Scotland can proudly boast about being the “Home of Golf” with a rich heritage of play dating back six centuries and more courses per capita than any other country in the world.
This storied past is well documented. But what can Scottish Golf, the governing body for the club and amateur game, do to secure the sport’s future at grassroots level?
At present, great strides are being made to widen the game’s appeal with a particular focus on introducing more women and girls into the sport.
This builds on an overall growth in membership and participation in the post-Covid years. Since 2019, the total playing membership at clubs has grown by 18% to 220,000.
Golf is building from a position of strength and inspiring more women to get into golf lies at the heart of Scottish Golf’s new Women and Girls Strategy 2025-2035.
Supported by a new Women and Girls Development Manager and with funding to support innovative club-based initiatives, Scottish Golf is on the front foot when it comes to delivering on an ambition to increase female golf club membership by 50% over the next decade.
Scottish Golf’s Women and Girls Strategy 2025-2035
The strategy targets those most under-represented in golf to bring equity and growth to the game.
Currently, female players make up around 13% of golf club members in Scotland. There has been a clear recognition that more needs to be done to improve this statistic.
A new strategy was unveiled at last year’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links and has provided defined goals and direction.
There are five key work areas:
- To ensure women and girls have positive associations with the game
- To create more female leaders and role models for the future
- To provide equity of access and opportunity
- To develop clear pathways to retain players in the game
- To offer dedicated resource and a long-term vision for the sport
Women and Girls Development Manager
At the 2024 Scottish Golf AGM, affiliated members supported the governing body’s plans to grow the number of women and girls taking up the sport.
Following this show of support for grassroots golf, Jennifer Wilson (pictured right) took up a new post as Women and Girls Development Manager in April 2025 and hit the ground running.
Wilson had previously been in a development role with Scottish Rugby where she played her part in driving participation in what was historically viewed as a male-dominated sport.
“What attracted me to this role in golf was the opportunity to make a difference,” said Wilson
“It's about helping our affiliated clubs create an environment that will make people, who have previously never thought about golf, to consider it as an option.
“The great thing about golf is that it can provide different things to different people.
“One club ran a programme and three women from three different generations each took something different from the sessions.
“One wanted to play competitive sport again, another wanted to embrace a healthier lifestyle and get fit, and one woman was all about the social side of the game.
“That last point is a huge selling point for golf and is maybe something that we underplay.”
As a mum of two young kids, Wilson is also aware of the need to pique the interest of children – and sustain their interest so that they develop a lifelong love of the game.
She added: “I’m a great believer in talking about sport as a whole. Not men’s sport or women’s sport, just sport.
“I look at my daughter and think it’s amazing that she can now turn on the TV and see women playing all kinds of sports.
“I didn’t have that when I was growing up and it makes a huge difference.
“The more women we can get into clubs from all walks of life, ages and backgrounds the more it will encourage other women to think; ‘Yes, golf can be my game too.’”
Practical support for clubs: A new Women and Girls Coordinator Fund
It can still be difficult to dedicate resources and money to a club project even if the strategy is clear and the objectives defined. That is especially true for volunteer-led golf clubs.
“That’s why the launch of the Women and Girls Coordinator Fund has been so important,” added Wilson.
The fund supports the employment of full, or part time staff dedicated to membership growth and retention.
After an application process in autumn 2025, 12 clubs and two local authorities secured year one of Scottish Golf funding of up to £5k to complement club investment in the scheme which runs over three years.
“We hope that more clubs will embrace this idea when they see it in operation,” continued Wilson
“The great thing is that the club gets to decide what best fits their need.
“We’re not here to dictate a ‘one size fits all’ policy. We want to support clubs as they tailor the role to meet their own very specific requirements.
“The two local authorities who successfully applied for funding already host programmes for women at municipal facilities.
“Now we want to make sure that what they do also connects in with local clubs.”
Positive early signs of growth
Although the strategy was only launched last summer, statistics for 2025 are indicative of positive times ahead of the women’s game in Scotland helped by a clear strategy for development.
- The number of rounds posted for handicap purposes by females in 2025 was 198,847 (a rise of 24,311 or 14%)
- Female membership figures for 2025 grew by 1.6%
- Participation in Girls Golf Hubs – entry level classes for junior girls – soared by 29%.
Wilson added:
“We want to increase female membership to 38,000 by 2035 – that would represent a 50% rise from where we stand today.
“Ambitious? Yes. Achievable? I believe so as we begin to build momentum and work in close collaboration with our affiliated clubs.”
