BELLEAIR, Fla. — While some of the world's top female golfers competed at Pelican Golf Club on Friday, 20 women from the Tampa Bay Rays organization stepped onto the course for a different kind of experience.

The Rays employees participated in a women in sports and entertainment golf clinic held during The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, trading their usual responsibilities in professional baseball for an hour of golf instruction.

The clinic was led by Nathalie Sheehan, Pelican Golf Club's director of women's golf and a PGA teaching professional, who introduced participants to the fundamentals of the game.

For Sarah Edeker, the Rays' manager of special events, the clinic was an opportunity to bring women from the organization together while introducing them to another side of the professional sports industry.

Edeker helped coordinate the event through the Rays' ongoing relationship with The Annika, which provides opportunities for employees to participate in tournament-week activities.

"We have a partnership with The ANNIKA tournament that we do every year," Edeker said.

Through her involvement with the Rays and Rowdies' women-in-sports employee group, Edeker helped arrange 20 spots for front-office employees to attend the hourlong clinic.

The opportunity quickly drew interest from women throughout the organization.

"We had a wait list in no time," Edeker said.

The clinic also reflected the broader mission of Women in Sports and Events, or WISE, a professional organization focused on supporting and advancing women working throughout the sports and entertainment industries.

The Rays and Tampa Bay Rowdies are founding partners of WISE Tampa Bay, which provides opportunities for professional development, networking and building relationships among women working in the region's sports industry.

Friday's clinic offered a different setting for those connections, bringing women who work primarily behind the scenes in professional sports onto the golf course.

While the participants were familiar with working in professional sports, golf provided an opportunity to experience a different side of the industry.

Edeker said she appreciated seeing women succeed in sports outside the baseball and soccer environments she regularly works in.

"It's cool to come out and see other professional women in their sport," Edeker said.

She pointed to Sheehan's role as an instructor as an example of women sharing their expertise and encouraging others to explore opportunities within sports.

For the Rays employees, the clinic was not about competing at the level of the LPGA players taking part in The ANNIKA. Instead, it provided an introduction to golf and an opportunity to learn from a woman who has built her career teaching the game.

The experience also highlighted how women working in different areas of professional sports can support one another, whether they work in a front office or on the golf course.

For Edeker, bringing the group together was another opportunity to strengthen those connections while exposing participants to a sport outside their everyday work.

The clinic showed that The ANNIKA's impact extended beyond the professional golfers competing for the tournament title, creating an opportunity for women working in Tampa Bay sports to learn something new while supporting another woman in the industry.

WISE Tampa Bay Hosts Women's Golf Clinic at The ANNIKA

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