Can Lucy Li's Qualifying Grow Women's Golf?

By: Nancy Berkley


Lucy Li, the youngest female to try to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open since the USGA instituted a qualification system in 1967, just did it! In order to enter the regional qualification held at Half Moon Bay Golf Links, Li had to have a handicap of 2.4 or better. At 11 years old, Li can par every hole on most golf courses playing from a tee length of about 6,200 yards (much longer that typical "forward tees"). She joins an elite list of history-makers.

When I wrote "Women Welcome Here! A Guide to Marketing Women's Golf" for the National Golf Foundation in 2003, I decided to create a timeline to show the history of women's golf. With the help of industry experts, I culled through important milestones and came up with the list of major historical events in women's golf.

The Timeline begins with Mary Queen of Scots and ends with today's entry of Lucy Li, the youngest female to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open.

What's interesting is that the first section of my Timeline marks first-time tournaments for women. For example, the first U.S. Women's Open was held in 1946 at the Spokane Country Club in Spokane, Wash.

After WWII, the Timeline entries feature the founders of the LPGA and their tournament victories. For example, Mickey Wright won her 82nd victory on the LPGA Tour at the Colgate-Dinah Shore Championship (now the Kraft Nabisco Championship and soon to receive a new sponsor and name).

And money was important, too. In 1976, Judy Rankin, with $150,734 in earnings, was the first LPGA Tour player to earn more than $100,000 in a season. That made my Timeline because prize money for women Tour professionals trailed that of the men's Tour. Rankin went on to become a famous female TV announcer whose voice and comments are heard regularly on televised golf tournaments.

By 2000, youth began to dominate women's golf history. Michelle Wie, Morgan Pressel and Lexi Thompson earned a place on the Timeline because they won great victories at young ages. The number of young female players coming to the game was based on the previous and tremendous appeal and victories by Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam. But it also resulted from Title IX federal and state legislation that created comparable opportunities for girls and boys and women and men in any educational institution that received federal funds - and most do.

Youth continues to make news. Li's qualification for the U.S. Women's Open is now on the list. But, what really concerns me is that although the Timeline makes interesting history, it is just history. I want to look at the future.

Why with all the recent successes of young female golfers, do we not have more female golfers? Why doesn't a victory like that of 10-year-old Li challenge the golf professionals and facility managers to do more to open the door for female golfers - of all skill levels and playing ability.

Can Li's victory lift women's golf? Whether or not girl's and women's golf grows in the United States is in the hands of what I call the "gatekeepers" of the game: the golf professionals who meet and greet us when we drop our bag off, when we tee up on the first tee, when we come off the course. There are about 26,000 male PGA of America professionals, 1,000 female PGA professionals and about 1,200 LPGA teaching professionals.

"Hello, guys. Wake up!" There are handfuls of truly gifted professional female golfers like Lexi and Lucy, but there are millions of girls and women with reasonable athletic talent and skill that should be playing golf. Lucy Li can't grow the game for girls and women golfers. It's up to you. The balls are on your greens!

For closers: Check out my current version of the Timeline below and on my website: http://nancyberkley.com/774892.html.

Nancy's Timeline

1552 Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87), an avid golfer, coins the term "caddie" by calling her assistants "cadets." The Queen traveled to France to play golf and historians report that she was criticized for playing golf and not spending enough time on Royal matters.It is during her reign that the famous golf course at St. Andrews is built.

1867 The Ladies Club of St. Andrew's, Scotland, is formed - the first ladies' golf club.

1891 Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Long Island opens its doors to women. Golf proved so popular that the club opened a 9-hole course for women two years later.

1894 The first ladies golf tournament in the U.S. is held on the seven-hole Morristown, N.J., course - which later becomes Morris County Golf Club.

1894 The Amateur Golf Association of the United States - soon to be called the United States Golf Association - is formed.

1895 The First U.S. Women's Amateur championship is held at the Meadow Brook Club in Hempstead, N.Y.

1916 The Professional Golfers' Association of America is founded.

1917 Women's Tournament Committee of the USGA is founded. In 1934 it becomes the Women's Committee of the USGA.

1932 The first Curtis Cup Match, between women amateur golfers of the USA and Great Britain and Ireland is won by the USA.

1934 Helen Hicks becomes one of the first women golfers to turn professional. There are no professional tournaments but she promotes products for Wilson-Western Sporting Goods Company.

