LPGA Names Michael Whan as its Commissioner

[RemyM]

http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?pid=22245∣=4

Source: URL above
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., October 28, 2009 - Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Board of Directors Chairman Dawn Hudson announced today that the LPGA Board has named Michael Whan the LPGA's new Commissioner. Whan, most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of Mission-Itech Hockey, has a personal and professional background in golf, including serving as Executive Vice President and General Manager (North American Region) for Taylormade-adidas Golf.

[PEZGolf]

I wish him and the LPGA Tour the very best. Maybe, this time the Board will have made the right choice. Carolyn Bivens did more damage than good, and he will have to repair that damage.

[lobsterzilla]

... interesting

[NormH3]

Whan does he start? (yuk yuk)

[plugged]

"First order of business: shorter skirts"

[pittpanther]

"First order of business: shorter skirts"

I'm thinking "beach volleyball" uniforms for golf... although Laura Davies might disagree...

[PEZGolf]

"First order of business: shorter skirts"

Natalie and Paula are fine as they are.

[Clambake]

Memo to LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan

Re: Fixing LPGA Tour

More of this:


Less of this:


Thank you.

[O.B. Right]

Memo to LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan

Ok - I feel bad for agreeing with you.

[plugged]

Ok - I feel bad for agreeing with you.

Yeah, me too.

Look, the truth is that women's golf is not as exciting as men's golf to watch and they need to have a "hook" to bring in audiences. My favorite professional golf to watch on TV, in order of preference: 1. PGA 2. LPGA 3. Nationwide 4. European Tour

[PEZGolf]

It is unanimous.

Let me ask all of you this, which I did before:

Without the help of the computer, how many winners of the LPGA Majors can you name for this year?

For most golf fans, the answer would be: "Are you kidding me---- like NONE." And this is reflective of the problems Michael Whan is going to deal with.

[NormH3]

It is unanimous.

you need to define fan. I enjoy golf, but it doesnt rule my life. i enjoy baseball, but i don't memorize stats there either. does that make me that much less of a fan? no. let's face it, the LPGA doesnt get the commercialisation that the PGA tour gets. its a mindset. unfortunately most women athletes don't get the recognition that their men counterparts do. perhaps we should start taking the ladies more seriously and give them the attention they deserve. no one evr responds to my posts about having co ed pro tournaments. Quite frankly, I think the men are afraid they will be bested by some of the women. I think it would grow golf even more.

[PEZGolf]

you need to define fan. I enjoy golf, but it doesnt rule my life. i enjoy baseball, but i don't memorize stats there either. does that make me that much less of a fan? no. let's face it, the LPGA doesnt get the commercialisation that the PGA tour gets. its a mindset. unfortunately most women athletes don't get the recognition that their men counterparts do. perhaps we should start taking the ladies more seriously and give them the attention they deserve. no one evr responds to my posts about having co ed pro tournaments. Quite frankly, I think the men are afraid they will be bested by some of the women. I think it would grow golf even more.

I think there might be some interest in coed golf on TV. There used to an event that was the JC Penney Classic, I believe that had mixed teams. I used to watch it and it was interesting to compare the distance the gals achieved, compared to me. It is close, since I am not a long hitter. Therefore, I have always been able to relate to the gals.

Also, some of them, Christina Kim, Helen Alfredsson, Suzann Pettersen (remember when she used the F word on TV a couple of years ago) etc. are very outgoing and real characters. Having one such event a year is the most that can be hoped for. I assume since the ratings were not great, JC Penney pulled its sponsorship.