Also Christina Kim has tweeted to stop the conversations, see below. In previous articles I have read she is to some degree a Bivens supporter and is one of the player reps. She was NOT invited to the meeting that took place which resulted in the letter.







My issue is, if they didn't want to talk about it and wanted to focus on the Open (like many have said, not just CK) then why not wait to deliver the letter after the Open?


Sounds like she's been given her orders from above to tout the company line...
 
New York Times article:
L.P.G.A. Commissioner Bivens to Step Down After U.S. Women’s Open - NYTimes.com

Commissioner of L.P.G.A. to Step Down After Open

By CHRIS HINE and LARRY DORMAN
Published: July 10, 2009


BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Amid mounting criticism over her leadership of the L.P.G.A. Tour, Commissioner Carolyn Bivens has decided to step down after the United States Women’s Open, according to a person with knowledge of the situation and multiple published reports.



Under Carolyn Bivens, the tour has lost seven events since 2007.

Bivens, 56, originally planned to fight efforts to force her out through the L.P.G.A. board of directors, according to the individual, but she changed her mind when presented with a letter requesting her resignation signed by 15 tour stars, including Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Se Ri Pak.

The person spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to publicly address the sensitive personnel matter. He said the board was conducting “informal discussions” with individuals in the industry to gauge their interest in replacing Bivens.

Talk about Bivens’s fate and the tour’s direction has overshadowed any discussion of play at the Open this week at Saucon Valley Country Club. Players have reportedly been told by their agents and the board not to comment publicly on the matter during the tournament.

Yet the concerns over the tour’s health are no secret. The L.P.G.A. has lost seven events from its schedule since 2007, and others are considered in jeopardy because of the weak economy. The tour has only 10 title contracts for 2010 and has lost the backing of McDonald’s, the title sponsor for the L.P.G.A. Championship for the past 16 years.

Bivens has been commissioner since 2005, when the tour had 35 events. Her contract expires in 2010, and she is said to make about $500,000 a year. A report by Sports Business Daily suggested she would agree to a buyout.

She is not attending this week’s Open, and she has so far declined to comment.

“As we’ve said throughout the week, we want all of those interested in women’s professional golf to focus on the play here at the U.S. Women’s Open,” David Higdon, the L.P.G.A.’s chief communications officer, said in a statement. “Out of respect to the U.S.G.A. and the amazing work that they’ve done and continue to do in producing and hosting this great event, we will not respond to media reports on internal matters related to the L.P.G.A. business.”

The person with knowledge of the matter said several names of possible successors had been floated, including Donna Orender, the W.N.B.A. commissioner; the retired Hall of Fame golfers Nancy Lopez and Judy Rankin; and Cindy Davis, the president of Nike Golf.

Bivens has been criticized for her unwillingness to negotiate with sponsors on purse sizes and the cost of tournaments. She asked sponsors to contribute more to defray the cost of the tour’s electronic scoring system, which can require up to $100,000 to maintain at an event.

Unable to meet Bivens’s demands, some sponsors have backed away from the tour.

“I felt like we’ve lost events over the last four years because people didn’t work with the tournaments,” said Caryn Wilson, a former tour member playing at the Open. “And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a tournament having a $1 million purse instead of $1.5 million. They lost some of the best tournaments.”

Bivens also caused a stir when she introduced a proposal that foreign-born players be proficient in English or face possible suspension. The policy, which immediately drew sharp criticism from players, civil rights groups and lawmakers, was soon dropped.

Some of the tour’s leading players decided to take action last week when they met during the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Toledo, Ohio. Their meeting came after it was announced that the Kapalua Classic in Hawaii would not be held this year because it could not find a title sponsor.

Five of the seven players who sit on the 13-member board were in favor of removing Bivens, according to a report on Tuesday by Golf World magazine. Seven votes are needed to remove Bivens, who is also a board member.

Earlier in the week, Ochoa said players simply wanted to be more involved in the tour’s direction. Referring to the tour’s board, she said: “There’s not much we can do. I believe they will do the best for us. And hopefully things will start, you know, moving in a good direction, because we are worried that we’re losing tournaments and we want to get back on a good track.”
 
