Bivens On Crutches; Writers Revel In The Metaphoric Possibilities

Beth Ann Baldry reports on the standing-room only setup at LPGA Commish Bivens' state of the tour address. Considering how few golf writers are left, that must be one tiny interview room.

Baldry also featured this quote addressing the absurdity of starting the season with a million dollar first place prize event.

“Whoever ends up winning the first event is 99.9 percent guaranteed to be in the top 10 on the money list,” said Christina Kim. “They could play that one event and be like, peace for the entire year, go to Aruba or something.”

Jay Coffin gives Bivens a rave review and pounces on the crutches metaphor.

Larry Dorman shares a few Bivens quotes not in the transcript.

Steve Elling wonders how you can have a pro golf tour not playing in Florida.

Next year, South Florida will be without an event for the first time this decade. At this stage, after the contract for the Ginn Open in Orlando expires in April, the entire state will be without an event in 2010. Eleven events next year are overseas, scattered in nine different countries, many of them in Asia, which remains a strong market.

"In this economy," she said, "it's like having a balanced portfolio."

Yeah, that's what we savvy investors thought our 401(k) mutual-fund accounts assured us, right? Even the Asian markets, which produce one of the tour's top revenue streams, are wobbling. Bivens bemoaned the fact that even abroad, the trickle-down effect of the U.S. economy is already being felt with full force.

Randell Mell reports that The Donald hints at talks resuming with ADT about salvaging the event. But it still would be in the opening season slot...

Some good news for Bivens: no photographer seems to have captured her limping into the session. The brand remains strong!

Brand Lady Goes Entire Gabfest Without Saying Brand; But She Does Drop A Value Proposition

The Value Proposition Lady? How am I supposed to work with that?

Well, there was the rest of the press conference today at the ADT (RIP) Championship...

Equity is the next pillar. We're a member organization, and we will continue to expand the menu and the value of the benefits provided to our members. Moving closer to the equity they deserve and they need.

I wish this economic downturn had waited one more year. I wish we'd had one more year, but I'm grateful that we had the past three.

Oh, why's that?

Our 2009 budget plans for a solidly profitable year. A continued high level of contributions to our member benefits, including a 25% increase in the pension fund contributions.

If we had not undertaken the substantive changes to the business model of the LPGA during the previous three years, our picture would be decidedly less hopeful.

Scribblers in attendance: did she actually just pat herself on the back at this point? The transcriber did not note any form of petting, heavy or otherwise.

On the wacky notion of starting the year with a $1 million first place prize event, instead of ending the season that way:

CAROLYN BIVENS: For several reasons. But it effects the money list as much as having it at the end of the year. Somebody wins a million dollars. And frankly, I hope five to ten years from now, somebody's standing up to you and talking about $9 or $10 million events, and that this event would have a purse of $2 million.

I know that people say you shouldn't compare the LPGA to the PGA. I actually believe these girls really do rock. I believe these girls are great, and I believe this is a great value proposition, and that's where we're growing.

Sigh. I can't stand it when she makes Finchem look good.

Q. Can you just update us on what are your pursuing TV rights fees? And how this economic climate effects that plan?

CAROLYN BIVENS: You can't negotiate television in the media, but I will tell you this, it's a very important part of -- it's an important aspect of women's sports. It's incredibly important to the LPGA.

We can have the very best players in the world, the most dynamic, charismatic players and the people don't see them. You don't increase the value. It's also very difficult for an organization to operate and for -- there's a phrase that's been thrown around a lot this week, a price-value equation. It's very hard to have price-value equation when you're underwriting all of the costs of the television time as well as of the production.

Wait, price-value equation wasn't on my bingo board...that's not fair CB.

Q. If I recall correctly, think there were going to be some serious tweaks to the English proficiency policy. Is there anything can you update on that or when we can expect to hear some something?

CAROLYN BIVENS: Let me go back and reprise a few of my remarks and say performance at the LPGA, and frankly, the survival and ability to succeed here is more than performing on the golf course. The international nature of our tour offers us great opportunities and it also offers us challenges.

As we went to benchmark best practices in this area, there is no other program that exists like this in a sports or an entertainment world. What's come out of all of that is offers in some cases for some pro bone owe work from some pretty impressive groups and organizations, and we're taking them up on it.

