The Brightside: Girl’s Got Game

DELAWARE. – Golf. It’s a sport dominated by men, but two girls, Gabrielle Hamstead and Sarah Lester-Stranick are reclaiming the game.

Sarah has had a deep love for the sport ever since she was a toddler.

“Since I could walk, I’ve been golfing, as far as I know. I’ve only seen pictures, I don’t remember it, exactly,” said Sarah.

Calling golf a passion for Sarah would be an understatement. She loves it so much that when she moved to the First State, she was eager to join a team and get right back out on the course. But when she got here, she said she was surprised that not many golf groups catered only to women.

“Coming down to Delaware my freshman year, I was kind of taken aback that they didn’t have girls’ golf down here as much,” said Sarah.

Her friend, Gabrielle, felt the same.

“Everything was co-ed and I’d see maybe one or two other girls,” she said.

But the pair didn’t let the lack of options stop them. They found First Tee, a youth organization that helps golf lovers, like Gabrielle and Sarah, grow within the sport.

In October, the coalition held an all-women’s golf tournament, in partnership with the Delaware Women’s Golf Association, bringing in girls from across the state, and empowering them at the Saint Anne’s Golf Club.

It’s events like these that Sarah said will help introduce other young girls to golfing, and hopefully establish more golf groups across the state.

“You have a lot of fun aspects of it, like the satisfaction of getting a score you really want, and it’s just a really positive sport,” said Sarah. “…Overall very beneficial, so I wouldn’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to do it.”