Women in Golf Awards & 59club
The Fairways Project
Shaping the future of careers in golf
The Fairways Project is a global five-year study designed to better understand the experiences of people working across the golf industry — with a vital focus on women’s careers.
By contributing just 20 minutes a year, you can help drive meaningful change, improve opportunities, and shape a more inclusive future for the industry.
We want to share these insights freely, to any organisation who is interested in creating a better more equitable future for golf.
About the Project
The Fairways Project is a collaborative initiative between 59club and Women in Golf Awards designed to gather insights from professionals across the global golf industry over a period of 5 years to build a robust, data-led understanding of career journeys, workplace experiences, and industry trends.
Anyone working in golf can participate — whether working in clubs, governing bodies, equipment manufacturing, marketing, or as an independent business owner — the project brings together voices from all roles, backgrounds, and regions of the globe.
A collaboration between
Why it Matters
By collecting consistent, credible data over time, The Fairways Project will help:
- Highlight opportunities and barriers within the industry
- Track progress on key topics such as compensation and perceptions
- Support organisations in attracting and retaining talent
- Enable more informed, positive change — particularly for women and emerging professionals
Project Aims
The aims are simple, but important:
- To better understand career journeys across the golf industry
- To identify common challenges and opportunities
- To track trends and progress over time through consistent annual questions
- To generate credible, actionable data that supports development pathways
- To improve opportunities for young professionals and women entering or progressing within the industry
Who Can Participate
The project is open to anyone working within the golf industry, regardless of gender, age, location, role or level of seniority. This includes:
- Golf club employees and volunteers
- Governing body representatives
- Equipment manufacturers
- Marketing and media professionals
- Consultants and independent business owners
Every perspective matters — the more diverse the input, the more powerful the insights.
How It Works
Taking part is simple and requires minimal time commitment:
- Register using the link
- You’ll receive two short surveys per year, each taking approximately 10 minutes
- The first survey is an initial ‘Getting to know you’ survey to understand your background and career journey so far. Future surveys take deeper dives into key topics such as:
- Workplace & industry culture
- Mentorship and training
- Career progression
- Discrimination and inclusion
- Parenthood and work-life balance
Over time, this creates a rich, longitudinal dataset that allows us to track change, identify trends, and surface meaningful insights.
All data can be analysed by gender, age, role, and region — helping uncover specific opportunities and barriers within different areas of the industry.
Why Take Part
By participating in The Fairways Project, you will:
- Influence the future of the golf industry
- Contribute to meaningful change backed by real data
- Help create better support and development pathways
- Support greater inclusivity and opportunities — especially for women
- Play a role in improving experiences for the next generation of professionals
Your input will help shape initiatives that benefit both individuals and organisations across the industry.
Industry Support
The Fairways Project has already gained support from key industry bodies, alongside a growing network of organisations committed to positive change. Insights will be shared throughout the project duration with our partners and supporters, helping to:
- Inform decision-making
- Guide talent development strategies
- Influence policy and best practice
- Drive long-term industry improvement
Get Involved
Be part of something that will shape the future of the golf industry!
By taking just a small amount of time each year, you can contribute to powerful data that drives real progress and shape initiatives that benefit today’s workforce and the generations to come.
FAQs
How will you use my data?
We will use your email address to send you the surveys, but your contact information will not be shared with anyone else.
Will my answers be anonymous?
Yes. No one will know who has said what.
Will I have access to the responses?
Yes. As a participant you will be amongst the first to know the results of each survey.
Am I too late to join?
No. You can play catch up. You will receive the first survey when you register, then we will send additional surveys periodically once you reply to the first one.
How long is each survey?
We are aiming to keep the response time for each survey under 10 minutes.
Will you sell the results?
No. Our insights will be shared freely with anyone who is interested in creating a more equitable future for the industry.
Is there anything else I need to know?
During the surveys you may be offered the chance to participate in additional opportunities such as education or focus groups run by 59club and/or Women in Golf Awards.
Ready to take part?