So we're actually going to make this more extensive than we'd ever intended to in the very first place. And our goal is to come out of this a year to 18 months from now and have a model program.

See, wankers. The horrible PR disaster turned into a positive. Pro-bono (Pro bone owe) English training!

"Given what could have been the potential negative economic impact on our schedule, we view this as a barometer of stability, appeal and value for our players and our property"

That's what the LPGA Commish said in describing the new schedule, which is missing three events and has the players making some pretty long treks from week-to-week. Tim Reynolds, writing for AP:

Next year's LPGA schedule begins in Hawaii, then heads to Thailand, Singapore and Mexico, not returning to the U.S. until the Phoenix event from March 26-29, details of which have yet to be released.

Some events shifted slots from the 2008 schedule, others changed sponsors and details are still being finalized about the Samsung World Championship, which was in Cleveland this year.

One quirk to the 2009 schedule: The U.S. Women's Open starts July 9, followed by the Evian Masters, the British Open and the Solheim Cup. So it's possible that a player who isn't qualified for those events wouldn't play between the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic (which ends July 5) and the Safeway Classic (which starts Aug. 28).

"Given what could have been the potential negative economic impact on our schedule, we view this as a barometer of stability, appeal and value for our players and our property," Bivens said.

Safe To Say: "Value Proposition" A Must On Any MBA-Speak Bingo Board

Here I was just getting comfortable with value modulations when I come to learn it all comes down to value propositions.

Randell Mell reports that ADT actually might have liked to have stayed on as the sponsor of a year-end, must see, ultra cool event on the LPGA Tour. But the LPGA's increased asking price is the real culprit.

I think the countdown clock just started ticking for the Brand Lady.

Tour pros were informed by the LPGA one month ago that ADT chose not to renew because the company was pursuing different marketing objectives.

"The explanation ADT gave us for not renewing was that its marketing objectives and means of going about attracting customers was changing and the ADT Championship didn't fit into its future plans," said Mike Nichols, LPGA vice president of tournament business affairs.

ADT President John Koch said there was more to the decision.

"Basically, the change in the renewal pricing caused us to re-evaluate the value proposition of the overall program," Koch said. "You will hear various takes on that, but it is inaccurate for anyone to state that our decision was based on any form of cost cutting by our company. In fact, we have increased our marketing budget."

The LPGA made various proposals to ADT, including making ADT the umbrella sponsor of a series of LPGA events. The proposal the LPGA favored most was moving the event to the start of the 2010 season, where it would no longer compete against football and would be more appealing to TV as part of a potential package that the LPGA could sell to networks.

While ADT officials expressed concern about altering the nature of the event with a big payoff at season's start, Koch said it wasn't an overriding factor in his company's decision not to renew.

Koch would not reveal what ADT paid for its title sponsorship in the latest two-year contract extension that ends this year, but industry insiders estimate the company paid $3 million per year. While Koch also would not divulge the LPGA's asking prices, an industry expert said the tour was asking a substantial increase, prices beyond what adding weekend network TV coverage would require.

Koch said his company enjoyed a "great relationship" with the LPGA, a "good dialogue" and carefully considered all the LPGA's proposals, but ultimately decided not to accept.

"At the end of the day, there wasn't any reason other than value proposition," Koch said. "They have the right to think what the value of their tournament is. We respect them for that."

But just think, they won't have to compete with football now! Oh wait, there's no sponsor. Or course. Or date set.

Why take an established attention-getter--albeit one in November running up against the NFL--and exchange that with a year-starting $1 million event (?!?) that might happen?

And even the master negotiator himself isn't expressing much admiration for the Commissioner's work.

Donald Trump, who has been an unofficial host of the event for its entire eight-year run as owner of Trump International, was disappointed the LPGA didn't make ADT a better offer.

"Outside the U.S. Open, this has been the most important event on the ladies' tour," Trump said. "It is sad it has to end, and perhaps the tour should have made some concessions."

Perhaps? Who said The Donald isn't a kind soul?

And this from Juli Inkster:

"ADT and their people have been nothing but very supportive of the LPGA Tour and its players," said Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, a member of the LPGA's Board of Directors once sponsored by ADT. "They've done so much for us, and I was just very disappointed to hear we were losing them.

