New Tournament

[Saint-Just X]

Originally Posted by dangerbob

How can they make a living? If they're mediocre golfers and had to come up with $3,000 or $4,000 to play in the Far East and them miss the cut?

They make a living by honing their skills on the tour.

If you're ranked number 91 in the world,or you're a promising rookie,you would think that the premier women's golf tour on the planet would afford you the opportunity to play.

Look at the men's tour : plenty of golfers,way outside the top 50 in the rankings, play twenty,or more,events a year,miss half the cuts,but they gain the experience.The next year,hopefully,they miss fewer cuts.

It's a progression thing.

The way the LPGA is setting itself it up,those players are being denied the opportunity to make that progression because they can't get into the tournaments in the first place.

Originally Posted by dangerbob

Remember...most of this limited field are in the Far East and are newly form tournaments. Like Golfnut says, "They're better than nothing for the start." Once they come up with more sponsors and more prize money to pay the players, maybe they'll make into full field tournaments. So let's be patient!

Why ? If these limited field events are successful,why would the sponsors decide to make them full field,instead ?

The sponsors get,for example,the top 50 in the world,which ensures there are no 'unknowns' on the leaderboard ;the tv companies are happy,as they don't have to inform the viewers who Na Ri Kim and Paige Mackenzie are ;and the players are happy because there are fewer golfers to share the purse with.

I love limited field events ;but they should be limited in number,too.

The LPGA is in real danger of creating a glass ceiling...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

[LoJo]

In regards to the limited field Asian events, the sponsors have a further vested interest in having "no cut" limited field events. They pick up the tab for the players' travel expenses to Asia.

From Beth Ann Baldry's recent column in Golfweek about her first trip to an Asian LPGA event:

When players travel to Asia for LPGA events, they get paid just to show up. Sponsors pay for plane tickets, hotels and transportation. They even get meal vouchers at the player hotel. Oh, and the tournament has no cut.

While this isn't the "pay for play" that is prevalent on the LET, and particularly on the men's European and Austral-asian tours (remember Tiger's $3million fee to play in the Australian Masters?), it is -- in effect -- the same thing, apart from actually paying an "appearance fee" as such.

[LoJo]

Originally Posted by Blue

...
That's why we're seeing silly-season events like the Mojo 6 stuck right in the middle of the regular season (oh, by the way -- latest addition to Mojo 6 -- fans pick the 16th contestant from a list of pre-selected players: The Mojo 6 Tournament | HOME | Home Page ... can it get any sillier?)

Do what several other golf fans and I did. Go and vote for AMY ALCOTT to be the 16th contestant!! Flood the ballot box with AMY!!

Seriously...AMY ALCOTT?? No disrespect to Amy...she was a great player...emphasis on WAS.

I doubt we'll ever know the results of the fan contest though. The "ballot box" will be stuffed to guarantee whomever it is the sponsor wants. My guess is that won't be Amy.

[dangerbob]

Originally Posted by Blue

Still not buying it. A touring pro knows there are costs involved with staying on Tour. Travel expenses are part of it. Again, these costs don't stop lots of players from going to Europe every year to play in the Evian and British Open, just to miss the cut. Or just look at the field at the ANZ Ladies Masters this week, with players from all over the world. Many them will miss the cut. No LPGA player is going to think, "Gee, I don't want to spend the money to go to [fill in far away country] because I'm not very good so I might miss the cut." They would not be on the LPGA Tour if they thought of themselves that way. They know the risk of missing the cut is there every week, but they don't plan on it. If there is any obstacle, it's simply the travel at any cost. Players don't want the hassle of going to Asia or Mexico for one weekend on a crappy plane, to stay in crappy accommodations, and eat crappy food, and play on a crappy course. This is why the LPGA schedules these events back to back and the tournaments have vastly improved the accommodations and amenities and the courses are usually in really good shape.

The difference is these newly formed tournaments in the Far East is just the beginning. They don't have enough fund to distribute to the players. If they invite more players, then the prize money will be less and will not attract quality players...thus the tournament will kapuit! The Evian and the British Open are established tournaments andhave more money to distribute among players. So, it pays off for the players to take chances.

Originally Posted by Blue

The whole point of the "everyone plays" events, especially in new countries is to showcase the established LPGA stars for the duration of the tournament and also to allow the local players who either qualify or (mostly) are let in on sponsor exemptions also have a guarantee to play the weekend.

If the prize money is less because they have to divide them among many players...quality LPGA player stars probably won't even bother to participate...and if there are no big stars, the tournament probably will go into kaput! Remember, these are all new tournaments and not established yet. Maybe just an experiment!

Originally Posted by Blue

Who does this hurt? It hurts the regular LPGA Tour players who are not invited and have no place on the LPGA to play or who will spend an equal amount of money to play in Europe or elsewhere that weekend. And it hurts fans who don't get to see the top ~130 players in the world battle it out for all four days. They're seeing a watered-down tournament with the top ~20-60 players depending on the event and a very generous sprinkling of local players, and everyone's given an automatic bye to the weekend.

