GOLF AUSTRALIA NEWS
WOMEN
GROWING
THE GAME
by Golf Australia
Susie Mathews working at Kooyonga.
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2018,
we sat down with Susie Mathews, Andrea
McGann and Zahara Lemon to discuss how we
attract more women to golf, ensure they have
great experiences and keep them loving the
game. Andrea, also a fitness instructor with 20 clients
who see her weekly, has had more than 200
women through her Swing Fit programs. She
has just returned from the Hunter Valley,
where she took 21 of her Swing Fit ‘graduates’
for three days of fun, including plenty of golf.
Susie is a PGA professional and all-abilities
coach based at Kooyonga Golf Club in South
Australia, Andrea is a community instructor
and Swing Fit deliverer at multiple venues in
Sydney’s eastern suburbs, while Tasmanian
representative player Zahara, still in her teens,
is a community instructor who delivers MyGolf
and Swing Fit programs at Kingston Beach Golf
Club. For Andrea, these trips are a natural extension
of the on-course days she regularly hosts the
women who come through her program and
highlight what golf has to offer.
What strikes you first about these three
women is their passion for the game. More
than that though, the enjoyment they get from
sharing their love of golf is palpable. There’s
also an understated, quiet pride in what they
are achieving, so it’s nice to be able to sing
their praises on such an important day. From Day 1, they are part of what I call
#TeamSwingFit. I hold their hands and give
them encouragement. From there, the
friendships flourish and they’re hooked. I think
that’s the main reason word-of-mouth is the
most common way people find my programs!”
26
I GOLF MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA
I
“The golf journey can feel daunting to some, so
the women in my programs are nurtured and
encouraged from the moment they arrive,”
explains McGann.
Andrea seeks to strike a balance between fun
AUTUMN EDITION 2018