Next steps for Level 1 girls’ golf
November 6, 2026
The DIAA Board of Directors’ Oct. 8 decision to approve girls’ golf as a Level 1 developmental sport for the fall of 2027 took a necessary step toward its eventual adoption as a full-fledged varsity athletic option for Delaware high schools.
Corey Groll (l) and Joseph DeGregory (r), teachers at Cape Henlopen HS, coached the Cape girls golf squad during the recent fall series.
The schools now have the opportunity and responsibility to do what’s needed to make that happen.
I met recently with David Frederick, the Cape district athletic administrator, Kevin Smith, Cape High’s athletic director, and Mike Connors, the Vikings’ assistant AD, to discuss what they must do in the coming months for the new program. “We’re excited for it,” Frederick said.
Except for the fact that it involves golf, this is not new territory for Cape athletics. In recent years the school established a popular girls’ flag football team for the fall, with girls’ wrestling also taking its place as a varsity winter sport.
“Any time you can add students to athletic participation, you should absolutely do that,” Smith said.
As Frederick explained, one of the first items of business is to set up the formal structure for the new sport using Cape District policy, including adherence to the collective bargaining agreement. Teachers are given priority in hiring head coaches. Frederick, Smith, and Connors also felt the new sport would likely require at least one assistant coach.
The athletic directors also create the competition schedule among participating schools, which for golf includes an added administrative challenge.
School districts do not directly control the venues where the sport is played. Each school must arrange with golf clubs to access practice facilities and the courses.
Winter indoor track is the only other Delaware scholastic sport where districts must look elsewhere than their own properties for a place to compete.
The Vikings have enjoyed a decades-long relationship with Rehoboth Beach Country Club for the coed spring sport. It will be the first place AD Smith will reach out to obtain a similar agreement for next fall for the girls’ team.
Other Cape Region clubs have also shown significant support for high school girls’ golf, including Kings Creek Country Club, Southern Delaware Golf Club, and Plantation Lakes Golf & Country Club. The golf coaches I spoke with recently during the fall series all expressed confidence that the courses they work with for the spring will also assist with the girls’ fall initiative.
At the national level, high school girls’ golf has about half as many participants as boys’ teams. If Delaware schools follow that trend, the fall Level 1 teams will be smaller than spring coed golf squads. The approved Level 1 program envisioned four girls competing on each of the 11 schools that could participate statewide. The regional matches could therefore handle both tri-meets and quad-meets, which reduces the hosting challenges the clubs might face in adjusting their fall calendars to fit the new sport into the mix.
Smith and Connors will contact their athletic director counterparts at the other schools interested in girls’ golf, such as Sussex Academy and Delmarva Christian. The athletic directors at upstate schools that also participated in the recent fall match series, such as St. Mark’s and Padua Academy, will do the same among the northern contingent.
Cape’s staff understand that match scheduling should be done soon, because golf clubs often fill up their calendars well in advance.
Under DIAA rules, once the sport’s participation among schools expands beyond Level 1, the opportunity arises to help the sport reach varsity level, including a state championship.
Zero Friction
I stopped once again at the Zero Friction booth at the 2026 PGA Show and had a pleasant conversation with company CEO John Iacono. The Chicago-based company first became famous for its Zero Friction tees and later its one-size-fits-all golf gloves.
This time we focused on two new products.
Iacono showed off the booth display of his new Victory gloves ($17.99 SRP). As before, the high stretch synthetic fabric works with leather pieces in the important parts to continue the one-size system. This arrangement gives Zero Friction the flexibility to offer 9 different color schemes, while minimizing shelf space requirements for golf pro shops.
One major difference from prior models was immediately apparent. The base color is now a cool grey instead of black. “It makes the other colors pop better,” Iacono said. “It’s amazing how different those colors look, and there was no change in the Pantone [color codes].”
For those using the male-size gloves, one new model comes in a Masters-like green color.
For several years Zero Friction also designed and sold several lines of golf balls, usually found at the lower end of the price spectrum. Iacono said this year’s new offering is called the Victory Ball, which launched in March.
This is the company’s first foray into the 3-piece urethane cover ball market, but it still comes at an attractive price point. Iacono said most urethane balls retail for $45-60 per dozen, but the Victory Ball will sell for $29.99 per dozen.
Iacono said, “You’ve got to know what you’re doing.” With his past record of success, I am not worried.