Opinion & Analysis
Using beauty (and social media) to break down sexism in golf
“You know what ‘golf’ stands for, right? Gentleman Only, Ladies Forbidden!”
Hang around a golf course long enough, and you’ll undoubtedly hear a male golfer say that. Then you’ll hear an obligatory chuckle from fellow male golfers who pretend they haven’t heard the joke before.
It’s no secret that golf has been an inherently sexist, male-dominated sport since its beginnings. The proof isn’t difficult to find. Augusta National didn’t allow its first female member until 2012 (it was founded in 1932), and private golf clubs scattered across the country and world remain male-exclusive. But while men haven’t always been welcoming toward women golfers, many women haven’t been drawn to the game like men have, either.
“For girls, [golf] isn’t that cool thing to do,” SAID 2015 Miss America Kira Kazantsev.
Kazantsev won the Miss America Beauty pageant in 2015, and she plays golf in celebrity events around the country carrying a 19-handicap. While she says golf hasn’t always been popular for young girls, social media is helping to shift that paradigm. Women such as Paige Spiranac, Elise Lobb and Blair O’Neal frequently post videos and photos of themselves playing golf, becoming popular figures in the game — maybe even role models in the process. It’s not a stretch to say they’re as popular, if not more popular, than the leading money winners on the LPGA Tour.
“This is making [golf] part of everyday culture for girls,” Kazantsev said.
Kazantsev also uses Instagram and Twitter to post photos and videos of herself on the golf course, among her other everyday interests such as fashion. To her, golf helps to build work ethic and discipline, and also opens doors in business. She says she wants to use her position to help encourage young girls to play golf.
“If you’re smart, beautiful and good at golf, You can do anything,” Kazantsev says. “A lot of business deals get closed on the golf course… and for a female to actually be able to play [golf], it’s totally different.”
Kazantsev told a story about a charity golf event she recently attended, which captured the essence of the paradigm shift regarding gender in golf.
“I was on one of the tees for a charity golf event doing a celebrity shot,” Kazantsev said. “One group of guys came up and started making jokes about me, you know, because I’m a woman… they bet me $500 I couldn’t put it in the fairway.”
She did hit the ball in the fairway and collected $500 for the charity.
Maybe those familiar sexist golf jokes will become a thing of the past as more and more young girls take to the course. It’s also possible that women like Kazantsev, by sharing their golf escapades on Instagram, are exactly what golf needs to brighten the future of the game.
If you’re curious about Kazantsev’s latest golfing adventures, here’s a brief gallery as posted on her social media accounts.
#PutTheNailInIt @SafeHorizon @GPInvitational #Berenberg #GolfAndGiving #DVAM pic.twitter.com/1rQ6e2Opce
— Kira Kazantsev (@KiraKazantsev) October 12, 2015
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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Mat
Mar 29, 2016 at 8:37 pm
It may add participants, but waiving one’s sexuality around doesn’t end sexism. What would go 1000x further would be more mixed events between the PGA and LPGA. Make a much bigger deal about how women can play in a shorter time. Encourage the +3 pickup for ALL golfers. If you miss your double bogey, you get a triple. Move on, and don’t overly penalise players for pace.
In fact, if you want to break down sexism, help women get handicaps. In fact, for all new players, they should have a “novice index” which is simply that you get a first handicap of not shooting a triple on 14/18 holes. It’s a yes/no step-through that speeds up the game. Achieve that mark, and you’ve hooked a player!
kevinricci
Mar 10, 2016 at 6:44 pm
You people are so screwed up. At my club on Cape Cod, we play in mixed foursomes all the time. Women are humans, not sex toys.
DB
Mar 2, 2016 at 10:28 pm
Mr. Tursky, I come here to read about golf, tour news, equipment, etc.
I’m so sick of hearing about “isms” everywhere. Please don’t bring it here.
Stymie
Mar 1, 2016 at 10:03 pm
…All a bit OTT really!
Matthew Bacon
Mar 1, 2016 at 7:46 pm
I think the article was to be taken a little less seriously than most are taking it. Golf is unappealing to most young women and any way to get people exposed to the game can’t hurt. Will she change the landscape of golf, I don’t think so, but she may bring a few people in.