"But I don't want to point fingers. I don't know the ins and outs of what happened or what went wrong, but something went wrong. If it didn't, we would still have ADT as a sponsor. Hopefully the tour knows what it's doing and this will work out for the best."

And if they don't?

But back to value propositions. Larry Dorman takes a look at all sectors of the golf industry and frankly, I came away less bummed out than I thought I might based on his talks with various retailers. Of course, the PGA Tour's $5 million man stayed on message...nearly verbatim to previous statements. Though this value proposition business has thrown me for a loop.

Finchem runs the organization of players that many golfers aspire to become, or at least to emulate. As such, he knows the importance of sustaining what he calls the PGA Tour’s “value proposition.” That, he said, is the formula for success that includes “the demographic of decision makers that we reach, the quality of the branding we deliver, the quality of our TV platform, the business-to-business opportunities, and our long-term relationships with our customers.”

IM'ing With The Commissioners, Vol. X

Now that my friends at the NSA are downsizing in the wake of the election results, they found time to send along an instant message exchange between Commissioners Tim Finchem and Carolyn Bivens.

Click on the image to enlarge:

"Bivens' remaking of this season-ending event and the break with ADT will tell us so much about the wisdom of her overall plan."

Randell Mell on this week's final ADT Championship and the Commissioner's state of the LPGA Tour address:

ADT, the Fields Open, the Ginn Tribute and Safeway International are losing their title sponsors. Kapalua has been looking for a sponsor for more than a year. These issues affect Bivens' larger strategic TV plan for 2010. She needs good partners to realize this plan, and that means being a good partner in turn.

Really, the break with ADT offers a telling microcosm for us to judge Bivens' larger approach.

Tour pros ought to scrutinize what's happening to this event very closely to see if the changes are really for the better or if something special's being damaged.

Bivens' remaking of this season-ending event and the break with ADT will tell us so much about the wisdom of her overall plan.

If she unveils a future to this championship that sounds convincingly better than the eight-year run ADT gave us, players should be encouraged. If she doesn't, they ought to be worried, and they ought to be asking hard questions of their commissioner. This has been a terrific event with a wonderful run. Players are sure to measure future events against it.

Stay tuned, as they say, the commissioner steps up to the tee Wednesday.

"When someone says 'Lorena' I think of the way she opens up all her press conferences with a 'hello everybody.'"

Kevin Baxter profiles Lorena Ochoa for the L.A. Times and focuses on her humility. Naturally, The Brand Lady offered a profound insight:

Adds LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens: "When someone says 'Lorena' I think of the way she opens up all her press conferences with a 'hello everybody.' I would say that's pretty unusual for a world's No. 1 athlete in any sport. It's one thing to do it as part of a public persona. It's another thing to be a very authentic role model."

Saying "hello everybody" in the press room makes her an authentic role model?

“If they don’t even know survival English, they’re totally dependent on the dad.”

Karen Crouse of the New York Times went to some LPGA Tour events and got to know Korean players. She also talked to the Brand Lady (from what I can gather), and it seems the Commish said something unusual and upsetting to some players. (Shocking, I know.)

First, Crouse summarizes:

Although language has become a primary talking point on the tour, the cultural gap may be wider than any English-speaking policy can bridge. Bivens has since strained relations more by indicating that her plan was also meant to help the South Korean players shake their omnipresent fathers. By singling out the South Koreans, Bivens has reduced them to one-dimensional stock characters, which is like reading no break in a putt on a contoured green.

There's a resume quote for ya CB!

Bivens’s motivation extends beyond the fiscal health of the tour. In a recent interview, she said her goal was to help assimilate the South Korean players into a culture starkly different from their own and to emancipate them from what she characterized as overbearing fathers. Forcing the players to learn English and threatening their livelihoods was the best way she saw to accomplish that.

“The language is part of the control the parents have over their young daughters,” Bivens said. “If they don’t even know survival English, they’re totally dependent on the dad.”

Seon Hwa Lee, the L.P.G.A. rookie of the year in 2006 and a two-time winner this year, is considered one of the quieter South Koreans, but she was outspoken about Bivens’s emancipation proclamation.

