Tampa 'LEGS' chapter celebrates first anniversary

TAMPA, Fla. - Alex Holian may be the life of the party around her friends and co-workers, but she has never really been an avid golfer. That changed, though, when her friend and co-worker, Dana Fox, took her golfing for the first time a few years ago. 

"I've helped out a lot of my friends playing golf. It's very intimidating," said Fox. 

That one round of golf, however, transformed into endless possibilities for Holian. 

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"I mean anything worth doing is worth over doing, right?" she said. 

Wanting to get more involved with the sport and bring more women in the professional world to the tee box, Holian and Fox helped found the Tampa chapter of the Ladies Executive Golf Society (LEGS). 

"Consistently, if you go to golf courses, you see a lot more men than you do women," said Holian. "I think the consistent narrative for women is that women who can't, won't versus men that can't, will, and we need to change that." 

With Holian serving as president and Fox as vice president, this week the LEGS Tampa chapter celebrated its first anniversary. 

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"It's amazing. We knew there was the environment for it and people looking for something like this," said Fox. 

Now, a year into their entrepreneurial mission, Holian hopes their group only continues to grow. 

"We've had around 620 women this year come out and play golf," Holian said. "Next year, I want that number to be over 1,000." 

By encouraging women to sign up for tournaments, rounds of golf and group lessons, LEGS Tampa's numbers continue to swell. Along the way, many of their members picked up a putter for the very first time. 

"I've actually been in athletics most of my life, so getting into golf was just another exciting one," said LEGS member Dana Paru. 

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By simply wishing to help other women in the professional world network with one another, Holian and Fox have also brought hundreds to a new game. 

"I think that's the most positive impact we can have," Holian said. 

Now, Tampa's chapter of LEGS is off and running with no signs of slowing down.