This past weekend Minjee Lee won the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club by four strokes, and along with it the top prize of $1.8 million. The overall purse for the event was $10 million, far and away the largest ever for a women’s golf tournament. It’s evidence of the growing popularity of women’s golf, and a concrete result of the work the LPGA, USGA, and other organizations have done to grow the game.

The numbers bear this out. According to the National Golf Foundation, the percentage of golfers who identify as women grew to 25% in 2021. At the junior level, 36% of participants identify as female, up from 15% in the year 2000.

Despite this positive trend in golf, there remains work to do. The sport is still dominated by white men, and golf institutions must do way more to create an inclusive environment for underrepresented communities who historically have been systematically excluded from the game.

Enter Leaderboard. It’s important to us that we are a part of this change. We started Leaderboard to connect golfers with each other and their communities. And we will help grow the game by committing to these actions: 

1. Focusing on making golf fun, social, and rewarding, and not just an endless grind to lower scores

2. Enabling golfers to seek out, build, and engage with communities within the sport that are meaningful to them

3. Providing a platform that is safe and inclusive of everyone

We have a long way to go, but this is our commitment.