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Not Big Fans of Bivens in Rochester

worst_shot_ever

worst_shot_ever

I leave big divots
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BP: The Wolf at Our Door Now
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
By: Bill Pucko

Hop on a golf cart with Wegmans LPGA Tournament chairman Jerry Stahl and you quickly come to appreciate how in touch he is.

Stahl is a big shot in Rochester, but he seemingly knows every golfer, caddie, volunteer and fan of his tournament by their first names. It is a large part of what makes the event successful. But the greetings were more melancholy this time around. "Don't let them take our tournament," they said.

It's always something. Stahl has dealt with the purse, the venue, the dates and the sponsor. The weather is a constant crisis to overcome. This is even a tougher nut to crack.

Trace the problem to the hiring of Carolyn Bivens as LPGA commissioner in 2005. Pursued for her marketing expertise, not for her golf world presence, Bivens was charged with bringing the struggling tour into the 21st century. She is proceeding with machiavellian efficiency.

The LPGA now has an expanded and more dependable television presence. The tour has gone global, adding events in Singapore, China and Thailand. There's been a cost for that.

Six tournaments stateside including the Corning Classic are no longer. More will follow in 2010.

Elements of the commissioner's vision for the future include things like increased scoreboard and sanctioning fees. For the Wegmans Tournament they amount to a jump from 17 thousand to 100 thousand dollars. Negotiating these numbers continues but Bivens won't budge.

The economy isn't helping. People with less discretionary income aren't spending more of it at Locust Hill. The entire golf industry is suffering. In this climate, says Stahl, "if you offer to do for me this year what you did for me last year, I'd take it in a heartbeat."

It won't come down like that. The tour is pledged to over play its hand.

It isn't that the LPGA isn't appreciative of the fact that Rochester's 33 year association is its second longest; that the galleries are robust and supportive; that the players like it here. It is just that the tour's new 'tunnel vision' doesn't allow for sentimentality anymore.

When the wolf was at the door of the Corning Classic it was easy to ignore. Rochester had Wegmans. Rochester would be ok. Rochester isn't. The wolf is at our door now.
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I have said this before and I will say it again. This game will be leaving the states for most of the tournies in the near future. Bad for the american game and even worse for the fans.
 
Now granted, an article like this has some obvious bias. But given the current financial climate, why is Bivens being given such free reign to make changes like this?

I'd almost expect there to be an outcry for her to step down and/or loosen up on some of the changes. Is this happening and I just missed it or are the rank and file of the LPGA content with what's happening?
 
Becuase they know they can get the money overseas.
 
*conspiracy theory alert*

I seriously discount the likelihood of revolt among the rank and file until things hit rock bottom -- they're athletes after all, many very young, many not particularly well educated despite their degrees, and not necessarily business tacticians as a general rule. So I get the feeling many of the athletes just focus on what they can do -- play the best golf they can play -- and leave the long term strategy for financial end of the LPGA to Bivens, trusting she knows best. Some of these girls, however, have pretty smart handlers working for them and shepherding their careers. The Ari Golds of sports agency, so to speak. So I've been wondering why there is no push from the smart people that handle the big names to make changes to the LPGA's leadership, starting with Bivens. However, Bivens has an apparently very cozy relationship with IMG, no that she gave them the Championship, which suggests maybe they've got no reason to rock the Bivens boat. So the only people who are really clamoring about her are the arm-chair quarterbacks, like us, who can't be sure we know what we're talking about, and a few journalists.
 
WSE,
the IMG and Bivens things is not really a conspiracy theory. It is a problem. How can you have a major sports "league" and have one of the largest contributors be a group that is behind "certain players".

IMG has the funds, but there is no way another sports organization in the US would make this mistake.
 
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