In
business circles, there are countless seminars, books and
reference materials on how to make contacts, how to pitch
your products or services and finally, how to swoop in for
“the close.” Much of this how-to dogma is re-warmed
rhetoric that lacks imagination. Few, if any, of the standard
tactics are actually fun. Yet, a group of now-600-plus women
have proven that making business contacts can be creative
and irresistibly engaging. What tool do they use? Would you
believe a nine-iron?
In 1998, Christine McInerney, EWGA-LI’s (Executive Women’s
Golf Association, L.I.) founding president and, since 1998,
a partner in the Uniondale law firm Ruskin Moscou Faltischek,
was an amateur golfer who had come from Manhattan to relocate
on Long Island. She called the national office of EWGA and
asked for the Long Island chapter. When they told her there
wasn’t one, McInerney replied, “How can there
not be a Long Island chapter? There are courses everywhere
you turn. This is the golf center of the universe!”
To that she was told, “Start one.”
“I actually reached out to businesswomen, not golfers,
to see if there was an interest and the response was very
dramatically yes! In July, 1999, I attended the Golf, Business
& Women Luncheon and handed out flyers. I met 30 women
all of whom said, ‘This is a great idea – I want
to be involved.’ The number of women willing to work
to make it happen amazed me. If you wanted to staff an organization
with the most appropriate person for each particular job,
they were there.”
For seven years, Patrice Franco, vice president at Merrill
Lynch & Co. and for the past three years, president of
EWGA, watched her male coworkers at their Garden City office
slip away to “business appointments”– translate
playing golf. Franco, who has been golfing for 10 years asked
herself, “Why am I here when I could be on the golf
course? EWGA-LI didn’t exist when I took up golf. I’ve
had to be a pioneer for myself. Women were almost too afraid
to go out and do it alone,” she said.
EWGA-LI, formed by McInerney in 2000, had an initial membership
of 200 women. That is commendable coming from something that
didn’t exist to – by year’s end –
having that number of Long Island members. “Our membership
has exploded in the last 5 years, exceeding 600. The reason
is Long Island’s fertile business ground. “There
is a heavy concentration of corporate executive women who
live here because of the number of corporations and banks
locally based.”
Franco added, “EWGA’s first objective is to teach
women golf. Its second objective is to promote golf as a business
networking tool. We mentor, run seminars and help beginners
learn golf with the help of LPGA and PGA professionals. We
have leveraging purchasing power to negotiate discounted rates.”
In
addition to reaping the benefits from the organization, members
network effectively. “Being involved with EWGA has been
a truly wonderful business experience,” said Beth Sachs,
the director of Babe Zaharias Memorial Tournaments of the
American Cancer Society. “I’ve created a better
awareness among women regarding breast cancer and why early
detection is so vital.” For help getting projects off
the ground, Sachs turned to her EWGA friends. “They
have donated paper, photography skills, raffle prizes, individual
and corporate support,” Sachs said
Sachs
met Suzy Whaley, an LPGA pro and one of the few women to qualify
and play in a PGA championship event. “I’ve kept
in touch with Suzy, told her about the free golf clinics for
recent breast cancer survivors, and asked her if she would
attend one clinic and meet these women.” Whaley agreed
readily.
Sach’s new venture, Swing Fore the Health of It, is
a five-week free clinic program for breast cancer survivors.
“My wonderful business friends have helped spread the
word. Some EWGA members as well as women friends of EWGA members
— all of whom are survivors of breast cancer themselves
— are participating in the program. Being involved in
EWGA has truly shown how woman support each other, wishing
to help wherever help is needed. EWGA members truly warm my
heart!” Sachs said.
Mary Moran, EWGA’s secretary, actually got her job at
Chicago Title Insurance Company through EWGA when they became
a sponsor of EWGA.
“My agency has really benefited from my EWGA involvement,”
said Hilary Hartung, asst. vice president of marketing &
public relations at Education & Assistance Corp (EAC).
