Brand Lady Rakes In More Than Some Of Us Thought

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Okay, it's not Finchem money, but based on reporting that I thought she was languishing at $500,000 a year. Nope.

From Doug Ferguson's weekly notes column:

According to the most recent IRS forms available for the LPGA Tour, commissioner Carolyn Bivens earned $710,812 in salary and benefits in 2006. Two years earlier, in his final full year as LPGA commissioner, Votaw was paid $478,897.

With all of the great stuff she's done since 2006, I would hope she's reached the $1 million mark by now. Heck, she might even be making more more than the PGA Tour's EVP of Market Deliverables and Bandwidth Disintermediation.

 

Monty Flees England In Search Of More Ideal Speeding Conditions

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Doug Ferguson notes:

Colin Montgomerie, who married for the second time in April, has moved from the London area to his native Scotland. “Quality of life has risen,” he said.

Perhaps this unbylined Telegraph story sheds some light on why Monty is looking for improved speeding conditions quality of life:

He was caught speeding in his silver Bentley along Kingston Road, the A3, in Kingston upon Thames, South west London, on March 30.

It is the third time the sportsman has been involved in court proceedings for allegedly driving too fast.

Last year, he was accused of driving at 88mph on the M80 near Falkirk, but the case was dismissed when Montgomerie was not served with a summons.

And in 2004 he was accused of travelling at 96mph, again on the A3, but the case collapsed when a policeman failed to attend court.

The golfer was also given three points on his driving licence in 2006 for speeding.

On Monday at Feltham, chair of the bench Jagpreet Tucker said: "This court does take seriously speeding and we hope we don't see you again."

Montgomerie escaped a driving ban but was fined £750 plus £85 costs.

Prosecutor Suqi Smith said the golfer told police: "I did not realise I was going that fast, this car is too quick."

It's the car's fault. That's our Monty!

“Right now, our focus is to add to our operating reserve and be in a position to transcend this downturn"

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Tim Finchem, engaged in bold adverb usage with Bloomberg's Michael Buteau who asked about PGA Tour purses in the coming years:

It will certainly flatten,” Finchem said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio’s “On the Ball” program that will air this weekend. “Whether it will go down, I’m not prepared to go that far. ‘‘I don’t see the kind of growth that we’ve had these next three or four years versus the last six or seven, and it might be a flat period.”

And...

“I suppose if the economy continues to spiral away from us, if we get significant difficulties with sponsorships, anything is possible,” said Finchem, who has led the tour since 1994. “That would be the worst-case scenario. We don’t know how this is going to play out. Right now, we seem to be weathering the storm pretty well.”

I guess this means that the second most popular sport behind the NFL scenario is out?

“Right now, our focus is to add to our operating reserve and be in a position to transcend this downturn,” he said.

"It was a very tough decision, but there are times, like we’re in right now, where tough decisions have to be made.”

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After reading Ron Balicki's story on the prospective Walker Cup team members and assorted USGA committeemen not getting to schmooze on the back lawn at Seminole this January, I asked around to determine if this was:

  • A) the USGA realizing that a "winter practice session" for a ceremonial, two-day competition was a ridiculous show of excess in today's economic climate
  • B) the USGA realizing that a "winter practice session" for a ceremonial, two-day competition was really just a funded vacation for too many well-off mid-ams who had no chance of making the team
  • C) the USGA realizing that a "winter practice session" for a ceremonial, two-day competition was an excessive expense when their very own nest egg had taken a huge hit in the recent financial crisis.

The folks I reached out to all voted for "C", though many wanted it noted for the record that it should have been dropped regardless of the economic crisis. And that we'll know just how significant the hit was when the annual report is released in February.

"Coming into the Playoffs with 1,600 points or so, which the top 8-10 players likely will have, should guarantee passage to Atlanta."

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Steve Dennis permutates us through the possible ways that the PGA Tour's finest can get to East Lake. Reading the latest breakdown of FedEd Cup scenarios, all I could think was, it sure is amazing what hard work it is to keep the rich guys rich! And then somehow I accidentally landed at Wikipedia's page devoted to defining Ponzi scheme. Just a coincidence.

“There’s a lot riding on (Michelle) getting her card and getting to play in more than her customary eight events"

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Golfweek.com offers two nice primers for those hoping to target some Q-school players to watch (men here, women here). Both schools are in session Wednesday.

Beth Ann Baldry focuses on the biggest Q-school story of '08, Michelle Wie and reports that LPGA.com will have live scoring for the first time.

Finchem's Compensation Drops; Explains BMW 5 Series Brochure On Desk

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Jon Show reports:

Tim Finchem received $4.8 million in compensation in 2007 as the commissioner of the PGA Tour, a drop of about $400,000 from the previous year. His income included $1.3 million in salary, $3.2 million in bonuses and another $240,000 in benefits.

