FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Digital Book
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Digital Book
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
Fall 2018FORE HerProfiles
Home›Issues›Fall 2018›First Cut – Equal Pay: It’s The Right Thing To Do

First Cut – Equal Pay: It’s The Right Thing To Do

By Jill Painter Lopez
October 22, 2018
8443
1
Share:

Women golfers are being slow-played in compensation. Male and female golfers aren’t paid equally, noteven close, a practice that used to be par for the course in sports and so many industries.

But the times they are a-changing, and it’s time golf joined other sports’ governing bodies and leagues by granting equal pay in the majors. It would be a start.

Brooks Koepka won $2.16 million as the U.S. Open champion this year. By comparison, Ariya Jutanugarn had a winner’s paycheck of $900,000 at the U.S. Women’s Open, less than half of what Koepka made. They do the same job.

Why golf isn’t on par with other sports in terms of pay is perplexing.

“That’s the million dollar question,” said Hall of Famer Juli Inkster. “I don’t know if it’s because [the LPGA] is a women’s organization that stands on its own. We work just as hard as the men or harder. We fly commercial. We lose our golf bags. The perks aren’t there. And yet, we still have the same amount of passion and work ethic to get where we’re at. We would love to see it change. The PGA Tour started 50 years before us. We’re in a situation now where it’s being brought up and talked about. Ten years ago it wasn’t even talked about. At least now it’s talked about.”

When Naomi Osaka won the tennis U.S. Open last month, she netted $3.8 million in prize money. It was the exact same winner’s check that Novak Djokovic earned. It wasn’t always that way, and there’s still much that needs changing, as witnessed by the unequal penalties Serena Williams was hit with, compared with similar outbursts by men.

Pay is equal in tennis but inequities still exist.

“I’m going to continue to fight for women and to fight for us to have [equality],” Williams said. “Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s going to work out for the next person.”

Earlier this month, the World Surf League announced it would pay female surfers the same as male surfers, beginning in 2019.

The U.S. women’s national soccer team filed a wage discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in 2017 got a pay raise. It’s not equal pay but it’s improved.

The U.S. women’s hockey team threatened to boycott the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships if they weren’t given equal treatment — in staff, travel, pay, equipment — as their male counterparts. They won both the gold medal and a raise.

Stacy Lewis has been vocal about the need for equal pay in golf. She’s now on maternity leave and it was her sponsor, KPMG, that will pay the full value of her contract while she gets ready for the birth of her child, due in November. It was the first time that’s happened.

Inkster, 58, is vocal about golf’s inequities, even though she doesn’t have to be at this stage.

“Why do I do it? I think I’m at the age where I see it more and I have two daughters,” Inkster said. “I want them to be able to do what they want to do and have equal pay. I think it’s getting better. The younger generation is so much more respectful of women in the workplace. Can we do better? Oh, yeah. If I had the same career (and pay) as the guys I’d be traveling on private jets and giving more to charity and stuff like that.”

The resources are there to pay both the men and the women. To set an example, the governing bodies of the sport can start by implementing equal pay to winners of the majors.

Golf needs to keep pace with the advances many other leagues have made recently. It’s the right thing to do.

Previous Article

Kids, Having Fun Out There?

Next Article

A Dead Zone Comes Alive: Fun and ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Jill Painter Lopez

Related articles More from author

  • SCGA Dwight Freeney
    Profiles

    Charging Towards Success: Dwight Freeney’s Big Golf Dreams

    October 1, 2014
    By Tod Leonard
  • ProfilesSpring 2017

    From Magnolia Lane To The Final Four: A Shoot Around With CBS Sports’ Seth Davis

    May 1, 2017
    By Jonathan Coe
  • — FALL 2025At The TurnProfiles

    APGA RISING

    November 4, 2025
    By Tod Leonard
  • SCGA Juniors Clinic
    FORE Her

    One of the Boys? Not on the Golf Course.

    August 31, 2016
    By Julia Pine
  • Fall 2022Profiles

    Designed for a Champion: Q&A with Architect Gil Hanse

    October 20, 2022
    By Tom Mackin
  • Fall 2019Profiles

    The Great One: SCGA Member Wayne Gretzky Teams Family With Fairways

    October 24, 2019
    By Jonathan Coe

Recent Posts

  • Editor's LetterFeaturedSpring 2026

    A Real Social Network

  • At The TurnFeaturedSummer 2026

    Deloitte Steps Forward

  • FeaturedProfilesSummer 2026

    Following Her Own Path

  • FeaturedSummer 2026Travel

    Lake Effect

  • FeaturedSummer 2026Sustainability

    A Super Life

FeaturedIn The ClubhouseSummer 2026

Bill Spiller

He broke the color barrier with courage and conviction. Bill Spiller encountered injustice everywhere. One of the most talented professional golfers of the 1940s, Spiller was denied the opportunity to ...
  • Lark Loung

    By David Weiss
    August 18, 2026
  • Following Her Own Path

    By Tom Mackin
    August 18, 2026
  • Deloitte Steps Forward

    By Michael Arkush
    August 18, 2026
  • A Gathering of Dear Friends

    By Ken Van Vechten
    August 17, 2026
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise