When Melissa Maundrell began working in futures and options at Deutsche Bank in Manhattan six years ago, she learned to golf after discovering that most of her male co-workers found the game to be a valuable business tool.

"They were planning all these outings and finding all these clients," said Maundrell, 28. "It was part of the job. I had to learn, and I really got into it. But I hated the clothes."

When her college friend, Dana Coppolino, started playing two years later, she too found the boxy polo shirts and bland khakis dreadful.

"I realized what Melissa had been complaining about," said Coppolino, 29, who worked as a designer for Nautica. "I couldn't find anything to wear."

In January 2006, Coppolino, Maundrell and another friend in the fashion industry launched Verdina, a women's golf wear company based in New York.

"We design classic, clean-looking pieces," Maundrell said. "You should be able to wear them to work and then walk right onto the course."

Women spend more than $4 billion annually on golf apparel, equipment and greens fees, according to the National Golf Foundation. One-quarter of all golfers are women, and their numbers are growing at more than double the rate for men.

Women in the corporate arena who play the game to develop business contacts are spurring much of this growth. But the emergence of professional golfers such as Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer are attracting a lot of young female faces to the game.

Many of these new female golfers, tired of dowdy duds and masculine Bermuda shorts, are demanding more fashionable clothing.

"We see a lot of women who are looking at the clothing and saying, 'I don't have to look like a frump,' " said Patty Ianiere, co-owner of Golf Hers in Seekonk, Mass., a shop that offers apparel, equipment and lessons. "They're looking for stylish things and color palettes."

Providing a variety of options is crucial for female golfers, said Pam Swensen, chief executive officer of the Executive Women's Golf Association, a nonprofit organization based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "Some want to look trendy, some want to look stylish, some want to look traditional," she said.

Companies such as Verdina focus on classic, sophisticated looks. Claudia Romana, a former designer for J. Crew, was inspired by Hollywood icon and avid golfer Katharine Hepburn when creating her own clothing line, Golf By Claudia Romana. And in early 2006, Kate Sutton, a golfer since the age of 12, launched Birdie, which touts a collection of short shorts, collarless tees, tank tops and miniskirts in bright colors and patterns.

"Men can come into work on Friday in a nice golf shirt and a nice pair of pants," Swensen said. "But for a woman, you're not going to come into the office in a golf shirt and shorts."

Verdina aimed to change that by fusing fashion with function so that women could move seamlessly from the office to the links.

The clothes "should be nice enough to wear in the clubhouse afterward," Maundrell said. Using lightweight materials like cotton modal, Lycra and Coolmax, the company's collection includes pants, skirts and dresses with hidden tabs and pockets for storing golf tees.

PinkCaddi, a clothing line launched in California in October 2005, features materials made from organic soy and bamboo, which have fast absorbing and drying properties.

"Fabric is important," said CEO Cathy Le, who founded PinkCaddi after tiring of loosely cut, argyle clothing. "It has to have good stretch and give, but last throughout the day."

The Executive Women's Golf Association, which has nearly 20,000 members and 120 chapters across the United States and Canada, started with the goal of giving women a professional edge in the business world.

"They need to have golf as part of their skill set," Swensen said. Association members pay a lot of money to do so. The average chapter with 150 members generates $577,000 a year on golf fees and gear, and some chapters have as many as 900 members.

Le, who wrote the business plan for PinkCaddi while earning her MBA at UCLA, said, "I noticed a lot of events, a lot of relationships were built outside of the office."

B.J. Zellers, 45, who was working in the consumer products industry for companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Kraft and Frito-Lay, said she felt she had to take up golf.

"I recognized that all the men were going out to golf and doing business on the course," she said. Soon, she too was entertaining clients with clubs in hand.

"I felt like one of the guys," she said. "I was on the inside." In November, Zellers launched her own company, Shop & Putt, a national network of in-home demonstrations that brings golf gear to women.

A survey of 1,000 businesswomen golfers conducted by OppenheimerFunds, MassMutual Financial Group and Golf for Women magazine found that 16 percent of female executives picked up the sport because they thought it would help advance their careers, and 73 percent said golf had helped them network for business.

Another factor in the women's golf wear boom is the surge of young women and girls taking up the sport, thanks to what Coppolino calls "the Michelle Wie factor."

Romana sponsors a high school girl's golf team in New Jersey, which she outfits in her fashions, and Zellers' 7-year-old daughter, Morgan, started golf lessons when she was 4.

The interest in golf among the younger set also translates to fashion.

"There's little girls that want to look like Paula Creamer because of the fashion," Swensen said. "If you're trying to attract younger women into the game, you have to have apparel to fit the package. People want to express their personalities. To have the look of a golfer and be stylish and trendy."

Maundrell said business has been thriving because women are as serious about the sport as the men.

"We are a golf line. We are golfers," Maundrell said. "We're not just throwing fashion in their face."