Submitted by Soft Life Swing Society
As the golf industry faces renewed questions about women, belonging and representation following the controversial Good Good Golf and Callaway advertisement, Soft Life Swing Society founder Jenefeness Franke has a decidedly different message for women reaching for a golf club:
Touch my clubs.
Borrow my driver.
Try my putter.
Take the swing.
And if you miss, swing again.
It is more than a catchy response to a controversy for Franke. It is a philosophy she has been putting into practice for years.
Since Franke began creating golf opportunities for women in 2019, 186 women have registered and become part of the community. Approximately 97% came to the program as complete beginners who had never handled a golf club.
Franke believes those women offer the golf industry something more useful than another round of outrage.
They offer a case study in welcome.
“Golf keeps saying it wants more women,” Franke said. “I don’t think women need to be convinced that golf is for us. The question is what happens when we actually show up. Do we have room to learn? Can we make mistakes without feeling like we don’t belong? Does somebody open the foursome? Does somebody hand us a club?”
For Franke, sometimes growing women’s golf begins with four words:
“Here. Use mine.”
From Thrift-Store Clubs to Building a Golf Community
Franke did not grow up immersed in golf culture.
Her first set of clubs came from a thrift store.
Beginning in November 2019, she partnered with Fir State Golf Club to offer free opportunities for women of color to experience golf.
She was learning, too.
Over time, Franke became increasingly serious about the sport—taking lessons, competing in tournaments and eventually earning Closest to the Pin and multiple Longest Drive honors.
But becoming a better golfer taught her something unexpected.
“I learned how to play golf, but that didn’t automatically mean every golf environment felt welcoming,” Franke said. “There were times I felt rushed, over-coached or very aware of what I didn’t know. Eventually, I stopped asking whether I needed to change and started asking whether we could create a different kind of experience.”
That question ultimately led Franke to found Soft Life Swing Society, a Washington-based community centered on creating a welcoming pathway into golf, particularly for Black women and women of color.
Not easier golf.
Not watered-down golf.
Welcoming golf.
“We still want to hit the ball farther,” Franke said. “We want to make the putt. We want to learn etiquette, understand club selection and improve our games. We’re not removing the challenge from golf. We’re removing some of the intimidation around learning it.”
97% Had Never Even Held a Club
The number Franke believes golf leaders should pay attention to isn’t simply 186.
It’s 97%.
Nearly every woman registered with the community started without previous golf experience.
That means Soft Life isn’t primarily attracting women who already identify as golfers.
It is creating an entry point for women who might otherwise never have discovered whether golf could become part of their lives.
“The golf industry talks a lot about attracting new players,” Franke said. “These women are new players. They are the women the industry says it wants to reach. So we should listen very carefully when they tell us what makes them comfortable enough to return.”
And they’re talking.
“I Don’t Feel Rushed or Worried That I’m Not Good Enough.”
The voices coming from Soft Life reveal something Franke believes should matter to golf courses, retailers, manufacturers and organizations trying to grow women’s participation.
Marquita, a returning golfer, said:
“Golf challenged me to get out of own head.”
She credits the community with increasing her confidence and reducing the intimidation of learning something new.
“The women in SLSS are encouraging and took away the intimidation that comes with trying something new.”
Marquita still proudly describes herself as a new golfer because, she says, staying new keeps her teachable.
But she admits there was one milestone that changed things.
“The other reality is I was a ‘real golfer’ when I bought my push cart lol.”
Eva Lwiza describes the experience differently.
Golf has given her “a new confidence, a new hobby, and an amazing community.”
She values receiving instruction and then experiencing the moment when everything finally connects—the aim, her position, the club and the swing.
When the ball goes exactly where she intended, she says:
“…that moment feels like….yes I get it!!!!!!”
She describes Soft Life as a place where she can “challenge myself, laugh at my mistakes, celebrate my little wins.”
That ability to make mistakes without humiliation may be more important than it sounds.
Even Experienced Golfers Are Looking for Something Different
Not every Soft Life golfer is a beginner.
Susan Greer was already an experienced golfer when she joined.
