Inspiring Golf Inclusion aims to provide pathways for women and girls to discover golf, as its architect Julia Regis explains…
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
Be the change you want to see. The seven words which stand out in startling bold type on the Inspiring Golf Inclusion website aren’t a pithy mantra.
For Julia Regis, they are a declaration of intent – a succinct statement of what she has spent much of her life trying to achieve.
As a renowned business consultant, leadership trainer and inspirational speaker, she has worked with boards and organisations to enhance their equity, equality, diversity and inclusion programmes in a way that matters.
She is a regular conference speaker, guiding delegates on how to achieve excellence in leadership and how to remove limitations for women.
And she has been at the forefront of charities and programmes that have helped open pathways to hundreds of young people to play sport.
Her impact on golf has been dramatic. Introduced to the game by her late husband Cyrille Regis, the former West Bromwich Albion, Coventry and England footballer, Julia has strived to increase the representation of black women in the sport.
She has introduced more than 250 women to golf through regular grassroots initiatives.
And, through Inspiring Golf Inclusion, she has developed an incredible vehicle to share the opportunities golf can provide with others.
Inspiring Golf Inclusion is dedicated to empowering women and girls, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds.
It aims to break down barriers, foster inclusivity, and provide accessible pathways for new players to engage with the game.
“It came about on the back of introductory sessions I’d been hosting – mainly in the Midlands – to introduce more women and girls, and particularly black women and girls, to golf,” said Regis.
“That wasn’t exclusively the case but, unapologetically, I wanted to see more women that looked like me getting involved in golf.
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“One of the women who came along was Nikki Tapper. She’s a BBC West Midlands radio presenter. She took up golf. She loved it and did some research about black women in golf.
“She came across Dr Renee Powell, who was only the second African American woman to play on the LPGA Tour. She managed to connect with her and do an interview for her show.
“They talked about how she got into golf. Renee had also spent seven years in the UK and had never seen another black woman playing golf.
“She sent me the loveliest of messages – ‘l’d love to come and see you and play golf with you and meet some of the women’.
“So I started planning what an event could look like.”
It was staged on International Women’s Day in March last year at The Belfry. Dr Powell was the star guest in an event also supported by Sky Sports Golf presenter Henni Zuel and Olympic gold medallist, and BBC athletics pundit, Denise Lewis.
“The theme was inspiring inclusion,” Regis added. “We just filled the day with coaching and classes for women and girls. Denise led a group of golfers out that morning too, which was fantastic.
“I had never seen 15 black women teeing it up in the UK at the same. I’d never seen it anywhere. It was really groundbreaking, an amazing moment, and a very emotional moment.
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“It’s not until you’re in that moment you realise it’s needed and it was absent. It was really special. A young 11-year-old golfer came running up to me the next morning at breakfast, with the biggest smile and told me how much she loved the day and that she had never met any other women or girls that looked like her in golf. Representation really does matter, we have seen that first-hand.
“The evening event was open to everyone. We had a room full of people from different backgrounds, all different ethnicities, who were just there to be part of a conversation that would grow the game and to hear the story of an icon of the game.
“From there, we decided to formalise what we had been doing in previous years around running the taster sessions and introducing more women to golf. That’s where Inspiring Golf Inclusion was born.”
The community is growing. A recent event at London’s Bush Hill Park saw 13 black women tee it up, while another group attended a clinic for the first time.
With pathways developing, opportunities arising, and doors opening, Regis said a key part of the message now had to be to break down some of the perceptions that still predominate about golf as a sport.
“Until you step into that environment, you may still have some of the ideas about golf being elitist and only for older, white, wealthy men because that was the perception, if we’re honest. That’s no longer the case based on my experience,” she explained.
“But we need to bring people in to see that the perception once held is no longer a reality, and we can’t just wait for them to come and knock on the door.
“We should be opening the door and saying, ‘come in’. I think too many golf clubs wait until people come.
“Somebody once said to me, ‘why do you need to run these events? Anyone can join any golf club they want to. What’s the issue?’
“I explained that they were missing the point. Golf has historically been an excluding sport. It’s golf’s responsibility to ensure it’s being proactive in opening the door and making the invitation.”
To find out more about Inspiring Golf Inclusion, visit the website.
On course picture of Julia courtesy of Vincent Bell media
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
Get involved in the debate. To join the GCMA, click here, or to organise a call with a member of the GCMA team, just complete this form and we’ll be in touch!
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