Hello golfing world. Welcome to my very first column for Worldwide Golf Magazine. My new monthly column will update you on all things golf, here in the Middle East and around the world. Before I go any further, let me introduce myself. My name is Jenny Hennessy, I am a Primary School Teacher and avid golfer from Co. Clare, Ireland. I am the founder of the all-female golf group in Dubai, named Chicks With Sticks.
September 2020, a new chapter begins. I relocated to Dubai to begin a new teaching role in an International School. Having previously lived abroad whilst studying in the US, the Middle East was next on my radar to explore. I arrived at Dubai International Airport with my extremely overweight suitcase and my golf travel bag (both pink, of course). The temperature was a new extreme, a level of heat that I had never experienced before!
I did not know an girls that played golf in Dubai
I knew absolutely no girls who played golf in Dubai, so I spent the first few months teeing it up with ‘the lads’. I must admit, I always took absolute full advantage of playing off the ladies tees, generously located halfway up the fairway on most courses in Dubai! I guess most were unaware that I was a 1 handicap player, hence most playing partners quickly regretted being so generous with the tee choices after about the 4th hole! Young female golfers were clearly a rare entity in Dubai. I hadn’t felt so popular since being selected as a captain in my primary school physical education classes!
Gap in the market for fun
At work and out socialising, many young female professionals expressed their interest in taking up the sport. The high cost and lengthy duration of preexisting golf programs in Dubai were turnoffs to the expat population. It quickly became apparent to me that there was a large gap in the market for a fun, social and affordable female golf group in this bustling Middle Eastern city. Thus, my vision for a new golfing platform was born. In March 2021 Chicks With Sticks had its inaugural golf meeting at the Claude Harmon Golf Academy. Thirty females attended and immediately signed up for Season One, this being a five-week lesson package with slightly larger group sizes, making it more appealing and affordable to the expat community. The second season began in May, by now we had trebled in size. We broke for the summer to hide from the heat. In September the group had almost doubled in size again, and now my golfing tribe includes over two hundred members in Dubai alone.
Join me in next month’s column as I dive deeper into the structure and future plans for Chicks With Sticks, as well as sharing some of the many funny stories from our golfing adventures. It has been a dream to introduce all these ladies to golf, a sport that has given me so much joy. I am extremely excited to see what 2022 has in store for Chicks With Sticks.