What keeps her coming back isn’t a lesson.
It’s how she feels while playing.
“I feel more relaxed on the course. I don’t feel rushed or worried that I’m not good enough,” Greer said.
Why return?
“I came back because of the friendships.”
Experienced golfer Charisma points to another dimension: representation.
“Being able to share the course with other women of color creates a special sense of belonging,” she said.
“There is something powerful about seeing ourselves represented in a sport where we have not always had that visibility, while encouraging one another, building friendships, and simply enjoying the game together.”
Across different levels of experience, the same themes keep emerging:
Confidence. Community. Friendship. Joy. Belonging. Connection.
And permission to learn.
Tuesday Tee Time Is Testing What Retention Looks Like
Soft Life Swing Society’s newest initiative provides an even closer look at what happens after women are introduced to the game.
Since Tuesday Tee Time launched in May 2026, 27 women have participated.
Most weeks, approximately six women play, frequently creating enough participation for nearly two foursomes.
A core group of three to four women returns consistently.
And most weeks bring another one or two new women.
Some participants have begun purchasing clubs, accessories, push carts and golf apparel as they become increasingly invested in the sport.
For Franke, those small weekly behaviors matter.
“A first golf lesson is an introduction,” she said. “Coming back next week is something different. Buying your first clubs is different. Bringing another woman is different. Somewhere in that process, she stops being someone who tried golf and starts thinking of herself as a golfer.”
That is why Franke believes the golf industry’s challenge isn’t simply recruitment.
It’s retention.
Golf May Be Asking Women the Wrong Question
Much of golf’s outreach to women has focused on getting them through the door.
Franke wants the industry to examine what happens next.
Does the new golfer have equipment?
Does she understand the etiquette?
Can she ask questions without feeling foolish?
Is she worried about holding up the group behind her?
Does every mistake make her feel as though she isn’t ready to be on the course?
Does she receive instruction as encouragement—or experience it as judgment?
And when she walks off the ninth green:
Does she want to come back?
“Getting a woman to try golf once and creating a golfer are two completely different things,” Franke said.
Her experience with Soft Life has led her to another conclusion:
Belonging shouldn’t come after mastery. Belonging may be what makes mastery possible.
“When women feel comfortable enough to ask questions, they learn,” Franke said. “When they aren’t humiliated by a bad swing, they take another one. When they feel welcomed, they return. And when they return, they get better.”
“Touch My Clubs”
That brings Franke back to the controversy currently consuming parts of the golf world.
She isn’t calling for another boycott.
She isn’t interested in piling onto another apology.
She wants golf to seize the moment.
“Let’s turn an ugly conversation into something useful,” Franke said. “If we’re serious about growing women’s golf, let’s demonstrate what welcome looks like.”
At Soft Life, that demonstration can be remarkably simple.
A woman arrives without clubs.
Another golfer opens her bag.
Need a driver? Try mine.
Never putted before?
Here.
Don’t know which club to use?
We’ll figure it out together.
Hit a terrible shot?
Take another one.
“Golf doesn’t need another campaign telling women they belong,” Franke said. “Show us. Open the foursome. Make room for beginners. Teach without humiliating. Let experienced women mentor new women. Create room for competition and joy.”
And when another woman reaches toward the golf bag?
Franke’s answer is simple:
“Touch my clubs.”
“Take the swing,” she said. “You might discover you love golf.”
“And if you come back next Tuesday, we’ll make room.”
“You might be bringing a friend.”
About Soft Life Swing Society
Soft Life Swing Society is a Washington-based golf community founded by Jenefeness Franke to create welcoming opportunities for women—particularly Black women and women of color—to experience, learn and grow through golf.
Franke began creating free golf opportunities for women of color in partnership with Fir State Golf Club in November 2019. Since then, 186 women have registered with the community, approximately 97% of whom entered as complete beginners who had never handled a golf club.
Today, Soft Life brings beginning, developing and experienced golfers together through community-based golf experiences, including its weekly Tuesday Tee Time.
The organization’s approach centers on a simple idea:
Women don’t have to prove they belong before they begin.