With what started as a small group of women in the Emma Lake region playing golf has ballooned into a sold out 98 player tournament filled with “women supporting women.”
Fore the Girls spokeswoman Julie Nicholson said the group started encouraging other women to join Ladies night at Emma Lake Golf Course. “We would consistently encourage them and say, just come, if you don’t like it lift your ball, put it at my spot, whatever,” she told Golf Saskatchewan. Some of these ladies were petrified to swing a club in front of other women.
“It’s getting outside, it’s being with like-minded women, it really turned into so much more than just a game.”
Earlier this spring the group held their second tournament, that was sold out in a day and a half via word of mouth. Nicholson admitted the concept caught on and the event quickly became something special as support for inclusion grew among the community.
The event hosted at Emma Lake Golf Course is two days, two lady best ball format with nine holes of qualifying followed by 27 more holes of match play. Amazing take aways such as registration gift bags, door prizes, flight prizes and two lunches and a supper all provided.
Nicholson feels the committee really came together after participating in the Ladies Lobstick at Waskesiu Golf Course last summer. “First of all, the calibre of competition was amazing, but the most important thing was women supporting women in golf and really driving the importance of equality and we belong there, it’s not gentlemen only, ladies forbidden, right? It was just women supporting women,” Nicholson said.
The tournament had many entrants from Calgary Alberta to Shell Lake, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Laronge to name a few.
Due to the success of the event Fore the Girls decided to give back to the Emma Lake community as they did raise some funds through the tournament the last couple years, although most was raised this year. Nicholson said the group thought about the future of the funds raised before they decided on where to distribute the money.
“We want better playgrounds for the kids, we want more sporting things supported, maybe a junior curling program, maybe a roof over the outdoor hockey rink, better camp programs. It was all about putting the money back into the community, not going anywhere else and hopefully supporting generations coming up for years in advance so we chose the Lakeland Lions,” Nicholson beamed.
Looking back on the second year of the event, the group is still talking about the weekend almost three weeks after it’s conclusion. Nicholson said the money and giving back is marvelous, but it was never meant to be a fundraiser. Women support in so many ways all throughout the year, this is one weekend we want them to participate and be carefree. Fore the Girls wants to promote supporting each other and making sure the game provides a spot for everyone.
“Crappy golfer, we don’t care, we just want you to come hang with us, and if you are a good golfer well then you will end up where you need to be and you will have fun too,” Nicholson said. “At the end of the day we are all playing our game, and I think the importance of putting out articles about women’s golf and how important it is for us to feel important, and we deserve that day as well.”
To learn more about Fore the Girls, check their Instagram page.