Rough going continues for LPGA, Carolyn Bivens
Mike Dudurich
Posted 2009-07-08
Is it just me or does the LPGA seem to find itself in the headlines a lot? And most of the time, the headlines are for all the wrong reasons.
The Ladies Professional Golf Association prides itself on being one of the longest-running women's professional sports associations in the world.
Founded in 1950, the organization has grown from its roots as a playing tour into a non-profit organization involved in every facet of golf. And, for that alone, the LPGA should be proud. Some of the greatest names in women’s golf have competed and dominated on that Tour and created some lasting memories.
Unfortunately, the most recent memories have, for the most part, been unpleasant, the result of poor decision-making and arrogance.
Who could forget last year when Carolyn Bivens, a former marketing executive at Gannett, introduced a policy that would have forced international LPGA players to become fluent in English with the penalties for failing to do so including suspension or a loss of playing privileges?
The policy, which was never adopted, was mainly directed toward the rising number of Korean players on the tour, many of whom strongly objected. In typical Bivens fashion, the policy and how it was presented came directly from the “bull in the china shop” school of tact.
There’s no doubt a problem exists in that area. For example, there are 10 Kims and five Parks in the U.S. Women’s Open that gets underway today on Saucon Valley’s Old Course in Bethlehem, Pa.
Many of the Korean players have limited or no grasp of English and, on a Tour that struggles with visibility, having talented players who don’t relate well to fans and the media is not a good thing.
But Bivens, who assumed the commissioner's chair in 2005, put the idea out in a very bombastic way, creating a firestorm throughout the world of golf.
She wasn’t in her commissionership role a few months when she decided to institute new, highly restrictive media regulations prior to the first tournament on the schedule of the year. Several media outlets, including the Associated Press, forced a showdown over the regulations and they quickly went away.
What she has also done is overestimate the value of her product in a big way and, in a shrinking economy, Bivens decided to tighten the screws on tournaments big and small, increasing fees that individual tournaments had to pay for the right to host an LPGA event.
The reaction from those tournaments was predictable. The LPGA schedule is starting to become very sunlight-friendly because of all the holes in it. Since 2007, seven events have vanished. All three events in Hawaii have been lost.
Six other tournaments scheduled next year do not have sponsors. A total of 14 events are up for renewal this year, and Kapalua was the third event that had to be scratched from this year's schedule.
Linda Hampton, the tournament coordinator of the Wegmans LPGA event, believes Bivens is a woman with a plan.
“We respect her vision, but it’s a mighty one,” Hampton said Tuesday. “She wants to go from A to Z in one leap. She thinks the value is there. For us, we’re not so sure. We kind of wonder what world she lives in."
Even before Bivens came onto the scene, it was decided that the LPGA needed to go international, with the influx of great players from around the world. And, in the spirit of chasing the money, the LPGA has made more of a push to play events internationally.
The downside to that? Following the Open this week, the LPGA will only play five more times in the U.S. On the other hand, the PGA Tour has 10 more events in the U.S. after the next week’s British Open.
So in an era when Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Natalie Gulbis and even Michelle Wie are the new faces of the LPGA, whatever gains in popularity have been more than negated in Bivens’ short but disastrous tenure.
That prompted a meeting of elite players last week at the Jamie Farr Classic in Toledo, Ohio, a meeting that resulted in the drafting of a letter to the LPGA board of directors requesting Bivens’ resignation. According to a variety of sources, the letter said that all of the tour’s problems can’t be blamed on the poor economy. The players emphasized the fact that relationships with long-time sponsors needed to be rebuilt, relationships that that have been destroyed by the Bivens’ regime.
In typical Bivens fashion, she has refused to comment on the letter. She was supposed to be at Saucon Valley today, but according to LPGA staff, has cancelled those plans. At the LPGA Championship a few weeks, she did not hold a news conference as is normal. She didn’t darken the door of the media center and declined interview requests the entire week.
So as the biggest tournament on the women’s schedule unfolds with a circus-like atmosphere surrounding it. Most of the top women have refused any discussion of what’s going on in the wild and wacky world of the LPGA.
They’re actually looking forward to getting out inside the ropes at Saucon Valley and beat their heads against the 6,700-yard golf course that will very definitely take their minds off Carolyn Bivens and her incredibly shrinking LPGA Tour.
More and more headlines for the LPGA Tour.
Start a Feedback Thread Or Talk About This Article
NEWS
FORUMS
EQUIPMENT
COURSES
PRO SHOP
DIRECTORY
CONTACT US
GIVEAWAYS
ADVERTISING
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf.
He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com.
Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August.
The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at