I speak to people all over the country in my role as the president of Women on Course. Several times a week I am inevitably asked, “So, how often to you get to play golf”. My answer is usually, ”Not as much as I’d like.” Occasionally there is that rare day during the winter hibernation when I see an opportunity to grab my clubs and play a round of golf. Unfortunately today is not that day as the Washington DC area is hit with a record breaking snowstorm. I’ll have to choose my shovel over my 5 iron : )
I came across this video on YouTube. I only have eight things to say when I watch it: WOW! Are you kidding me? She is Awesome. The guy must be totally NUTS!!! The people standing around the guy must be totally NUTS!! WOW. Did she practice that shot! How do you practice that shot?
Women on Course held the First Annual 3-Day Get-Away at The Doral Resort in Miami with kick-off starting on Friday, January 22. I hadn’t been on a trip like this with Women on Course and it was the first one WOC had done so I simply didn’t know what to expect.
The week-end was just a total smash! I had so much fun and the WOC team created an amazing experience. Let me just make this easy on you: surprise gifts every night, a fashion show, pool-side reception, golf at The Doral, Andree Martin (great golf instructor!!), South Beach, food, wine, laughter. Put all this together and I made wonderful friends, the ladies were able to work out the kinks in their swings (how to work around the TaTa’s was a common issue), we ate wonderful food, drank even more fabulous wine. I made one heck of a bunker shot that landed INCHES from the flag, and I beat some local South Beach guys at pool – with the help of my partner, Donna Hoffman, founder of Women on Course!
Andree Martin - golf instructor
The whole week-end was casual and classy all the way. It was just want I needed on every level and I can’t wait for the next one. There is simply nothing like the power of women and the special magic that happens when Women On Course brings us all together. What a way to kick off 2010!
Ethel Funches, center, appears at a trophy presentation in 1953.
I came across the obituary of Ethel P. Funches this past Sunday in The Washington Post and I immediately became fascinated by Mrs. Funches and the incredible role she has played in golf history. Ethel was a cafeteria manager at a high school in Washington DC in the 1950’s and 1960’s and she was also one of the most phenomenal women golfers ever to play the game. Her catch phrase was “My name is Ethel P. Funches. The ‘P’ is for powerful”. And, powerful is an understatement.
In 1940 she joined Wake Robin Golf Club which is quite possibly the oldest black women’s golf club in the country. Wake Robin was formed four years earlier in 1936 by 13 black women in home of Helen Webb Harris. They were tired of staying at home on the week-ends while their husbands played golf. Ethel had the same mind set: she was not going to sit around the house while Eugene played golf and she insisted he teach her to play.
At this time in Washington, DC there was only one public, nine-hole course were blacks could play. The only blacks welcome at country club courses were carrying bags, serving food or cleaning the bathrooms. The women of Wake Robin weren’t looking to get into country clubs – they just wanted on the golf course and the road to the desegregation of public golf courses was not an easy one. The only organization for professional black golfers was the United Golfers Association (UGA) which was organized in the 1920s because the PGA had a by-law stating that it was “for members of the caucasian race.” Once this bylaw was repealed in the early 1960s and black golfers were allowed to enter the PGA, the United Golf Association ceased to exist.
Now, back to Ethel. Ethel became one of the best female golfers of our time. She won seven national titles and more UGA championships than anyone during the club’s existence. Ethel won so many amateur tournaments between 1950 – 1980 she could barely house the trophies. Eugene ended up becoming her caddie and they traveled around the country playing tournaments. She didn’t just beat the women either. Rumor has it that a man was being less than kind in his remarks about women golfers so Ethel played him. She had five consecutive birdies and shot the course one under par. Take that! I would have loved to have seen that gentleman sulking way after that round!
When I was reading about Ethel, I just love her moxie. I can’t imagine the challenges she (and the other women of Wake Robin) faced: discrimination for their race and discrimination in a sport for their race AND their sex. Ethel “P for Powerful” totally overcame all of that with the love of the game, talent and a type of attitude and strength that we all should be thankful for. We don’t have to fight these battles because women like Ethel did. And Eugene! What a great guy: welcomed his wife into his sport, taught her how to play and then carried her bag. My kinda man!
I have heard a lot of (unfair) criticism of women golfers: they play to slow, they aren’t any good, they are too giggly. Some of the criticism is just that they are women and they are golfing! How dare they intrude into the male bastion!!! And, some women are slow and some are giggly and some aren’t any good. Fair enough. Just like the same holds true for men. I’ve played golf with a lot of men where the only “drive” they could execute was driving me crazy with their bad behavior. I won’t get started on my soapbox of the amount of time men spend looking for their golf ball in the woods. However, there is a sneaky, snarky, nasty, catty part of me (yes, I admit to all of those and more) that just can’t resist the opportunity to dog a man on bad etiquette. I’m like a kid in a candy shop or Tiger Woods at a convention of Vegas cocktail waitresses: I can’t help myself!
So, take a look at these pictures and tell me what’s wrong – and if you want to include any of your own personal stories, I’d love to hear them!
Yesterday was Ellen DeGeneres’ birthday and she celebrated on her show with a line up of the biggest and best of her friends. One of the highlights for me was Harry Connick, Jr. Harry is smoking hot handsome, immensely talented, has that sexy southern boy accent that can melt butter and a fabulous sense of humor. Naturally, the combination of Harry and Ellen was delightful – they made me laugh out loud!
For Ellen’s birthday, Harry tried to hit a golf ball through pictures of his face and if he did, everyone in the audience got a set of the Callaway Solaire Clubs. Now, Harry was trying to hit the balls right handed and he is a lefty, but in the interest of protecting the audience, he tried his best. Needless to say, he didn’t quite nail it. However, Ellen pulled out what appeared to be a 3-wood and………………….well, watch the video!!
Happy Birthday to Ellen, Good Work to Harry and BRAVO to Callaway for their generous gift of golf clubs!
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