The Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles hosted a Business Development Through Golf workshop at The Lakes in El Segundo this past weekend and invited SCGA Foundation staff to attend and speak. A portion of each registration fee was donated to the Foundation in support of its Girls’ Program. Event organizer and WLALA member Cynthia Cohen talked about why they chose to make the donation.
“This was not just about making a donation, but about new women golfers learning about the SCGA Foundation’s programs,” she said. “WLALA raises funds for scholarships and contributes to women’s legal and domestic needs in Los Angeles. There are parallel missions in the two organizations in mentoring young women. This program provides WLALA an opportunity to increase its outreach throughout Los Angeles County by connecting it to the SCGA Foundation Girls Program.”
The organization found that many women professionals are intimidated about playing golf at their firm retreat or conference tournaments. The purpose of this weekend’s event was to introduce golf to women and provide them encouragement and confidence to play the game. The day included a clinic on chipping, putting and full swing shots followed by a speaker panel of female lawyers who talked about networking on the golf course and the importance of knowing how to play “ready golf,” rather than the ability to drive the ball straight down the fairway. Following the panel, the women had a chance to get out on the course and put into practice what they had learned that day. More than half of the women did not own clubs and had never played a round of golf.
The participants raved about the panel, the clinic, the contests and networking on the 19th hole. To keep the women motivated to play, Cynthia added that they are planning to start a golf league to play one Saturday a month and they hope to host another golf clinic in the Spring.