All proceeds from the event which will take place from March 18 - 20 at the Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, will go to the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program.
The tour will provide free rooms and a stipend to pay caddies... and the tournament will be officially sanctioned, so players will earn points for player of the year, rookie of the year and Rolex World Ranking. Additionally, the money won... from the $1.3 million "mock purse"... will count on the money list.
Mike Purkey's piece in Global Golf Post, Money for Something, Chicks for Free, expresses the collective incredulity of a number of male golf scribes, "The players will get no prize money and, yes, you heard that right, believe it or not." this followed his description of the concept as "...something out of World War II vintage where competitors played for war bonds and a chicken in every pot." Later in the article Purkey again reflects the sentiments of many of his colleagues when he suggests that "... if Tim Finchem had floated such a proposal in front of the PGA Tour membership, he’d be booed out of the building"
And that where tonight's topic comes from: are women, in this case the LPGA ladies, too altruistic for their own good? That's what we'll be discussing tonight on "Only Two Things" and we'd love to have you join the conversation too... on-air... by using our call-in number, which is: 917-889-9592. Or, weigh in at the chat room or on Twitter... or just have a listen on the Sport City Chefs network at Blog Talk Radio. We'll be live from 9:30 - 10:30 ET.
I think its great - but maybe you do that with an event of the top 60 players on the money list??? Either way it's fantastic and hopefully the players will see this event as a success.
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ReplyDeletesolheim tried to match the top world-wide women golfers, like a ryder cup competition, and while it did generate excitement and a following, was not properly supported to continue at that level
without television promotion and extensive air-time, it just will not generate the revenue to cover production costs
also, these pros have endorsement commitments, and very heavy commitments during the off-season, and those agreements are just too lucrative to ignore or beg out of
time is as valuable as money
frankD
ftlauderdale FLA (the ONLY state without SNOW today!!!)
I thought the LPGA ladies played for no money all the time.
ReplyDeleteThe LPGA players do so much charity work all through the year on their own. Sometimes it seems like their every spare minutes are spent giving of their time and $$$.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's any question that women, as a rule are more giving than men and that's not surprising. Girls are still conditioned to be nuturing and compassionate while boys are still conditioned to be ambitious and focused on winning.
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ReplyDelete"women, as a rule are more giving than men" - golf growl
this golfgrowl, in my estimation, depends entirely on the amount of alcohol consumed
frankD
ftliquordale, so FLA (not shoveling snow here!)
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ReplyDeleteand while i'm at it with women -
a shout-out to the NSU womens golf team, not only national champions again BUT we managed to stuff the ZAGAT SURVEY ballot box again without detection to get LaSpada's Original Hoagies (davie FLA) voted highest-rated broward restaurant
the cost of $11 and decor rating of 8 (out of 30) should be advanced warning to any visitors that its really only a local sub shop (the next "lowest per person" is $56 and decor rating of 22 (out of 30)) so hopefully its all in good fun without getting anyone, especially our tax paying tourists, too upset
being across from the miami dolphins training facility doesn't hurt its vis-it-ability either
anyway, cheers !
frankD
davie soFLA (still no sign of snow!)
Wise words re: Ladies & alchohol Frank, but that's a whole different topic. One worth exploring, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Frank, I'm so heading to LaSpada on my next trip to Miami. Sounds... yummy. ;)
ReplyDeletethe ladies are taking the long view making sure their sport thrives into the next generation....smart business!
ReplyDeleteThe LPGA Tour is dying and has no coherent strategy for its own survival. There are only 14 tournaments in the United States this year. There are 14 in a range of other countries, most of which have economies that are miniscule compared to the United States so economic factors combined with the relatively small population of people in those countries who can afford to play golf and will thus be interested in watching in person or on tv, there is simply no way to generate the amount of sports sponsorship dollars that can be obtained in the United States. Japan and China are exceptions, but there already is a women's tour in Japan--and how much money do players make there? As for China, once the Chinese figure out how to run their own tour they will shut out international players except perhaps Koreans, and the LPGA will be out the door. The LPGA is diluting the US audience by Balkanizing the ranks of the players. Michele Wie has been a total flop as either a player or a role model--she has the demeanor, attitude and maturity level of a 12 year old, and she uses an old-style outdated swing that guarantees she over-torques her back and will under-achieve in her career. Christie, Paula and Morgan are awesome but beyond them, who do you have? Making the women pay for free is an idea that may be ahead of its time--at the rate the tour is going, there is going to be no fan base and no sponsorship dollars, and the players will have to make their livings doing exhibitions like the pros did in the 1920s. If the players don't rise up and throw out the idiots who are running the tour, they are even bigger idiots.
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