Natasha Ainsley-Thomas shares her journey, from playing collegiate golf to the founding of GolfHer, which seeks to make the sport more accessible and inclusive by creating a community of women in golf
As told to Leah Berry | Photo by John Michael Simpson
Natasha Ainsley-Thomas came to the United States on a golf scholarship, a sport that had been a lifelong passion and a meaningful way to spend time with family when she was growing up in England. After a challenging first year at the University of Central Arkansas, she transferred to McKendree University in Illinois to complete her undergraduate studies – earning a bachelor’s in exercise science and sport performance, with a minor in sports psychology – but still felt unfulfilled in her athletic journey. The onset of COVID-19 presented an unexpected opportunity: “I got my extra year of eligibility and did my master’s at NCCU [in 2021],” she said. At North Carolina Central University, under the guidance of Head Coach Kendra Greene, Ainsley Thomas found her place in the school’s new golf program, surrounded by inspiring men and women in golf. “It was one of the best decisions I ever made,” Ainsley-Thomas said. “Even though I was only at NCCU for a year, that’s the school that I associate with the most. It was such a great experience.”
Ainsley-Thomas graduated with her master’s in kinesiology and athletic administration in 2022, and saw an opportunity to empower more women to embrace the game of golf. Today, as the co-founder and CEO of GolfHer, she leads efforts to promote inclusivity and create spaces where women, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, can learn and thrive in the sport.
Can you dive further into the inspiration behind GolfHer and its goals? How does the program work?
Growing up as a woman of color, I never really played with other girls who looked like me or were in my age group. This is a very individual sport as it is, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be such a sociable sport. And seeing what men get out of the game – a chance to socialize and stay active while providing networking opportunities that can enhance career growth – women might not benefit from the same experience due to not knowing the game, which is a huge reason that women don’t even try. It can be incredibly intimidating to step into this space. That was a big part of it for me, just creating a space and trying to make people feel more comfortable in this [sport] and also educating people that it’s OK to be bad at it … like with everything, you walk before you run. You’re going to hit the ball in the water a bunch of times before you clear that pond. Those are lessons that everyone can learn, but I wanted to target women because that’s something I’m passionate about.
Whenever you hit a ball and it’s going off course or not where you want it, you yell “fore!” really loud … and I always used to feel very uncomfortable on the golf course shouting fore. It took a long time for me to step up and be loud and take up space on the golf course, so that’s one of the lessons that I love to talk about in golf: Don’t let it get to a point where your ball is heading toward people before you speak up and make yourself known on the course. It’s OK to take up space in every situation in your life if you’re confident and respectful. I think that lesson especially speaks to women, because we often shy away and don’t make much noise, and it’s OK for us to, especially in sports.
GolfHer started in November 2023, and we’ve done events, [promoted] online [blogs, resources and guides], [hosted] virtual speakers … trying to get a feel for what women want. Now we’re circling back to the in person events [where], typically, attendees can do a 10-minute one-on-one session with me – as many women as I can fit in – for two hours. Any women who don’t want to try yet, but just want to watch and listen, are welcome … a lot of women just come to hang out and be in the golf space.
Tell me a bit about how you got to where you are now after graduating from N.C. Central.
Some opportunities arose from [my time at N.C. Central] … the Durham Chamber of Commerce was [hosting] the Women Take No Bull – On the Green event, and I got asked to go and participate in a golf demonstration at Duke University Golf Course. I got to know ladies from the Durham community and work with them; it was eye-opening to me that people didn’t even know what a putter was, or the basic terms of golf. I realized there’s a massive gap between people who grew up playing golf and adults who never had the opportunity to learn, for whatever reason.
When I graduated [from NCCU], I got my job at SwingPals [a youth golf program that supports children facing adversity by offering them first-rate golf coaching, mindfulness, emotional regulation and self-awareness coaching; tours of local universities; and resources to assist with college access] as a golf and mindfulness coach, and that was such an empowering experience. I’ve always known that golf and life skills go hand in hand, but it wasn’t until I was in that space, working with kids who were from underserved communities and teaching them the lessons of golf and how they can use it in their everyday life … that [the role] spoke to me, and I could see, “OK, golf has given me some amazing opportunities, but what else can it actually do?” Both of those connections were where the idea for GolfHer came about. …
[We’ve since] reached out to some indoor facilities across the Triangle just to see whether we can come in and bring women into this space, and every single facility has been like, “Absolutely, yes.” For the Bull City, specifically, State of Golf is really interested in hosting some events.