“I don’t think that’s her job,” Lee said.

You mean to be the tour's in-house, strict Freudian?

Of course, considering that the NY Times ran four player capsules in the print version, including one of Mi Hyun Kim. There it's revealed her parents wouldn't let her marry a guy until she won a major. Maybe the Commish isn't so far off?

The meat of Crouse's excellent reporting:

In Korean culture, parents will do whatever is necessary to help their children’s prospects. They have a name for it, child farming, and cultivating successful sons and daughters confers great prestige on the parents. For golfers, that means fathers leave their jobs to travel the circuit and serve their daughters in many unofficial roles: coach, caddie, chauffeur, counselor, critic and cook.

At night during the Danville tournament, the halls of an Extended Stay America Hotel smelled of garlic and kimchi as parents of the South Korean players made dinner. Filial obedience and financial independence are not mutually exclusive to the South Koreans, who see nothing contradictory about taking home the bulgogi (barbecue beef) and letting their mothers or fathers fry it up in a pan.

Some of the fathers turn up the heat, pushing their daughters to practice and berating them when they do not play well. Three caddies who work for them said there were a handful of South Korean players on the Tour who have been ostracized by their compatriots because of their overzealous fathers.

Christina Kim said: “I can understand and appreciate what Carolyn is trying to do in regards to emancipating Korean players from their fathers. However, it is my firm belief that just like in any other culture, one has to go and reclaim their independence, learn who they are as humans in this world, of their own volition. If someone is not ready to leave the comforts of the nest, or they haven’t got the strength to do it, I feel that it is their own choice.” 

"The penalty wasn’t something that was decided overnight. There was lots of feedback and lots of reasons."

You have to give Carolyn Bivens big points for sitting down with Beth Ann Baldry since it was Baldry who broke the LPGA's learn-corporatespeak-or-else provision. And credit Baldry for asking tough questions.

GW: Looking back on the way everything developed, is there anything you would do differently? Is there anything the LPGA has learned from this?

CB: We learn from everything.

GW: Would you care to expand on that?

CB: The only thing I would expand on there is that this was not an announcement and it was not a policy. Unfortunately that is the way that it was portrayed.

In her defense, the media did blow that. Check out this L.A. Times front page story.  But isn't this kind of overblown reporting typically a consequence when word gets out about a boneheaded, insensitive policy?

GW: But it was a rule. There was a very strict penalty.

CB: I said it wasn’t a policy. It was a small part of a program. There was feedback from lots of different groups, just as Rae Evans told you. . . . On Sunday I was in Albany, and we have 10 new members of the LPGA. Half of those are international players. The list for Qualifying School was released this morning; we have almost 70 international players. That provides both challenges and opportunities for us. . . . What we were doing is looking down the pipeline and saying this is the perfect time of year to be looking at what’s coming to the LPGA over the next couple years and make sure we’ve got the resources and support to be able to handle that.

GW: So it wasn’t so much the current players on tour as it was looking ahead.

CB: Correct.

Are we now putting lipstick on a pig? Wait, don't accuse me of calling the Commissioner a pig!

GW: Looking at it now, do you realize or recognize that the penalty portion was a mistake?

CB: The penalty wasn’t something that was decided overnight. There was lots of feedback and lots of reasons.

Would that last sentence be allowed on the LPGA's English exam?

GW: Looking back on it now, do you wish you have discussed the penalty portion with more sponsors or...

CB: Sponsors never want to be part of these decisions.

Huh, she told Tommy Hicks the same day that "we were addressing sponsors' needs and requirements."

GW: Whom will you consult now, going forward? Will you include more people on this?

CB: What do they say . . . a camel is a horse built by a committee?

Good animal metaphor, much better than lipstick on a pig. I have a lot to learn.

What we need to be able to do is include enough for a cross-cultural group and to be able to control and announce. And not have something play in primetime way before it was ready. It was never intended as an announcement.

Got that Beth Ann. It's all your fault!

Speaking of fault, Ron Sirak says that the LPGA's triple-bogey could impact the Olympic golf push.

