Fareen Samji realized early on how golf could build relationships. When her mom first asked her and her brothers to play, she thought: "golf is for old people… It's so boring." 

After her mom talked her into it at the age of 10, Samji found a new passion. She realized it was a way to build connections – and as a bonus, to have her mom all to herself. 

The two of them bonded over their countless hours together on tee boxes, fairways and greens. "You could spend hours and hours talking and getting to know someone", Samji realized.

Fast forward to today, and Samji is a five-time Canadian long drive champion, the Tour commissioner and a coach for ALD long drive, and continues to use the game to help those around her build those relationships. She has developed the Smashing the Grass Ceiling program – which aims to empower women to build connections and confidence on the golf course.

Samji knows from her own experience. She knows from going outside her comfort zone.

Growing up as a young tennis star on the Kenyan Junior National team, Samji moved from Mombasa to Canada when she was 14 to pursue higher education, and eventually ended up at McMaster University. As a Marauder she played on the varsity women's tennis team – as there was no McMaster women's golf team at the time.

Samji remembers the feeling of being part of a team – a support network of people. She felt the pride of being a Marauder and representing the school. "It made me feel a part of the university," she noted.

In 1999, after graduating with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a second degree in Kinesiology she earned her tour card and played on the Future's Tour, Players West Tour, Challenge Tour, Asian Tour, South African Tour and Canadian Tour, sporting one win and several top 5 finishes.

But there wasn't much money in the professional women's game at the time, so she decided to move on from the pro ranks in 2000, returning to start her own business.

Then, in 2012, Samji discovered the sport of long drive. That's when everything started to change.

She describes long drive as a power sport where, simply put, you hit the ball off the tee as far as possible. It tapped into her competitive edge and she soon became really good at it. So good, in fact, that she would go on to win multiple championships – and found the time commitment suitable as well. "It was something I could do in addition to a job," she said.

Her ability to hit it long and straight came from her mom. Growing up, Fareen wasn't allowed to hit drivers – often taking a 5-wood off the tee instead. Even so, she was determined to hit the ball further than those with their drivers. It was her mom's wisdom and insight that made it happen.

She wasn't the tallest player out there – "5'5 ½" on a good day", she says – but she understood how to use that to her advantage. "I was able to learn how to optimize my body, how to use my body efficiently and stay injury-free while I was competing," she said.

She tapped into what she had learned from studying psychology and kinesiology at McMaster -  easily understanding the mind-body connection, biomechanics and how the body moved, and applying it to her new craft.

So, Samji found she was always good at hitting long off the tee. "There's just no sweeter thought or feeling when you connect with the ball," she said. 

Samji would see the ball sailing past everyone else and feel that boost inside. 

Succeeding in long drive also came with redemption, after she felt like "a bit of a failure" with her professional golf career. "I can be good at this part of golf", Samji thought when she started going for distance. She knew she had the skill set, and if she could just put her full effort and focus into it, things could really start to happen.

And did they ever. Samji enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the ranks in the Canadian Women's Long Drive championships, securing a national title in her first season. She would go on to win five straight titles and achieved a personal best of 334 yards.

Having come later to the game than many of her competitors, she recalls "I think I aged out, and my body was just kind of done after that." There was no master's division at the time, so Samji retired from playing competing in the open division. 

Samji soon found her next calling; mentoring young women through the game of golf.

Samji had noticed just how many men there were at golf events compared to women. She observed how the men were doing business – networking, making connections like she had – while the women were not. 

So, Samji wrote Smashing the Grass Ceiling, a book that serves as a woman's guide to mastering golf for business success. A workshop program designed to empower women to excel on and off the course followed in 2017. 

The idea was to inspire and motivate professional women to use golf to build successful connections. There's skill building, group clinics, travel and opportunities for women to play golf with other women. "So that they can have the confidence to say, 'yes' when they get asked to do corporate golf events and not get left out," Samji said.

While Samji had learned how to build relationships from golfing with her mom, she has made it her mission to pass that knowledge on to others who may not have had the same introduction to the game.

Since then, the program has continued to grow. Now, countless women come up to her and tell her how they were so intimidated and afraid when they started but are now playing with their colleagues and bosses with confidence.

"Hearing what a big difference it's made in their lives makes me super happy," Samji said.

During her career, she's also been grateful for her family, and credits them as her number-one support system. But while golfing professionally, she didn't always have that support system close by, as tournaments took her around the world. In long drive, she was competing locally. She always had their support.

When she didn't perform to her expectations, Fareen would feel like she was letting everyone down. But her family's unconditional love and support reassured her that they always loved her, regardless of how she played. 

"I really had to learn that if I didn't win an event, if I didn't do well, that it didn't mean I was going to lose the love of my family," Samji said. When her parents would tell her how proud of her they were, Samji felt that huge boost and motivation.

Her parents support her to this day. When Samji visits them in Kenya, they play golf, just like they used to.

Even after all she's done in the sport, there's still lots of work ahead. Samji wants to continue building the sport of long drive. She wants to continue providing opportunities for girls and women to have the same experiences and success she had – to get as many involved in the game as possible. She wants to see more professional women golfing and doing business on the course.

As for her own long drive playing career? Well, there's still that competitive itch she's always had inside her. There's that new master's division just launched by the ultimate Long Drive Association, and she won their 45+ division in the fall.

"I wasn't really planning on it this year," Samji said. "It just kind of fell into my lap, and luckily, I won," she smiled.

Whether that's the start of her getting back into playing the sport competitively remains to be seen. She isn't inclined to train as hard as she once did, however, being the competitor she is, Samji sometimes feels like her younger self when she steps on the golf course. But "don't expect the same type of performance", she often has to tell herself.

She'll always have one thing with her, though: those relationships and connections she's made on the golf course, from growing up in Mombasa, to where she is today.