I recently made a Facebook post commenting on pay disparities between the PGA and LPGA tour’s. My post was on a Monday, the day after Nelly Korda received $375,000 for winning the LPGA Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, while Cameron Young earned $3.6 million for his PGA TOUR Cadillac Championship victory, nearly 10x more than her.
I watch a lot of golf. Love the game. In fact, I’ve made my living working in the golf industry, most of it trying to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion. That’s been my occupation, vocation and advocation. That’s why I was surprised that some respondents to my post took offense to my diversity and inclusion reference. It was almost as if: How dare you mention that phrase?
Some took the time to explain how the pay disparities are related to sponsorships, marketing, and lack of promotions, rather than diversity and inclusion. It’s simple economics, in their opinions. I get that. Yet nothing to do with diversity and inclusion. I don’t get that.
None of the female respondents seemed to disagree with my diversity and inclusion reference. Some wrote that they noticed the disparities too. Another, who I know, a female who once competed on the LPGA Tour, agreed and called the situation “unfortunate.” One hundred percent of the opposing posts were from men, which is probably not too surprising. One gentleman in particular wrote: “GFY.” Wow…such hostility! I didn’t take his advice, but he did motivate me to write this article.
I try not to become overly consumed with social media. While it can be extremely informative, it also can be a significant waste of time. Studies have also proven that too much social media can negatively impact attitudes and normal behaviors. But I do like, share, and post occasionally. When I do, I get a handful of friends acknowledging the post and the occasional comment. This one was different, as several responses came from strangers or individuals I hadn’t heard from in years.
Some of the respondents asked me to name one sport with equal pay for men and women. I mentioned tennis, an example I have used for more than 15-years, dating back to 2010, when I served on the World Golf Foundation Diversity Task Force, created by Steve Mona. Steve was the organizations CEO at the time.
Steve Mona recruited a cross-section of talent to serve on the initial Diversity Task Force. Back then, golf was not the only sport represented. Major League Baseball had a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion at that time, as did hockey and NASCAR. One of our most dedicated committee members was D.A. Abrams. He was the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and author of Diversity & Inclusion: The Big Six Formula for Success.
Abrams and I became close and I sought his counsel on many occasions. Because of him, I did a deep dive into tennis’ intentional focus on inclusion, with origins going back to 1973, led by the legendary Billie Jean King. Her advocacy led to equal pay for men and women at the US Open, and eventually all four major tennis championships (https://tennisuptodate.com/faq/the-history-of-womens-fight-for-equal-pay-in-tennis-and-how-close-they-are-to-achieving-it-now).
It pleases me that golf’s intentional focus on diversity and inclusion continues, and recent data from the National Golf Foundation reports significant increases on rounds played over the past five-years, in large part due to more females, people of color, and younger participants. Golf leaders created Make Golf Your Thing, a coalition of industry organizations united to help increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the game, and its workforce.
The USGA has led the charge to higher prize monies in women’s golf, helping to increase purses from a total of $89 million in 2022 to $130 million in 2025, including record monies in the US Women’s Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and each of the other three major golf events for women.
Things are definitely getting better! But do not beat me up when I state that golf still has a long way to go to reach the vision to: “Make golf look like America” related to DEI.
I love golf, as I wrote earlier in this article. If you are still reading this article, then you probably do too. Perhaps you just love playing the game. That’s great! Keep playing and loving it. But many of us follow the business of golf. Those of us who do applaud the golf industries serious commitment and investments in diversity, equity, and inclusion. My hope is to see these trends accelerate and continue moving forward.
