{"id":1389,"date":"2006-06-22T13:28:56","date_gmt":"2006-06-22T18:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/carolyn_bivens_courageously_running_lpga_into_the_ground\/"},"modified":"2006-06-22T13:28:56","modified_gmt":"2006-06-22T18:28:56","slug":"carolyn_bivens_courageously_running_lpga_into_the_ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/swing_thoughts\/carolyn_bivens_courageously_running_lpga_into_the_ground","title":{"rendered":"Carolyn Bivens, Courageously Running LPGA Into the Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CarolynCarolyn Vesper Bivens has been at the helm of the LPGA Tour for less than one year, and I am hopeful that she won’t last long enough to blow out the candles on a second anniversary cake.<\/p>\n

Bivens’ task was perhaps one of the easiest facing any sports commissioner to date: sell the LPGA Tour to the sponsors, the media, and the fans. She’s failed miserably on all accounts.<\/p>\n

Her failure comes at a time when the LPGA Tour might not be easier<\/em> to sell. Annika Sorenstam still dominates, but youthful, energetic, and attractive gals named Paula Creamer, Lorena Ochoa, Morgan Pressel, Michelle Wie, Cristie Kerr, Natalie Gulbis, and Christina Kim have suddenly come about. Se Ri Pak and Karrie Webb have even returned to form this year, taking the first two majors of the year.
\n
\nYet Bivens has done nothing to capitalize. Actually, that’s not quite true: she’s done plenty, but little of it has been good. Seven of the LPGA’s highest ranking officers – some of whom Bivens hired – have left<\/a> the LPGA Tour since Bivens took over less than one year ago. The first, many will recall, was senior vice president of tournament operations Barb Trammell, who was forced to resign after failing to let a high-ranking player bend the rules on entry deadlines.<\/p>\n

Then she went and pissed off the media<\/a> over credentials to cover her<\/em> tournaments. And all along, she’s failed to grant Michelle Wie an exemption to play full-time on the LPGA tour – official earnings and “membership” or not, despite the obvious exception Michelle Wie poses to the “18 and older” rule.<\/p>\n

It’s not often a certain architect<\/a> and I agree on something, but Bivens is so bad she’s brought us together in agreement. As a woman with a long history of marketing and promotion, selling attractive women with talent should be easy.<\/p>\n

In a recent Q&A<\/a>, Bivens appears so ignorant to the appeal of Michelle Wie, the marketing possibilities that lay before her, and the overwhelming stench emanating from LPGA headquarters that one has to wonder what reality she’s living in: her own, or one shared by the rest of us.<\/p>\n

Even Annika Sorenstam has called Bivens management into question and was quoted<\/a> as saying “I am quite concerned about some of the decisions and changes I have seen lately. I just wonder where we are headed.”<\/p>\n

Hopefully, Annika, we’re headed towards a new LPGA commissioner, and quick!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carolyn Bivens is making a mess of the LPGA Tour, and unless she changes her attitude or someone wises up and cans her, the LPGA Tour may be headed for some bad, bad times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[98,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hot_topics","category-swing_thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nCarolyn Bivens, Courageously Running LPGA Into the Ground (Hot Topics, Swing Thoughts) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/swing_thoughts\/carolyn_bivens_courageously_running_lpga_into_the_ground\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Carolyn Bivens, Courageously Running LPGA Into the Ground (Hot Topics, Swing Thoughts) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Carolyn Bivens is making a mess of the LPGA Tour, and unless she changes her attitude or someone wises up and cans her, the LPGA Tour may be headed for some bad, bad times.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/imgs\/lpga\/carolyn_bivens_headshot.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@the_sand_trap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@the_sand_trap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik J. 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