The year-to-year drop was due to an additional bonus Finchem received in 2006 for “extraordinary service in 2005,” said Ty Votaw, executive vice president of communications and international affairs. The commissioner made $4.2 million in 2005.

Extraordinary service? Was that for coming up with the FedEx Cup, Version 1? The Casey Martin legal bills were finally not on the balance sheet?

Here are the real eye-openers:

According to the PGA Tour’s tax forms, its executive vice presidents and co-chief operating officers, Ed Moorhouse and Charlie Zink, were the next highest-paid officers at $1.6 million and $1.5 million, respectively. Chief Marketing Officer Tom Wade and Chief Financial Officer Ron Price brought in about $1 million apiece. Rick George, executive vice president of championship management and president of the Champions Tour, made $628,122. Bill Calfee, president of the Nationwide Tour, made $592,992.

Rick would have been 31st on the '07 Champions money list whereas Tim would have landed 3rd on the PGA Tour list. Back to Q-School for you Rick!

Ed and Charlie would have been just outside the top 50 on the PGA Tour money list and Bill, congrats, you are the leading money winner on the Nationwide Tour by $150,000. Way to go!

PGA Tour Par 4 Performance

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Reader Ken emailed a list detailing the number of players finishing a PGA Tour season under par on par-4s. You can view the 2008 list here, where John Huston was the only player in 2008 to finish in red numbers for the season.

I've left Ken's notes in about major equipment advances as they might relate to performance. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of the surprising trend in recent years. Naturally, I'd look to stifling course setup ploys as the number one culprit, but if I'm not mistaken Ken is implying that performance has been impacted by technology. He also notes that Tiger was -8 on par 4s this year in his 8 events. And note that in 2000 Tiger was -71 on par-4s, and Steve Flesch was second at -70!

1983 - 1 - TM Tour Burner introduced

1984 - 1

1985 - 4

1986 - 2

1987 - 11 - Non-wound ball wins first major (Tour Edition)

1988 - 22 –first time metal drivers outnumber wood

1989 – 7 - Callaway introduces S2H2 metalwoods

1990 - 5

1991 - 12 - Big Bertha introduced

1992 - 18 - Titleist Professional introduced

1993 - 14

1994- 15

1995 – 13 - Great Big Bertha introduced

1996 – 8 - multilayer balls and urethane cover introduced

1997 – 4 - Biggest Big Bertha introduced

1998 - 6

1999 - 8

2000 – 27 - Pro V1 introduced, Tiger switches to Nike ball

2001 – 37 - Pro V1 takes tours by storm

2002 – 17

2003 - 12

2004 - 8

2005 - 7

2006 - 5

2007 - 5

2008 - 1

“If you’re the consumer, there are more courses to play on for cheaper."

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There's some nice reporting in two recent pieces on how the economic collapse may impact club life. First, John Paul Newport in the Wall Street Journal:

Every case is different and complicated. But the very fact that so many clubs and their beleaguered boards and owners are having such discussions -- walkaway risk, indeed! -- is a sign of how much the fundamentals of private golf clubs and country clubs have changed. It used to be that belonging to a private club was the pinnacle of achievement. If you made partner or were promoted to vice president, joining "the club" was a perk. In small or medium-size cities, club dining was often the best in town, the spa was the only one around and there were no premium daily-fee golf options. My late father-in-law, a doctor in Ohio, played golf every Thursday afternoon and hung out at his club big parts of Saturday and Sunday.

That model still holds for particular clubs in particular places for particular people, like well-off retirees. But for the younger generation of club members, things are different. Neither spouse in a two-income family with children has the time or inclination to while away weekends at the club. When I asked Doug Steffen, the director of golf at Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J., to describe the biggest change in club life during his 13-year tenure there, he said, "That's easy to answer. The club used to be the focal point of social life for our members, but now it's just one among many other activities they are involved with."

And this from Ben Smith in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Rick Burton, the director of golf at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, said there’s been no noticeable decline in the number of rounds played at the course.

But sales in the golf shop and restaurant declined somewhat, and a major corporate Christmas party booked at the club was canceled recently, Burton said.

“Our bookings for the spring are good,” Burton said. “Whether that’s because people are optimistic things will turn around by then, I don’t know.”

The effect of the economic downturn has been more pronounced at East Lake’s public course next door, the golf director said.

Revenues are down 15 percent at Charlie Yates Golf Course, said Burton, who’s contemplating cutting part-time staff to help make up for the shortfall.

Crouse said the economic downturn isn’t all bad news.

“For golf owners, it’s the worst time,” said Crouse. “If you’re the consumer, there are more courses to play on for cheaper.

“If you’re the golf course player there are now clubs you can join that once cost $20,000 that now cost $2,000,” Crouse said.