It's Time For 'Pakmania'

Nowhere is the ritual aspect of golf more pronounced than in Asia, where conventions and class lines have held firm in the face of change. The game is played in places so sacred only the chosen--usually not women, and not the daughter of a former nightclub bouncer--may enter. Despite its Western origins, golf has become a symbol of Asia's corporate culture: elite, patriarchal, bound by tradition. It is everything that Se Ri Pak--young, dynamic, female--is not.

The rules are clearly defined. Upon attaining a certain status, a man is expected to take up golf--it signifies his readiness to ascend to the upper echelons. Corporate patriarchs welcome potential successors into their circle with a round of golf. Put the ball in the hole, son, and you're officially one of us. Golf is the modern rite of passage: where warriors once ventured forth to perform feats of valor, they must now whack a ball across the grass.

Today's corporate elders have to deal with the fact that many of these warriors are women. Women are quietly invading traditional male strongholds. It has become increasingly difficult to hold up the NO WOMEN ALLOWED sign in the boardroom and on the golf course. With their growing economic power in the region, more women are out there on the links, swinging away. They are joining a club that, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, would not have nonguys like them for members. And now they have Se Ri Pak to rally round, to hold up as a bright, empowering example. It's girl power in a patriarchal society.