Bucknell Ladies’ Golf Association plans beginner-friendly women’s golf tournament in Lewisburg

Bucknell Ladies’ Golf Association is bringing a women’s golf tournament to Lewisburg with a clear access message: Par-Tee Time is designed to feel welcoming, not exclusive, and organizers are limiting the field to 72 golfers.

The event is set for June 13 at Bucknell Golf Club, 185 Clubhouse Drive and 366 Smoketown Road in Lewisburg. Committee chair Carmen Terry said the goal is to encourage more women to try golf in a setting that feels comfortable for players at every level, from first-timers to more experienced golfers looking for a social round.

The format is built around that idea. The tournament will use two-person teams and will include prizes, raffles, contests, breakfast and lunch. In the weeks leading up to the event, Head Golf Pro Jesmar Matos will lead golf clinics in April, giving participants a chance to work on fundamentals before they tee off in June.

For Union County, the tournament arrives at a time when women remain underrepresented on many regional courses and in tournament play. The National Golf Foundation reported that 28% of U.S. on-course golfers in 2024 were female, and nearly 8 million women played golf, the highest level ever recorded. Locally, that larger participation trend has not always translated into equal access or equal comfort on the course, especially for newcomers who may be navigating cost, club culture or lack of experience.

Bucknell Golf Club gives the event a high-profile setting. The course is an 18-hole semi-private facility that opened in 1930 and has hosted multiple U.S. Open qualifiers over the past 15 years. That mix of competitive pedigree and beginner-friendly programming is part of what makes Par-Tee Time notable: it is trying to open a traditionally guarded sport to more women without lowering the bar for the experience itself.

The tournament also fits into a broader Bucknell backdrop. Bucknell University’s women’s golf program dates to 1998, and the campus has long treated women’s golf as a serious competitive sport. Par-Tee Time extends that presence beyond varsity competition and into the wider Lewisburg community, where organizers are betting that clinics, team play and a capped field can make golf feel more approachable.

Women interested in registering or asking questions can contact Carmen Terry at ct014@bucknell.edu.