Jane Bell

Q: When and where was your first golf experience and what do you remember most about it?

A: I grew up with my father as a golf professional at Caloundra Golf Club on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland; hence, I have grown up in golf. I have early pictures of holding plastic golf clubs from around the age of three. I remember Mum and Dad used to play and pull their clubs on their golf buggies that had seats and my younger sister, and I would ride on the seat and be pulled around. As I started playing from an early age, the first golfing experience on course that comes to mind would have been Sunday Medley events at the Club and participating in Dad’s junior clinics. I remember getting my initial handicap at the age of nine.

Q: What excited you about the golf industry and brought you into the business?

A: I always wanted to turn professional from a young age, so it was a passion, practicing every day after school. I finished school and played full time amateur golf before turning professional. I took the PGA route of doing a 3-year apprenticeship. After playing for a very short time on the US Futures Tour I ended up back in the Sandbelt at Yarra Yarra Golf Club where I had completed my traineeship. Troon Golf came along to manage the golf operations, and this started my journey and career into golf course management.

Q: What do you think the golf industry should be doing differently to attract females into the golf world, both at the playing level and as a career?

A: For young girls it may not always seem like a fun, cool game to play as there has tended to be the stigma that it’s for older people. To introduce young people to the game, it needs to be engaging, fun and social. The same thing could be said for more mature women. When I was growing up, the restrictions on what you could and couldn’t wear, how long your shorts were was very strict. Fashion for female golfers now has evolved and come a long way. The implementation of shorter courses, alternative tees may encourage more women to play on course who don’t seek competition play. Career wise, the golf industry has been dominated by males, there are more and more women now taking the pathway into traineeships to make a career in golf whether it be playing, coaching or operations. The message to women that there are multiple avenues for careers in the industry may encourage more interest.

Q: Who is one female mentor you look up to and what words of wisdom or actions did she do to help you become better in your career or game?

A: When I was around 12-13, I used to idolize Nancy Lopez as a player. There was an American gentleman at the club who would always bring in the US magazines for me and I would soak up what I could read on the female college and professional players.

Q: If you could play golf with any three women in a foursome, who would they be?

A: Nancy Lopez, Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb.

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