PGA member Sienna Voglis believes the golf industry would benefit from more women in positions of influence.
Sienna Voglis was 29 years old when she applied to become the head professional at cluBarham Golf & Sports Club.
Having grown up in nearby Cohuna and completed the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program, Voglis was working in an administrative role within the PGA when the role was advertised.
A new mum – having had daughter Mia in 2019 – the role itself and its location piqued her interest, but she knew it would come with challenges. If change in metropolitan areas is slow, it is nigh on glacial in regional centres.
Voglis knew that a female head professional who was yet to turn 30 may struggle to find acceptance with the rusted-on golfers used to their pros being of an older vintage and, well… male.
“I know the culture and I wasn’t sure they’d want a 29-year-old female,” Voglis recalls. “They either want change or they want to be able to tell me what to do and I’ll just go with the flow.”
Yet it was a level of patience that she believes women inherently possess that gave Voglis the confidence to accept the position and slowly go about winning them over.
“There were a lot of things that I wanted to change, but I needed to be patient with it and wait for the right moment to bring it in,” she adds. “In those next five years we’ve brought in multi-tee and doubled the membership.
“When I first got to Barham, there were 220 members. We reached nearly 480 members last year, which is nearly 17 or 18 percent of the population who are now members at Barham Golf Club. And that’s not with significant growth within the town, either. It was just making the place more inclusive.
“It was picking the right times to do that and encourage people to do it so that they didn’t feel intimidated.”
Although she started as cluBarham’s head professional, Voglis’s role has expanded significantly. Her title is now general manager and her duties encompass golf, bowls and tennis, major events, stay-and-play packages and the management of staff across the pro shop, course staff and in the bar.
Voglis represents a growing influence of women in positions of great influence throughout Australian golf.
Dayle Marshall is now the general manager at Metropolitan Golf Club, Nicole Martino is general manager at Wembley Golf Course in Perth and Amber Williams has overseen a dramatic transformation as general manager at Pacific Golf Club in Brisbane, to name just three.
With a greater focus on bringing through more women to join the ranks of PGA professionals, Voglis wants to see females aspire to management positions throughout the industry.
“There’s definitely a need for it,” Voglis said of there being more women of influence within golf. “Qualities that women bring to the role are things like patience and resilience and the ability to think about both sides and to get the best out of people.
“It’s that nurturing skill. A lot of the time as a manager, you’re trying to nurture people through their own journey. I’ve had a fantastic team of staff that we’ve grown and put together at the golf club. We’ve had hardly any staff turnover and no one’s afraid to come up and say, ‘Look, I really need some time out,’ or, ‘I need some assistance.’
“I’m not mothering them, but I think it’s that nurturing skill to bring out the best in all your staff. That’s what women can bring to the table.”
With such a strong background in golf and the support of the club to continue to expand her education, Voglis is flourishing.
“It was the first time I’d really got my hands involved in admin and thought about getting into management,” Voglis says of working within the Associates program at the PGA. “My role at Barham just evolved into becoming the club manager. I’ve learned a lot and they have put me through a lot of training.
“We’ve made a lot of changes in five years; it’s been a really good journey.”
PGA professionals are the trusted experts in all things golf. To connect with the PGA professional nearest to you, visit golf.com.au/find-a-pga-pro