(See Networking magazine’s April, 2005, cover featuring
four EAC management team members.) Hartung was a charter member
of EWGA-LI, one of the original 12 board members. She was
also present at the July, 1999, Women, Business and Golf Luncheon
with McInerney and Franco. Originally held at the Meadowbrook
Club, it is now called the Commerce Championship Tour, held
at Eisenhower Park’s Red Course in East Meadow.
Hartung’s circle of influence widened from the golf
course to the board room when she garnered support for her
agency. “Many participate and support EAC by making
donations and attending events,” she said. “EAC
has honored Christine McInerney, (EWGA’s founder and
past president) and Linda Armyn, (vice president of Bethpage
Federal Credit Union). Both of these women I met through golf,”
Hartung said. “Our newest member of the EAC development
department is a friend of mine who is also an EWGA member,
Nancy Mazzola. She has a wonderful story about the friends
she has made through golf,” said Hartung.
Three
years ago, Mazzola lost her 21-year-old stepdaughter Marcie
in a car accident and started a foundation in her name. Networking
with those whom she met through EWGA enabled her to transform
her grief into positive energy from which The Marcie Mazzola
Foundation was spawned.
“When I was a beginning golfer,” said McInerney,
“I was profiled in Long Island Golfer as one of the
top ten women in golf on Long Island, and if I get double
par, I’m happy. That was my ironic secret we tried to
keep under wraps. But I’m better now than when I started,”
McInerney conceded.
The Business Women’s Golf Association of L.I. (www.liladygolf.com/bwga)
league founder Sally LaMay said, “In 1994, when we started
our first league, the response was so overwhelming that the
following year, four additional leagues were formed. Our organization
gave the novice and advanced player alike the chance to play
on a regular basis, improve their game, and the opportunity
to network.”
“Patrice Franco was instrumental in getting our leagues
off the ground the very first year,” said EWGA’s
McInerney. “Leagues were instrumental to our success.
The whole point was to play golf and the best way to do that
with regularity was in a league,” she said.
EWGA-LI’s league chairperson, Jackie Meli-Rizzo, is
actually a beginner who is running all five of their leagues.
“It’s not about playing ability; it’s about
leadership,” said Franco.
“EWGA made history becoming the first ever women’s
organization in 102 years of U.S. Open Golf Championships
to marshal an entire hole,” said Franco. That was the
11th hole in 2002, when the U.S. Open was held at the Black
Course in Bethpage, the first time an Open was held at a public
golf course. “It was dubbed the People’s Open,”
Franco said. “Pebble Beach (CA) is a public course but
at $350 a round – ten times the cost of Bethpage –
how public is that?” Franco quipped.
Marshaling involves escorting players to and from the tees
and greens; ball spotting and noise and crowd control. “You
have the closest access to any of the pros – like Tiger
Woods, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia – every day,”
said Franco. Marshaling puts a volunteer inside the ropes.
It is a prestigious appointment by invitation only.
“We were honored to be asked to marshal by the USGA,”
Franco said. “Usually private clubs get the benefit
of marshaling a hole. We did such a great job that the USGA
asked us to come to Shinnecock in 2004. And we will be back
in 2006. We have been invited to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot
Golf Club in Westchester, teaming with our sister chapters,
the EWGA Big Apple (NYC) and Westchester chapters,”
said Franco.
As an aid to business, McInerney observed that personality
characteristics translate from the fairways to the conference
table. “Playing golf with someone gives you insights
into the person with whom you’re dealing that you can’t
get anywhere else. It is immeasurable. Similarly, they get
to know you. It creates a relationship beyond business. It’s
an exchange. But it’s not a cold call,” said McInerney.
According to Franco, the number one myth is that deals are
closed on the course. McInerney explained, “The seed
is planted, opportunities are created and a relationship is
built. It’s absolutely a terrific way of spending time.
It beats working!” said McInerney.
