Should Babies Be Allowed On The Golf Course? The Backlash Dividing The Game

When I walk into almost any golf club, I notice one demographic missing: young mothers with babies. An obvious observation, perhaps, but consider that thousands of women play regularly before starting a family. Grassroots participation among young women is steadily climbing, yet the moment they have children, they vanish from our fairways and clubhouses.

I constantly wonder how inviting our golf clubs genuinely appear to new mothers. How many women would even contemplate packing up their newborn, heading to the club to hit a basket of balls, or slipping out for 3 or 4 holes? The unfortunate reality is that for most, the environment feels anything but welcoming.

A recent post in the 100,000-strong Women Who Golf community brought this issue into sharp focus. A member named Paige Ross headed to her local range in the US with her newborn resting quietly in a stroller. Shortly after arriving, she was approached by club management and flatly asked to leave.

The catch was, she wasn’t asked to leave because of the stroller. She was told to pack up because it was "Men’s League Day," meaning women were strictly forbidden from booking tee times, playing the course, or even using the practice range. In this day and age, that kind of blatant discrimination is staggering, especially when male members retain full access to facilities on ladies’ competition days at the very same venue.

Yet what proved even more astonishing than that archaic rule was what unfolded next. Paige went online seeking advice, solidarity, and practical support regarding the club's policy. Alongside the expected outrage over gender inequality, she was hit with an avalanche of criticism from fellow golfers simply for bringing her baby to the driving range. Comment after comment scolded her, questioning her parenting, her judgment, and her common sense.

That reaction stopped me in my tracks. It made me take a long, hard look at our sport and ask some uncomfortable questions. Is golf encouraging enough, or encouraging at all, towards new mums? Are our facilities, courses, and ranges fit for purpose, or are we actively shutting out the very demographic the game claims it wants to attract? I'd love to hear what you think in the comments box below.

Double Standards And Common Sense

At the driving range where I coach, I regularly see dads roll in pushing strollers. They park the buggy beside them in the bay, hit balls, get their practice in, and look after their children simultaneously. Nobody bats an eyelid. Nobody marches over to demand they leave, and no one questions their competence as a parent. In fact, people often stop to smile and praise them for being such hands-on fathers.

Why is the reaction so radically different when a mother dares to do the exact same thing? Of course, there are obvious objections. Yes, golf balls are hard, dimpled projectiles travelling at high speed. Yes, courses carry inherent risks. And yes, babies make noise, need feeding on demand, and require nappy changes at inconvenient moments.

The most important fact is that women have been having babies for thousands of years. We know how to parent responsibly. No mother in her right mind is going to position her baby under an overhead swing path, park a buggy in the line of fire on a blind hole, or leave a stroller exposed on a busy corner. Yet the vitriolic reaction directed at Paige read as if she had dangled her infant from the range rafters.

Every mother deserves the right to make choices for her child without being patronised. The wider issue here is that golf clubs and governing bodies are shooting themselves in the foot by treating strollers on fairways as a taboo liability rather than an incredible participation opportunity.

I firmly believe that virtually every club in the country could find safe spaces and quiet windows to get new mums back into the sport they love. More than that, golf could be actively championed as an extraordinary therapeutic tool to combat postnatal depression, ease postpartum isolation, and foster a supportive community of golfing parents.

Three years ago, I explored this exact topic with Lauren Prince, a pregnant golfer from Bath. We talked about what would happen once her baby arrived - would she pack her clubs away until school age, or get right back out with her baby in tow? For Lauren, it was a no-brainer: she was heading straight back to the fairways with her buggy.

For anyone in shock reading this, let’s be clear. Nobody is suggesting pushing a pram through a packed Saturday morning medal. That wouldn’t be practical, safe, or enjoyable for anyone. Newborns have short biological clocks; their window of contentment is small before hunger strikes, a nappy needs changing, or they simply want to be held.

What we are talking about is grabbing an hour or two during off-peak times. Stepping out into the fresh air and soaking up desperately needed headspace can be a lifeline for a woman who has recently given birth. We talk endlessly about how magnificent golf is for mental health and wellbeing, yet during those delicate first months post-birth, when a woman’s physical and emotional wellbeing needs the most nurturing, our sport effectively locks the door.

Instinct, Protection, And The Realities Of Modern Motherhood

Common sense will always be the foundation of this. A few years ago, Amanda Delhaas shared a post on Women Who Golf that captured the balance perfectly. She went out to play eight weeks postpartum, carrying her clubs and pushing her pram. She teed off at 5pm on a quiet weekday evening when the course was virtually empty, using a rain and sun shade to keep her baby sheltered from the elements and any stray ball from adjacent holes.

She assessed the environment and made it work. Protecting a child is maternal instinct, but prioritising your own self-care after childbirth rarely comes naturally because women are conditioned to put themselves last. What Delhaas did was responsible, safe, and deliberate, yet just like Paige, she faced fingers pointed at her from golfers branding her reckless.

