‘I’m A Woman Of Color In The Professional Golf World—Here’s What It’s Like’

As told to Kristine Thomason via Women’s Health

“I’ve experienced plenty of atmospheres of exclusion and disdain at some golf courses and tournaments.”

Andia Winslow is nothing if not a groundbreaker: She was the first African-American woman to play varsity golf at an Ivy League university, and the fourth African American to ever compete in the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour (LPGA) competition.

Today, she’s a top sports performance coach and trainer in New York City and Los Angeles. She took time from her busy schedule to open up about being a black woman in the professional golf world, and how she got where she is today.

ON DISCOVERING A LOVE FOR GOLF…

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I grew up #Seattle, Washington. It was ever green. The city sparkled but so too did the forest. We were active. We ate from our garden. We climbed mountains and trees. We sailed in lakes and frolicked in rivers. We carved walking sticks from downed trunks. We were caretakers of our menagerie –all rescues, of course– cats and birds, amphibians, rodents, dogs, fish and a ferret named Chinea. We knew which plants soothed burns and which created them. We built forts and then slept in them. Looking back, my childhood was a dream. A never-ending adventure thanks to the OG #ForceOfNature in my life. My mom, Lynn Winslow. It would have amassed thousands upon thousands of likes and reposts on social. It's something that I'm actively working to recreate now — as an adult. They were my best years, my fresh years. Years of discovery and connectivity and wonder and fulfillment. #ForceOfNature #Ad

A post shared by Andia Winslow (@andiawinslow) on May 25, 2017 at 11:50am PDT

“I played several sports when I was young, but from the time I was 10 years old, golf was my number one. I grew up in Seattle, Washington and got my start at Jefferson Park Golf Course, affectionately known as the ‘home’ of Fred Couples, PGA great. Picture towering trees, wildlife, ever-present mist, and green—green everywhere! Something about the game and its inherent quietude, I knew, even as a kid and just …

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