gbk56

So you would be offended with such a policy is my point. Suppose they said you should speak with a boston accent because most of the sponsors are from boston and they feel more comfortable speaking to people with a boston accent.

If they do not like them it is a private organization and they should not admit them. The point I am trying to make is that it is more about personality than language. I believe the LPGA position will be found illegal. However, wherther it is legal or illegal I think it is wrong. Suspension is much too harsh. Please note, I think it is in the player best interest to learn English but the method the LPGA is trying to institute this just doesn't seem right legally or ethically IMO.

This applies to all players and is not closely related to nationality as stated under title vii. The LPGA is targeting foreign players.

It is a private club. Interview them and see if their personality fits in with the personality of the club. I can only speak English and I have people I socialize with who cannot speak English. I have a great time. I know a lot of people who speak English who I would rather not socilaize with.

Why aren't they suspended? The foreign players will be suspended if they do not speak English well enough irregardless if they are entertaining their ProAm players. Then suspend the Koreans that treat it as a practice round. I have played many rounds with people wh cannot speak English. We have a great time trying to learn each other langauge and figuring out how different golf terms are said in their langauge. We end up using a lot of body langauge and sign language but it is hilarious. Because the way it has been presented and the way they say they will implement it opens the whole system to abuse. Maybe they have the best intentions, but obviously many see that something does not seem right. Yep, not watching for the interview afterwards or Tigers command of the English language. I do not think it is a langauge problem. I didn't know Paula from Natalie from Morgan a couple years ago. But after watching for a while I began to recognize them from the clothes they wore and their playing styles. Truthfully, I have never heard any of them speak much and really do not know much about them. I just like to watch good play. SeRi Park stated that she thinks "SUSPENSION" is too severe. She disagrees with the LPGA of this aspect.

I would give them three strikes and you're out. You join a club you follow the rules. If you can't understand the rules find some way to familiarize yourself with the rules because if you break the rules you will be kicked out just like anyone else. It really is not a language problem. I live in Korea and cannot speak the language. I am expected to know all the laws and if I break the law, "I do not know the language" is not an excuse. I find ways to familiarize myself with the rules. You break the rules too many times you get kicked out just like anyone else. I know a lot of times people know the rules but use langauge as an excuse. Ignorance of a rule is not an excuse.

The point is they are making something mandatory to a class of players that does not have anything to do with playing golf. I would have a problem with a policy that stated all players with a southern accent must pass a test to speak proper english with no southern accent by 2009 or be suspended until you lose your accent.

Are you applauding this kind of behavoir?

SeRi Park did OBJECT. She stated "SUSPENSION" is too harsh. Many of the PGA tour players have stated similar objections. KJ Choi, Padrig Harrington and Angel Cabrea to name a few. Practically speaking I do not think any of the Korean players will be effected. I live in Korea and a large portion of the population knows enough of the langauge to get by. There are many foreigners living and working in Korea and I would say a large number of that population cannot speak the korean, myself included. There are also a good amount of US athletes playing for professional baseball and basketball teams in Korea. They can barely say hello in Korean.

If it were just learn a little English then I could agree. Instead it is you are "SUSPENDED" if you do not learn a little English. For tour members that is in several months. If the subtext is "stop treating the pro-am parters like they're getting in the way of another practice round" I am sure it is not only an English problem. Why haven't they implemented other regulations to stop ALL tour members to "stop treating the pro-am partners like they're getting in the way of another practice round."? Why were only the koreans and not any other foreigners singled out in a mandatory meeting held by the LPGA. Looks to me as though the pretext is "how can we limit the number of foreign/korean players on the tour." That is wrong in my book.

When I push it is caused by too much of an inside to out swing path. My cure is to close my stance up a little and swing a little less inside to out. This gets my clubhead to get square to the target.

When I have this problem I close my stance a little and remember to let my hands drop. A lot of times my wrists are too tense and I end up cutting accross the ball.

The Supreme Court held that "walking" wasn't essential in playing golf in PGA v. Casey. It will be a tough argument to win. My question is if the LPGA's true intention was to increase sponsorship, this is the best they could come up with? Suspend anyone who cannot speak "effective" English. I do not think a court will believe that argument. Why not come up with regulations for ProAm behavior as Claire suggested? It seems that would be more effective. IMO the reason is that the original intent was probably "how can we slow down the influx of foreign/korean golfers." I believe that this on any level is plain wrong.

I agree, they will probably start to lose even more sponsors.

Yes, you are correct but the stadards for employee/employer realtionship is the same as title vii. The court also held that the PGA is an employer. Oh yeah, it went up to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court affirmed the initial ruling.

Nice! I understand your argument, but I believe the PGA was held to be subject to Title VII in the case with the disabled golfer. Therefore I think the LPGA will also be subject to Title VII. Further, a lot of states have even more stringent standards than title vii which could hamper the LPGAs ability to have tournaments in certain states. I think the LPGA if they proceed with this are opening themselves up to a very messy situation from a PR standpoint. It probably would have been better for them to make it mandatory for all members to take English classes until they passed a test. It accomplishes the same thing without being too overbearing. Suspension is a little drastic, even SeRi Park said as much.

