Finding the Fairway: How Professional Women are Changing the Game, Part 2
By Julius Oppenheimer
This is the second blog in a two-part series that highlights the work that Dr. Cheryl Rowe-Rendleman and other women in the corporate world are doing to make golf a more inclusive and accessible sport. In Part two we focus on Women in Ophthalmology. This group held its annual Summer Symposium in Monterey, California in August. The kickoff to this signature event was a charity mix and mingle among industry and medical professionals at the Blackhorse Golf Club in Seaside, California. The charity proceeds went to ORBIS International. The mission of ORBIS is to transform lives through the prevention of curable blindness.
Earlier in the summer, we wrote about a new movement in golf led by professional women to make the sport more accessible to all. For Dr. Cheryl Rowe-Rendleman, the culmination of that work every summer is the WIO Summer Symposium where a charity golf tournament was held in August for the third straight year. While the main purpose of the tournament is raising money for a selected charity that supports ophthalmology, the second is connecting women ophthalmologists with leading industry professionals, product developers, and researchers for a chance to network, gain access to clinical trials and more. The event emphasizes inclusivity not only by offering a setting where professionals of different gender, race, and background can mix and mingle while engaging in and assailing the barriers of golf—a sport that can be enjoyed by people of all experience and skill levels.
One such newcomer this year was Dr. Teresa Brevetti, an ophthalmologist who works in the pharmaceutical industry in medical affairs. The idea of taking up golf came to her after she took part in a team building event with the Chief Medical Officer in her company and another colleague. The event happened to be mini golf, and with both of her colleagues being avid golfers, she felt like an outsider not only as a non-golfer but also as a woman. So later on, when she learned about the WIO tournament through Dr. Rowe-Rendleman, she found herself a set of clubs secondhand and an instructor recommended to her by a friend, determined to get herself golf ready for the Summer Symposium.
“I’ve always really shied away from it because I don’t have a golfing background and I’ve always been intimidated by it,” says Dr. Brevetti. “I didn’t want to get out and make a fool of myself and golf with all of these people who are advanced golfers and here I am the beginner. But Cheryl always reassured me that all levels are welcome, it’s a fun event and last year I made a promise that I would go this year”.
On the other end of the spectrum is Dr. Monique Barbour, an Ophthalmology Specialist in Lake Worth, Florida who has been playing golf for seven years and took part in the WIO tournament for the second straight year. Dr. Barbour lauds the concept for how it connects professionals for a day of fun with a sport they all love, but the most important takeaway is that medical professionals get four uninterrupted hours of direct contact with the industry’s most influential leaders.
Says Dr. Barbour: “We’re able to interact with the most influential industry executives! We’re able to be up close and personal with them because they might be in the same cart as you or in the same foursome with you. So you have direct access to some very important people. And likewise they have access to you as an ophthalmologist or as a healthcare professional that is on the other end of the business. So it’s a great way to make a friendship, also as a physician looking to take part in clinical trials or learn more about new technology. It’s a way for me to get involved directly.”
Dr. Barbour is already looking forward to next year’s edition which will be held in her home state of Florida for the first time.
“So you have direct access to some very important people. And likewise they have access to you as an ophthalmologist or as a healthcare professional that is on the other end of the business.”
Author Bio: Julius Oppenheimer is the Senior Editor at Hypegolf where he covers trends in golf around fashion, culture and community that are attracting a new generation of participants. Outside of golf, he enjoys photography, discovering new art galleries and breweries, and is a passionate supporter of Arsenal Football Club.