Rilley
Mar 1, 2016 at 7:34 pm
Very simple win on PGA tour a few times and your marketable, win on LPGA tour and you better be good looking or you are not marketable…When Lexi Thomson wins how much coverage does she get compared to what Inbee Park gets when she wins…..or how about someone on the level of Natalie Gulbis one win in 15 years and her face is seen hundred times for every time we see Inbee’s….and how much media time has been spent on MS WIE the last 10 years….
mike
Mar 9, 2016 at 1:24 pm
I am going to disagree with you a little bit. Inbee has gotten a ton more publicity than natalie has in recent years. Women’s golf covers 2 types of golfers: those that win and those that are influencing and bringing girls to the game. Michelle and Paula havent won a ton as of late, but they do bring girls to the game. Ko and Brooke Henderson win a lot and also bring alot of younger girls to the game.
Inbee gets tons of coverage when she wins, probably 2 years ago you couldnt mention women’s golf without Inbee when she was going for the slam. She is also very well know for her putting and when she is playing well, she is always shown on tv and talked about. I would argue they get about the same about of coverage, the only difference is Lexi has been hotter as of late. We all know golf media is pretty much covers people based on a ” what have you done for me lately” scale, and she has played great as of late. She is also a bomber, and everyone knows people love seeing the long ball.
As far as I am concerned, aside from the Winn grip commercials, I didn’t realize natalie still played golf.
Golfgirlrobin
Mar 1, 2016 at 5:01 pm
Holy crap, that was crap. Not just ordinary crap, but grade A crap.
If you’re smart, beautiful and good at golf you can do anything? Really, did you just say that women need to be pretty to achieve? Cause I’m pretty sure you did. How about using your position, whatever that actually is, to encourage girls and women to succeed based on brains and ambition and not on flashing what you’ve got on Instagram.
Men who think the golf course is their personal domain aren’t going to be convinced by pretty girls with a 19 handicap. Are they going to enjoy watching you bend over? Yes, but that’s the only reason you’ll be welcome.
Plenty of great women golfers out there who can be followed on social media for reasons other than the length of their skirt. Actual success on the golf course is what will increase acceptance.
RHJazz
Mar 1, 2016 at 9:20 pm
Exactly – and well put! Using sex appeal to fight sexism? Seriously?! It’s not hard to see why golf has an image problem and declining numbers. Just look at how a lot of men treat the “cart girl.” More and more people won’t accept the old boy’s club ways any more. A lot of real work on attitudes and behavior might do something to bring women into golf, not this.
TMTC
Mar 4, 2016 at 10:22 am
To a certain degree, it works the same with men.
Look at the attention Adam Scott gets, Greg Norman or Fredy Couples.
We all like to look at attractive things whether it’s architecture, nature, or people.
For goodness sakes we even give koodo’s for presentation in food.
Get over it people, it works both ways and always will, until we all look exactly the same.
TMTC
ooffa
Mar 1, 2016 at 2:06 pm
more T and A please
Dev
Mar 1, 2016 at 1:54 pm
White Knight Male Feminist Journalist Spotted. WARNING LONG READ
First your premise that Golf is sexist because its male dominated. Why is it that whenever men want to keep a hobby to themselves its sexist, but whenever women want to keep a hobby female dominated its empowering? Pro-tip, the answer is not “the patriarchy”.
Next, using beauty, sexy outfits, and your body to promote golf and breakdown sexism is just inherently flawed. In fact you are doing the exact opposite and showing young girls that once again, being good at something isn’t enough, you also have to look good too. So instead we are just promoting sexism in the fact that women can only be looked up to if they are desirable.
Finally, I looked at Kira Kazantsev’s instagram and had to scroll way down until I hit the first picture of her golfing. The rest is just her in sexy outfits, expensive fashionable outfits, or her meeting famous people. Its all self promotion, just promoting her own brand. She may indeed like golf, but lets not pretend she actually thinks shes a role model to get girls interested in the game.
Are we really going to pretend people like Paige Spiranac are popular because they are good at golf? No its because she is incredibly sexy and also happens to play golf and seems like the perfect girl next door. I’m sure she is awesome, but again we are just promoting the same old “girls have to be pretty to be recognized”.
I’m honestly not sure what disappoints me more about this article, the fact you think its sexist that men have a hobby that they would like to keep mostly male dominated, or the fact that in trying to write a serious article that shows how women “are breaking down sexist barriers” you have written one of the more sexist articles I have read.
