Girls Gone Clubbin' encourages women to play golf
BOSTON - Sara Velardi has been playing golf for five years. Out on the course, something kept sticking out to her.
"There's just such a lack of women in the sport of golf, especially younger women. I think it's a really a dominated male sport," said Velardi.
In 2020, she got the idea to start "Girls Gone Clubbin" as a way to encourage other women to play the sport.
"It started off as a Facebook group and it grew from scratch golfers all the way to golfers who have never owned clubs and we just really empower everybody to get out on the course," said Velardi.
The goal of the Boston-based group is to provide a judgment free zone and make learning the game less intimidating for beginners.
"Before I got into Girls Gone Clubbin' it was kind of like where do I even start, I'm so new, I don't want to get out there and embarrass myself," said Gabrielle Kohlar, resident of South Boston and member of the club.
"What I realized since this club is how many women want to golf and just want people to golf with," said Jennifer Bentley of Cambridge.
The club has events throughout the year, including a scramble tournament, "Sip and Swings" on Wednesdays, and "Nine before Nine" on Fridays.
"I went to the first 'Sip and Swing' night that they have and it was so fun. The girls are all so positive so I was like I need to dive in as much as I can," said Lexi Palumbo of Middleton.
At this year's scramble tournament at Newton Commonwealth Golf Course, 72 women participated, double the number from last year and a promising sign as the group hopes to continue to drive more women to the golf course.
"We just need to get more women out on the course and to feel comfortable and I think it's great for professionalism and it's great for networking," said Velardi.