ORANGE COUNTY GOLF NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Women Golfers Get Lesson in Mixing Business With Birdies

Unlike the three-martini lunch, golf as a business tool is still very much in style.

But despite many gains by women in the workplace, few apparently are using golf as a way to entertain clients. Of the more than 5 million female golfers in the nation, only 6% pursue the sport for business reasons, according to estimates by the National Golf Foundation and the Ladies Professional Golf Assn.

That could change if the LPGA’s efforts are successful. The LPGA has set up a national series of clinics, and Monday, the Mazda Golf Clinics for executive women made a stop at Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park.

The 120 women, each of whom paid $150 to attend the clinic, received instruction from local LPGA teaching professionals, heard a luncheon speech by NBC Olympics co-host Kathleen Sullivan and watched an exhibition by LPGA Tour player Patty Sheehan.

Although it was 30 short of a sellout, the event raised $10,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and showed there is ample interest among local women.

One Huntington Beach woman thought it so important to attend that she called in sick to work. The woman, who requested that her name not be used, said she couldn’t pass up the event because of the combination of helping to fight breast cancer and promoting golf for businesswomen.

“Men have been doing it for years,” she said. “Why not women?”

The clinics aim to knock down the barriers that hinder women from using golf as a networking tool. The hope is that by teaching the basics of the game--including rules and etiquette--more women will become proficient and confident enough to use the game to build personal relationships with other executives.

Women in attendance were told that although little actual business is done on the course, acquaintances they make could help down the line. “Know that your future phone calls will be accepted and your future board room ideas will be considered more seriously,” assures one of the clinic’s pamphlets.

Susan Jo Paquin, a Monarch Beach resident, has used golf to gain business contacts in the past, so she attended the clinic less to learn about golf networking than to do some herself.

Paquin, who grew up golfing on Michigan country club courses, said she carries a handicap of about 15. She first discovered the potential for linking golf with business several years ago when she was a vice president of sales and marketing for a small Orange County computer company.

Needing a way to make contacts in local companies, Paquin entered a charity tournament and made an immediate impression on the first hole.

“I was the only female golfer in my foursome,” Paquin said. “They all hit the water, and I hit the green.”

Jet-setting: Sheehan, who Sunday won the 27th LPGA event of her career, shooting a tournament-record 19-under par 269 at the Rochester International in Pittsford, N.Y., took a 7 a.m. flight Monday from New York to Los Angeles and was at Los Coyotes for less than two hours.

It was just enough time to attend the luncheon and give an hour-long exhibition, which was narrated by former tour pro Jane Blalock.

Before she left, Sheehan addressed the importance of providing women with more opportunities to play.

“We’re seeing a lot more women at our Pro-Ams every week,” Sheehan said. “There’s a lot of interest there from the female standpoint, and we have got to be hip enough to realize it’s there, go along with it and try to support it.”

Golf Notes

Mark Christensen, who helped the Trabuco Hills High team to the CIF-SCGA team championship, and Huntington Beach’s Scott Gibson each have been awarded a $1,250 scholarship by the Southern California PGA Charities Corp. Christensen plans to attend UC Irvine and play golf for the Anteaters; Gibson will attend Tulsa. Marina’s Diamond Tran, who will attend California, and Estancia’s Paul Hinkle, who will attend Stanford, each received $1,000. Santa Margarita’s Ted Cordova (Cal) will get $500.