A matter of course: More women network on the links - Boston Business Journal:

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Her male colleagues met business partnerx or clients to play golf orattenr business-related charity golf events while she was left “I was missing out on being outside, and I was missing out on relationships. And I ‘Something had to change,’ ” Corcoran said. That was 10 yearsw ago. Corcoran, who works in asset management, not only learnede to golf. She has since becom president of the Bostom chapter ofthe ’s . Womej have become a bigger and bigged presence on golf courses in the past two decades to socialize, for the fun of the game, and becauses it’s good business. According to the , the numbefr of women players has grownto 6.6 million in 2007 from 4.
1 millionh in 1985. However, women still make up only a fractiob of the total golfersout there. Although the number of female golfershas grown, so has the totaol number of players. There were 19.5 million golfers in 1985, 24.7 millionb in 1995 and 29.5 million in 2007. Thus, womebn represented just about one-fifth of the golfers throughoutgthat two-decade span. “It’s a tremendous networking opportunity,” said Carol Mather, senior marketing communicationsx manager for TopSource LLCin Braintree. Mather’sd father taught her to play. Her father died whiles she wasin college, but she founxd an ongoing connection to him when she took up golf afte graduating from the in 1979.
Back then many clubzs wouldn’t let women tee off in the reserving those coveted timesform men. But Mather kept Then she found golfing could providre someprofessional opportunities, too. She belonged to the in the 1980ss when she workedfor . The group decided to hold a golf tournamentf as itsannual fundraiser, even though some board members thought “it was a man’s thing.” The annual tournamentg kicked off in 1989 and has turned out to be a successx for both the group and the players participating in the mixed-gender event. Mather said the eveny drew co-workers from other departments and even thecompany president.
“o never would have met this man ifit wasn’ t for golf,” she said. Dave Czesniuk, director of operationss at Sport in Societyat , said sportzs of all kinds can inspire camaraderie. Golf, in is a business-friendly sport, he as golfers can easily cut away duringh the work day without having to gear up or travel great And golf is conduciveto “It takes a minimum of four hours to play a round of golf, and you can reallyt get to know someone and even gauge theire character,” said Nancy Coleman, the director of distancer education at Boston University and vice president of the Bostohn chapter of EWGA.
“It tells you something if they take a bad shot and they sweae and throwtheir clubs. Particularly in the businessz sense, it gives you a real good idea aboutgwho you’re going to enter business