Fathers are angrier than their daughters at a perceived cultural insult, and the jury is still out on the mood of Korean companies who pour millions into the LPGA and have great national pride. The issue also may impact next year's vote on whether to add golf to the 2016 Olympics. It's the kind of insult the IOC remembers, such as when the Atlanta games proposed Augusta National as the golf venue.

"If you’ve been reading the blogs, you know that it has not just been heat. We’ve also been praised for being leaders."

It's interesting to note that as soon as a major sponsor like State Farm was on the record questioning the LPGA's speak-English-you-pesky-Koreans-or-its-안녕, they rescinded their proposed penalties. Before we get to some reaction and the major question here, consider these two interviews from the last couple of days.

Michael Bush of Ad Age talked to Libba Galloway who held firm even after the State Farm comments. That was yesterday.

Steve Eubanks, in a Yahoo interview with Commissioner Bivens dated Thursday at 12:14 p.m., gets some interesting responses considering Fridays rescintion.

Bivens: Well, I’ll start by saying that, if you’ve been reading the blogs, you know that it has not just been heat. We’ve also been praised for being leaders.

See all of you who supported the commissioner in previous posts here, you provided someone comfort.

Eubanks asked about why only Koreans were targeted:

We currently don’t have any Spanish-speaking players who don’t speak English. We don’t have any Swedish players who don’t speak English, and we didn’t have any Japanese players in the Portland event, which is where we talked.

A couple of times a year, when I meet with the Korean players, they ask that I meet with the parents and guardians or their agents. That’s a group that has a unique culture and unique needs, just as the Spanish speakers or others that we don’t happen to have right now.

And here's where you have to question why she gets paid the big bucks:

Question: Were you surprised by the negative reaction this has gotten?

Bivens: Sure, when the headline is that we’re mandating English only and we’re going to suspend players, people are going to react to that. That’s not the program. Ninety-five percent of the program is about education and focus; 5 percent deals with the penalty, and we don’t expect to ever have to apply it. We’re providing all of the resources. Based on the headline and misinformation, we shouldn’t have been surprised.

This was not an announcement. This was a work in progress, and it came third-hand from a private meeting.

And wouldn't you just expect that something so clearly controversial would get out?

In an ESPN.com piece, Ron Sirak says the LPGA should have seen this coming.

This entire mess, which is embarrassing for the LPGA at best and potentially damaging to its efforts to do business in Asia at worst, could have been avoided if that "valuable feedback" had been sought before the rule was unilaterally imposed at a meeting with the Korean players in Portland, Ore., in late August. The decision to rescind the penalty was the right one, but is it a large enough eraser to eliminate the memory of the original insult?

These are huge points I don't think has been mentioned anywhere else:

The tour's single biggest revenue stream is Korean TV money. What is to be gained by offending that community?

The ultimate silliness about this entire situation is the small number of players it really affected. A well-placed source within the LPGA hierarchy said there were "perhaps a dozen" Korean players on tour who did not possess the English skills the LPGA desired. A caddie who works for a Korean player placed the number at "about five to seven."

This all seems to go back to the same point: who at the LPGA Tour is thinking about the big picture and understanding how the world might react to new policies? Clearly not Bivens or anyone she has brought in. Consider what John Hawkins wrote before Friday's news:

Blog Nation has been serving up a ton of related opinions, many of which castigate commissioner Carolyn Bivens for her sloppy handling of the matter, as if anything this administration does is executed in tidy fashion or is universally well received.

You know what I like about Bivens? Neither do I. A vast majority of the story­lines coming out of women's golf in recent years have come with a built-in negative hook, and not because the media is guilty of piling on. The language-barrier issue is a classic head-vs.-heart argument: what's good for business as opposed to what's morally right. There are a bunch of reasons not to like the LPGA's demand that its players speak English and just one obvious reason to validate the cause—so a bunch of South Korean girls can chat in the pro-am with the guy who owns the local supermarket chain.

How does she keep her job?

Sadly, for the LPGA Tour, she's a blogger's dream.That should tell the LPGA board everything it needs to know.

LPGA Backs Down: "관심사를 들어서 후에, 우리는 각 투어 선수를 위한 사업 기회 지원하고 강화하는의 우리의 공동 목적을 달성하는 다른 방법이 다는 것을 믿는다."