What was the response like following the launch event for GolfHer last year, and how has the momentum from that event influenced your plans moving forward?
We did a couple pre-launch events, and then for International Women’s Day [on March 8, 2024], Drive Shack actually reached out to us and asked if we would do an event for them, so we used that as our true launch event. Tickets sold out within a day, and it was just awesome. We ended up with a waitlist, and from that, we [now] have members all across the area. We currently have more than 300 women waiting for us to do our next event. We’ve only really done one event a month since then. The want and the need and the passion is so there, and everyone we talk to is like, “Yes, sign me up. I’m excited.”
How many people are on the GolfHer team?
It’s just me who runs the events, since I have the golf background, and then we have a couple people helping with the marketing and the overall business direction [like co-founder Holly Hayes].
What has been the biggest business challenge for GolfHer thus far?
The biggest challenge has probably been navigating how we can help women, because we know women are time-poor. So, keeping it affordable, changing the stereotypes attached to it, but also being able to cater to women who have kids and who maybe don’t have that much time on the weekends to spend four hours on the golf course. So, what else can we do for them in the golf space?
A big part of that is providing an online community and resources … we’re actually going to be launching some new and exciting initiatives over the next couple of months to make it easier and more accessible for them to learn the basics, and then I’ll be running some more in-person events so that they can learn on their own time and ask all the questions they want.
Tell me more about these upcoming events and initiatives. Are there any that you’re particularly excited about?
Oh, my gosh, I have so many. I’m looking at the mind map on my wall right now of all the things that I want to do. I want to enter into the college golf space – I think there’s some really cool opportunities for women there. And I want to do a lot of “Mommy and Me” events … getting parents and kids involved, because that was such a huge part of how I got into it. And then bringing technology into this somehow and making it more accessible through apps or AI … there’s a ton of really exciting things that I’m looking forward to doing.
What does the future of golf look like to you, and how does GolfHer fit into that vision?
Golf is seen as quite an expensive sport … it’s exclusive. … It’s starting to relax, and a lot more people are getting interested in it, but I think we’ve got to break down those stereotypes. I never wanted to be an icon or a face of anything … I honestly didn’t even want to run a business. I just love sports, and sports have done so many amazing things for me, and I love to coach and give that experience to other people. That’s what GolfHer is to me. But what I’ve found is that … a lot of women of color have seen me in the golf space and thought, “Oh, I can do that, too,” or, “Oh, I want to be coached by you because you look like me,” so encouraging women of all backgrounds – no matter where you’re from – you should have an opportunity to try golf. I think that in itself will change the face of golf.
I also think a lot of facilities with golf clubs need to adapt to modern day society, because the whole point of these clubs was to be exclusive and pay to be a part of it, but that’s not really the point of the sport anymore. … We’re way past that. Just make golf accessible to all and break down those stereotypes so people feel like they can actually be a part of it.
What advice would you give to young women – especially those who are underrepresented in sports – who are interested in taking up golf or pursuing leadership roles?
I would say, honestly, to try. Just try playing. You might actually hate it, you might absolutely love it, but at least you can say you did it. I think that, for me, if I grew up in America, I don’t know that I would’ve played golf, because there’s so many opportunities, and it’s not something you do in school – that’s another initiative, I want golf to be part of the curriculum in schools – but there’s so many benefits to this sport that you can continue with throughout your life. Whether it’s being able to communicate with other people in the office or at business meetings … whether it’s physical benefits from walking and getting fresh air – and mentally, too, it makes you so resilient. I think if I hadn’t grown up playing golf or sports at all, I probably wouldn’t be this resilient or doing this at all. It’s given me the drive to do something and make a change. I would say, try it; you never know what you’re going to get out of it.
