I don’t golf. Never have. The closest I have been to actually wanting to golf was at the tender age of probably nine, when I used to beg my dad to play golf just so I could drive the golf cart... He never took me up on my offer.

As the college years pass and the daunting task of finding an actual real-person job is coming around the corner quicker than we would like to admit, more and more people have been telling me to learn to golf. Why? You may ask. To be a bad ass.

I’ve begun to seriously think about it and how it would really help. For years, women have been the minority on the golf course, not only in the professional athletic realms, but in the recreational, Saturday morning realm, as well. That needs to change. As much as I may have rolled my eyes at advice givers, I now find myself advising friends (men and women) who are getting their first, swanky real-person jobs to learn to play golf. 

Taking on golf is not an easy feat, but if you’re up for the challenge it could actually be fun. There are a few reasons why I think women should make some time in their schedules to learn this sport.     

Deals are made on the golf course -- or so they say.  While I have never had the pleasure of closing a deal while on a golf course, for decades businessmen and women have been  discussing deals on the course. If we learn to hold our own on the golf course, we gain respect from coworkers. Pair that with a determined, don’t-take-no-for-an-answer attitude, and you’ve attained badass status.  

Golf also teaches us patience.Patience will take you far in life. Jobs are one of the leading causes of stress in an individual’s life. Playing golf can help relieve that stress.          

You can make new friends. Meet some new people on the course, strike up a conversation, talk about work -- or don’t -- and, bam, you have new people to spend your precious post-work socializing hours with. And then you have new people to play golf with the following week. Win-win, if you ask me.      

However, golf is known to be an expensive sport, but when you’re working hard, you can consider it an investment in the future and in yourself. Because we all deserve that.      

So put on your favorite monogrammed polo shirt and go out and take a lesson; find a friend who would be so kind as to teach you a thing or two. Hopefully, it will help you with your patience and enable you to keep up with your coworkers should they ever mention playing a round next weekend. And you never know, if you’re not getting into a field where golf is completely necessary, maybe it’ll help you get a cute guy.