Nine Holes, Big Ideas: Why Every Woman In Business Needs Golf
By Guest Writer, Bec Laut
Bec is a product business strategist and founder of Clubdayze, a women’s golf apparel brand created to bring style, confidence, and energy back to the fairway.
When she’s not helping eCommerce founders scale with systems and strategy, she’s chasing nine holes, fresh air, and big ideas.
There’s a certain irony in that the best strategic decisions I’ve made in business didn’t happen in front of a laptop. They happened somewhere between the 6th and 7th hole, clubs in hand, mind wide open.
A few years ago, I wouldn’t have called myself a golfer. I was building a business, juggling emails, clients, launches, and to-do lists that never seemed to end. Golf? That was something my dad played. A luxury for people with too much time and too few deadlines. But somewhere between burnout and back-to-back strategy calls, I started picking up a club. And something unexpected happened. I found space. I found ideas. I found myself, again, the version that could breathe, think clearly, and make better decisions. Now, I believe every woman in business needs golf in her week. And it has nothing to do with improving your swing.
1. Golf gives you the clarity you didn’t know you needed
Running a business is relentless. You’re in the weeds, the inbox, the numbers, the people problems. It’s all-consuming. And let’s be honest, stepping away feels indulgent at best, irresponsible at worst. But stepping away is the whole point.
Out on the course, there’s no Wi-Fi. No notifications. No mental gymnastics. Just fresh air, a bit of movement, and enough silence to actually hear yourself think again. I’ve had more strategic breakthroughs mid-round than I have in half a dozen planning sessions. Because when you let your mind rest, creativity creeps back in. Some women go to yoga. I play nine holes. Same peace, fewer downward dogs.
2. It’s networking, but enjoyable
As an introvert, I’ve never liked traditional networking. It feels forced, transactional, like everyone’s working the room with one eye on your LinkedIn stats. But something shifts when you’re on the course with someone. You spend hours together, not selling, just being. You share a laugh after a tragic putt. You chat about your week between holes. You get to know someone’s character, not just their elevator pitch. Some of the most genuine business relationships I’ve built happened with a 7-iron in hand and grass stains on my trainers. No follow-up email required.
3. Confidence, course-side
I’ve stood on the first tee, stomach flipping, knowing full well I might completely stuff up my first shot and still swung anyway. That moment taught me more about leadership than any webinar ever did. Golf is confronting. It asks you to back yourself. You’ll fail in front of people. You’ll get frustrated. You’ll want to quit. But you learn to breathe, reset, and go again just like business. Especially as women, we need more of that. More spaces where we’re allowed to be learners, mess up, and keep showing up. Golf, weirdly, became my playground for that. The confidence I’ve gained out there shows up everywhere else in sales calls, on stage, and in my decision-making.
4. Boundaries disguised as tee times
Here’s the thing. Golf forces you to protect your time. You can’t sneak in emails between shots. You can’t pretend to multitask. You have to be there, fully. And when you start carving out space for golf, you start carving out space for yourself. For thinking. For rest. For being a human, not just a founder on a hamster wheel. Booking in golf each week became my sneaky form of self-leadership. My calendar says “meeting,” but it’s actually my strategy hour. Nature. Movement. Reflection. (And yes, sometimes swearing at my short game.)
You don’t have to be good. You just have to go.
This isn’t about becoming the next Minjee Lee. This is about reclaiming a sport that, for too long, told women we had to be quiet, proper, and good at it to belong. You don’t. You just have to show up. Swing the club. Laugh when it goes sideways. Keep going. Golf has helped me build my business, sharpen my thinking, connect more deeply, and protect my energy. I want that for every woman who’s ever felt stretched too thin or boxed into the same old routine.
Golf isn’t just a game. It’s a thinking space, a networking platform, a lesson in resilience, and a masterclass in patience, and no, you don’t need to be good at it to reap the rewards. If you’re a woman in business, I’m going to make the case that you need golf in your week. Not for the scorecard but for what happens inside your brain, your body, and your business when you step onto the fairway.
So next week, block a few hours. Find a local course. Don’t overthink it. Because sometimes the most powerful thing you can do for your business is walk away from your desk and straight onto the green.
W: beclaut.com
IG: @bec.laut