"Women grab their clubs" -- July 27, 2006

BY CALEB BREAKEY
THE OLYMPIAN

Lacey -- B.J. Williams doesn't want to play golf with the latest British Open winner - not on Tuesdays, at least.

Williams would rather be teeing off with the 29 other women in her Ladies Golf Club at The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie, where she said competition is choice and socialization guaranteed. It's one of at least eight women's golf groups at South Sound courses.

"I don't want to play with Tiger Woods, because it would be very embarrassing," Williams, the Hawks Prairie women's club president, said with a laugh. "We're recreational enough that we like to compete, but we never make any money at it. Our (reason) is for fun."

The Hawks Prairie women's club uses 3- to 30-stroke handicaps so that its members can play in tournaments throughout the year, which are put on by associations such as the Tacoma Women's Golf Association.

While Williams said the club is about friendships, she added, "we have some darn good golfers, too."

About half of the club's golfers play in tournaments, but Williams said its members aren't obligated to play golf competitively.

The club, whose members typically are 40 years old or older, plays at 9 a.m. Tuesdays on two 18-hole golf courses at Hawks Prairie, the Links Course and the Woodlands Course.

Each week, the club heads to the course and plays a game, such as low putts, low net or low gross, Williams said. They also play in a club championship for women at Hawks Prairie.

That's enough competition for some of the club's members.

"Just the fact that you're in a group and playing an organized, every-Tuesday event - that is competing in itself," Williams said. "Then if you want to go a step farther and compete in a club championship or something, that's a choice."

Dian Cox, president of the Tumwater Valley Municipal Golf Course Ladies Golf Club, said her club draws names to pair the members into teammates for a day.

The Hawks Prairie Ladies Club's Tuesday morning golf turns into lunch or a Coke in the afternoon, when the club chats about grandchildren, jobs or what they did on the weekend.

Karen Fuller, co-president of the Delphi Ladies Golf Club, said members of her club have known each other for several years and meet for breakfast instead of golf when the weather turns sour.
Williams, who played 94 rounds of golf last year, said more women would join a club if they knew what it entails: friendship, socialization and an improving golf game.

"Some women have tried golfing but really don't have friends who golf," she said. "Every Tuesday, I can get up in the morning, and if I want to go play golf, I know that I'm going to find friends to play with. You end up playing more golf than if you just sat around and waited for a call."

Members of the Hawks Prairie Ladies Club practice and know the rules of the game, Williams said, noting that joining such a club isn't the place to start for beginning golfers.

Knowing the rules and etiquette of golf is an "honor thing" - respecting the game and other players - she said.

Williams, who's played golf for six years, said several of the club's members are retired.

"Even if you retire at 60 or 65, you can pick up golf if you want to," she said. "You're not going to beat someone that's 30 years old, but you can certainly golf, and you can certainly golf competitively."

Lynn Nielsen, president of the Capitol City Golf Course Ladies Golf Club, said her club has golfers of all abilities and ages.

"There's always a golf game out there and people to play with," she said. "Good friendships and socialization and a chance to compete. If they can hit the ball reasonably down the fairway, we would like them to come join us."