Gemma McClenaghan celebrates more women golfers on the green

Donegal’s first woman professional golfer says the number of women joining the sport is on the rise.

Greencastle Golf Club Pro, Gemma McClenaghan, says the increase is supported by positive initiatives aimed at women and the growing number of women professionals.

Gemma points to Golf Ireland’s Get into Golf programme, which has been very successful at targeting women and supporting them to try golf. She has been delivering the programme in Greencastle since April 2023.

“This year, 117 clubs ran Get into Golf nationally and almost 2,800 women took part. Around 60% of these women went on to become club members afterwards – a sure sign they are sticking with the sport.”

At Greencastle, Gemma has taken around 20 women through the Get into Golf programme since April last year and over two thirds since joined the club. Gemma believes the programme’s group scenario works very well.

“New friendships are formed through the programme, with women supporting women going forward, and joining the club together,” she said.

She coaches men, women and children and has a particular interest in encouraging more women to take up the sport. Gemma’s love for the sport started at the age of 12 and since then golf has played a pivotal role in shaping her life. She says it’s a great sport for people like herself who love the outdoors. “I also love the fact that you can play it anywhere in the world, with every level of golfer, and the game has helped me form enduring life-long friendships.”

A graduate of the University of St. Andrew’s, Gemma returned to her studies in 2019 to undertake the PGA training course through the University of Birmingham, in association with the Professional Golfers Association (PGA). She officially joined Greencastle as their professional in 2023. As a golfer, Gemma has represented Ireland at international level, and Ulster at Interprovincial level. She is “passionate and committed to fostering the growth of golf and providing inclusive opportunities for both children and adults to develop their love for the game”.

Traditionally, golf has been a very male dominated sport, and there has been a lot of controversy over the years about women being excluded from clubs, or segregated within them. In 2018, the world-famous St Andrews Golf Club – the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) launched the Women in Golf Charter. The charter aimed to increase women and girls’ participation and membership in golf and create more opportunities for women to work in the golf industry.

The Charter’s popularity has spread, and it is supported by Golf Ireland. Gemma is proud that her home club of Greencastle has achieved champion status within the Charter and explains what changes it has created. “Full membership is now available to both genders. We also have equality of opportunity for women in the club as well as achieving a minimum of 30% membership in the club’s committee.”

Gemma also loves seeing the juniors flourish in the game and throughout the year runs various golf camps which are aimed at children from as young as 6 years old. She says the junior branch of Greencastle Golf Club has been going from strength to strength. She is keen to gain momentum that the Junior Convenor, Tony Gillespie has created so successfully.

Gemma is Greencastle Golf Club’s first ever professional and she has just opened her new professional shop at the club this week. For enquiries or to sign up to the Get into Golf programme, you can contact Gemma McClenaghan at gmcgolfcoach@gmail.com.

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