After graduating from a United States college in the nineties as a standout Division I golfer, Colombian Catalina (Navarro) Mackelfresh became an LPGA Professional and started teaching in Arizona with Mike and Sandy LaBauve, founder of LPGA*USGA Girls Golf. This unique program specialized in creating girl-friendly environments for girls ages 6-17, ignited her passion.

“I discovered Girls Golf over 25 years ago and every time I moved to a new club, I have tried to launch and promote this program,” said Mackelfresh. Today, she’s spearheading its growth in Ireland from Dun Laoghaire Golf Academy near Dublin, turning passion into a global mission.

Her sister, Natalia (Navarro) Fransson—Colombian Golfer of the Year in 1998 and a Florida Atlantic alum—echoes that drive in Sweden. Starting with two dozen girls on a soccer field, Fransson, founder of The Sweetspot Junior Golf Training, now teaches on real fairways.

“I love working with the girls and seeing their progress. The idea is to make them fall in love with golf by having fun,” said Natalia (Navarro) Fransson. “I am hoping this becomes a big program in Sweden.”

Together, these sisters are just two sparks in LPGA*USGA Girls Golf’s international blaze.

XUNTAS Girls Golf From a program born in the United States, Girls Golf has erupted globally, now boasting over 700 sites and reaching over 222,000 girls annually. “With so many U.S. sites, our growth comes now from overseas,” says Stephanie Peareth, LPGA Foundation Director of Operations. As Peareth pointed out, international expansion was a natural progression for a program that has introduced one million girls to golf since its inception in 1989. Girls Golf has been a clear driving force in the growth of the women’s game this century.

The numbers back the momentum. The 2024 National Golf Foundation (NGF) Report shows 7.9 million American women and girls played on-course golf, representing 28% of all U.S. golfers, a record high. That number is even higher when looking at the junior game, with girls making up 34% of all junior golfers; and since 2019, they have driven 60% of post-pandemic growth. Girls Golf is fueling this surge in participation.

This growth perfectly aligns with Girls Golf, which has seen year-over-year membership increases over the past decade, culminating in 2023 when the program achieved the major milestone of reaching its millionth member. In honor of this breakthrough, Girls Golf and the LPGA Foundation launched the One Million MORE Girls campaign, which sets out to introduce the next million girls to golf by 2030.

Since that announcement, the program’s global reach has grown from 40 to 70 international sites, doubling the capacity in South Korea and reaching 15 sites in Japan.

In Japan, Satomi Sugiyama, 2022 LPGA Professionals Junior Golf Leader of the Year, has welcomed over 1,500 girls to golf. “Girls Golf is vital for girls’ education, and I will continue to help the program grow in Japan,” says Sugiyama, who teamed with Japanese LPGA player Nasa Hataoka for a standout event in 2023.

The engagement of LPGA Tour players, some of them alumnae of the program, like major winners Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel, has been both an endorsement and an engine for growth beyond the United States.

This international focus is also reflected in the 2025 Girls Golf brand ambassadors, who were unveiled at the Founders Cup in February. In addition to American Girls Golf alumnus, Sarah Schmelzel, the group of five includes Asian Americans Angel Yin and Rose Zhang, as well as Swedish Madelene Sagstrom, and Mexican Gaby Lopez, an active member of XUNTAS, the organization co-founded by hall-of-famer Lorena Ochoa to support women’s golf in Mexico.

“We integrate the Girls Golf methodology with our players from the professional program, so they can share their experiences and enthusiasm with the younger girls who are starting to play golf,” said Garbiñe Luisa Donnay from XUNTAS.

Satomi Sugiyama Since 2022, XUNTAS has organized several initiatives with girls in Mexico, including launching a golf academy to certify 25 Girls Golf instructors from four different golf clubs and schools under the supervision of Estela Morales Segarra, an LPGA Professionals member from Connecticut and member of the 2025 LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Expert Committee.

Across the Atlantic, England’s Darren Game, a golf coach with three decades of experience and Girls Golf Expert Committee member, powers West Midlands expansion, coaching 25 girls weekly and introducing 400 girls to the game. His collaboration with the Muslim Golf Association broke barriers in Birmingham, where 95 Muslim girls joined his six-week program to learn the game. “Seeing them break down barriers was unforgettable,” expressed Game, celebrating the fruits of the Girls Golf initiatives in the second-largest city in Britain.

Another standout force in this global growth is the partnership with the Muslim Golf Association (MGA), a powerhouse site for LPGA*USGA Girls Golf. Beyond the transformative work in Birmingham, MGA is reaching 3,000 girls annually through its own programming. This initiative is also breaking barriers and swinging past stereotypes. The MGA is now pushing even further, forging international partnerships to expand Girls Golf sites into Asia and Dubai while deepening their U.S. impact. Programs like these are redefining who gets to play this game.

Meanwhile, new Girls Golf seeds sprout all over the world in places like Northern Ireland with LPGA Professionals members, Zoe Allen, and in the Philippines with So Yoon Kim. Allen and Kim share the satisfaction and experience of other Girls Golf international site directors. “The girls are a lot of fun, full of energy and excitement. It is great to watch friendships blossom from one single golf session,” said Allen about her program at Lurgan Golf Club. “I enjoy how much they improve and how they grow with every lesson,” added Kim, who teaches girls from South Korea, China, the Philippines, and other countries at her academy outside of Manila.

“The LPGA Tour is a global tour, and it only makes sense that our programs are global as well. We are now looking into opening 100 new sites per year around the world,” said Peareth about the international vision for LPGA*USGA Girls Golf and other LPGA programs.

Want to fuel this fire? Support the LPGA Foundation’s One Million MORE Girls campaign here. Even the smallest gift can swing open a door, transforming the lives of girls through golf.

LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Is A Global Movement Breaking Barriers and Building Bright Futures

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