From hosting fashion shows to launching a new ‘Birdies Banter’ podcast, PGA Advanced Professional Katie Dawkins is a sparkling example of a coach trying to find many ways to attract new women to the game.
How did you get into golf and what led you to a career as a PGA Professional?
I was about to head to university and study fine art, when my coach Tim Barter offered me a job to do my PGA exams and train me to teach. The rest as they say is history.
Tell me a little about your involvement with the luxury women’s apparel brand Famara?
I first met Famara’s founder Liz Harwood at a photoshoot for Golf Monthly magazine a few years ago and we instantly clicked. She could see my passion for women’s golf and we shared a love of art and the belief that women want to look and feel fabulous. Our minds collided. I started helping her to host fashion shows alongside FootJoy at Famara headquarters in Salisbury. We opted for a fun 9-hole format in the morning as we wanted to make sure that the women who attended had a laid-back approach to their round, usually playing a scramble or something similar. After the golf we host a fashion show and shopping event, which usually results in lots of laughter and oodles of positive energy. As a brand Famara has truly gone global in the last few years, even the iconic film star Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is a keen golfer, recently purchased a sheer sleeved shirt. It’s exciting to be part of helping the brand presence grow.
You’ve recently collaborated on launching A Birdies View - a new subscription-based women’s golf magazine and podcast called ‘Birdies Banter’.
The main objective of the podcast is to just be ourselves. Think of the ITV ‘Loose Women’ chat show armed with a lob wedge! There is lots of laughter involved and the opportunity to talk about subjects that are often a bit juicy. The things that others think but don’t speak about. Just being real. Filter-free female golfers having a lot of fun. We will be undertaking both outings on the golf course and GardenGOLF, where I’ll take Liz to school on her short game and general attitude to golf. Confidence-boosting tips and madness - what could possibly go wrong?!
How challenging is it to attract women to pick up a golf club for the first time and how important do you think it is to introduce them to golf through relatable avenues like fashion?
It’s challenging as there is this perception that golf takes a long time, is expensive and just not accessible to many women. I think the very mention of golf puts some women off. Popping golf clinics up in places you’d least expect them to be is a goal of mine this year.
The traditional stigma attached to the sport is slowly being peeled away and I think the more events like the ones Liz and I offer the more appealing the sport will be to women.
Do you find that running coaching clinics in groups for women is the best way to get lots of friends together and started in the game?
The social element of the game is one of its biggest draws. Women tend to form a community or support network with one another and learning in this type of environment is so nourishing.
Aside from your coaching you are a very accomplished artist. Tell us a little about some of the paintings, particular those you have done for golfers, you are most proud of?
I’ve always painted. I used to draw pencil caricatures and portraits of players on tour when I worked for Tim, he would then take them with him when he commentated on Sky and the players would sign them. He had the caricature of the whole European team in the players team room at the 1999 Ryder Cup, he brought it back signed by all of them. I did a pencil of Ben Hogan that Tim gifted to Pete Cowan with signatures of all the players he coached. I painted Amen Corner for Butch Harmon (and a portrait of his Labradors) as a thank you for letting me watch him coach his Golf Schools at Rio Secco in 2007/2008.
I love drawing and have a series of Great British Players called Steel Ikons that I’m looking to add to in the next few years.
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