According to the AP story, the death of the penalty provisions for not passing an English exam came two hours before a press conference and a day after a California lawmaker started raising serious questions.

Here's the statement from the Commish:

Statement credited to LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens regarding the LPGA's policy on effective communication in English

The LPGA has received valuable feedback from a variety of constituents regarding the recently announced penalties attached to our effective communications policy. We have decided to rescind those penalty provisions.

After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every Tour player. In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse Tour players to develop a better alternative. The LPGA will announce a revised approach, absent playing penalties, by the end of 2008.

During that time we will continue to provide support under the three-year-old Kolon-LPGA Cross Cultural Program. This popular program provides all LPGA members with the best cross-cultural training in the form of tutors, translators, Rosetta Stone®, the official language-learning system of the LPGA, as well as assistance from LPGA staff and consultants.

And for our Korean-speaking readers...

계산서는 LPGA 감독관에게 Carolyn F. 신용했다. 영어로 효과적인 커뮤니케이션에 LPGA의 정책에 대하여 Bivens는

 우리의 효과적인 커뮤니케이션 정책에 붙어 있던 최근에 알려진 형벌에 대하여 다양한 성분에서 LPGA 귀중한 의견을 받았다. 우리는 그 형벌 지급을 폐지하는 것을 결정했다.

관심사를 들어서 후에, 우리는 각 투어 선수를 위한 사업 기회 지원하고 강화하는의 우리의 공동 목적을 달성하는 다른 방법이 다는 것을 믿는다. 저 정신에서는, 우리는 우리의 다양한 투어 선수에 더 나은 대안을 개발하기 위하여 교통 계속되. LPGA는 2008년 말까지 수정한 접근, 결석한 노는 형벌을, 알릴 것이다.

그동안 우리는 Kolon-LPGA 3 년 오래된 교차하는 문화적인 프로그램의 밑에 지원을 제공하는 것을 계속할 것이다. 이 보급 프로그램은 LPGA 직원과 고문에게서 원조 뿐만 아니라 가정교사, 통역, Rosetta Stone® 의 LPGA의 공식적인 언어 배우는 체계의 모양으로 제일 cross-cultural 훈련을 모든 LPGA 일원에게, 제공한다.

Update on 2008-09-05 18:02 by Geoff

I wonder if the LPGA's change of course means Jan Stephenson has not been de-vindicated. Gary Van Sickle reported earlier this week:

The rule, clearly aimed at the growing number of Asian players dominating the tour, seemed to confirm that Stephenson, a Hall of Fame golfer, was not alone in the sentiments that got her in trouble five years ago. She drew a firestorm of criticism for saying in a 2003 GOLF Magazine interview that the influx of Asian players was "killing" the tour and that the LPGA should consider quotas on foreign players. Stephenson was accused of making racially insensitive remarks and was criticized by then-LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw. She apologized but was still ostracized.

"I talked to the LPGA this morning, and now they're saying, yes, it [foreign players] is an issue," Stephenson said by phone from her Florida office Tuesday. "I said, I've finally been vindicated."

"LPGA 투어 일원은 세계적인 기업의 고위급 행정관과 한 쌍이 되었다. 어느 쪽도 아니에는 그들의 첫번째 언어로 영어가 없었다. 그들은 동일한 국가에서 이지 않았다."

The great branding never stops when it comes to the LPGA Tour's desire to penalize Korean players who can't tell their pro-am partners the difference between a Pro V1x and Platinum One, with Lorena Ochoa calling the new policy "a little drastic.”

Evan Rothman at Golfweek.com offers an excellent day-by-day primer on the key phrases Korean players will want to learn. Here's his Wednesday pro-am round list:

Wednesday: Pro-am round(to male pro-am partners)

“You’re in the [insert partner’s profession here] business? How fascinating.”“Nice drive. . . . Does your husband play golf?”

"Hit it, Alice.”

"You got all of that one!”

“A swing tip? You’re standing too close to the ball . . . after your shot.”

“Yes, Lorena really is as nice as everyone says. . . . No, I haven’t met Tiger Woods.”

“Another tip? Take two weeks off, then quit.”

“I don’t understand why Michelle Wie isn’t playing out here, either. I guess you’d have to ask her.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get it back on the next hole.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a tremendous slouch.”

