Driver Strikes Again*
Multiple sources confirm that USGA President Walter Driver has spearheaded the end of Marty Parkes' reign as Senior Director of Communications, effective at the end of the month immediately (*These USGA types really are going corporate. I wonder if he has to be monitored by a security guard too?)
Apparently Parkes should have prevented the recent Golf World cover story (cached link, old link no longer works) where Driver came off sounding less than shrewd. It is also believed that Parkes followed Executive Director David Fay's staff suggestion to put concerns about recent benefit cuts in writing to the Executive Committee.
That's two longtime staffers that Driver has overseen the exit of in the last week and both were reportedly high on his target list.
And no one believes he is done seeking retaliation for the Golf World story and other embarrassments during his presidency (there have been plenty). Apparently, looking inward would be too traumatic.
Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 08:40 PM
Reader Comments (11)
Well, at least these actions are consistent with running a large corporation, right?
4p
Now that's a class act.
The attacks on Driver are relentless, and if they are to be believed, it borders on scandalous, Enron-Tyco type stuff. Maybe that's exaggerating a little, but there is no doubt everyone is portraying Driver as a scoundrel.
If he is, why aren't they ousting him from within? Or has he brainwashed them all with a Star Trek Vulcan mind meld?
It was presumably fine for the exec comm to be involved in the day to day back ing the 40's-50's, whn the usga had a skeleton staff and really needed everyone to pitch in by pounding stakes, writing letters to reinstate amateurs, etc., but the usga is now a $300 mm business. shouldn't it have a board that sets policy (really big policy, like whether they are going to stand up to equipment manf or not) and hires/fires the CEO., and stays out of who is the dir of comms, where the holes are set for the open, and the myriad other details that might be left to professionals.
This move is bad for the USGA, hopefully enough members will vote with their feet (and their wallets).
I didn't read the original article regarding President Driver. It goes without saying that his feewings were huwt?
No too ways about it, Walter Driver in 18 months has ruined all of the hard work and accomplishments that the USGA has built up in 112 years.
Maybe Mr. Driver thinks that he can do the argonamy of the USGA so that the fairways of future US Open courses will look brown and dead like they did in Shinnicock Hills, of course under Mr. Driver's watch.
Maybe Mr. Driver can head up the USGA commumication department and act like some dictator that kills any writer that says a bad thing about him. That is bascally what is happening to Driver, he blames Marty Parkes for writers stories that show him in bad light. Hey Walter, it's true, you are a jerk and I am surprise you haven't seen more bad press on him.
The United States has just spent four years over in Iraq getting rid of a terrible dictator. Lets tell that idot George Bush that we have another dictator that needs overthrowing at the USGA and send our troops from Iraq to Far Hills to handle the bloodbath that is happening at the USGA.
Someone needs to overthrow the dictator of the USGA, Walter Driver, before this organization becomes the laughing stock of all of golf. Instead of protecting and trying to grow the game, Mr. Driver is spending time and money trying to hide all of his sins and bad judgements that he has made.
It's a shame.