle and provided us with a roadmap as to how we might move forward in our quest to get more women and girls into our club.”
One of the biggest issues the club faced was in creating pathways for junior girls to transition from lessons to on-course playing to club membership.
“We had girls representing JCC in Pennants, but no formal strategy beyond this,” Norma explained.
“Since creating our action plan, we have seen some immediate benefits with a successful new junior competition introduced. Additionally, we now offer a girls’ scholarship program and will be looking to extend this into 2025 and beyond.”
Norma recommends other clubs look to become Charter signatories themselves. “The Charter provides a structure for clubs to test long-held norms that may well be based on outdated views,” she said.
Could your club be next?
WA clubs looking to become signatories of the Women in Golf Charter will work with Golf Australia and GolfWA to develop a tailored action plan that supports the specific needs of each club and its members.
To express your club’s interest in becoming a signatory to the R&A Women in Golf Charter, complete the expression of interest form online or contact GolfWA Chief Executive Gary Thomas on 08 9367 2490.
