Junior Golf for Girls

Why girls leave, and why they stay

Only 11% of junior golf club members in England are girls (Golf Foundation, 2024 figure). Girls who do start face the same pressures that take teenage girls out of every sport.

Source: Women in Sport, Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls (2022), a survey of 4,000 teenagers funded by Sport England. It covers all sport, not golf specifically.

Golf research points the same way. A panel of golf experts ranked "friends are not playing" as the biggest single barrier to young people staying in golf, and cited figures of about five junior girls per club on average (Bailey et al., International Journal of Golf Science). Research with young women golfers found that support from parents, friends, coaches and the club itself was what kept them playing (Relatedness support and the retention of young female golfers).

Girls don't leave golf because they're not good enough, or because they stop enjoying competing. More often it's feeling watched, judged or alone. Those are things parents and clubs can change.

Stage by stage: what's different for girls

The Junior Journey's five stages apply to girls exactly as they do to boys. What changes is the timing of growth and the social pressures.

The key window is Years 6 to 9 (ages 10–14). Secondary school, growth, periods and friendship changes all arrive at once. It's where a parent's support counts most.

Body, growth and periods

Periods are one of the biggest reasons teenage girls avoid sport: 78% say they do. Golf has some practical challenges, such as four hours on a course with few toilets, and they're easy to plan around. Parents who plan for this openly remove one of the quietest reasons girls stop.

• Talk about it before it's an issue. A two-minute conversation about what she'd need on a competition day makes it normal.
• Know where the toilets are. Most courses have facilities at the clubhouse and sometimes around the turn. Check the course planner or ask the club before a competition.
• Pack a small kit in a zipped bag pocket: period products, spare underwear, painkillers she's used before, and a snack.
• Clothing she's confident in. Dark shorts, skorts or trousers are an easy choice. Rules on clothing are about neatness, not colour.
• She can still play. For most girls, periods don't need to mean missing golf. If periods are very painful or heavy, or regularly stop her playing, see your GP.

Growth

• The growth spurt usually comes earlier for girls, typically at around 10–12 (London Bridge Sports Medicine). Recheck club length sooner, and expect a temporary dip in consistency.
• Eat enough to play well. Four hours of golf and a growing body need proper fuel. Make breakfast and snacks part of the routine, not something to skip.
• Strength training is for girls too. Strength and mobility work helps girls exactly as it does boys, with the same need for qualified supervision.

Clubs, tees and clothing

Clubs

Most junior sets are unisex, and the rule is the same for girls: size by height, never by age. Use the sizing calculator and the club reviews.

• Colour isn't trivial. If a set she likes the look of makes her want to play, that's a legitimate reason to choose it, as long as it fits.
• The teenage move to adult clubs is different for girls. Most girls move to women's clubs, which are usually shorter and lighter, with softer shafts. A proper fitting with a PGA Professional matters more than the brand.
• Don't hand down a brother's set without checking length, weight and grip size.

Tees

Girls play from forward tees, and that's the correct course, not an easier one. Under the World Handicap System, each set of tees has its own rating, so a handicap means the same from any tees. Competitions specify which tees girls play, so check the entry details in the competition finder.

Clothing

Confidence matters more than anything else here. 73% of teenage girls say being watched puts them off sport. Clothing she feels good in makes that easier.

• Most clubs accept skorts, tailored shorts, trousers, leggings designed for golf, and collared or mock-neck tops. Check the club's dress code before the first visit so there are no surprises.
• Layers and a waterproof make a four-hour round in British weather far more bearable.
• Girls' golf clothing is expensive and outgrown fast. Use the marketplace to buy and sell.

Finding girls' golf near you

The easiest first step in England is a free Girls Golf Rocks taster. England Golf's programme runs girls-only sessions for girls aged 5–18, in 26 counties this year, at around 200 host clubs and facilities (England Golf session finder, Golf Foundation). Tasters are free and usually last an hour, and many clubs follow them with a six-week coaching course.

In Scotland and Wales, start with Scottish Golf or Wales Golf, or ask your nearest club what it offers girls.

What to look for in a club:

• More than one or two girls in the junior section, or a girls' group she can join
• A coach who runs girls-only or mixed sessions where girls aren't outnumbered
• Junior or forward tees in use on the course
• A welcoming women's section. Girls who see women playing at their club have role models on the doorstep
• Clear junior and safeguarding policies, and a named welfare officer
• Junior membership priced for families, with a route to play the course

Competing and pathways

The girls' pathway runs from club junior events to national championships, with its own events and standards at every level.

Find girls' events in the competition finder.

Beyond junior golf

Stirling alone has produced 10 Curtis Cup players and a Solheim Cup captain (University of Stirling). Girls, boys, women and men are all ranked on the same World Amateur Golf Ranking, so the Junior Journey's Stage 5 advice on getting "on WAGR" applies equally.

The honest point for parents: a smaller field is not an easier route, but it is a more open one. With fewer girls competing, a committed girl can find county and regional squads within reach sooner than she expects.

Role models: they started where she is

England's best women golfers came through the same pathway: club junior, county, national girls' events.

Two of these three won the same Girls' Amateur Championship listed above. Two were started by their dads at a local club. None of them was a finished golfer at 12.