Golf: A club of her own

Mollie Gibson spends her days playing golf, lunching at a clubhouse and attending swing classes at Anthem Country Club.

She couldn't have it better if she retired.

Earlier this year, Gibson was named the head golf pro at the Del Webb Corp. community in Henderson. Essentially, she's in charge of all the fun stuff a country club has to offer: the course, the grill, the pro shop and golf lessons.

"I've got the best office in the world," Gibson said. "It's green, it's gorgeous, I love it. I could never imagine being stuck in an office all day."

It's an office not all too many women have, nationally or locally. In fact, Gibson is believed to be the first woman to break through the grass ceiling at any of Southern Nevada's 40-plus golf courses. Her nearest female colleague working as a head golf pro is "probably in Phoenix."

Women as club professionals at all are a fairly recent phenomenon, according to Gibson, roughly following the growth of the sport among women over the past five to eight years.

"I think that it's precipitated by the increased participation in golf by women. It makes sense that when you have more women in the sport, you'll see more women as golf pros," she said.

Gibson knows of only three other women professionals working at local clubs, but believes a significant cadre will enter the ranks as the sport grows among younger generations. University women's golf teams are proliferating around the country, which she expects will translate into more women in the pro ranks.

UNLV is among the colleges adding a women's golf team for next season and has named a female head coach, Kelly Hester.

Dale Akridge, president of the Las Vegas chapter of the PGA, couldn't confirm if Gibson is the first female head golf pro in the state, but with three decades in Southern Nevada, he's reasonably sure she's the first one locally. His chapter has 240 members and 120 apprentices, "a handful" of which at any given time are women.

"There's always been women PGA members in town in the 30 years I've been here," Akridge said.

Gibson is working to become one of them. She's an apprentice member of the LPGA and the PGA. There's more differences between the two institutions than the "L" would imply.

The LPGA program emphasizes coaching the sport of golf. So does the PGA, but the emphasis of its educational program leans more heavily on business management. A golf pro like Gibson is inclined to complete both programs, which take a combined four or five years to complete, as part of professional development.

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