Swing Like A Girl Since 2012
According to a 2012 study by the National Allied Golf Associations, a group of organizations involved in the game, only 30% of golfers in Canada were women. Women were beginning to join the game in large numbers, but not sticking it out and ultimately abandoning the sport.
With this in mind, the Predator Ridge Academy launched the Swing Like a Girl program in May 2012, with an objective of encouraging ladies to take on the game of golf and leave each clinic or camp feeling more confident in their game.
ABOUT SWING LIKE A GIRL
Swing Like a Girl was designed by former Predator Ridge Academy Manager and former LPGA Tour Player, A.J. Eathorne.
It started in the spring of 2012 with a series of women-only golf clinics and camps taught by a specially selected team of Canadian PGA pros, including Eathorne herself. Each clinic was intended to give participants an opportunity to challenge themselves or simply play a relaxing game with friends. Over the years the program has morphed into a more lifestyle focused series of events including clinics, camps, fitness classes, a weekly ladies night league and more.
One thing that was unexpected when Swing Like a Girl was launched is the revenue spun off by the program’s merchandise, an array of pink Swing Like a Girl golf shirts, caps, accessories and even pink golf carts. Swing Like a Girl is a fully registered trademark owned by Predator Ridge.
The ironic tag line has certainly caught the attention of some—and not always positively. “I did have one lady push back and think the idea was negative,” Eathorne says. “So I had to explain it to her. I told her that the notion of swinging like a girl was positive. I swing like a girl. The women on the LPGA swing like girls. Why wouldn’t you want to swing like they do? Heck, most guys would benefit by swinging like someone on the LPGA Tour. When I told her that she understood.”*
A.J. Eathorne joined the Predator Ridge team in late 2011 and soon after launched the Swing Like a Girl program. Eathorne joined Predator Ridge with a wealth of professional and personal experience in the golf industry. Prior to joining the resort, she spent over a decade as a tour player in the LPGA with career winnings of more than $1 million. In 2009, she retired from tour golf and began caddying for PGA Tour Pro Kris Blanks, followed by LPGA Tour Pro Brittany Lincicome, who’s bag she carried for two wins.
In 2017, CPGA pro Kyla Inaba joined the Predator Ridge Academy team and led the Swing Like a Girl programs while A.J. Eathorne was on maternity leave. In October 2018, A.J. Eathorne left Predator Ridge to pursue a career in real estate in the Okanagan.
Since 2017, Kyla has evolved the Swing Like a Girl programs into a more lifestyle focused series including weekly clinics, fitness classes, a weekly ladies night league as well as continued on the original one-day camps that have been at the root of the program since its inception.
Despite changes to programming, the heart of Swing Like a Girl will always remain the same, to create an encouraging space for women to have fun and fall in love with the sport of golf.
kyla inaba
Kyla Inaba joined the Predator Ridge team in 2017 with five years of professional playing experience on the Symetra Tour, Australian Ladies Tour, and the former Canadian Women’s Tour. During her professional career Kyla competed on the Golf Channel’s Altered Course – Montego Bay, a reality TV show that combined golf and speed golf together to create an “extreme” style competition.
Inaba studied at UBC (B.Sc .2009) where she played a key role on the Thunderbird golf team from 2005-2009. It was through the coaching staff at UBC where she was introduced to the importance of sports psychology, and golf fitness as well as other important practices when it comes to competitive golf. On top of being a CPGA instructor, she is also certified as a TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) coach.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CURRENT SWING LIKE A GIRL PROGRAM OFFERINGS, PLEASE VISIT SWINGLIKEAGIRL.COM