Getting in the Game: Putting Golf at the Forefront of Your Networking Toolbox

Research suggests that networking is imperative for career success in business, particularly in industries like sales and marketing. Success in the sales industry is directly tied to the ability to network and build relationships. One of the key goals of this article was to shed light on the relationship between women, business, and golf as a potential networking tool. There are many people who believe golf is the “pièce de résistance” of business networking, yet there is no research to support this assumption. To boot, women report golf as one of the primary informal networks they feel most excluded from (Catalyst, 1995; Sylla, 2014). This exclusion creates a disadvantage for women in sales and marketing because they golf less than men (Morgan & Martin, 2006). More than 500 pages of articles about women and golf were included in a content analysis. Three primary categories emerged from the data: the <i>benefits</i> of golf for women in business, the effects of <i>not golfing</i>, and the reasons <i>why</i> women don’t golf. Recommendations are included for managers who may want to encourage their teams to “get in the game.”