Reforming the Advisory Council

It's kind of fun to see who Carolyn Bivens has surrounded herself with after reforming the "Commissioner's Advisory Council."

The new council is comprised of 22 individuals from the corporate, academic, political, philanthropic and cultural arenas and is co-chaired by Bivens and Charles S. Mechem, Jr., the commissioner emeritus of the LPGA.

The council convened for the first time in early September and will continue to meet periodically each year. Its role is to provide expertise and guidance in all aspects of the LPGA's business, while also serving as a sounding board as the LPGA continues to grow and evolve. Members will offer expert counsel and insight in their respective areas and will assist Commissioner Bivens and her staff in optimizing opportunities for the LPGA's future growth and long-term success.

Among the members of the council are Edwin L. Artzt, retired chairman and CEO of the Procter & Gamble Company; Alice Dye, golf course architect; Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., president and CEO of the American Gaming Association; Nancy Lopez, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member; Steve Mona, CEO of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America; Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association; and Sheila Tate, vice chairman of Powell Tate/Weber Shandwick.

Powell-Tate surfaces again! These lobbyists pop up everywhere: as USGA media consultants, PGA Tour lobbyists...wow, they must be good.

Well, unless they're the ones who suggested that Walter Driver do that ESPN.com live chat.

Another Brand Moment

Jeff Shelley reports the latest Carolyn Bivens magical mystery move:

Her most recent questionable action came when she recently denied a request by 17-year-old Kiran Matharu to attend the LPGA’s Q School, which starts on the 19th.   

In her letter of denial, sent to Matharu via email on September 9th, Bivens wrote: “I do not believe your record in professional golf competitions demonstrates you can compete at the highest level of women’s professional golf at this time . . . I recommend you apply to qualify for the Duramed Futures Tour, ‘The Official Developmental Tour of the LPGA.’ “    

What the heck is Duramed anyway? Ah wait, that's branding because I asked what Duramed is! God she's good.

Well, this doesn't make her sound so good: 

Of all the Q School applicants this year, Matharu might actually be among the most qualified. She’s the reigning Ladies English Amateur champion, was a member of Great Britain and Ireland’s Curtis Cup team that competed last month at Bandon Dunes, and placed 15th in her first professional event. In addition, the young Englishwoman is a two-time Faldo Series Girls champion.    

Yorkshire-born Matharu started golf at the age of 11 and has been an outstanding player ever since. She’s the only British Asian female golfer, has an engaging personality and was named twice as Leeds Sports Performer of the Year – in 2003 and 2004. Earlier this year she was named “Female Junior Sports Personality of the Year” at the Sony Entertainment Television Sports Personality of the Year awards for British Asians.    

Of Matharu’s future, Nick Faldo said, “I’ve worked with Kiran for nearly three years now and in that time she has certainly proved that she has the potential to succeed on the big stage. Kiran combines a great game with a steady nerve and I’m confident that, with a little more experience, she will be in a position to challenge for the very highest honors that the ladies game has to offer.”    

After the Curtis Cup, Matharu turned professional with a plus-4 handicap, the lowest of any female golfer in the UK. She made the cut and finished 15th in The Wales Ladies Championship, her first professional tournament.    

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor...

Thanks to LPGA Fan for noticing the not-so-subtle message posted on the now defunct Takefuji Classic's website:

To all our Volunteers, Media, Sponsors and Spectators:

Thank you all for the support, time and effort you gave to help make the LPGA Takefuji Classic such a success during the last four years.

We regret to inform you that the new Commissioner of the LPGA does not feel Las Vegas is a good market for the tour and we will not be continuing the tournament.

We enjoyed working with you and wish you all the best.

LPGA In New York

Sam Weinman reports on the LPGA's venue issues in New York and New Jersey. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But brace yourself, it seems we're not going to have the opportunity to study the misunderstood ingeniousness of The Donald's Briarcliff Manor waterfalls...

Donald Trump has abandoned another effort to bring a high-level professional golf tournament to his Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, telling organizers of the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship this week the club no longer wishes to be considered as a host for 2007.

"I decided against it," Trump said. "The (village of Briarcliff Manor) was very nice, and if I wanted to go through with it, the town was willing to go through the process. But it wasn't a process I wanted to go through."

That Donald is such a take charge guy!  Meanwhile at Wykagyl, probably the best LPGA Tour site, things aren't looking good for a return.