Delhaas’s reply to those negative comments hit the nail on the head:

"I knew this post would stir the pot with a few people! Luckily, baby is an absolute dream and just sits in the pram quietly, so for now, I will continue going to the golf course with my baby, where I belong.

Thanks so much to all the supportive women and all your kind words! It’s about damn time we didn’t allow our lives to be restricted by motherhood. It ain’t the 1920s!"

She is entirely right. Looking back, three maternity leaves took a heavy toll on my career and sidelined my golf game for extended stretches. That is why I feel so passionately about this. Seeing modern women refuse to be erased from their passions gives me immense hope.

Those babies in prams are growing up viewing golf courses, open green spaces, and sports facilities as their normal everyday habitat. They are outside in nature come rain or shine, alongside a mother proactively caring for her physical and emotional health.

The developmental benefits for the baby are huge. Fresh air is one of nature’s greatest sleeping aids. When my own children were infants and vehemently refused to sleep inside their cots during the day, I would bundle them into the pram, take our dog on long walks, point out birds and trees, and within nine minutes out of ten, they would be sound asleep. That routine bought me hours of peace.

My only regret is that back then, I lacked the confidence to walk onto a golf course with my buggy. I genuinely assumed the club would never allow it. Seeing women today with a bag slung over their shoulder, their baby sleeping peacefully beside them, and their own mental health sitting near the top of their priority list is inspiring.

Breaking the Stigma: Professional Reality vs Club Culture

Look at the highest levels of the sport. The LPGA Tour provides fully funded, professional mobile childcare facilities at tournament sites. That initiative was born from necessity, allowing top players to pursue world-class careers without being forced to choose between motherhood and their livelihoods.

The critical issue is that at the grassroots amateur club level, that choice barely exists. The pathway for a club golfer to balance early motherhood with her sport is practically invisible. A substantial part of this problem comes down to outdated attitudes among existing memberships.

When I had my children, my mother-in-law was visibly horrified that I planned to continue working, let alone step foot onto a golf course with a newborn. That generational mindset is still pervasive in traditional clubhouses. It sends a toxic message that once a woman gives birth, her personal identity, athletic pursuits, and leisure must be shelved indefinitely. It reinforces the damaging idea that a mother’s place is at the bottom of the domestic priority list.

Consider the paradox of how golf treats animals versus human children. Over the past decade, dozens of clubs across the UK have rewritten their bylaws to become proudly dog-friendly. Clubs adapted because members wanted to bring their pets. If our sport can accommodate wet dogs that bark and pull on leads, how on earth can we justify turning our backs on clean, quiet strollers containing our future membership?

Not every mother will want to bring her baby to the course, many cherish their golf time as a solo sanctuary away from childcare, but for those who need to bring their infant along to stay connected to the game, the option should exist.

The Blueprint For Change: How Clubs Can Step Up

If you are currently sitting on a golf club committee, staring at membership figures, and wondering why you struggle to attract women under the age of 50; if you are watching your junior ranks dry up instead of expanding organically; if you are looking at an ageing demographic profile and wondering where your next generation of loyal members will come from, this is one obvious place to start.

Welcoming new mothers is not an operational hazard, it is the most natural, multi-generational growth vehicle our sport has. If your club is already leading the way on this, speak up, share your model, and help demystify the absurd notion that having a pram on site is an insurance nightmare waiting to happen.

Here is a practical, realistic roadmap for clubs ready to lead the modern era:

Golf-Centric Antenatal & Postnatal Groups: Partner with local parenting organisations to host casual social mornings. At clubs like The Caversham, regular parent-and-baby groups meet weekly. Introducing a short putting clinic or coffee morning alongside these meetups demystifies the club environment for expecting and new parents before they feel disconnected.

Dedicated Stroller Roll-Ups: Organise low-pressure, 9 hole or 3 hole roll-ups during quiet weekday twilight windows. Setting aside dedicated times creates safety in numbers, eliminates pace-of-play anxieties, and allows new mothers to connect with peers in the same life stage.

Pram-Friendly Range Facilities: Designate specific bays at the end of driving ranges with ample clearance for strollers out of the swing path, complete with safety netting. Simple additions, like access to a clubhouse microwave for warming bottles or baby food, turn an intimidating facility into an accessible one.

Basic Family Infrastructure: Install modern baby-changing facilities in main clubhouse restrooms and on-course halfway houses. Stocking healthy snacks, fruit, and hydration options at the pro shop or halfway hut benefits nursing mothers and adults just as much as growing children.

Cultivating Member Culture: Educate the wider club community to embrace young families. A supportive word from a senior member to a young mother practising her putting with a pram can be the difference between that woman renewing her subscription or walking away from the game forever.

Golf is a multi-generational sport that can teach patience, resilience, integrity, and focus. There is no reason why that education cannot begin while rolling peacefully along a fairway in a pram. It is time we change the narrative, strip away outdated stigmas, and make sure that having a baby marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in a woman's golf journey, not the end of it.