Here's a pet peeve I have. CHRIS HINE and LARRY DORMAN using an anonymous
spokes person in this article. "He" has a name, and they as journalists should use it. I am well aware of the argument that if it were not for "anonymous informants" we would never learn anything. My issue is there might not even be a "He" to be anonymous.:comp:
 
Inkster expects quick resolution to LPGA dispute | Tours News | Golf.com

Inkster expects quick resolution to LPGA dispute

BETHLEHEM, Pa.(AP) The dispute between a faction of LPGA players and the commissioner could be resolved this week, and the tour's Board of Directors will look for an interim replacement while searching for a new commissioner, tour veteran and board member Juli Inkster said Sunday.

Inkster, one of 10 LPGA player directors, was part of a players' meeting last week that penned a letter to the LPGA Tour's board calling for LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens to resign.

"I expect it to be resolved this week and then move on,'' Inkster said Sunday after her final round of the U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Inkster didn't say how or when the conflict might be resolved or identify any candidates for the interim or eventual commissioner's position.

The New York Times, citing sources, has reported that Bivens will step down after the Open concludes. Golf Digest had previously reported that Bivens would be replaced, as soon as this week, and cited sources who said the letter from the players was the final blow.

The dispute dominated headlines early in the biggest week in women's golf. Inkster said she was on conference calls all but one day during the week. Most players sidestepped questions about the conflict to concentrate on the championship, but Inkster opened up when her round was over.

"I think Carolyn has done a lot of great things for our tour and I think she worked really hard,'' Inkster said. "But some of the things she tried just didn't work.

"Whether it's her fault or not, it just wasn't working.''

Golfweek Magazine first reported that more than a dozen key players signed a letter saying the tour's woes cannot be blamed on a poor economy and that the LPGA needs a new leader to rebuild relationships with sponsors.

The tour has lost seven tournaments since 2007.

"We're a global tour,'' Inkster said. "I'd really like to see us get back to playing more tournaments here in the United States and then go overseas.

There have been a number of controversies during Bivens' four-year tenure.

In 2008, she proposed an English-only policy for tour players, but it was never instituted. The LPGA includes 121 international players from 26 countries, including 45 from South Korea.

In October 2006, she was accused by officials of the now-defunct tour event near Atlantic City, N.J., of backing out on a promise to maintain a longtime event.

Inkster said Bivens' approach was trying to dictate the way things would be done, and she said a softer approach might have worked better.

"I think Carolyn got a bum rap right away because she was a woman in a man's world,'' Inkster said. "I don't think she got respect back.''

Inkster said it's important for the board to find the right person to lead the tour into the future. In the short term, the need is immediate.

"Right now, we're in the middle of the season,'' Inkster said. "We're looking for someone for four, five months, three or four months, to just right the ship, get us going in the right direction: straight ahead.''

Inkster said the board plans on taking its time to find a new commissioner.

"Right now, we want to take our time and find the right person for the job,'' she said. "And you can't do that on a whim.''
 
Marsha Evans was just named acting commisioner until they name a permanent new commisioner.
 
LPGA Statement:

LPGA Names Evans as Acting Commissioner Following Bivens' Resignation;

LPGA Legend Annika Sorenstam appointed Advisor to the Board of Directors


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 13, 2009 - Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Board of Directors Chairman Dawn Hudson announced today that Rear Admiral Marsha J. Evans, U.S. Navy (retired) and a member of the LPGA Board of Directors, will serve as the player association's Acting Commissioner effective immediately. The move follows the resignation of Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, also announced today. The association has embarked on a search for a full-time Commissioner and made several changes within the leadership structure of the organization, including the appointment of LPGA player legend Annika Sorenstam as Advisor to the LPGA Board of Directors.

"We'll soon have in place a Commissioner to lead us into 2010 and beyond, but until then, it's important that we immediately appoint an Acting Commissioner whom we know and trust," Hudson said. "As a Board of players and independent directors, we wanted an Acting Commissioner with experience leading large organization, one who appreciates and listens to our player members and tournament owners, understands sponsors and their challenges and needs, and has a track record that commands respect. We're pleased that Marty Evans will be our Acting Commissioner, as she fits all the criteria necessary during these challenging economic times for sports leagues."

"We respect Carolyn's decision to resign since she has led this organization professionally and passionately the past four years," said LPGA Board of Directors President Michelle Ellis. "We appreciate the unwavering commitment that she provided the LPGA, and during her four years, Carolyn accomplished a great deal for the LPGA and its player members."

