Separating from Esther? The woman's away and phoned up during golf! (10)

'separating' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with social activities as well as being present participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'esther? the woman's away and phoned up during golf' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
'away' could be 'a' (abbreviation as used in sports fixtures) and 'a' is present in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is present in the answer.
'during' could be 'in' (e.g. during February means in February) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'golf' could be 'g' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.) and 'g' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'from' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?