The uncertain future of the HSBC event mirrors that of the Sybase Classic, which is again exploring the possibility of moving away from its current home at Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle. Since the most recent tournament in May, the event's contracts with both title sponsor Sybase and with Wykagyl have expired, but according to Chris Higgs, the LPGA's senior vice president and chief operations officer, discussions with both parties are ongoing.

"We continue to have positive ongoing discussions with Sybase and are working toward 2007 for both a sponsorship and host site," Higgs said in a statement.

Said Wykagyl general manager Tim Muessle: "I don't think anything regarding the Sybase Classic has been decided either way."

Annika Wins State Farm...

...and after her final round 62, tournament officials now get to ponder their fate. Dave Kane reports that the State Farm appears to be yet another event in jeopardy.

Where's Their Beef?

Thanks to JPB for the heads up on Golfweek's Beth Ann Baldry report of the latest LPGA debacle. This time the Tour os losing 6-year 8-year sponsor Wendy's because, get this, Wendy's didn't like that their existing date was given to another tournament.

So selfish of them! How dare they not understand the dynamics and metrics of making a schedule?

Leaving The Atlanta Market...

From Stan Awtrey's AJC story on the demise of the LPGA event in Atlanta:

LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens was traveling and could not be reached. In a prepared statement she said, "While we regret the cancellation of the event, one of the stops on the LPGA Tour hosted by the revered Hall of Fame athlete, Nancy Lopez, on behalf of the entire LPGA organization, let me thank the tournament staff, volunteers and the Atlanta community for their hard work and support throughout the years. The LPGA will look forward to returning to the Atlanta market in the future."

I know this is getting pretty picky, but why can't she just say we're looking forward to returning to Atlanta soon? Why does it have to be the "Atlanta market?" That impresses no one and only reminds the people of Atlanta that they're viewed as a market instead of golf fans.

Bivens: "If I’m overshooting, then the marketplace won’t replace tournaments...there will be a new commissioner"

Thanks to LPGA Fan for the latest warm-fuzzies from Carolyn Bivens, who surely must be finding herself courted by several Fortune 500 companies by now.

Rob Oller writes in The Columbus Dispatch:

Bivens, in just more than one year, has encouraged players and frustrated the Tournament Owners Association with her fresh ideas on what the LPGA business model should be. Her view is that the tour needs to start acting like it belongs with the "big boys" of sports — football, baseball basketball, PGA Tour — and part of the plan includes providing health benefits to the players and increasing their retirement fund.

It also means asking tournaments, such as the Wendy’s Championship for Children, to dig deeper into their pockets to invest in the tour’s growth and also help defray costs that the tour has paid for years. For example, the tour is planning to require tournaments to pay for the electronic scoreboards that dot courses. Currently, the Tour splits those costs (about $30,000 each) with the sites.

"The status quo gets the LPGA less than an acceptable marketing budget," Bivens said yesterday at Tartan Fields Golf Club.

Just think of a world without "These Girls Rock" posters. See why charity must suffer?

Tournament directors who wonder how they will raise the additional money need to look around, Bivens said.

"It’s no different than any other corporation or private citizen," she said. "You figure out your salary is X, your expenses are Y. If you’ve got a mortgage that the interest rate is going up next year, you’ve got to figure out … do you take an extra job? It’s life."

Or maybe death, if you happen to be a tournament organizer.

"I think (Bivens) wants to raise the standard of operating practices, which is great. We should all challenge ourselves to be better," Wendy’s tournament director Kip Eriksen said. "I look at that (issue) a little different from the ($100,000) funding request."

Eriksen, who is a member of the Tournament Owners Association, said the owners want a clearer picture of what Bivens’ proposals will look like and how they will affect their tournaments.

"What is the return for us on the incremental investment," he said. "The tour will get better. What does that mean? How does that translate to the Wendy’s Championship? "

Eriksen also thinks he knows how sponsors will react when tournaments approach them for more money.

"They’re going to say, ‘What do we get in return?’ " he said.

And if Bivens is wrong and is aiming too high?

"If I’m overshooting, then the marketplace won’t replace tournaments. There won’t be more sponsors and there will be a new commissioner," she said.

You? Overshoot? That's hard to fathom.

Meanwhile, Gordon White in The Pilot lumps Bivens in with Maurice Clarett, Duke lacrosse and everything else he sees that is wrong with sports. Now that's positive branding.