During her tenure starting in 2005, Bivens acquired and integrated the Duramed FUTURES Tour, a burgeoning developmental Tour, into the LPGA; secured ownership of a Major, the LPGA Championship; upgraded the quality of the courses on which LPGA players compete; introduced the first drug-testing program in professional golf; secured a landmark five-year TV rights agreement with South Korea's J Golf which includes a new tournament in southern California starting in 2010; and secured a ten-year partnership from 2010-2019 with the Golf Channel, creating a dependable viewing schedule for LPGA events.

"The LPGA is a special organization comprised of great players, teachers and fans with a rich history," Bivens said. "I love the LPGA and have been proud to serve as its Commissioner for the last four years. I am also proud of what the LPGA has accomplished during my tenure. My job was to be a change agent, to help move the LPGA into the strongest possible position to ensure its future. Those changes were only possible because the members are dynamic women who provide great value to our sponsors and tournaments. We also have a talented and dedicated staff supported by an engaged board that worked closely together to make progress.

"It is time to turn this organization over to someone who can build on the solid foundation we've established. I wish the LPGA and its members nothing but fairways and greens as it enters its 60th year."

Evans has a distinguished background that includes a nearly 30-year career with the U.S. Navy, where she rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. She also has served in top leadership positions with the American Red Cross and Girl Scouts of the USA. She served on the LPGA Commissioner's Advisory Council in 2007-2008, and began serving on the LPGA Board this year. Click here to read Evans' full bio.>>

"It is an honor to have been selected to serve in the role of Acting Commissioner pending the selection of the Association's next Commissioner," Evans said. "We look forward to making progress on completing negotiations for the 2010 schedule and build on the impressive work of Commissioner Bivens to execute the Association's long-range strategic plan."

The Executive Search Committee will be led by LPGA Board member Leslie Greis and joined by Board members Juli Inkster, Helen Alfredsson and Bill Morton. Their work will be supplemented by the full Board of Directors and renowned executive search firm Spencer Stuart.

Hudson also announced several other changes within the LPGA. Sorenstam, one of the LPGA's legendary players who retired last year and has embarked on her own business ventures, will serve as Advisor to the Board of Directors, assisting the association with on-going discussions with tournaments and sponsors.

"Obviously, I will do everything possible to ensure that the LPGA remains the pre-eminent women's sports association in the world," Sorenstam said. "I'm committed to getting up to speed quickly on the challenges facing the Board right now, and will assist the LPGA in a number of ways both immediately and long-term."

Zayra Calderon, the LPGA's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and CEO of the Duramed FUTURES Tour, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Tournament Development & Worldwide Sales. She now will assume responsibility for all tournament business affairs, working closely with tournament owners and title sponsors to secure renewals and new tournaments and sponsors for the LPGA. She will retain her responsibilities with the Duramed FUTURES Tour.

Additionally, Bill Susetka, who recently retired from the LPGA as its full-time Chief Marketing Officer, has been nominated to fill Evans' position on the Board of Directors.

"The LPGA Tour has a bright future thanks to its appealing fan- and sponsor-friendly players, world-class sporting events, and stability as a women's organization that was founded 59 years ago," Hudson said. "The community and charity outreach of the LPGA players and tournaments remains imbedded in the organization's DNA, and the LPGA boasts impressive domestic and global strength due to its membership make-up and media reach. We anticipate great things for the LPGA in the months and years ahead."

EDIT: Hell, why not Annika for commissioner? She's smart, business savvy, and someone people (sponsors and tournaments) would have trouble saying "no" to. She could probably do the job and still keep up with her other business ventures.
 
Re Annika, I'm not sure she's that great of a spokesperson (as Bivens wasn't). Seems to me that you need someone who can talk from the rostrum with command and rhetorical fluency in the Commish spot. Not sure Annika's that person.
 
Annika would never take this job Harry. Huge paycut and way too many hours for what she is trying to do with her life right now. If you go back to the thread I put out about LPGA Rumors when we first heard about this, there were 2 candidates mentioned that are perfect if they would do it. I know for a fact that they spoke to one of them today.
 

Is that, like, Scooby-speak for restroom?

Spoiler
10068.jpg
 
I will be waiting to see if this new interim commissioner will still go a head with legal action against the Kapalua sponsors that pulled out of their contracts. The ones proposed by Bivens. Most likely not is my first guess. :comp:
 
Your wife accidentally sexted it to me.

that was over the line, huh?

^^^^^
|||||||
|||||||
Your post.


The line.
||||||
||||||
vvvvv

______________________________________


So long as it was just an accident....
 
