# Anika Sorenstam, golf course accessibility, and women vs. men golfers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155 "2003-05-24T00:50:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thaidog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@Thaidog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaidog)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/41 "2003-05-27T06:48:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarone \* > \*\*While this may be theoretically true, it is rendered nonsense by one simple fact: players get clubs appropriate to their height. > > While there are successful short players (Ian Woosnam, 5’ 4.5"), let’s look at the top ten in the world rankings: > > Tiger Woods: 6’ 2" > Ernie Els: 6’ 3" > Davis Love: 6’ 3" > Vijay Singh: 6’ 2" > Mike Weir: 5’ 9" > Phil Mickelson: 6’ 3" > David Toms: 5’ 10" > Padraig Harrington: 6’ 1" > Retief Goosen: 6’ 0" > Jim Furyk: 6’ 2" > > So, only two under 6’. That would suggest that height is an advantage. With the exception of Furyk, those tall guys have one thing in common - they hit the ball a long way. As you say, they have a bigger arc and can get more clubhead speed. At the pro level, they rarely mishit shots by more than a fraction, so the out-of-synch argument doesn’t apply. > > All stats from [www.pgatour.com](http://www.pgatour.com). \*\* I’d like to add that most tall players bread an butter is a fade… Iike Jack. However, good fit clubs do make the difference for the average golfer… but what average golfer knows? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/42 "2003-05-27T07:12:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thaidog \* > **I’d like to add that most tall players bread an butter is a fade… Iike Jack.** 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/43 "2003-05-27T07:23:38Z")
> [@](#): > > To use your own logic: Assume that men and women are inherently not equally skilled at pool. If men were, for instance, 5 times more likely to have the top spatial skills required for the sport, It would explain why there are 5 times as many men in the top 100, not why there are only men in the top 100. Only if that is the sole factor. But lets assume that men also have superior motor skills, that men are more interested in sport and so on. And lets assume that a top line pool player needs to be top of the line in all those traits to get a place in the top 100. If men have 5 times the spatial skills then there would be 5 times more men as you say. That leaves only 20 women. And men have 5 times the co-ordination giving 5 times the number of men again, which rules out another 16 women. And men have 5 times the interest which rules out the last woman in the top 100. Highly simplistic I realise, but I hope you se the point. If men are 5 times higher than women in even 3 traits that are vital to the sport, then a woman really does need to be way above the (female) average in all of those traits to make the top 100. In contrast a man need only be above average in one of those traits and average in the rest to have ashot at being in the top 100. ---
**Author:** ![Thaidog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@Thaidog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaidog)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/44 "2003-05-27T08:13:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*😕 \*\* A “fade” is Golf slang for a controlled slice… a slice is a shot that starts straight and then curves to the right (for a righthanded golfer)… or a shot that starts left and then curves to the right… of target A fade starts left and then gently curves back on target… most fades have high trajectory which makes the shot easier to control since the ball basically drops straight down on the target and then rolls very little or “checks” because of the backspin put on the ball… this is why tall golfers who can control a fade are better golfers… they have the distance already the fade lets them control the shot since it normaly goes much higher than a straight shot or a draw A draw is mostly just the opposite a controlled shot that starts right then bends back on line thanks to the spin… most good club players hit a draw… it’s a harder shot to learn… but it goes farther (normally) than a fade and rolls more… giving better distance. A high draw is a beatiful shot… and probably the hardest shot to hit… this is why most good players in tournament conditions play the fade… it holds up better and is easier to hit in the heat of competition. Many say a draw always goes farther than a fade… most of the time this is right but not always… a low cut will go just as far, but is probably just as hard to hit as a high draw… which is why you don’t see many people hit it. Sam Snead, i think, hit a low fade… but I can’t remember if that’s right or not. It’s been a while… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/45 "2003-05-27T14:04:45Z")
So: I’d like to add that most tall players[’] bread an[d] butter is a fade… Iike [Ike?] Jack [who?]. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/46 "2003-05-27T14:47:08Z")
[Only one Jack](http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2003-04-22-nicklaus-suit_x.htm) _in golf_: Jack Nicklaus, Jack Nicholson, Jack Benny, Jack Paar, Jack London, Jack Kerouac, Jack Kennedy, Jack Lemmon, Jack Palance, Jack Webb, Jack Black, Jack Kevorkian, Jack La Lanne, Jack Ass, Jack Handey, Jack in the Box, Jack the Ripper, Jack Russel, Jack O’Lantern, Jack Hammer, Jack Rabbit, Jack Sprat, Jack Be Nimble, Jack and Jill, but only one golfer. Unless you’re talking about [Jack Gosch](http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/01/09/9929-ap.html). ---
**Author:** ![Thaidog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@Thaidog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaidog)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/47 "2003-05-28T01:55:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*So: > > I’d like to add that most tall players[’] bread an[d] butter is a fade… Iike [Ike?] Jack [who?]. \*\* My bad… from a golf point of veiw, everyone knows that “Jack” is Jack Nicklaus… sorry, one of those golf “read between the lines things” ---
**Author:** ![sweet3jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@sweet3jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweet3jane)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155/48 "2003-10-24T22:00:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*From a 1995 article at the website of the [Feminist Majority Foundation](http://www.feminist.org/research/sports3.html) In 2002, 3,960,517 boys participated in high school sports compared to 2,806,998 girls (The Secretary of Education’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics). \*\* Very interesting, but this statistic measures ~participation~ not ~interest~. Where are your statistics on girls interested in participation who were told by their parents upon entering high school “We think it’s time you concentrated on academics”? My question is rhetorical, I know those statistics would be hard to come by, but my point is if it happened to me, it could happen to anyone. Participation requires interest and encouragement, something sports-minded boys get as a matter of course and sports-minded girls don’t generally. P.S. There’s nothing wrong with my eye-hand coordination. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anika-sorenstam-golf-course-accessibility-and-women-vs-men-golfers/177155.md?page=2)