There is a big difference between flying three hours to Europe than flying 15 to 17 hours to Asia and plus the $1,200-$1,500 round trip airfare. Those golfers who comes from Asia to play in the LPGA get work visas and stay here in the U.S. for at least a year because they are guaranteed to play more tournaments year-round plus the prize money are good. Some of them stay with their relatives to begin with.
Unlike a handful tournaments in Asia where they have to go back home as soon as the tournament is over. Again, let me emphasize...these are newly formed tournaments and if they're successful, maybe they'll expand them to full field tournaments.

[Saint-Just X]

Originally Posted by LoJo

Do what several other golf fans and I did. Go and vote for AMY ALCOTT to be the 16th contestant!! Flood the ballot box with AMY!!

Seriously...AMY ALCOTT?? No disrespect to Amy...she was a great player...emphasis on WAS.

I doubt we'll ever know the results of the fan contest though. The "ballot box" will be stuffed to guarantee whomever it is the sponsor wants. My guess is that won't be Amy.

I think all the Amy Alcott votes are automatically redirected to the Anna Rawson tally...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

[xman5]

Originally Posted by LoJo

In regards to the limited field Asian events, the sponsors have a further vested interest in having "no cut" limited field events. They pick up the tab for the players' travel expenses to Asia.

From Beth Ann Baldry's recent column in Golfweek about her first trip to an Asian LPGA event:

When players travel to Asia for LPGA events, they get paid just to show up. Sponsors pay for plane tickets, hotels and transportation. They even get meal vouchers at the player hotel. Oh, and the tournament has no cut.

Not if your ranking is 100. You have minimum sponsors if any. You could not afford to play, even if they allowed you.

[LoJo]

Originally Posted by xman5

Not if your ranking is 100. You have minimum sponsors if any. You could not afford to play, even if they allowed you.

I'm sure the term "sponsors" meant the TOURNAMENT sponsors...the event sponsors....not the individual player's endorsement sponsors.

That's why I said these tournament sponsors are all for limited fields -- fewer players to pay expenses for.

[xman5]

Originally Posted by LoJo

I'm sure the term "sponsors" meant the TOURNAMENT sponsors...the event sponsors....not the individual player's endorsement sponsors.

I do not think that is permitted by LPGA rules. The "Tournament" can not provide that to individual players. The same is true for the PGA.

I don't think she Baldry knows what she is saying. I think that it is speculation on her part that she is passing along as fact.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by LoJo

Do what several other golf fans and I did. Go and vote for AMY ALCOTT to be the 16th contestant!! Flood the ballot box with AMY!!

Seriously...AMY ALCOTT?? No disrespect to Amy...she was a great player...emphasis on WAS.

I doubt we'll ever know the results of the fan contest though. The "ballot box" will be stuffed to guarantee whomever it is the sponsor wants. My guess is that won't be Amy.

I knew the Mojo voting would get LoJo off the golf course and posting here. The other new twist is that there is a contest in which the public can pick the order of finish and the person who comes closest wins a cash prize.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by dangerbob

The difference is these newly formed tournaments in the Far East is just the beginning. They don't have enough fund to distribute to the players. If they invite more players, then the prize money will be less and will not attract quality players...thus the tournament will kapuit! The Evian and the British Open are established tournaments andhave more money to distribute among players. So, it pays off for the players to take chances.



If the prize money is less because they have to divide them among many players...quality LPGA player stars probably won't even bother to participate...and if there are no big stars, the tournament probably will go into kaput! Remember, these are all new tournaments and not established yet. Maybe just an experiment!



There is a big difference between flying three hours to Europe than flying 15 to 17 hours to Asia and plus the $1,200-$1,500 round trip airfare. Those golfers who comes from Asia to play in the LPGA get work visas and stay here in the U.S. for at least a year because they are guaranteed to play more tournaments year-round plus the prize money are good. Some of them stay with their relatives to begin with.
Unlike a handful tournaments in Asia where they have to go back home as soon as the tournament is over. Again, let me emphasize...these are newly formed tournaments and if they're successful, maybe they'll expand them to full field tournaments.

If the tournament purse is $1.3 million, it doesn't matter if there are 20 players in the field or 200 players, that's all the sponsor has to pay. Maybe you understand this. Yes, it's less distribution, but players will play anywhere. They are LPGA players and will play whenever they can. At least that's what I've seen.

As for flying to tournaments, again the ANZ Ladies Masters is chock full of players who flew from the US and Europe. That's not a quick or expensive trip for a full-field tournament. I don't think there are plans to expand the tournaments to full field, at least not in the near future. In fact, from what I've heard there are plans to cut the number of fully exempt players on the LPGA to 70 and make all tournaments except majors limited field.

I also don't think it's just an experiment. The Mizuno Classic has been around for 27 years and has always been a limited field-no cut event. The Hana-Bank has been around for nearly a decade with also no indication of moving toward a full field.