When You See Us at a Tournament, Don't Call Us Groupies!

I found this while looking at pictures from the Zurich- can you spot the two non-groupies arriving at the tournament?

In the past six months Jessica and I have been to three PGA Tournaments; the Justin Timberlake Shriners, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and just two weeks ago the Zurich Classic. It's how we choose to vacation, we save up our money and time, shop around for the best travel deals, get people to cover us at work and upset all of our family and friends by chattering non-stop about it, then we go. We spend every day, all day on the course- we don't care to sit around in the clubhouse all day and sip drinks, we prefer to either sit at a hole or follow certain groups. There is an ever growing list of guys we follow, golfers that are either our buddies or we just happen to like them for one reason or another, and we know all about them- their stats, their swings, how long they've been on the tour, if they've ever been yelled at for walking in some one's back swing... the point is, we're fans- we know them. When they play well we're psyched, when we see them Double Bogey what should have been an Eagle putt on 18 we're bummed.

I get that we're somewhat of a rarity- we're two blonds walking around a course mostly full of middle age business men. There are plenty of Golf Wives/Girlfriends, but especially in the early days of a tournament us single ladies are few and far in between. (Which, by the way, needs to change. According to the internet there are plenty of lady golf fans! Where you at, ladies???) Look, I'm not complaining here, I've never been one to mind being a focus of attention and I can definitely attribute most of our cool experiences to being a standout during a tournament. It's fun and flattering, and Jessica and I often find ourselves giggling over a free drink or when a pro tosses us a water bottle or when someone asks which golfer we're with. It doesn't set women back a few decades to say that, and I believe we (as women) have advanced enough that we can say, with our post-feminist banners raised high, that we will use our gender to our advantage even if it means being a bit silly from time to time.

That being said, not being taken seriously starts to get annoying. I can't even tell you how many times we've said "No, we actually like golf..." when asked why we're really spending our vacation at a tournament. And then we hear it- "Oh, so you're like golf groupies." I think that most of the time men don't fully realize they're insinuating that Jessica and I go to golf tournaments just to fawn over the golfers and (hopefully!) sleep with them and maybe even get them to buy us stuff or invite us to go on tour with them or whatever, but it's a bit insulting nonetheless, especially for Jessica who is happily, happily married. Not to mention its insulting to the golfer's relationships. Here's the other thing- somehow being a girl means that you have a crush on whoever your favorite golfer is. It's a very strange thing, and I find myself wanting to make a little announcement at the tee- "Excuse me everyone, I would just like to let you all know that I do, in fact, like the game of golf and I have an appropriate amount of affection for Charley Hoffman. I'm not looking for anything special, I just want to watch an athlete I admire play a game I love. Thank you for your attention- have a good day."

If you attend tournaments often, chances are at some point in the future you'll see Jessica and I soaking up the sun and taking in the golf. We are currently plotting and scheming (something we do a lot of) different ways to find ourselves at a lot more tourneys (think Business Opportunity). Come talk to us! We love making friends with fellow golf fans, and we're always happy to talk golf. But please don't call us groupies, we're just like you- fans.