I am seriously disappointed this article was allowed to be posted on the front page. But I guess you have to get views somehow, and it got me talking. So Gold star there I suppose.
mlecuni
Mar 1, 2016 at 1:13 pm
beauty + social media, isnt’it sexist by nature ?
Was mrs johnson promoting golf by posing for a magazine ? was mrs thomson fighting sexism by posing in a very sexy way for this same paper ?
When does a girl playing golf is fighting sexism by posting selfies of herself half naked in bed or in mini short from behind ?
Does it promote golf in a good way for youngters ? does it promote the hard work of the Lpga and all ladies golf associations from around the world ?
When mrs rice arrived at augusta, she was fighting sexism not by her beauty nor her social media thing, she was fighting with her name made popular by her hard work for usa.
Want to fight sexism, ask real women athletes about it, show us their skills not their body.
Billy Jean
Mar 1, 2016 at 1:07 pm
it all went downhill when we allowed women to vote
Cyd
Mar 2, 2016 at 12:03 pm
Amen
M
Mar 1, 2016 at 10:26 am
How could you possibly say that PS or EL are role models for young girls? Wear super tight yoga shorts showing a ton of skin and hit a flop shot or two? If I had a daughter that is the exact opposite thing I would want to be pushing to her.
At least Blair O’Neal has played tournament golf at a pretty high level and Ms. Kazantsev is wearing normal, respectable golf clothing looking very pretty but still classy in the process. I agree that her pictures definitely make golf look appealing in some awesome locations with beautiful scenery.
The girls that should be “golf celebrities” are ones like Brooke Henderson who won her first LPGA event as a 17 yr old and plays a 48″ driver on tour or Christina Kim who has battled depression but has been open about it the last few years to help bring awareness to mental illness and help with her recovery.
Johnny
Mar 1, 2016 at 11:55 am
This post nails it!
PS and EL are far from being role models for young girls who are interested in golf. And to suggest that they are, is downright laughable. And equally laughable is to suggest that they are more popular than the leading money on the LPGA Tour.
In fact, I would say that the noted philosopher, John McEnroe summed it up pretty good when he said, “You cannot be serious!” Or something like that.
mlecuni
Mar 1, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Even a kid like Lucy Li at the us open conference, eating her icecream after her round, was promoting golf in a better way than all the girls from this article: combined.
Bogeypro
Mar 4, 2016 at 10:22 am
I agree. The examples used are not good. Dressing like a stripper and hitting flop shots to get noticed is not the example young girls need to follow. There are many other better examples for young women to follow.
MarkB A
Mar 1, 2016 at 10:14 am
I think young high school aged boys are worse then women. They have all the time in the world.
4pillars
Mar 1, 2016 at 10:07 am
If you want to look for female participator you should look at Germany, Austria and the Netherlands where over a third of participants are women.
This article will do nothing to increase female participation in the game.
And Japanese women golfers are far more attractive and better dressed anyway.
cody
Mar 1, 2016 at 10:06 am
worst day ever to try and get in a round is ladies day. It will end up taking 8+ hours while you stand in the fairway watching 4 women mill about as each one takes their turn on the green. No rush no consideration. I cringe when i walk up to the first tee and see a group of women ahead of me. Sorry just saying what is true.
Jordan
Mar 1, 2016 at 10:13 am
Plenty of male groups guilty of the same. I’ve got a lot of respect for the women that play at some of my local courses. And don’t leave putts short around them… they can talk trash with the best of them!
Philip
Mar 1, 2016 at 10:06 am
I’m not so sure that using beauty (sex) with social media is going to change attitudes towards women on the course in a positive way? Isn’t it the whole point that women want to be treated as individual as men, regardless of whether they are attractive or not. Attractive men face the same stereotypes as attractive women and I see social media as a vehicle to use that asset. I play golf with whoever is on the tee – men or women, I have some women golfers that I enjoy spending the day with and the same goes for men golfers. I don’t care if someone is a pretend single digit or a 25 handicap, just as long as we try to keep up with the group in front. There are days when I want to golf with the guys, drink beer and get away from women. Then there are other days I look forward to the company of women. But I have never thought someone can do or not do something based on their sex. Of course, I have had rounds with men who roll their eyes when a woman joins the group – I just move up to the forward tees and spend the day with her – their lose.
shimmy
Mar 1, 2016 at 12:08 pm
Women do wanted to be treated as individuals, and that includes using their sex appeal if they want to.
Capn
Mar 1, 2016 at 1:13 pm
Well said.