Robin Elbardawil

Executive Director, Colorado Women’s Golf Association

By Colorado Avid Golfer

What’s your handicap?

I believe it’s 4.7.

What’s your favorite Colorado course?

Probably Cherry Hills. I grew up in New Jersey playing traditional courses, so it reminds me of home.

As club champion at Baltusrol you’ve had success playing competitively. What the highlight of your golf career?

Playing in three U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships. In 1992 I made it to the round of 16. 

You’ve been with the CWGA for 17 years. How much has it grown?

I think we had between 13,000 and 14,000 members. Now we’re up to around 19,000.

What does the CWGA do to attract women to golf?

Our junior program is probably where we do our most outreach. We started a LPGA/USGA girl’s golf club and run a few junior championships. Hopefully they’ll become association members and play their whole lives.

How will CommonGround Golf Course help Colorado amateur golf?

Having a home site where we can control everything that happens will really open a lot of doors.

What’s it like being on the USGA Rules of Golf Committee?

You get to attend meetings with some of the top Rules minds in the country, which is very humbling. You also get to be an official at a lot of top national tournaments. I worked all three Opens last year and The Masters. The Masters was quite phenomenal!

How so?

You’re stationed on one hole all day. I was a little nervous because there were only five female officials, and I felt like I was being watched very closely.

Do you think the “sexing up” of professional women’s golf shows that the sport is inherently sexist?

It had a bad reputation for so many years as not being very sexy, so I think it’s kind of going the other way. I think the biggest struggle right now is the lack of successful American women on Tour. Not that the others aren’t very talented, but their personalities aren’t the most exciting. It’s the player’s personalities that make the Tour fun.