So long as it was just an accident....

Oh, it was totally an accident.

Spoiler
She was trying to send me a different photo.

Spoiler
Is it bad that I can't even see the line anymore?
 
I will be waiting to see if this new interim commissioner will still go a head with legal action against the Kapalua sponsors that pulled out of their contracts. The ones proposed by Bivens. Most likely not is my first guess. :comp:

I would think not. One thing that the LPGA doesn't need is more negative press.
 
Blog post from Geoff Shackelford: http://tinyurl.com/l3tbmr

Uh, OUCH!

The Rear Admiral's Reign Off To A Rip-Roaring Start
Let's review.

- The LPGA sends out an announcement and then amends it to remind everyone that it is embargoed. The announcement release says that a 1 p.m. EST press conference will be held on the Golf Channel. But since it's embargoed, no one can write even a Tweet or blog post suggestion fans of the LPGA might want to tune in to The Golf Channel to find out what the event is about.

- The LPGA has no media (other than Golf Channel) present at this "announcement." We did have Christina Kim present and Annika Sorenstam on a phone line that died almost as soon as she started talking.

- Carolyn Bivens is present at the announcement of her resignation and is shown on television, but she does not speak. Cynics will presume that her presence indicates she received a substantial buyout. And why will cynics presume this?

- Marsha Evans is named the interim commissioner. A Bivens selected board member, Evans is a specialist in bouncing around boards and other executive jobs. She was on the Lehman Brothers board and we know how that turned out. She received a $780,000 buyout after resigning as head of the Red Cross just days before a likely humiliating Hurricane Katrina congressional hearing.

- She's got a husband and he likes golf! Marty DeVine in an extensive profile detailing her career, her campaigning for McCain/Palin and other information, includes this: "Nonprofits have tapped her talents as well and she serves on the boards of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, which raises money to support education of midshipmen beyond what the federal budget provides, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association. An avid golfer, her husband Jerry particularly enjoys the LPGA board meetings in prime golfing sites."

- An in studio analysis job from Kelly Tilghman, Laura Baugh and Charlie Rymer. Most of the conversation sounds like an LPGA infomercial and Baugh seemed to be implying that the non-English speaking players were part of the Bivens downfall. Oy.

- But hey, Bivens is gone and that's a start. But with all but one Board member no appointed during her tenure, it's hard to imagine this amounting to a sea change for the organization.
 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204886304574306691319784558.html

From the Wall Street Journal. Nothing new, but some interesting thoughts on the new commissioner's priorities.

<LI class="articleSection first">GOLF JOURNAL<LI class=dateStamp>JULY 24, 2009, 10:11 P.M. ETThe LPGA’s Leadership Challenge

With Bivens Gone, the Next Tour Head Must Rebuild Trust—And the Schedule

  • By JOHN PAUL NEWPORT


The Ladies Professional Golf Association, founded 59 years ago by 13 women who initially had to set up the courses they competed on, has never had it as easy as the men’s PGA Tour. But these days, despite reasonably strong fundamentals (tournaments in Asia and Europe, average prize money of $1.8 million per event and a new long-term television contract with the Golf Channel), it’s facing a historic challenge. A player revolt earlier this month, fueled by the recession and the recent loss of seven tournaments, led to the resignation of Commissioner Carolyn Bivens on July 13 and an all-points search for someone to replace her, preferably a superhuman.

“I think being LPGA commissioner is the hardest job in sports,” Annika Sörenstam said Thursday in a telephone interview. Ms. Sörenstam, who dominated women’s golf for more than a decade starting in the mid-1990s, retired from competition last fall but was called back by the board of directors in the current crisis to be a special adviser.



PT-AM101_Golf1_D_20090724143717.jpg

Tracy Wilcox/Golfweek Former LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens at LPGA headquarters in March. Suzann Pettersen, on the poster, was among the players who signed a letter opposing her continued tenure; Lorena Ochoa hasn’t commented.

BTN_insetClose.gif

PT-AM101_Golf1_G_20090724143717.jpg




Part of the job’s difficulty, she said, is the limited media exposure that all women’s sports receive. “Out of sight, out of mind,” she said. But even more it’s the underlying complexity of the Tour as a business. “People have no idea how many moving parts are involved,” she said. “As a player you just show up at a tournament, play, hopefully win, and then leave. You aren’t aware of all the negotiations and demands that came beforehand.”

