New U.S. Golf Tour for Women Announced, with Purses Exceeding Futures Tour

by Mulligan Stu on Apr 21, 2007 9:48 AM EDT Comment 0 comments

There's not much money in women's professional golf, compared to men's tours. I used this example in a previous post: the total purse of most Futures Tour events is less than the winner's share alone at many Nationwide Tour events.

Futures Tour purses usually range around $70,000 to $80,000. But there's a new U.S. women's tour forming whose goal is to have 18 tournaments a year, with $150,000 purses, within three years.

The Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour will be officially announced on April 30 at Mystic Dunes Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., at a news conference attended by co-founders Andrea Sims and Cindy Wulf, plus, according to the press release, "a glittering array of golf-playing female showbiz celebrities."

According to organizers, the Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour will launch in 2008 with tournaments in eight cities: Orlando, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., Atlanta, Ga., Nashville, Tenn., Asheville, N.C., Washington, D.C. and Snow Hill, Maryland. First-year purses will be $100,000 per tournament (Futures Tour purses, as pointed out above, average around $75,000).

Purses are scheduled to increase to $125,000 in 2009, with additional tournaments in Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia and San Antonio.

In 2010, additional tournaments are planned in Albuquerque, N.M., Las Vegas, Norfolk, Va., Palm Springs, Calif., Salt Lake City and Scottsdale, Ariz., bringing the tour to 18 tournaments; and purses are scheduled to increase to $150,000.

That's the plan that will be outlined on April 30 at Mystic Dunes in Orlando.

What does this mean for the Futures Tour? Absolutely nothing, unless the Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour is actually successful. And that's a big "if." Golf tours are not easy businesses to build; many come and go, and this one is aiming high - so high it would, if successful, become the second most-lucrative women's tour in the U.S.

But would it drive the Futures Tour out of business - or to greater importance itself? The Futures Tour has a relationship with the LPGA as the LPGA's "developmental tour." Futures Tour golfers can gain automatic entry to the LPGA, or various levels of automatic qualifying for LPGA Q-School, through their Futures Tour play.

Will the new tour attempt to supplant the Futures Tour in its relationship with the LPGA? And if not, will professional women golfers stick with the Futures Tour because of its relationship with the LPGA, or will they follow the money?

Those are the questions that jump out at me, and they are questions that likely can't be answered until 2008 arrives and we see how well the Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour events are planned, executed, and attended (by golfers, by fans, and more importantly, by sponsors).

Another question is what, exactly, will be the involvement of that "glittering array of golf-playing female showbiz celebrities." If the tour can get a handful of recognizable celebrities to take part in pro-ams, for example, then pro-ams become a bigger selling point for the new tour.

The press release (which is reprinted in full below the fold) includes this sub-headline:

Oscar and Tony Awards Winner Shirley Jones
Mother Of Popular TV Series "Partridge Family" To "Mother" Femme Golfers

What the heck does that mean? Stay tuned ... (and read on for the press release)

Here is the full press release:

The Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour
Debuts April 30 Orlando (FL.)

Co-Founders Andrea Sims and Cindy Wulf
To Unveil Plans for Ultimately 18 City Tour $150,000 Purses

Full Field 144 NTL' And INTL' Players

Oscar and Tony Awards Winner Shirley Jones
Mother Of Popular TV Series "Partridge Family" To "Mother" Femme Golfers

Spring is in the air and so are golf balls. Those balls are riffled from the golf clubs of a full field 144 lady golfers of "The Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour," the professional women's new golf tour, The Victory Tour will officially announce its debut in Orlando, FL., April 30, 2007, attended by a glittering array of golf playing female showbiz celebrities, Mayor Buddy Dyer of Orlando, FL., Mayor Jim Swan of Kissimmee, FL., and civic, sports and educational notables will be present at the Mystic Dunes of Orlando, FL. (7850 Shadow Tree Lane, Celebration, FL. 34747).

"The Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour" will play in eight cities in 2008, 12 major cities in 2009 and 18 cities in 2010 and the same number the following years. The cities scheduled for 2008 are Orlando, FL., Jacksonville, FL., Birmingham, AL., Atlanta, GA., Nashville, TN., Asheville, NC., Washington, DC. and Snow Hill, MD. In addition to the cities scheduled in 2008 the following cities will be added in the 2009 schedule Boston, MA., New Orleans, LA., Philadelphia, PA., San Antonio, TX. The 2010 schedule in addition to the 2009 schedule will include Albuquerque, NM., Las Vegas, NV., Norfolk, VA., Palms Springs, CA., