What Would It Take to Fix the LPGA's Issues?

[Mr. M]

The fact that many of the foreign players dont speak english well hurts the series as well, having an interpreter makes you feel less connected to the players.

This is key.

Also, did someone suggest that LPGA players should be allowed to play with hotter balls?

[HytrewQasdfg]

This is key.

Yes. The already shorten/modify courses to make them more playable by the women. Why not the equipment?

It doesn't make sense to me that women should be bound by the men's equipment standards. The WNBA uses a smaller basketball than the NBA. Why? Because women have smaller hands than men. Women (last time I checked) are different physically than men. They should be playing equipment (including balls) that is designed around their physical characteristics, not those of men. I don't see this as unfair or giving women an advantage, its just reconizing the obvious: women and men are different.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Yes. The already shorten/modify courses to make them more playable by the women. Why not the equipment?

I hear what youre saying here. But the eqiupment manfactuers probably wouldnt go for it. How would they sell the stuff when 9 out of 10 golfers are males? How would the USGA and R&A; regulate the eqiupment? Woman make up such a small portion of the golf industry that i dont think it would make sense for them to adopt a "ladies standard". TM (for example) would have to make a R11 driver and R11 for ladies. I cant seem them doing that.

We have a few ladies balls and clubs now, but its rare. Most of the LPGA players use the same equipment their PGA counterparts do. A ladies ball would have a huge impact on their game, perhaps that road is more doable.

[HytrewQasdfg]

I hear what youre saying here. But the eqiupment manfactuers probably wouldnt go for it. How would they sell the stuff when 9 out of 10 golfers are males? How would the USGA and R&A; regulate the eqiupment? Woman make up such a small portion of the golf industry that i dont think it would make sense for them to adopt a "ladies standard". TM (for example) would have to make a R11 driver and R11 for ladies. I cant seem them doing that.

The balls are definitly doable, as companies already make ladies balls. Most companies already offer ladies versions of their clubs now, so I don't see that as any type of barrier either. Ladies NOW are a small part of the sport, but I see this as a growth opportunity for the industry. If they made a few equipment rule changes that resulted in the typical woman being able to hit a ball the same distance as the typical man (given similar golf skill sets) I think it would draw a lot of women into the sport. Combine that with a push/campaign by the golf industry to get more women involved in golf in the junior and high school levels, and in about 10 years you would have a significant increase in the number of adult women playing regularly (which, for an industry that has been shrinking over the last few years is a good thing.) I'm not sure the USGA is up to it though. They seem so focused on keeping pros from overwhelming courses they have (imho) lost sight of the needs of amateurs. Take the recent groove rule changes. Makes sense if you want to make the US Open more competitive, but for the typical amateur (who has trouble spinning the ball off the fairway) it just doesn't make sense. If I was the LPGA, I would look seriously at establishing my own rule modifications, that would be permissable in LPGA events (and if the USGA doesn't like it, tough.)

[ControlJunkie]

The balls are definitly doable, as companies already make ladies balls.

Got a question about this. I've seen ladies' TM drivers and they're painted slightly different, but, it doesnt seem like any of the others are any different at all (except for the shafts). For example, I was in Dick's a couple weeks back, and noticed a rack of Nike drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids, and it took me at least 5 minutes to realize they were ladies clubs. The only way I ended up knowing was because of a sign that I didnt see when I first walked up. Other than the shaft, they looked absolutely identical. So what are the major differences in the heads?

And I totally agree with you, it is definitely a growth opportunity. I'm starting to think it's something that's going to take time. The reason I say that is because I have a friend that I work with that has recently become interested in the game, so I have taken her with me to the range a few times. She was a college athlete, and had a full ride to play college basketball, so she wasn't one of these girls who has never played any sports. I assumed she had played other sports growing up. After talking to her while we were hitting some balls, I found out she never played softball, and didnt have any real fundamentals of any sort of swing. The reason I thought this was interesting is because a big majority of us guys grow up playing multiple sports such as baseball, football, basketball, hockey, etc., so we have swung something at some point in our lives, and we at least began golf, trying to translate that swing to the golf course. It seems it's different for girls though, but that's why it would make sense, as HytrewQasdfg said, for the industry to start a push for more girls to play at a younger age. Though the payoff wouldnt be immediately visible, I think that would build the foundation for womens golf to thrive in the future.

