Books
  • Lines of Charm: Brilliant And Irreverent Quotes, Notes, And Anecdotes from Golf's Golden Age Architects
    Lines of Charm: Brilliant And Irreverent Quotes, Notes, And Anecdotes from Golf's Golden Age Architects
  • The Future of Golf: How Golf Lost Its Way and How to Get It Back
    The Future of Golf: How Golf Lost Its Way and How to Get It Back
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design
    Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Art of Golf Design
    The Art of Golf Design
    by Michael Miller, Geoff Shackelford
  • Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point Club
    Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point Club
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Golden Age of Golf Design
    The Golden Age of Golf Design
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Good Doctor Returns: A Novel
    The Good Doctor Returns: A Novel
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • Masters of the Links: Essays on the Art of Golf and Course Design
    Masters of the Links: Essays on the Art of Golf and Course Design
  • The Captain: George C. Thomas Jr. and His Golf Architecture
    The Captain: George C. Thomas Jr. and His Golf Architecture
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Riviera Country Club: A Definitive History
    The Riviera Country Club: A Definitive History
    by Geoff Shackelford
Current Reading
  • Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations (Fifty Places Series)
    Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations (Fifty Places Series)
    by Chris Santella

    Follow up includes yours truly nominating Rustic Canyon. Shocking, I know.

  • Sports Illustrated The Golf Book
    Sports Illustrated The Golf Book
    by Editors of Sports Illustrated
  • Planet Golf USA: The Definitive Reference to Great Golf Courses in America
    Planet Golf USA: The Definitive Reference to Great Golf Courses in America
    by Darius Oliver

    The highly anticipated second volume comes to America for more design analysis and stunning photography.

  • St Andrews Golf Links: Six Centuries of Golf
    St Andrews Golf Links: Six Centuries of Golf
    by Tom Jarrett, Peter Mason

    Another St. Andrews book to warm us up for the 2010 Open.

  • Swinley Forest Golf Club
    Swinley Forest Golf Club
    by Nicholas Courtney
  • Jenkins at the Majors: Sixty Years of the World's Best Golf Writing, from Hogan to Tiger
    Jenkins at the Majors: Sixty Years of the World's Best Golf Writing, from Hogan to Tiger
    by Dan Jenkins
  • The Leaderboard: Conversations on Golf and Life
    The Leaderboard: Conversations on Golf and Life
    by Amy Alcott


  • The 19th Hole: Architecture of the Golf Clubhouse
    The 19th Hole: Architecture of the Golf Clubhouse
    by Richard Diedrich

    SI Golf Plus calls this the #1 golf book of 2008.

  • World Atlas of Golf: The Greatest Courses and How They are Played
    World Atlas of Golf: The Greatest Courses and How They are Played
    by Mark Rowlinson

    New and updated, including contributions from Ran Morrissett and Daniel Wexler.

  • Golf in America (Sport and Society)
    Golf in America (Sport and Society)
    by George B. Kirsch


    Fresh and well researched perspective on the history of golf in America

  • Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season
    Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season
    by Bob Smiley
  • Pebble Beach: The Official Golf History
    Pebble Beach: The Official Golf History
    by Neal Hotelling
  • Free: The Future of a Radical Price
    Free: The Future of a Radical Price
    by Chris Anderson
Classics
  • The Book Of Golfers: A Biographical History Of The Royal & Ancient Game
    The Book Of Golfers: A Biographical History Of The Royal & Ancient Game
    by Daniel Wexler


  • A Season In Dornoch: Golf and Life in the Scottish Highlands
    A Season In Dornoch: Golf and Life in the Scottish Highlands
    by Lorne Ruberstein

    A summer in Dornoch.

  • Emerald Gems:The Links of Ireland
    Emerald Gems:The Links of Ireland
    by Laurence Casey Lambrecht

    Beautiful images of the classic Irish links.

