There was a time when women golfers had a couple of miserable options: to use men's clubs, most likely a cast-off set, or ones with garish pink shafts. Times have changed and, if the female of the species still don't have as much choice as the male golfer, the gap has narrowed considerably.

Indeed, the women's golf clothing market is a vigorously contested one - but it is in terms of golf equipment that the real strides have been made. Perhaps it is a sign that women golfers are being taken far more seriously now, but all the top manufacturers have developed clubs specifically aimed at women.

One of the biggest trends has been the shift to fairway woods. In the past, players cringed at the thought of a bagful of higher lofted woods. However, the fact that world number one Annika Sorenstam isn't afraid to carry them has belted that theory out-of-bounds with the result that such a stigma no longer exists.

The birth of the utility wood has seen an increasing number of women golfers - and, it must be said, a growing number of men - opt to use them rather than long irons. The manufacturers will tell you (and we believe them!!) that the advent of the metal wood has been good for the game. They are more user-friendly, which means if a ball is mis-hit, the shot is not affected so severely as is the case with long irons, which explains why more five-woods and seven-woods can be seen in bags.

Still, there are other women golfers who swear by using irons - and Women & Golf magazine advises anyone splashing out on new clubs to conduct a distance test. The average distance figures for women are: 1iron (160 yards), 2-iron (150), 3-iron (140), 4iron (130), 5-iron (120), 6-iron (110), 7-iron (100), 8-iron (90), pitching wedge (70) and sand wedge (50). The magazine suggests you take your five iron, hit a number of shots and then pace out the distances and use this club to compute your other clubs around this.

As with men, only the better women players tend to use forged irons - which means the vast majority of golfers will use cavity back irons which have more clubhead weight distributed around the clubface. In effect, this means a mis-hit, or a ball hit off centre, will still have a lot of weight behind it so that the ball carries well and does not go too far off line.

Meanwhile, there is a trend towards women opting to play graphite shafts, mainly because of their light weight and strength . . . however, again, the advice is to get fitted out properly at your local golf shop/club professional.

The bottom line is that manufacturers have recognised that the women's golf market is a lucrative one, and their change in attitude has brought about a range of clubs to suit the female golfer: hence the advent of such as Lady Cobra, La Femme (Titleist) and Crazy Jane putters (Goldwin).

Indeed, the current advertisement for Lady Cobra pretty much sums up the state of affairs. It goes like this: "I remember the first time I ever picked up a golf club. It was too long, too heavy, too stiff. Sure, golf is a game that tests your ability to overcome obstacles. My golf clubs aren't one of them." 'Nuff said.