[HytrewQasdfg]

So what are the major differences in the (ladies) heads?

Handful of things I noticed when researching some clubs for my daughter (not universal to every manufacturer):

Driver heads available in higher lofts than men's modes (16 degree+). Lie is 1-2 degrees flater. Weight a few grams (like 5) less than the men's version. Shaft butt diameter smaller (.600-.620 typical men's, .580-.600 women's typical.) Grips smaller diameter than men's. Club length shorter. When I think about it, it reminds me of what I've heard about Japanese specs (Japanse men and American women both typically being shorter than the average American male probably accounts for that.) One thing that could be relaxed on the ladies heads is the COR limitation. As I (imperfectly) understand it, this is some type of limit to how much the face flexes (which produces a trampoline effect) and increases distance.

[ControlJunkie]

Handful of things I noticed when researching some clubs for my daughter (not universal to every manufacturer):

Thanks for the explanation. Like I said, I was looking at the clubs at Dick's, and visually, everything on the club head was identical, and once I realized it was a woman's I kinda thought to myself that it would be really easy for anyone to make the same mistake! Thanks again!

As a side note, for anyone keeping up with this thread, the Evian Masters is this weekend. I think the Golf Channel is broadcasting some of it. I'm sure I'll at least watch for a few at least a few minutes. Hopefully they will be showing some of Gulbis' rounds!

[Clambake]

Interesting quotes from Jan Stephenson in a Golf magazine interview in 2003:

Does the LPGA have other problems?
This is probably going to get me in trouble, but the Asians are killing our tour. Absolutely killing it. Their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English when they can speak English. They rarely speak. We have two-day pro-ams where people are paying a lot of money to play with us, and they say hello and goodbye. Our tour is predominantly international and the majority of them are Asian. They've taken it over.

What would you do about that?
If I were commissioner, I would have a quota on international players and that would include a quota on Asian players. As it is, they're taking American money. American sponsors are picking up the bill. There should be a qualifying school for Americans and a qualifying school for international players. I'm Australian, an international player, but I say America has to come first. Sixty percent of the tour should be American, 40 percent international. There needs to be more of an educational process of what to do in pro-ams, how to act in pro-ams. They need to give back, just as I did, Nancy did. Sally Little and Ayako Okamoto did, too, in the '70s and '80s.

We've discussed in this thread some of the issues Jan mentions, but one that I thought was interesting was the comment about the pro-ams and the implications of how the the people who pay money to play (i.e. the sponsors who help make the LPGA run) aren't enjoying a great experience because of the Asian players.

[iacas]

The balls are definitly doable, as companies already make ladies balls.

And the women are free to play those golf balls.

The simple truth is that we have one set of rules for the game. It applies to old dudes, women, children, and Tiger Woods. They already play a shorter course, thus compensating for their lower distances. The problem is already solved.

I'm not sure the USGA is up to it though. They seem so focused on keeping pros from overwhelming courses they have (imho) lost sight of the needs of amateurs. Take the recent groove rule changes. Makes sense if you want to make the US Open more competitive, but for the typical amateur (who has trouble spinning the ball off the fairway) it just doesn't make sense.

And how much less does the ball spin from the fairway with the new grooves? Only about 10% less. The average amateur struggles to spin the ball because:

a) clubhead speed b) contact c) probably have old (and dirty) clubs anyway d) firm, low-spin ball C'mon, this just strikes me as uninformed. They released a study - did you read it?

If I was the LPGA, I would look seriously at establishing my own rule modifications, that would be permissable in LPGA events (and if the USGA doesn't like it, tough.)

Yeah, then they could become a laughingstock. They have trouble being taken seriously as it is - playing "girlie rules" would completely eliminate their credibility.