(at round’s end)            

“Hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort?”

“Sorry, I don’t give out my phone number.”

And finally, because I always feel the need to give back, I offer this Korean translation for the SAT like-example provided by the Commissioner for learning English. To refresh your memory, here's the brilliance in English and Korean:

An LPGA Tour member was paired with a senior level executive of a global corporation. Neither had English as their first language. They were not from the same country. However, English was their common language, their common bond. They were able to effectively communicate in English throughout the entire 18-hole round, and to this day they are in discussions for a sponsorship opportunity. This would not have been possible if they could not effectively communicate in English. The player was equipped to harness this potential earnings opportunity. This is what the LPGA wants for its members. To be as prepared as possible to succeed both on and off the course.

LPGA 투어 일원은 세계적인 기업의 고위급 행정관과 한 쌍이 되었다. 어느 쪽도 아니에는 그들의 첫번째 언어로 영어가 없었다. 그들은 동일한 국가에서 이지 않았다. 그러나, 영어는 그들의 공통 언어, 그들의 일반적인 유대이었다. 그들은 효과적으로 둥근 전체 18 구멍을 통하여 영어로 교통할 수 있고, 후원 기회를 위한 면담에 현재까지 있다. 이것은 그들이 영어로 효과적으로 교통할 수 없던 경우에 가능하지 않ㄹ을. 선수는 이 잠재적인 수입 기회를 마구를 채우기 위하여 갖춰졌다. 이것은 LPGA가 그것의 일원을 위해 원하는 무슨이다. 둘 다 이따금 성공하게 가능한 한 준비되는 이기 위하여 과정.

See how easy it is to deal with the two languages.

Brand Lady Memo: "We do not view this as punitive but rather as underscoring the importance of a core value on which the LPGA was founded: engaging and entertaining our customers and fans."

Thanks to the reader who passed this along, and do make sure you hit the link for the "background" on the policy.

To:         LPGA Constituents
From:    LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens
Date:     Sept. 2, 2008
Subj:     LPGA overview regarding the effective communication in English policy

A great deal has been written this past week about the LPGA’s initiative to help members attain minimal English language skills. For those of you who want more details and background, please go to http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?pid=17137&mid=4 where you will find an extensive overview. Please feel free to respond and offer comments.

Let's start with a key point of clarity: we are not suggesting, nor will we implement, an “English only” policy. The LPGA does not, nor will we ever, require English fluency, or even proficiency, from our international players.

As a U.S.-based tour, more than 65% of our events are held in our home country. For those events, we need our members to attain a level of communication in English so they can:

A.     deliver an enjoyable experience in the pro-am events at tournaments,
         which are the lifeblood of the LPGA business model;
B.     conduct their post-round interviews in English for the media; and

Sounds like English-only to me!

C.     deliver a short acceptance speech after winning an event.

None of this is new. The LPGA has had a program for more than three years whereby we dedicate substantial resources for the transition and education of our international members. This program includes an on-line learning program, tutors and translators with the expressed goal being a functional ability to communicate in English within two years after an international member has joined the LPGA.

The aspect which is new and received the vast majority of coverage last week is the penalty, which would be assessed after two years if a player didn’t achieve the minimal ability to communicate in English. We do not view this as punitive but rather as underscoring the importance of a core value on which the LPGA was founded: engaging and entertaining our customers and fans.

And here I thought it was to allow women to display their incredible golfing skills! What was I thinking!

Without this most basic ability to entertain our customers, we will not maintain the current levels of events much less grow. Nor will our international members have the skills necessary to maximize their individual earnings potential by being able to communicate with prospective sponsors.

I’d like to offer a brief word about our events outside the United States.

Here's the part where we let it be known that Paula Creamer had better learn to say vachchuneta!

As part of our Board-approved strategic plan, we are producing cultural briefings for each tournament beginning this fall. Among items shared with members will be key phrases for communicating in the native language of the country in which the event is held. Additionally, we have a number of members already using our on-line language services to learn other languages.

I believe, as do the majority of our domestic and international members, the program we have implemented will benefit the LPGA and every Tour member individually.

Please feel free to send us your thoughts and comments.

 Best regards,

Carolyn F. Bivens