"This is serious, and you are not writing about it," one of my female lawyer friends told me. "The top men in finance all play. They go to the leading courses—in summer they're off to Scotland, and in winter they head south. And where are the women? Working at the office!"

Personally, I'd rather watch Netflix. I don't get golf. Why would anyone care about such a cliche white male activity?

Well, that attitude could be the problem, and one of the reasons women aren't thriving more in Big Law or the corporate world.

Instead of racking their brains about how to gain access to those male networks, why aren't women partaking in the favorite sport of the Big Boys? Golf might not be cool (and the image of Donald Trump swinging a golf club doesn't help), but it's still the preferred sport of the power set. According to Forbes, 90% of Fortune 500 CEOs play golf.

"Golf outings are where business is conducted, and to not play the game is to be left out," says Jessica Marksbury, an editor at Golf magazine and an advocate for female golfers.

And because so few women play golf  (the National Golf Foundation's 2018 report finds that  women comprise 24% of golfers), "any woman who plays gets special attention," Marksbury says. "And, if you're pretty good, it blows people's minds."

Women golfers also stand out in law firms. "If you know how to play, people notice, and you get invited to golf outings and tournaments, which can be great networking," says Seward & Kissel partner Rita Glavin, who has a 21 handicap. Glavin took up the game around age 10 (her lawyer mom made her do it and told her she'd be grateful one day).

A former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York who now co-heads Seward's government enforcement and internal investigations practice, Glavin says, "I do ­notice if a woman has golf on her resume. I can't say it gets anyone a job, but a female attorney who plays golf is noticeable to me because there are not a lot of us."

So, if golfing gets women instant recognition and yields amazing networking opportunities, why aren't more women hitting the links?

Some women feel their game isn't up to snuff. "I think it makes a huge difference if a woman is a good golfer and not just someone who rides the carts and hacks away," says a senior in-house lawyer. "I get a lot of invitations and really regret that I don't golf as well as a man."

That kind of self-deprecation might be distinctly female. "Men don't worry about how good a player they are," Marksbury says. "And I've been with some pretty bad male players."

For men, golf is also part of the trappings of success. "I see men take it up because they think it's what they should do at a certain stage—along with the wife who stays home, three kids and big house," says a female partner at an Am Law 100 firm.

Women, on the other hand, usually play golf because they enjoy it. "I don't view it as way of getting clients," Glavin says, though she acknowledges building relationships with clients is a dividend. "I love it because it's a great sport. I get to be outside and be social at the same time. It's my yoga."

Indeed, what's not to like? "You're on a beautiful course all day, then there's the dinner and cocktail party at the club afterward," my friend says.

Women should take advantage of what the system offers, she adds. "We study hard in law school; we work hard at the office and read boring credit agreements; we do all the things we have to do—but golf. Are we dumb?"

Contact Vivia Chen at [email protected] or @lawcareerist.