Women no longer green on the business of golf.

For years, the California Real Estate Women's annual fundraising event consisted of a wine tasting.

But this year, CREW traded in the crystal for clubs and took to the greens at Tarzana's Braemar Country Club for a round of golf.

You might say they were taking a shot at stepping up their business game.

"For a long time we've taken this back seat to men in a lot of our businesses," said Tori Robinson, vice president of commercial services at Fidelity National Title Co. and a CREW member, "and they're getting wise and saying, we can't continue to do business like girls. If they're entertaining their clients on the golf course, I have to be able to entertain my clients at the golf course."

Robinson, who has been golfing for about 8 years, took up the sport after realizing that clients were turning down her business invitations.

"They would say I can't meet with you; I'll be on the golf course that day, and I think they were meeting with my competitors," she recalled.

More and more, women in law, finance, insurance, real estate and other professions are coming to the same conclusions, and they are looking for ways to get in the game. And even groups and associations that once thought about seminars to help members compete are now considering golf tournaments, often accompanied by clinics for beginners.

"We are looking into doing one," said Elizabeth Post, executive director of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.

According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of female occasional golfers, those who play one to seven rounds per year, has jumped 10.7 percent over a five year period to 4.4 million, compared to an increase of 4.8 percent for male occasional golfers, who number about 10.1 million.

While many of the women who have taken up the sport enjoy it, almost all say it wasn't fresh air and exercise that drove them to the greens in the first place.

"When I was really young, my father always told me that the deals will be made on the golf course," said Katrina Jones, general manager of the Westwood portfolio at Equity Office Properties, and one of the organizers of the CREW event. "As I got older, there are all these golf tournaments. And when you go, all the women were taking care of the registration and there would be this sea of men playing golf. I didn't want to be the person at the registration desk."

Men, it seems, have always known of the business advantages of golfing, both for making contacts and building professional relationships.

"If you give me four or five hours with someone on the golf course, I'll give you a psychological profile the likes of which you've never seen," said Richard Hoefflin an attorney in Westlake Village who switched from tennis as he got older.

Business women say they too have long seen the connection between golf and career.

"You go to a conference and you meet people, and the whole golfing thing brings a whole new dimension to your relationships," said Jennifer Beever, president of New Incite, a marketing firm in Woodland Hills. "A lot of business is based on relationships, and being able to have an activity in common with business people is important.

But many women find catching up is hard to do, especially when their male counterparts have been playing the game for years.

"I kind of left my comfort zone and forced myself to get to a level where I felt comfortable playing," said Brenda J. Zamzow, president of The Zamzow Group Inc., an accounting consulting firm.

"I'm getting referrals and closing deals because of the time I've spent or invested on the golf course," said Zamzow, who has been playing for about five years.

Some women also say that they find it hard to justify a whole day away from the office playing golf, while men often view the activity differently, and at least some men agree.

"Men do view it as an opportunity to establish a relationship that might, somewhere along the line, lead to some business connections," said Barry Harlan, a partner at law firm Lewitt, Hackman, Shapiro, Marshall & Harlan, who's been playing for about 15 years.

BY SHELLY GARCIA

Senior Reporter