Women On Fairways Customizes Golf Trips

Women On Fairways Customizes Golf Trips

I have argued for some time that if golf is to sustain itself into the future, attracting more women to the game is key. Women are 51% of the population, but according to best estimates, historically have been only 20% of golfers.

That’s been changing in recent years. An article in Bloomberg says rounds played are up 20% from the 2017- 2019 average, and that women account for 35% of new golfers. Girls are now 30% of juniors.

With the rising interest, there also are growing opportunities. Golf associations are adding more girls’ competitions; courses (such as my home course, Washtenaw GC) are adding more forward tees; women’s golf leagues are more common; manufacturers are offering better equipment choices.

There’s also growing interest in something that in the past was primarily a male preserve: The golf trip.

While on a golf media vacation at Boyne Golf this past summer, I had the chance to golf with Ashlee Ciora, one-half of a pair of women golf entrepreneurs. Along with her business partner, Noreen Selberg, Ciora runs Women on Fairways, a golf and lifestyle travel company focused on women players.

Women On Fairways helps women golfers create itineraries for golf travel experiences: girlfriend getaways, mother/daughter, family and couples golf trips.

Unlike golf trips for men, which often focus on how much golf and booze can be squeezed between flights in and out, trips created by Ciora and Selberg look to add off-course experiences. Golf is of course on the menu, but so are wine tours, culinary classes, spas, art tours, sightseeing and so on. Women on Fairways focuses on four- and five-star lodging and golf resorts.

While most of the media group was in Northern Michigan gorging on golf, Ciora was as much concerned with scouting the huge variety of Boyne Golf’s lodging alternatives and local highlights such as wine tours and entertainment.

Ciora is a good golfer and as she proved at our group dinners, a good judge of wine. She and Selberg have a combined sixty years of working in the tourism and hospitality industry: destination marketing, golf resort and hotel sales, event planning and domestic and international travel. My sense is that they know what they’re doing. They have a vast list of contacts and ideas and are likely to be able to get their clients a fair price on a high end trip.

As with the recent boom in golf, Women on Fairways was born out of the pandemic. Ciora and Selberg had been working in the tourism and hospitality industry in greater Palm Springs. When the shutdowns hit, Ciora moved to Minnesota to stay with family; Selberg went to La Quinta.

It was during this time that the pair — like so many — decided not to return to their old positions and instead branch out on their own. Women on Fairways is the result.

I have no financial interest in Women on Fairways, but think if you’re in the market for a women’s or family golf trip you should give them a chance. Tell Ashlee the GolfBlogger sent you.