Jack Newton Urges Golf Clubs To Lighten Dress Codes For Women
Many fans are afraid that the strict dress codes that are set in at many golf clubs is keeping many Australian women out of the running and keeping them from going pro. Jack Newton is urging these Australian gold clubs to lighten up a bit.
“We’ve got to try to get more women into the game,” Newton said yesterday from Cyprus Lakes in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, where he is hosting his 29th annual Celebrity Classic. “If that means relaxing some of the dress rules, then so be it, because if they are not comfortable they are not going to be hanging around golf.”
Newton acknowledged women’s golf in Australia as nevertheless strong and credited former long-time world No. 1 Karrie Webb for being a role model in the same way Greg Norman had been for the country’s current generation of male stars. However the one-time US Masters and British Open runner-up said until dress codes were eased, women’s golf would struggle to keep pace with the success of Australia’s men.
Newton said the men’s game in Australia had never been stronger, with the seventh-ranked Adam Scott and 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy among eight players in the world’s top 50. “We’ve got some outstanding players and there’s more to come,” Newton said. “I think when you look at the player supply we offer to America and Japan and Europe and Asia, I think the game has never been stronger in depth. We probably lack a Norman factor but, other than that, the standard of golf here is extremely high and when you see a kid like Won Joon Lee run second in the (Australian) Open last week, that bears testament.”