FROM THE SPORTS DESK:Women, wine and golf

Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer or Michelle Wie weren’t there. Nevertheless, some great women gathered in the name of golf.

About 55 women, mostly businesswomen, were at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Bar in Newport Beach to learn more about golf and this new club named, Women on Course, on Tuesday night.

They were there to drink, too.

Women on Course, is a new national organization founded to introduce women to the golf lifestyle. Their lure on Tuesday night? Wine, of course.

It may seem trendy, but the game of golf for women is growing and groups like Women on Course are following suit, as are those running the upcoming Toshiba Classic, which will have a women’s golf clinic March 9 at the Newport Beach Country Club.

For golfers like Sorenstam, Ochoa, Creamer and Wie golf is serious business, but for Amy Lansdown, Zoe Hamilton, Paulette Kolbenschlag and Leigh Broadway golf is a form of business. Yes, it can also be serious. But not on Tuesday night.

“The epitome of a banker is to be a golfer,” Kolbenschlag said moments after sipping white wine. “Men do it. Why not us?”

Kolbenschlag, who works in Newport Beach, along with her friend, Broadway, vice president of a bank in Newport Beach, spent most of the night mingling. But they along with the rest of the women, also took part in a quiz of matching a golfing term with the correct definition.

Hamilton has yet to golf, but her desire to learn, along with her passion for wine, drew her to Fleming’s on Tuesday night. When Kathie Shab of Mirassou Wines spoke about pinot noir and the rise of its popularity because of the movie, “Sideways,” Hamilton could quickly identify with it.

“I’ve seen that movie so many times,” said Hamilton, a friend of Lansdown.

Lansdown described herself as an intermediate golfer.

But her interest is now growing.

“This is great,” Lansdown said of Tuesday’s event. “I’m finding women on my same level in golfing. Now I don’t have to golf with the guys anymore.”

So, maybe this Women on Course group is on to something.

When Bob Reilly, Fleming’s wine manager, spoke, several similarities between wine and golf became evident. Both require a certain etiquette, and sometimes both come with the need for patience.

While the women learned about wine, they also came to know about the Toshiba Classic women’s golf clinic. Lansdown and Hamilton said they might attend.

On Tuesday night, they just wanted to mingle and drink.

At the women’s golf clinic, Fox-11 television reporter Jane Yamamoto will be the keynote speaker for the event that starts at 11:30 a.m. on March 9 at the Newport Beach Country Club.

Yamamoto played on UCLA’s women’s golf team. After her speech, there will be lunch. You think wine and golf is a quirky concept. How’s this for a unique idea?

The Toshiba Classic’s clinic will also have a fashion show. And all proceeds will go toward the Hoag Hospital Foundation. For information, call (949) 660-1001.