The key quality needed in a new commissioner, according to literally everyone I talked to this week, is the ability to build and sustain relationships with the organization’s competing constituencies. “I hesitate to say it’s like a chessboard, but it is, because any time you make one entity excited and happy about a situation, you have to consider what the effect will be on all the other entities,” said Marsha Evans, the retired Navy rear admiral and LPGA board member who was tapped last week to serve as interim commissioner. The Tour hopes to find a replacement for Ms. Bivens by the end of the year.

“The first priority of the new commissioner has got to be to build a genuine, trusting relationship with the players,” Ms. Evans said. Next would be winning the trust of the tournament owners and sponsors, then of the advertisers and marketers, and then of the media. At that point the new commish can dive into the tough part: shoring up the Tour’s decimated schedule. As of Friday, the Tour had only 14 fully committed tournaments for 2010, although Ms. Evans emphasized that negotiations for many others events were at advanced stages and that focusing on 14 was like “looking at the battlefield through a soda straw.” This year the Tour has 28 official events; in 2008 it had 34.

It’s hard not to interpret the emphasis on relationship-building as a criticism of Ms. Bivens, whose inflexible negotiating tactics in a reeling economy alienated many tournament sponsors. That, plus other public-relations miscues, led to a letter of nonsupport signed by many of the Tour’s top players in early July and to Ms. Bivens’s resignation after four years on the job. (Ms. Bivens, after initially expressing a desire to speak with me for this column, subsequently declined.)

Players hold a majority of the voting positions on the LPGA board, but the Tour’s success primarily depends on its sponsors and tournament owners, a disparate group of nonprofits, sports marketing companies and community organizations represented by the independent LPGA Tournament Owners Association. “We have 25 members but no two business models are the same,” said Gail Graham, a former Tour player who heads the owners association. Some tournaments exist primarily to raise money for charity, others as a vehicle for corporate marketing and others, like the U.S. Women’s Open, primarily for the fans.

The Tour’s increasingly global character also creates management issues. Korean television, for example, is the LPGA’s biggest single source of revenue, and South Korean players now make up more than a third of its top 100 players. But some American fans and sponsors are put off by so many unfamiliar international players.

Ms. Bivens’s strategic plan for the Tour, called Vision 2010, succeeded in at least one important aspect. Earlier this year the Tour signed a 10-year contract with the Golf Channel, which will give the LPGA a more consistent on-air presence. But Ms. Bivens’s tactic of letting a large number of tournament contracts expire at the end of this year, in hopes that the new television contract would improve the Tour’s negotiating power, was undermined by the sinking economy. And when things headed south, she lacked the personal support and communication skills to ride out the storm.

“I don’t think the players really understood what the strategic plan was,” Ms. Sörenstam said. “Then when we started losing tournaments, well, that’s our livelihood. That’s when the panic came in.”

Ms. Sörenstam acknowledged that eventually Vision 2010 might have worked. “It could have just been bad timing. It could have been bad execution. But that’s all over and done with. The challenge now is to move forward and focus on the future,” she said, sounding much like she did in her playing days, trying to put a double bogey behind her so she could focus on the hole to come.
 
Very good read Claire. We do know that TGC can get out of that contract if there are not enough tournaments. However we are not sure they would regardless. I love the TV presence, I think that is a big start. However if all the tournaments are overseas, the TV coverage will not work. The most important first step is to make sure they get 4-8 tournaments back on domestic soil at a minimum. Then they need other chips to fall into place. But that is the first step.

We know they were talking with some of the resort heads last week in Orlando about having a stop back there. They also spoke with at least 3 places in the Tampa Bay area. Innisbrook, TPC Tampa Bay, and Old Memorial. Old Memorial makes the most sense because of location, but we have heard the course is not interested (exclusive private club).

But having an event in FL was/is something they were discussing as of last week. While I love that and want it, I still think they are going about it the wrong way. Go to places that do not have the same amount of other activities. There is a reason that certain sports do not work in certain markets. Because there are so many other avenues for people to spend money. However if they take smaller markets and markets that are more likely to support it, people look forward to it so much more. (see jamie farr).

The last step to my mini puzzle, came to fruition in a recent survey that we sent out to over 400 people. We asked "Name the 4 Majors in the LPGA?". Less than 20% got all four. There is a reason that the casual fans relate to the PGA Majors. There is a reason that most can name all the "championships" in other sports. Marketing and name recognition. The LPGA has neither.
 
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