1936 The National Golf Foundation is established to foster golf's growth and economic vitality.

1937 Patty Berg wins the first Titleholders Championship for professional and amateur female golfers.

1938 Berg, twice a runner-up, wins the U.S. Women's Amateur at age 20.

1941 Patty Berg Cup Defender "signature" clubs are introduced by Wilson Sporting Goods and become big sellers.

1944 The Women's Professional Golf Association (WPGA) is founded. It is replaced by the LPGA six years later.

1945 Babe Zaharias plays against the men in the PGA sponsored L.A. Open, making two of the first three cuts.

1946 The first U.S. Women's Open is conducted by the WPGA at the Spokane Country Club - Berg wins.

1947 Zaharias is the first American to win the British Ladies' Open Amateur. She turns pro later in the year.

1949 Marlene Bauer, age 15, wins the first U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and turns pro later in the year.

1950 The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is established with financial help from Wilson Sporting Goods. In its first season, the LPGA included 14 events worth $50,000 in total prize money.

1952 The LPGA establishes the Vare Trophy awarded at the end of the season to the LPGA player with the lowest scoring average. Named after Glenna Collett Vare, who in 1922 won the first of her record six U.S. Women's Amateur Championships.

1958 Berg wins the Western Open, her 15th major championship, a record.

1959 LPGA members vote to establish the Teaching Division. In 1991, it becomes the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division.

1960 The first LPGA National Golf School staff is established under the guidance of Shirley Spork and Barbara Rotvig. In the mid-1960s, Ellen Griffin, an active member of the LPGA teaching school, becomes a member of the National Golf Foundation's "think tank" that gathers for week-long seminars to discuss promotion and teaching of the game.

1961 Louise Suggs defeats a field that included 10 men at the $10,000 Palm Beach Par 3 Invitational.

1963 First nationally televised women's event - the U.S. Women's Open.

1964 Wright wins 11 tournaments on the LPGA Tour.

1964 Alice Dye, the first women invited into the American Society of Golf Course Architects, designs the first complete set of forward tees at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.

1970 JoAnne Carner joins the Tour at the age of 30 after capturing the LPGA's Burdines Invitational as an amateur in 1969. "Big Momma" is still competing as the oldest player on the LPGA Tour.

1972 Congress passes Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activities receiving Federal financial assistance."

1972 The Colgate-Dinah Shore Winners Circle debuts on the LPGA Tour offering $110,000 - the first six-figure purse in women's golf.

1973 Wright sets a record of total victories by capturing her 82nd win on the LPGA Tour, the Colgate-Dinah Shore Championship.

1976 Judy Rankin, with $150,734 in earnings, becomes the first LPGA Tour player to earn more than $100,000 in a season.

1977 The PGA of America votes to accept female members.

1978 Nancy Lopez gives the LPGA Tour a boost by winning five tournaments in a row, and nine in all, during her first full season.

1981 Kathy Whitworth is the first woman golfer to top $1 million in career earnings. She captures her 83rd LPGA tournament, breaking Wright's record of 82.

1985 Whitworth wins her 88th LPGA tournament, the all-time record for official victories for women and men.

1988 The first issue of Golf For Women magazine is published.

1989 The LPGA Urban Youth Golf Program and the LPGA Girls Golf Club are established under the guidance of Kerry Graham, LPGA Teaching Division President, and Sandy LaBauve, LPGA Golf Professional.

1990 Juli Inkster becomes the first woman to win the only professional golf tournament in the world in which women and men compete head to head. She wins the Invitational Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in a one-stroke victory.

1990 The Solheim Cup is introduced, pitting professional women golfers from the U.S. against those from Europe.

1991 The LPGA Foundation is established to support junior golf programs and scholarships for girls.

1991 The Executive Women's Golf Association (EWGA) is founded by Nancy Oliver in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to promote golf among working women.

1991 The first Women in Golf Summit is held. Women leaders in the golf industry meet to discuss ways to increase women's participation in golf.

1992 The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is named the official charity of the LPGA in 1992, becoming the first national charity to partner with a professional golf association.

1996 Judy Bell becomes the first woman president of the United States Golf Association and serves two one-year terms.

1996 The Rally For A Cure organization is founded to raise money for breast cancer research through the promotion of women's golf events.

1997 LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division exceeds 1,000 members.

1998 LPGA establishes the first-ever sponsored television series in women's golf. The State Farm LPGA Series included television coverage of seven 1998 LPGA tournaments on ESPN and ESPN2 and offered a bonus pool of $250,000 to players.

1999 Aree Wongluekiet becomes the youngest U.S. Girls' Junior Golf Champion at 13 years, 3 months, 7 days.

2000 Michelle Wie, 10, becomes the youngest player to qualify for a USGA women's amateur event when she qualifies for match play in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.

