I remember this like it was yesterday…not the dates, but the round of golf.

January 1993(ish?) – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

My parents lived in Myrtle Beach for about ten years back in the ’90s. My Dad had decided that he was tired of the high tech world and went back to school to earn a degree to become a Golf Course Superintendent. While he was chipping away at that degree my Mom found work at Deer Track Golf Course just south of Myrtle Beach. Anytime someone you know works in the golf industry there are generally some perks…my Mom’s perk included sweet talking her boss into letting her son play a little golf. The Head Professional thought I would be a great match for one of his students and suggested we could play and practice together since that student had the pro circuit in their sights.

I went to the golf course that day wondering what I’d gotten myself into. It sounded like this guy was pretty good if he was planning on playing professionally. It was a quiet day at the course so I headed over to the 1st tee because it was only a couple of minutes before tee off. It was there that I met my playing partner for the first time…Katie…a girl.

I was playing the back tees on a regular basis during that time and I remember thinking…

*It wouldn’t be polite to play the back tees when she’s ALL the way up at the Ladies Tee…I’ll just play the white tees….that’s a good idea.*

So, I walked with Katie up to the Whites – and we each grabbed our drivers out of the bag.

“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting ready to tee off” she said.
“From here?” with an incredulous look on my face while pointing at the White tee blocks.
“Yeah, I always play from here” Katie said.
“Oh…um…well… then I’m going back there.” – I pointed across the pond to the back tees.
“Ok.” she said.

I walked back to the tee and had a lot of self talk going on. I had never, ever met a girl golfer who played from the whites….It had never been done…..Who is this Katie…..Don’t look like an idiot…..You’ll beat her…..You better beat her….What happens if you don’t beat her?

Hole 1 – Katie birdies. Matt birdies. No talking.
Hole 2 – Katie birdies. Matt birdies. “Nice putt” said by both.
Hole 3 – Katie birdies. Matt birdies. Compliments back and forth. We chat walking beside each other up the fairway. She’s a teacher (memory’s fuzzy on that) who picked up golf 3 years ago – figured out she was talented. Hired a coach and decided to play full time – goal was to be on the Futures Tour in a year. She already had some sponsors so she could just practice/play and chase her dream. She tells me I’m pretty good. All I can think about is that I’m 3 under after 3 and nervous as hell and she’s 3 under and doesn’t look or sound like she’s nervous at all. I’m wondering how long I can keep this charade going. I’m not this good. But, I’m still thinking I should beat her.
Hole 4 (Par 3) – Matt’s tee shot to about 25 feet. Katie’s tee shot hit’s the pin and finishes a foot from the hole. Matt pars. Katie birdies.

The rest of the round is a bit of a blur. We each ended up with 71′s for the day.

I got over the whole boy/girl thing. Katie became just a golfer after the 4th hole. We spent quite a bit of time talking about girls involvement in golf. There were very few of them whether we were talking about competitive players or just players playing for fun. I told her I’d only ever known 1 junior girl golfer, Paula Tansley (daughter of Gerry and Judy Tansley). Katie said that was a problem. She asked me how I thought Paula might feel being the only girl…No girls to play with. She asked me if I’d ever played with Paula and I quickly said I had not. Katie asked me why and I told her the truth. One, she was a girl who was pretty and asking her to play would be as tough as asking her out (I was a young teenager at the time) and two, what if she beat me. Katie certainly had an opinion about that and she even understood where I was coming from – it made sense.

That day with Katie stuck with me after I became a Golf Professional later that same year (1993). I made a commitment to myself, then, in 1993, to promote the game to girls – encourage girls to play the game – and if I happened to see talent I would do whatever I could to help. In fact, it was that commitment which led to a little secret which has been under the radar at Rideau View since 2007….The Girls Club.

Mary Jo Heyes (mother of Ali Heyes, 2008 RV Women’s Club Champion) and I put together a Girls Club program which would bring girls together to give the game of golf a try. The clinics were held on a Wednesday at Rideau View during a “dead” period on the range because of the crossover tee times. The idea – target girls who were not currently involved in the sport or who had limited exposure – get them together with other girls who were in the same boat and host a golf clinic. We would play games and do activities that were non golf specific, the girls would interact and develop friendships while they were having fun at a “golf clinic.” Golf would be the common denominator for the friendship that were made. We thought that might be the recipe that had been missing and so far…..we’re right.

Many of the Girls Club members have become members of Rideau View. In fact, our junior girls program is thriving to the point where we don’t want the Girls Club to be a secret any longer. We’re planning a season long once a week clinic with several on course outings during the summer and even a Girls Only golf camp the last week of July.

For more information about the Girls Club check out http://ottawagirlsclubgolf.com/online/

Thanks Katie.

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