This is my exact point. If it is really a pro-am issue why haven't they defined pro am conduct and applied it to all tour players?

So then who do you test? Just foreign born players? Just foreign born asian players? Just players with parents who are foreign born. Once you pass the test can you be re-tested. From what I understand the LPGA will test at their own discretion. This really opens it up for abuse and makes it easy to target specific players without cause. If the ProAm sponsors do not like it why do it? I guess they just are not doing a very good job. I hope Samsung doesn't pull the Samsung World Championships off the LPGA tour and that other sponsors do not start looking to other places to invest their money because of this.

Your opinion is incorrect. Read title VII Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

From what I've read it is for all tour players, even Americans. What I cannot understand is it is a requirement for all players, but it is up to the tours descretion who gets tested. If it is for everyone then test everyone. My guess is that they will test all the asian players and none of the european or american players. Also if the ProAms are such a big deal they should also give personality tests too. This is entertainement. If you are shy like Annika was in the beginning of her career suspend her until she learns to be more personable. I hear some of the american players are not too personable during the ProAms and they can speak english. They should suspend them too. This is entertainment and business. On a serious note, if the ProAm people hate being paired with foreigners don't pair them with foreigners. Pair them with someone who would be better suited for them. I would think there are plenty who would not mind being paired with Anna Rawson or other lower ranked players who would be more pleasing to the sponsors. LPGA do your job don't put all the burden on the players. I am sure they would like to speak more English to enhance their career, but it is not that easy. I guess Moses Malone should have been suspended from the NBA too. I was a die hard Sixers fans but I never had a clue what he was saying.

My take on this whole issue is that forcing someone to learn minimal English is not going to accomplish much. I do believe that it is in the players best interest to learn English to better market themselves and the tour. The US is the biggest marketplace so if you want to be successful, it is in your best interest to learn Enlish. If China becomes the biggest marketplace you better start brushing up on your Chinese.

From what I understand they had a mandatory meeting for Korean golfers only in which they announced this policy. I do not see how requiring them to learn English will remedy this situation. I wish I knew, but they should probably look to the NFL. So I guess either way the interview will be un-interesting and will not drive up viewership. I think that simply being able to speak minimal English will not help. There are plenty of people who speak English that can't give a decent interview. Someone speking minimal English will not help. You really need personalities. Forcing someone to improve their English to minimal English is not going to help. It is far worse here. If you cannot speak perfect Korean you are better off just speaking English. Anyway the cultures are very different so it is a little unfair to compare. I think this may be some of the reason why the Koreans may be reluctant to speak English. They feel as if they must speak perfect English or no English at all. Anyway, most Koreans love Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Ronaldo, Torres etc. (last two are Premier League Soccer Players) but these athletes do not speak any Korean. Local sports here are popular and there are many foreign players in baseball, basketball and soccer. Most cannot speak a word of Korean. I do not think interviews are a big thing over here. I rarely seem them. I guess I just diagree with you here. Forcing someone to learn minimal English is not going to accomplish much.

Truely sad. This reminds me of an old sign I saw in a history book. "Irish Need Not Apply" They should just change that to "Koreans Need Not Apply" Do people really watch the tour to hear interviews or players give acceptance speeches? I never sit there thinking I hope Lorena wins this because I love her speeches. I watch to see good golf and I rarely watch any of the post interviews because the interviewers never ask any interesting questions. I have played golf, soccer, basketball etc. with many people who do not speak English and we usually have a great time. I think sports really is a universal language. I watch to see particular players. If the LPGA would do more stories so that we would know the backgorund of some of its top player that would do a lot for the sport. Did anyone one know Shin who won the British open lost her mother at an early age in a car accident and slept by her side in the hospital before she died? If the LPGA is worried about sponsorship they should look at themselves in the mirror for not doing their job. The golfers in my opinion are providing very competitive and interseting golf to watch. The LPGA is not doing enough to make the game interesting to the general public. I guess the next move for the LPGA is to give asian players anglo names. One other point is how well would you do in an interview, live, on tv, in front of millions of fans at the age of 19 speaking your own langauge let alone a foreign language. I think many would barely be adequate in their own language let alone speaking a foreign language. Look at Michelle Wie. She speaks three languages fluently, but does not really give spectacular interviews and Annika is just so boring and dull I don't even bother. I sincerely do not think people are watching to hear the interviews after the tournament is over. Finally, even if players speak some minimal English, do you think that the interview will be more interesting? Let them speak what is comfortable and you should be able to read the emotion from body langauge and facial expressions. To me that is more significant than any canned speech someone has memorized. By forcing them to speak English you are going to get a very mechanical, canned response. I do not see how this requirement will achieve the LPGAs goals.

If you draw a line down the middle of the ball there will be a left side and a right side. I aim for the back of the ball on the left side.

Shoulders should be square at impact and then rotate through so that your belly button is pointing toward the target. Remember the golf swing is a fluid motion. Positions mentioned are mere check points to see if you are in the right position. Your swing should pass through these checkpoints but still be fluid. If you are swinging too far inside out, try bringing the club more straight back and try to strike the back left side of the ball. Before my swing I think 1) Hit the ball straight After I initiate my swing I think 2) Hit the ball on the back left side and I watch the club hit the ball.