2001 After winning the McDonald's Championship, Karrie Webb became the fifth player in LPGA history to complete the Career Grand Slam, joining LPGA Tour Hall of Famers Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Pat Bradley and Juli Inkster.

2001 In the "Battle of Bighorn," Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb team up with Tiger Woods and David Duval, respectively, for the Lincoln Financial Group prime-time television event - the first time a male-female pairing has been used for the event. Sorenstam and Woods defeat Webb and Duval on the 19th hole.

2002 At the Kraft Nabisco Championship State of the Tour Press Conference, LPGA Commissioner, Ty Votaw, announces the LPGA's five-year strategic plan centered on a "Fans First" philosophy. To better connect with fans, Tour players are asked to concentrate on Five Points of Celebrity: performance, approachability, appearance, joy, passion and relevance.

2002 Suzy Whaley, an LPGA and PGA professional, becomes the first woman to qualify for a PGA Tour event - the 2003 Greater Hartford Open.

2002 Golf 20/20 establishes a Diversity Task Force to focus on women in golf including their participation as an emerging fan base.

2003 Annika Sorenstam accepts a sponsor's exemption to play in the PGA Colonial Tournament. Although she does not make the cut, she draws record crowds and television viewers.

2003 Golf 20/20 establishes a pilot program, the National School Golf Program, to introduce golf in 160 elementary schools.

2003 Michelle Wie, age 13, becomes the youngest woman to win a USGA adult women's competition: the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in Palm Coast, Fla.

2007 Morgan Pressel, age 18, becomes the youngest woman to win an LPGA major tournament at the Kraft Nabisco Championship at the Mission Hills Country Club - Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

2007 Alexis Thompson, age 12 years and 4 months becomes the youngest woman to qualify for the U.S. Womens Open July 2007, but she failed to make the cut.

2010 Peggy Ference, age 51, becomes the first female to play from the tournament tees at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge and broadcast nationally on NBC TV on June 20.

2011 Mariel Galdiano from Hawaii, age 13, 11 months and 3 days, becomes the youngest woman to make the "cut" at the U.S. Women's Open July 2011 at Colorado Springs. (LexiThompson was 14 in July 2009 when she made the cut at the U.S. Women's Open.)

2011 (September 18) LexiThompson from Florida, age 16, 7 months and 8 days becomes the youngest woman to win an LPGA multi-round Tournament - the Navistar Tournament in Alabama (September 18). This breaks the earlier 2005 record held by Paula Creamer when at the age of 18, Creamer became the youngest woman to win an LPGA multiple-round tournament in LPGA history at the LPGA Sybase Classic in May 22, 2005.

2011 (September 30) Lexi Thompson, age 16, becomes the youngest member granted full-time status on the LPGA Tour in response to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan's approval of Thompson's petition to waive the LPGA Tour's 18-year-old requirement.

2012 (August) Lydia Ko from New Zealand, age 15 years, 4 months, becomes the youngest woman to win an LPGA multi-round tournament - the CN Canadian Open.

2013 (January) "Connecting with Her" Playbook, an industry-wide initiative is officially launched by the PGA of America at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, with goal to increase the number of female golfers through a transformational customer-centric model. Golf industry leaders, Donna Orender and Suzy Whaley, explain comprehensive program at educational conference.

2013 (October) The LPGA grants Lydia Ko's request to join the LPGA waiving the LPGA Tour's 18-year old requirement.

2014 (March 23) Karrie Webb of Austrailia wins the JTBC Fournders Cup at Wildfire Golf Club in Pheonix, making her 41st Tour victory and tying LPGA Founder, Babe Zaharias, for all-time LPGA Tour wins.

2014 (March 26) The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews Scotland proposes a motion to admit women members subject to club members' vote in September 2014.

2014 (May 20). Lucy Li from Redwood Shores, Calif., 11 years and 8 months, becomes the youngest female to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open on June 19 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in Pinehurst, N.C.

Nancy Berkley, President of Berkley Golf Consulting, is an expert on women's golf and junior-girls golf. She is a frequent contributor to www.cybergolf.com/womensgolf. Her book, "Women Welcome Here! A Guide to Growing Women's Golf," published by the National Golf Foundation, is an industry reference on marketing golf to women and spotting trends within the industry. She offers information and advice about the golf industry on www.berkleygolfconsulting.com and is often quoted in national publications. She was a contributing editor of "Golf for Women" magazine and a founding advisor of "Golfer Girl Magazine." Her interviews with women in the golf industry now appear on www.golfergirlcareers.com. Nancy lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Harvard University and Rutgers Law School. After a business and legal career, she decided to write about the game she learned and loved as a teenager. She describes herself as a good bogey golfer with permanent potential.