[BASHERBAKER69]

More financial backing would be useful- one event on the US tour has been cancelled due to lack of sponsorship this year (correct me if Im wrong). The main problem in my view is that ladies golf is intensely boring to watch, and it is always nice to have a few more ladies who are as good looking as Gulbis and Creamer playing. So the solution is to promote the sport more for women and in the future we will become revitalised. Unfortunately it has the 'bored country club housewife hacking it around' image which will only be shaken once we see more young talent on the tours!

[laconic517]

need more dominant players and play on more famous courses. Random korean girl winning the majors doesnt help either. Its like ben curtis or shaun michael(sp) every weekend. If they even had a dominant asian girl that would be ok. But they win for a year or 2 and then disappear except for Pak. Whatever happened to the woman who wore the funny hats? Also I think USA vs Korea in somesort of cup format would be awesome.

Getting lined up by their caddies and showing little emotion is pretty crappy too.

[supr4]

There needs to be more girl golfers at the ages of 8-15.

Perhaps golf is inherently not an attractive sports for girls in that age group. Not like soccer which is a team sports which lends itself to 'group hugs' i.e girls are more of a social animal than a sports animal.

Do I make sense? Can someone elaborate for me. Since we are brainstrorming on ideas, to attract more viewerships and pro-am interest and stay why don't we have LPGA golfers play in their bikinis . Now before you castigate me, this is a suggestion from my better half. Her rationale is that quite a number of you suggested more Gublis or Creamer or Wie on the LPGA tour. Basically you are suggesting that sex appeal rather than performance sells. Right?

[Chas]

Well I for one don't find women's golf boring to watch, tho' I admit that I haven't watched very much - partly because not so much is televised compared to the men's game. I'm not saying this to be politically correct either ...... I do watch a fair bit of women's tennis, some of those matches are very hard-fought and tactically interesting.

I'm planning to attend the women's invitational event at Torrey Pines in September (forget the name of it now) if I'm not out of town. It should be very interesting to watch them up close and see how they do, having attended the Buick Invitational many times over the years.

One big problem with the success of women's pro golf is that a smaller proportion of women play the game at, shall we say, a reasonable level of proficiency. IMO as a result there just isn't as much interest in the general female population - or am I wrong? Just look at the gender distribution on driving ranges.

Did I just make a boo-boo? ......

[sam004]

I like the amount of responses this thread has generated .

Tried watching the Evian Masters, I think I now understand what everybody has been saying. I was bored watching it after about 10 min. The lack of identifiable personalities
hurts. When I tuned in it was two players I never heard of in the lead. Of course they have to cover the leading players. No one I was interested was anywhere near the lead.

I think I have to agree with some of the Jan Stephenson comments, and that was from 2003.

The tour is going to continue to slide until they make changes.

[ElWagonne]

2 things....1) The women tend to be painfully slow. I watched as Cristie Kerr hit a shot. She did the following....check wind, grab a club, 2 practice swings, check wind again, grab another club, 2 more practice swings, chit chat with caddie about yardage, then hit. After seeing this, I tend to be inspired to either walk up and play or take a nap.
2) Personalities....the Asians seem to be very bland. Probably has to do with the language barrier, but I believe they would be bland if there was no language barrier. There's rarely a show of emotion from most female golfers IMO.

[iacas]

Tried watching the Evian Masters, I think I now understand what everybody has been saying. I was bored watching it after about 10 min. The lack of identifiable personalities hurts. When I tuned in it was two players I never heard of in the lead. Of course they have to cover the leading players. No one I was interested was anywhere near the lead.

No offense, but if Ai Miyazato and Sophie Gustafson are players you've never heard of, you must not ever watch the LPGA. Ai Miyazato won Q School by a mile a few years ago and is the Ryo Ishikawa of the LPGA. Sophie's put together a solid career and dated and married Ty Votaw when he was the commissioner (or they were married just after he quit or something).

The leaderboard could have been far, far more full of "unidentifiable" players.

[kris]

I'm planning to attend the women's invitational event at Torrey Pines in September (forget the name of it now) if I'm not out of town. It should be very interesting to watch them up close and see how they do, having attended the Buick Invitational many times over the years.

there's going to be a women's tournament at TP?

[RemyM]

there's going to be a women's tournament at TP?

http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?pid=19160∣=1 http://pages.samsung.com/us/golf/index.html