Thank you for your interest and past participation in the Georgia Senior Women's Golf Association. It is an honor to serve again as your President for 2026 and I, along with your Board of Directors, will be working hard to build on our over sixty-year legacy of great golf and friendship.
2025 Highlights
During the 2025 season we simplified our systems for membership and tournament registration by maximizing the capabilities of the technology within Golf Genius. Our technology has made our BOD much more efficient and makes it easier for our members to stay in touch and engage.
Based on feedback from our members and data we collect, we had some excellent successes last season! First, GSWGA welcomed 56 new members during 2025! Our outreach to clubs and women’s golf organizations is serving us well and, of course, our current members being wonderful ambassadors, all helps us continue to grow!
Secondly, we made significant strides in improving pace of play! By utilizing tips for better pace of play, increasing awareness by having times on the scorecards and marshals on the courses, and collaboration with the host professional golf staff, we all improved a lot! According to our survey, our members noticed the difference and appreciated the focus. Click here to read the fall tournament survey results.
We welcomed Carolyn Sudberry as an honorary member. Many of you know of and remember the many contributions Carolyn made as a GSWGA BOD member and past president. Carolyn’s impact has a broad reach in the many women’s golf groups of which she has been a member. Congratulations, Carolyn!
The 2025 season was not without its challenges. From very unusual weather circumstances to dealing with the fluidity of the golf industry, our members and board members stepped up to the situations with can-do attitudes and provided lots of support Thank you!
Looking Ahead to 2026
We are excited to bring you two very different venues and golf experiences for our 2026 season!
2025 President - Janet Vandenbark
Our spring tournament will be our “urban” venue at Eagle’s Landing and Chrystal Lakes in Stockbridge. As you might expect in suburban Atlanta, you will have easy access to hotels, restaurants and shopping, in addition to excellent golf. The fall tournament will give everyone a taste of rural, mountain living and fabulous golf in the beautiful communities of Big Canoe and Chrystal Falls near Jasper, GA.
The fall trip has the potential to be a quintessential golf trip if you rent a house with your friends, bring after play games, stock your refrigerators and embrace the surroundings! Details on both events will be sent to you early in the year so you can get to work on reservations.
Looking Ahead
If you’ve noticed that local courses feel busier, tee times are harder to secure, and prices have risen over the past three years — you’re right. According to the National Golf Foundation, golf experienced a net increase of 1.5 million players in 2025, the largest jump since 2000. Traditional golfer participation alone is up 15% (excluding indoor golf venues). Junior golf continues to have a significant impact, and the industry is also seeing notable growth among older players, with participation up 5% for ages 50–64 and 2% for those 65 and older. Our Site Committee and Board of Directors are navigating the same shifting market conditions you’re experiencing. Changes in course ownership — with large golf management companies as well as smaller consortiums buying golf clubs — have added complexity to securing tournament venues. The growth in the numbers of people playing golf coupled with the contraction in the number of courses (number of golf courses is down 13% over the last couple of decades nationally), affords golf clubs the opportunity to charge higher greens fees.
With all of this in mind, please know that we are working diligently to identify the best venues at the best possible value within our price range. We remain confident that we continue to offer one of the best — if not the best — values in senior women’s golf tournaments.
Finally, thank you for your membership and being part of this outstanding organization. I am looking forward to seeing you at our Spring and Fall Tournaments!
If you have questions about membership please contact us via email at: membership@gswga.org
Best regards,