SI "First Person" : Natalie Cooks In a Prom Dress

SI.com features this tough give-and-take session with Natalie Gulbis and supplements this historic coverage with a photo gallery of Gulbis posing in a mobile home kitchen. Not exactly Walter Iooss Jr. Best of the Swimsuit Issue here.

In other words, no bathing suit shots (in case you were on the fence about hitting the link.)

Thanks to Pete the Luddite for this.

Wie On The Rules of Golf: "It's Not A Great Read"

You have to love her honesty. And while they'll never be confused with Grisham, she probably should brush up on them a bit.

The Independent's Andy Farrell reporting from Royal Lytham:

And this is the basis of the problem with Michelle, which is ours as much as hers. Wie has done has great things, getting into contention in the majors, almost winning last week at the Evian Masters, and through to final qualifying for the men's US Open.

But she is not the finished article, and at 16 why should she be? She is still learning her trade and is still not a full-time golfer. This is her summer holiday, and yet already her every score, every shot, every action, every word is scrutinised.

Last autumn she turned professional, earning millions in the process, but in many ways she remains a talented amateur, albeit one with great potential. While she remains in mainstream education, she will not be able to complete her golfing apprenticeship.

It's the little things. She cheerfully admitted to not being quite ready for her early tee-time on Thursday and promptly bogeyed the first three holes. It's also the not so little things, like not being aware of the rule about sweeping away a loose impediment on the backswing in a bunker.

A two-shot penalty resulted when she did just this on Friday. "It's not a great read," she said sweetly when asked if she would be examining the Rules of Golf more closely. But an important read, and the fact that a shocking number of players have a limited knowledge of the rules is no excuse for a professional.

First Call For Bivens Departure

Travelgolf's Tim McDonald says Carolyn Bivens is the worst thing that has ever happened to the LPGA Tour.

Rolex Rankings Tweaked

It looks like the Michelle Wie-ranked-second-without-a-win-farce is over.

From the LPGA:

Following is a media question and answer session with Chris Higgs, chairman of the Rolex Rankings Technical Committee regarding two modifications to the Rolex Rankings.

PAUL ROVNAK:  I would like to welcome Chris Higgs, chairman of the Rolex Rankings Technical Committee to the interview area.  Many of you were present when Chris announced two slight modifications to the way the
Rolex rankings are calculated.  For those of you who were not present, Chris, if you would briefly review the modifications and then we'll take questions.

CHRIS HIGGS:  Be happy to.  As you know when the rankings first came out with a minimum number of events required to be ranked in the rankings, that number was 15.  As a result of our biannual meeting of the Technical Committee and the Board of the World Rankings, we decided to make two modifications to the ranking system. The first is the elimination of a minimum number of events, and the second is the addition which is similar to men's golf, of a divisor.

The easier way to describe that is beginning with the conclusion that of this week's Weetabix Women's British Open, any player on any eligible tour who scores points will now be eligible to be ranked.

And getting to the point behind this...

Q.  So before this week where would Michelle Wie be ranked using the new
system?

CHRIS HIGGS:  If you were to use this week's current rankings, pre-British Open, and apply the new 35 divisor, I believe Michelle would now be ranked seventh.

"Wie being winless makes about as much sense as Mel Gibson on the side of the road"

Grant Boone takes an entertaining look behind the scenes at the Evian Masters and women's golf in Europe. Thanks to Noonan for the heads up.

Wie A Second?

Michelle Wie holds down the second spot in the women's world ranking over Karrie Webb, even though Webb keeps winning. Gotta love it!

Bivens: Some departed before she even took over!

The Golf Channel's tough questioning of Carolyn Bivens did not quite live up to say, the Ely-Fay debate on the ERC driver (back in the last century when David Fay was concerned about the distance issue!), but did yield this curious question and answer from the LPGA Tour Commissioner: 

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: Your brief tenure has been plagued by some resignations and at least one dispatch of Barb Trammell. I'm just wondering if you can elaborate a bit about what happened in some of those cases.

CAROLYN BIVENS: Well, first of all, as we all know who work in business, you can't talk about private personnel and human relations issues. So, not going to get into any individual situations. But I will say that any time an administration changes, any time there is change from the top, there will be some who will leave for a variety of reasons. And in some cases it may not be that they have something against the person who is coming in. It may simply be that they've been through a number of changes as different commissioners have come to the organization and they don't want to go through it again. In some cases it may be a disagreement with the direction its headed, and in some cases it's better opportunities. Some of the--I would consider unfair criticism--several of those people left before I even had a chance to make any impact or actually took over the organization.

Uh huh.