Coastside Women’s Golf Meet-up

Last fall I was transitioning into a new role at Coastside Leadership Academy, and while doing that was exciting and rewarding, I also realized I was missing connection with a community. It felt ironic to me because I was successfully building a community for students, where they felt seen and supported, but because CLA is small, with one other colleague, my cofounder, I was not surrounded by a community of women. 

Finding your people is hard as an adult, and this is something that is not really talked about. Sports have always been a connector for me. Teammates quickly become your friends, and some of the best teammates become your chosen family. I have been on teams my entire life and I missed that feeling and was not sure how to find it. 

I mentioned this feeling of disconnection to Lindsay, my cofounder.

“Why don’t you post on Nextdoor to see if there are any women on the coast who would like to play golf with you?” she asked.

Her question confirmed what I had been thinking about doing for a few weeks, but was too nervous to do.

“I have thought about it, but what if no one responds?”

I was nervous about showing my vulnerability on my neighborhood’s social media channel. 

“Get out your phone and we will make a post right now!”

Lindsay helped me craft a post asking if there were any women on the coast looking to play golf or if there were any women’s golf groups closeby. I took some deep breaths, and hit send. 

The next morning I checked my app and two women had responded! I was super excited and reached out to them to collect their email addresses. I told them I would be in touch to set something up. I was thrilled to have two possible women to golf with.

From there, the post gained popularity over the course of a week. I had 37 comments on my post and have since put together a list of 27 women who were also looking for golf partners. Amazing! 

In late November, I sent my first official Coastside Women’s Golf Meet-up email, and we planned to meet at the driving range in Half Moon Bay. To the first meet up I brought snacks, waters, and name tags and had 7 women show up. I was over the moon with the turn out.

“Hi Everyone, I am Claire. Thank you so much for coming to the driving range today. I posted on Nextdoor because I was looking for other women to golf with and form a community. This group can be anything we want it to be, we can practice, play, take lessons together. Just let me know your ideas and I am happy to organize the events and be the captain.”

“Thank you so much for doing this, Claire!”

We have since had three meet-ups dodging the winter weather. We have women of all ages and experience levels and all are welcome. Every woman who has come expressed that they were also looking for women to golf with but were not sure where to find them. I am so grateful that Lindsay encouraged me to post on Nextdoor, even though I was scared. I have the power to create my own universe. I just have to be brave enough to ask.