SAN ANTONIO – There’s only one group in San Antonio capable of bringing a flurry of color to your local golf course.
Chips & Walk — like chips & guac — is on a mission to make golf less intimidating for women of all backgrounds.
“Chips & Walk is an interesting story,” said Chips & Walk Social Golf founder Jessica Ibarra when asked how she came up with the name. “I used to be quite envious of my husband getting lots of steps at the end of the day, because he worked in the golf industry. I would always ask him, ‘How many steps did you get?’ and he was like ‘18,000′ or ‘23,000.’ And I was getting 200.”
Ibarra said her husband suggested walking for a round of golf is the key to his fitness.
“That really stuck with me,” Ibarra said. “So that’s the ‘walk’ part. And the ‘chip’ is when you play the short game. You’re actually just chipping onto the green, and you put those together and it sounds like food, guacamole. Chips and guac.”
The Chips & Walk Women’s Social Golf Community was founded by Ibarra one year ago. The group has since drawn over 200 women of all skill levels and backgrounds to social golf events, clinics and hangouts.
The group motto is: “No clubs. No problem.”
“We really try to reduce as many barriers to golf as possible for women,” Ibarra said.
“This is what we needed,” Chips & Walk participant Karla Mejia said. “I’m a part of the running community as well and the running community is big in San Antonio. But golf right now is something that we actually needed.”
During the week of Fiesta, Chips & Walk reached a new level of festive when it held its first-ever “Fiesta on the Fairways” event.
“It’s a really nice place to come and meet other women of all -- young, to my age and older,” Chips & Walk participant Elsa Cazares said. “It’s amazing. It’s a great environment. I love it.”
However, golfing in the ‘Chips & Walk’ community is about more than socializing. The connections made can be life-changing.
“It’s also about making business connections,” Ibarra said. “Perhaps, making career changes and exploring new ideas with people that you would not have otherwise met. I found that a lot of people that are in business and are in professional roles miss out on the connection piece if they’re not out on the golf course. That leisurely time allows for conversations to happen, and women are being left out of that conversation if they’re playing golf.”
ChipsandWalk.com is where you can register for events.