For many clubs it has been a riddle: how do we get more women and juniors playing golf?
Perhaps those in need of a helping hand could learn from Natasha Gobey. Making the game more accessible isn’t just a mantra for Bryn Meadows’ Head of Golf – it is the central part of her coaching philosophy.
Whether through the First Swing Golf Academy at her Caerphilly club, or as part of a hugely successful Golf Foundation Primary School Golf Programme, Gobey has introduced thousands of new players to the sport and is dedicated to making the experience as easy as possible.
Those of us long embedded in clubhouses will remember our first steps into the game. But how many of us recall how daunting the route felt?
Whether it’s navigating a busy practice ground, passing a bustling 1st tee, or the pressures of taking on a full-length course, it can be a nervy experience for newcomers.
Gobey aims to take those who beat a path to her door on a different kind of journey.
“The first session is basically a meet and greet,” she explained. “We do some putting. It’s a nice easy start to just give them a feel of what they’re going to be doing.
“I’ll cover the basic set-up and grip and then they’re just doing a few little putts. Afterwards, we’ll have coffee and cake and I give them an opportunity to ask me any questions.
“I allow them to get to know me a little bit so they’re more comfortable. I like to be quite transparent. It’s important to maintain a professional aspect but if you wear your heart on your sleeve and you’re quite transparent with what you’ve done and what you’ve been through with the game, what it tends to do is make them a little bit more comfortable as well.”
Pictured: Natasha Gobey preaches the fundamentals during her lessons
Gobey took up golf after her parents introduced her to a driving range when she was 11. She was soon representing Wales and later spent a year in the United States with the Toledo Rockets on a golf scholarship.
But she soon realised coaching was her passion and returned to the UK to qualify as a PGA Professional while attached to the James Andrews Golf School in East Sussex.
Then came the call home.
“I’m from South Wales originally and it just seemed the right time. I decided to come back home and start a career here,” she added.
“I started as a roaming professional and I went to a lot of clubs that didn’t have one to try and help them get juniors and women into golf. Bryn Meadows then offered me a full-time contract. I started there in 2018 and in 2021, just after Covid, I was made Head of Golf.”
By then Gobey’s work had made such an impact that she’d been named Wales Golf PGA Professional of the Year.
“I was really proud of myself,” she said. “I’d only been back in Wales for about a year and a half at that point and I wanted to make a statement about how much I wanted to try and get juniors into golf and grow the game.
“That’s what it’s all about, for me, making it as accessible as possible. I think a lot of people perceive the game to be a little bit snobby, expensive, and I just wanted to change all that.
“So I really dug my heels in and did a lot of work in the Rhondda, and Caerphilly, and a little bit in Cardiff as well. I spread myself around different counties, just trying to encourage as many juniors as possible back to golf clubs.”
“It’s about making it as accessible as possible. I think a lot of people perceive the game to be a little bit snobby, expensive, and I just wanted to change all that.” - Natasha Gobey
At Bryn Meadows, that work has only continued and expanded. Gobey wanted to change the experience for women and girls at the club.
And that ambition has been further realised with the help of the Welsh Government and Wales Golf.
As part of hosting the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl, a £1 million Women’s Golf Legacy Fund was earmarked to develop facilities for women and girls at clubs around the country. Gobey was contacted and applied.
“I was interested in creating more of a safer area for them – in terms of it feeling more welcoming,” she said.
“These ladies are new to golf. I didn’t want them to feel like, ‘oh, God, this is too much pressure’ watching seasoned golfers hit off the 1st tee.
“It can be quite overwhelming, and I’ve had feedback from ladies before. We’ve got an indoor golf simulator but, in a ‘new to golf’ group setting, I’ve only got one, so I take them outside.
“We’re really fortunate we’ve got a 9-hole academy course, which I can use with them. But in terms of fuller swings, we didn’t have enclosure nets and we didn’t have a separate putting green.”
Pictured: Natasha Gobey leads a lesson on Bryn Meadows' new dedicated practice facilities for women and girls
The club secured a grant and Bryn Meadows committed additional funding to a project that has seen the construction of a dedicated artificial chipping and putting area, along with a two-bay enclosure net.
Gobey is in no doubt as to the impact it will have on how she can coach women and juniors.
“It will make a huge difference. I teach a lot of elite juniors, who want to do chipping practice. But with the main putting green down there as well, there isn’t a lot of chipping space.
“The artificial turf will be brilliant, because it reacts well. It’s receptive. But in terms of the ladies, what I’ve started noticing is getting them onto the main course is about progression.
“They’ll have a couple of lessons, I’m with them doing a couple of things on the Academy course, and then you take them to the 1st hole and they’re like, ‘this is huge. This is a big course’.
“I am all about the journey and making sure they feel comfortable all the way through, and I do think this will be a really good stepping stone for women’s golf here, because it will create an environment where they can go and have a little putt away from that 1st tee and socialise. We’re putting benches there as well so it will be nice.”
“It’s vital that you don’t just make it about golf. A lot of ladies want the social side of it as well. Try and put on little afternoon teas, or anything like that, so they can come and have a coffee and a chat and a little bit of golf while they’re learning. My advice would be: you’ve got to keep pushing.” - Natasha Gobey
So what, in her view, can really drive female participation?
“It’s vital that you don’t just make it about golf,” Gobey said. “A lot of ladies want the social side of it as well. Try and put on little afternoon teas, or anything like that, so they can come and have a coffee and a chat and a little bit of golf while they’re learning. My advice would be: you’ve got to keep pushing.
“You have got to advertise but you’ve also got to go out and get the work. A lot of people don’t realise some of these initiatives are taking place, particularly if you’re new to golf.
“I’m trying to get a little bit better at the marketing side of it. It’s not my strongest point, but I’m trying to do a lot more on social media now – because I know it’s such a driving force.
“It’s mainly on Instagram. A lot of females, particularly the younger female generation, are all about Instagram. I’m starting to look at TikTok as well, because TikTok seems to be everywhere.”
But while the methods might change, the principle for Gobey remains clear: make the first step into golf feel welcoming, and the rest becomes much easier.
Pictured: Natasha Gobey and fellow PGA Professional Katy Edwards at Bryn Meadows
Natasha Gobey on…
PGA Excel
I'm an Advanced PGA Professional and I never try to stop learning. I'm on the PGA Excel programme. I think it just encourages you not to get complacent.
The game is always changing and evolving. It's good to know what the best ways are to get people into golf and to keep your career growing.
I play a lot of the WPGA events and I’m a huge supporter of The PGA in South Wales. I try and play as much as I can.
Excel encourages you to not step back and fall into the wagon of just letting people come to you. It makes you do a little bit more than just trying to keep a good status.
Being part of an all-female team with fellow PGA Professional Katy Edwards
We’re a team of two and there are not many golf clubs that have two female professionals. We work well together and it’s a massive benefit. I think females tend to be a lot more comfortable with a female professional.
Her coaching philosophy
I’m a strong believer that the foundations and fundamentals need to be correct. I really focus on that. You’ve got to be aware of people’s physical limitations as well. I do take that into account.
But the philosophy is very much to make sure the fundamentals are in place and the foundation is good and then work in building a swing around them.
The future
I would eventually like to get Master status and go upwards in my career. It’s nice to be recognised and have a couple of awards but, overall, that’s not the objective for me. It is just to get as many people playing golf as possible – in terms of Bryn Meadows running a really active membership and increasing ladies’ participation in the game.
