More women executives forging links via golf
More female executives are using golf to meet and land clients, but the sand trap of discrimination still lies in wait
By Joyce Pellino Crane, Globe Correspondent, 9/21/03
When businesswoman Dianne Durkin is looking to pick up new clients for her Portsmouth, N.H.-based consulting firm, Loyalty Factor, she plays golf - a game she learned at age 10 and looks forward to playing every chance she gets.
Her strategy is simple: She approaches the first tee by herself and gets matched with other players to make a foursome.
It was on the fairways three years ago that she met the chief executive of a Boston-based technology company. The meeting led to a business relationship that benefited them both: The business executive hired her to help him manage his company, and she subsequently asked him to join the advisory board of her firm.
''On the 17th hole one of the men asked what I do for a living,'' she recalled. ''I said, 'I help executives like you make money for their companies and themselves.' He handed me his card and said: 'Call me tomorrow.' ''
Durkin, who plays at the Wentworth-By-the-Sea Country Club in Rye, N.H., has an edge that many female executives do not: She plays golf. Nationally, 26.2 million people play golf but only 5.76 million, or 22 percent, are women, according to the National Golf Foundation.
''I love golf and I use golf in my business,'' Durkin said. Durkin represents a small segment of female executives who understand how influential the game can be in the work world and how to use its social aspects to advantage. Golf can help women nurture business and work relationships, agrees Colette Phillips, president and chief executive of Colette Phillips Communications in Needham.
''It's an important part of socializing and networking within the sphere of business,'' said Phillips.
Phillips said she frequently participates in clinics offered nationwide by golf professional Jane Blalock. The clinics are a way to introduce more women to golf.
''I'm still learning the game, but at least I'm in the game,'' Phillips said.
Golf is a game played with a social undercurrent of motive and objective by corporate decision makers. Some use it to conduct business or court clients. Others say they want nothing to do with business when they're on the green. But most agree that the game is a critical part of corporate culture and knowing how to play is an asset.
And as women become more involved in the sport, they can leverage the networking they do on the course to advance both in business and in the workplace.
''You can't sit around and wait for careers to happen,'' Phillips said. ''You have to make it happen.''
Woman golfers are a common sight on many courses. But Blalock, who has been playing professionally for more than three decades, has witnessed a slow change in the attitude toward women on the green.
''When I played golf from 1969 to 1986, it was a white male sport,'' said Blalock, president of the Women's Senior Golf Tour. ''All the corporate decision-makers were white males. But that's where I've seen the big change. Now when I play in these events, I'm seeing about 20 percent women and 4 to 5 percent minorities.''
Blalock, a former Ladies Professional Golf Association player and current president of the Boston-based Jane Blalock Co., a sports management company that produces golf events, is attempting to establish an annual senior women's professional golf tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Briar Cliff Manor, N.Y. She notes that not all private golf clubs have greeted women players with open arms.
''In some cases we're still dealing with the old-boys' network,'' she said. ''Women want to learn to play golf because of relationships and the corporate cultures, but it's difficult for them to join the clubs, and if they do join the clubs, a number of the clubs make it difficult for them to play.''
One club that has drawn fire for discriminating against women is the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. The club has a men-only membership policy that raised the ire of officials at the Washington, D.C.-based National Council of Women's Organizations. Council chairwoman Martha Burk staged a high-profile protest against the club during the Masters Tournament played there last April. The outspoken women's equity specialist targeted corporate top brass who are members there.
''Even though Augusta National did not open its doors to women this year, I think it will eventually be forced to do that,'' she said in a phone interview. ''I think women are making a lot of progress. The major impact that we have had so far is to point out the unacceptability of being associated with this type of sexual discrimination for top people in top companies.''
Phone calls to several private clubs in Massachusetts yielded sparse information about gender policies.
Penny Petronzio, club manager at the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, said she could not offer any information, although she confirmed the club has female members who are ''fully privileged,'' meaning they are entitled to desirable tee times such as weekend mornings.
Mike Bailey of the Brae Burn Country Club in Newton said the club reserves the most desirable tee times for full-privilege holders, but does not distinguish between men and women.
David Chag of the Country Club in Brookline confirmed that there are no discriminatory policies there, but would give out no further information. Sandy Healy, golf shop manager, at Wentworth-By-the-Sea Country Club,) said tee times are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve reservation system that has no gender bias.
Scott Gleason, president of the Haverhill Country Club, which four years ago lost a discrimination lawsuit brought by nine women golfers, did not return calls seeking comment.
The newly opened Black Rock Country Club in Hingham reserves the best tee times for the family member designated as the primary member.
''It can be either spouse and it can also change from year to year,'' said George McGoldrick, president of Black Rock.
Sally Driscoll, 36, managing partner of Norwell-based J. Barry Driscoll Insurance Agency, plays golf about four times a week at the Wollaston Golf Club in Milton. For her, golf is an important part of business.
Last Monday she was on her way to play in a tournament that would put her face to face with a prospective business client.
''The way I grow my business is by getting introductions to business owners,'' she said. ''A friend knew I was working to establish a business relationship with the prospect and he invited me.''
Driscoll put the game's value in perspective.
''A lot of women are intimidated by the game of golf,'' she said. ''If you go out and enjoy it and understand the etiquette, you can use it as a business tool. Golf is a great way to socialize and to meet business people.''
Joyce Pellino Crane can be reached at crane@globe.com.
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