See it, be it, and then tee it up: Black Women Golfers group opens new space in golf

Shireen Ahmed · CBC Sports

· Posted: May 27, 2025 12:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

The archetypal clip I ever played golf, it was astatine erstwhile my workfellow and friend, Anastasia Bucsis, and her wife, Diana Matheson, organized an day of connecting with truly chill women successful the sports abstraction successful Toronto.

Golfing was truly hard. I retrieve reasoning I person to plaything accurately, look, and not determination my assemblage excessively wildly adjacent though I request momentum. Despite having the bragging rights connected household mini-putt tournaments, it was acold much hard than I expected. I was terrible. I ended up enjoying the play cart with my person who was arsenic atrocious arsenic maine truthful we had amusive driving astir the course. 

Golf was not needfully a vibe I connected with. People playing play ever look truthful pristine. And I had ne'er seen a South Asian pistillate connected the greens. But an lawsuit this past play has maine reasoning astir community, maturation of sport, and astir picking up a nine again. 

I archetypal met Amaya Athill, who founded Black Women Golf successful 2022, through a communal friend. They told maine Athill worked successful golf. "Really?" I said, not masking my surprise. Athill is Black and I hadn't known immoderate Black women successful play and I cognize a batch of women successful sport. 

She smiled and laughed astatine my reply. "Yes! You should travel retired 1 day," she said graciously. I yet made it retired to an lawsuit with the radical Black Women Golfers. It was an introductory league for racialized women who privation to larn play and sharpen their game. 

Athill started playing play astatine the property of 5 successful Antigua, wherever she was born. She was introduced to it done her father. The athletics was played by everyone who looked similar her. 

"In Antigua, a batch of the administrators, the leaders, the players, looked similar me," Athill said. "They came from my community. They were folks of colour. I felt determination was nary question astir whether I belonged."

She appreciated play due to the fact that she didn't link with accepted sports. "No different athletics stuck," she said. "I'm not a runner. Gosh, I deliberation moving is similar death. I can't bash it. I'm sorry." But golfing wasn't disposable for her successful university, wherever she attended schoolhouse successful the U.K and studied to go a lawyer. She moved backmost to Antigua, did her Masters successful the U.S. and returned to the U.K.

And past COVID hit. She had conscionable been joined but her hubby got stuck due to the fact that of the policies and question restrictions associated with COVID. Athill needed thing to support her sane. She joined a section municipal play nine and played with a fig of predominantly Nepalese golfers successful the area. Athill Googled "Black golfers" and got successful interaction with the African Caribbean Golf Association. She joined them and played erstwhile a month. They became her location and her assemblage during her clip successful England. She began to enactment connected events for Black women successful golf. They were a success. 

Athill later moved to Canada and alternatively of jumping close backmost into law, she applied for jobs successful golf. She started moving with the First Tee programme successful Ontario. She saw the request for radical who look similar her to beryllium progressive with the sport. She is now the determination manager of Ontario for Golf Canada.

In Canada, determination are astir 4,000 members of PGA of Canada, the relation that governs nine pros and instructors, of which seven per cent identify arsenic radical of colour, and seven per cent are women. There are 2 Black women with PGA credentials and Athill is 1 of them. The other is Chloe Wells, who had a antithetic acquisition with play than Athill did. She grew up successful Greater Toronto Area with a West African ma and a achromatic dada from Windsor, Ont.. She was 4 erstwhile her dada got her into the game.

Unlike Athill, Wells was acutely alert that she looked antithetic than others successful the game, and recovered herself subjected to unkind microaggressions arsenic a child. When she was registered successful a play campy astatine property nine, 1 of the instructors astatine the campy called her "Aunt Jemima" due to the fact that she was wearing a bandana. That teacher was fired aft she told her parents what happened.

Wells was talented and a manager named Carrie Vaughan saw her potential and helped her make her skills. "She was consenting to thatch maine longterm," Wells said of Vaughan. Wells played play astatine Georgian College wherever she received a Bachelor's grade successful play management.

When Athill started moving with assemblage groups successful 2023, she connected with Wells and some of them brought thing peculiar to Black Women Golfers. The interaction of their beingness portion exposing caller golfers to the athletics is incredible.

"I've really received a batch much enactment than I expected," Athill said. "So I deliberation overall, there's been a batch of 'Oh my gosh! This is amazing. I'm truly blessed for what you're doing!'"

Other than 1 woman making snide remarks astatine an event, Athill nor the radical person had nary issues. They play soca euphony connected the greens, deterioration the coolest fits and promote women to beryllium themselves. 

"I conscionable emotion seeing much radical articulation this sport," Wells said. "Golf volition turn with you." Wells teaches each ages and she finds that arsenic the athletics assemblage broadens it renders the abstraction much accepting. "It's truly astir creating a judgment-free space."

The intent of Black Women Golfers is not lone to make caller and emboldened spaces successful golf, but to fortify the enactment that has been done for radical equality successful athletics and society. 

"With what's happening present with the satellite taking a crook to the right, leaning to the close connected the governmental spectrum, I person a batch of fearfulness and anxieties that the remnants of what radical saw to beryllium radical injustice and decided to bash thing about, they're present closing their doors to oregon closing their ears to," Athill said.

One of the ways that Athill and Wells amusement up for assemblage is to thatch play and punctual women that they person a spot swinging the club, moving successful the athletics oregon increasing to emotion it. 

If anything, they convinced maine to springiness it different spell due to the fact that of the sheer happiness and enjoyment of the women I saw. My deficiency of accomplishment wouldn't matter, but my bosom and beingness would. That's a play I tin get behind.