Paige Spiranac tees off on trolls after 'elitist' golf dig
Former college circuit star Paige Spiranac has slammed Twitter trolls for their negative abuse following her podcast in which she labelled golf elitist.
A star of the college circuit before a brief professional career, Spiranac, 26, says the sport is male-dominated and rife with double standards.
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Using her podcast Playing-A-Round as a platform, Spiranac said the hypocrisy in golfing circles was ultimately what drove her to abandon her professional career.
“Golf is elitist, it’s stuffy, it’s exclusive and I hate that because I am not that and I was never welcomed in and I’m still not welcomed in,” Spiranac said.
“Golf is the absolute worst place for me to be because I am the exact opposite of everything that a golfer should encompass, should be, and I’m not.
“I’m not refined, I’m raw and real and I wear what I want and I have always been so different and golf is not that way.”
But some social media users took exception to her comments following the podcast and targeted her.
One Twitter user claimed Spiranac needed to make up her mind to whether she wanted to be a golfer or a “titty insta babe”.
Spiranac was quick to hit back claiming all they were doing was proving her point.
1. He proves my point exactly so thank you Mike
2. Talk about hypocrisy, we are showing the same amount of cleavage in our profile pictures...not my fault I just fill mine out better
3. At least spell my name right if you’re going to insult me https://t.co/EkOsCgdLxS— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) March 8, 2020
She also corrected some users on how she refers to herself in the media.
I played professionally for a year. I made money from playing. I’ve tried to get my amateur status back but was denied. I always say I’m in golf media now.
— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) March 8, 2020
I’m better than 99.999% of the people out there. I also like feeling sexy. They aren’t going to stop me
— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) March 8, 2020
In episode 4 of my podcast I vented about the golf industry and I’m getting a lot of heat for it which I expected. Not surprisingly guys are calling me a whore and saying I need to show less cleavage (ew boring) but also that if I was a better golfer then I’d be respected.
— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) March 9, 2020
I also want to make it clear I’m not saying poor me or playing the victim. I know I’m going to get hate for what I wear and speaking out. I’m just facing it head on now instead of worrying about being accepted. I will never change myself so I can fit in.
— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) March 9, 2020
Spiranac first rose to prominence in 2015 - the height of her college career.
While her professional career has since stalled, she’s amassed more than two million followers on Instagram.
She has frequently used her platform to bring attention to what she describes as double-standards when it comes to golfing attire.
Spirinac’s charity offer rejected by club
Perhaps most hurtful story of all on Spiranac’s latest podcast though, was her recounting how an attempt to donate golf clubs to a charity was thwarted because of the way she dressed.
Spiranac said board members of the unnamed charity disapproved of her image, and were thus not interested in her help.
“I wanted to help this charity out and I wanted to give them free golf clubs,” she said. “The guy wrote back and said, ‘We would love to but, because of the way our board members view you, you can’t help out’.
“I want to give back to these kids who don’t have anything, because I grew up not having anything, and I can’t even f***ing do that because of my cleavage.
“We bond over having a common interest and we all love the same thing … I don’t understand why it matters if you’re wearing a polo (shirt) and I’m not wearing a polo.
“If a guy on tour wears shorts instead of pants, the world’s not going to end. In golf, people make all of these problems so serious and it’s not serious.”