  • Golf Architecture in America: Its Strategy and Construction
    Golf Architecture in America: Its Strategy and Construction
    by Geo. C. Thomas
  • The Spirit of St. Andrews
    The Spirit of St. Andrews
    by Alister MacKenzie
  • Club Life: The Games Golfers Play
    Club Life: The Games Golfers Play
    by John Steinbreder
  • Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect and his Golf Courses
    Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect and his Golf Courses
    by Bradley S. Klein
  • Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald
    Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald
    by George Bahto
  • The Course Beautiful : A Collection of Original Articles and Photographs on Golf Course Design
    The Course Beautiful : A Collection of Original Articles and Photographs on Golf Course Design
    Treewolf Prod
  • Reminiscences Of The Links
    Reminiscences Of The Links
    by Albert Warren Tillinghast, Richard C. Wolffe, Robert S. Trebus, Stuart F. Wolffe
  • Gleanings from the Wayside
    Gleanings from the Wayside
    by Albert Warren Tillinghast
  • The Missing Links: America's Greatest Lost Golf Courses & Holes
    The Missing Links: America's Greatest Lost Golf Courses & Holes
    by Daniel Wexler
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« PGA Tour Announces An Anti-Doping Suspension | Main | Is There A New American Course Under Construction? »
Monday
02Nov2009

“Who is Mike Whan?”

Sports Business Journal's Jon Show tracks down Mike Whan at his home office to find out more about the new LPGA Commish.

Whan, 44, had been working as a consultant based out of a home office since January when he received a call from Spencer Stuart, the recruiting firm leading the search and a company that Whan had a relationship with through earlier job searches.

He went unnoticed by outside observers during the interview process and is not widely known in the sports industry, making “Who is Mike Whan?” the prevailing question as reports came out last week that he would replace Carolyn Bivens.

There were no pictures of him available until hours after the announcement, leading at least one LPGA executive and pockets of industry observers to wonder whether the LPGA was about to name its first Asian commissioner.

Accompanying the story was this sidebard asking "What’s ahead for the LPGA?"

Two bullet points caught my eye:

- Shore up the balance sheet and income statement. Liabilities from the former commissioner, a $5 million unresolved lawsuit, few long-term contracts and shallow reserves have left the LPGA in a sustainable, but precarious situation.

Anyone know what the $5 million unresolved lawsuit is about?

-Move the headquarters, or at least sales and marketing, from Daytona Beach, Fla., to New York City. It’s difficult to court Madison Avenue from 100 International Golf Drive, a lesson successfully learned by NASCAR for the last decade.

Oy...granted, I know Daytona Beach was a bad choice, but would a costly move to New York really help? Besides, since it rains every day in New York, maybe the Madison Avenue set would welcome trips to Daytona Beach?

The piece features little brandspeak from the new Commish, and frankly, he'll have a hard time topping this whopper from today's New York Times, quoting Turner Entertainment Networks head Steve Koonin when talking about his network versus the big boys:

“We’re not slaves to everything except our brand,” Mr. Koonin said. “It’s the only idol we worship.”

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Reader Comments (4)

Looks like the suit is between the LPGA and Summit, a former licensing partner whose agreement was terminated suddenly.

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/63512
11.2.2009 | Unregistered CommenterRyan B
about the move to NYC...maybe Cristie Kerr could finagle a little office space at Liberty National ! I hear the views are spectacular.
11.2.2009 | Unregistered Commentercourt
Guess it just goes to show that things go around. The LPGA was located in NY for several years in the 70's and early 80's before the LPGA Tour moved to Houston. Didn't seem to help it much with sales and the Tour moved to Sweetwater CC in Sugarland, TX - right outside Houston. Expenses in NY were so high that the LPGA could not make it there - I expect they are higher now.

Mr. Whan better be most concerned with learning and fixing the product - the LPGA Tour - before he worries too much about marketing the BRAND! JMO
11.2.2009 | Unregistered CommenterLPGAFAN
Rents are dropping here in NYC. And you are wrong no NYer wants to go to Daytona Beach. Good Grief where is that?
11.3.2009 | Unregistered CommenterVwgolfer

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