Ladies, we need this now: Women on Course is back

As mysteriously as it disappeared earlier this year, Women on Course is back in business.

Image of Women on Course website

WOMEN ON COURSE founder Donna Hoffman has told GottaGoGolf that in October she settled her legal action against Billy Casper Golf, which in January 2015 abruptly closed down the fast-growing women’s golf and lifestyle event club it had acquired from Hoffman with much fanfare in 2013.

Billy Casper Golf did not respond to requests for comment at that time, and has not gone on record about why it disbanded Women On Course, which was different from other women’s golf associations in that it did not offer USGA handicaps or promote competition. Instead, it focused on helping women build relationships and business through recreational golf and networking events.

Hoffman subsequently launched a similar new venture, Events19, which was more lifestyle-focused. But the resurrection of Women on Course breathes new life into her original mission of supporting and inspiring women in a man’s world.

“My message is about creating a movement for women to create their own power networks and access the informal networks typically reserved for men,” Hoffman said. “A Catalyst survey of executive women showed that 46 percent feel exclusion from informal networks as a barrier to career advancement. The WOC mission is to give women the tools and resources to access these networks – mainly golf. I witnessed this first hand early in my career as a CPA, and that drives me more to make WOC a success and help women be included.”
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Our article “The sudden, mysterious demise of Women on Course” tells the story of Women on Course’s disbandment and of the troubles Hoffman encountered her first time around. By 2013, she was so eager to sell out to Billy Casper Golf that she settled out of court a lawsuit from members of the National Coalition for Men, who said they had been excluded from an event in California strictly because of their gender.

“I cleared the lawsuit so that I could dissolve the company and become part of a new company called Women on Course Acquisition Co., where I owned 40 percent and Billy Casper Golf owned 60 percent,” Hoffman said at the time.

Hoffman’s 40 percent meant nothing in January. But now she once again has full ownership.

A NEW COURSE FOR WOMEN ON COURSE

Hoffman describes her revived brand as an ambitious, four-pillared “integrated event and marketing company” under her Events19 banner. She promises a data-driven “virtual clubhouse” delivering information based on a personal profile, a self-guided “Prepare, Practice & Play” fast-track entry program, signature events and marketing/consulting services.

“The focus is on competency in golf, relationship-building, business and life skills and, most of all, discovering the pure enjoyment of one of the greatest outdoor games,” Hoffman said.

And if Women on Course helps women preserve and advance their social and economic status, well, isn’t it a fine time for that? We think so.

Keep an eye on womenoncourse.com for more details as Hoffman rebuilds.

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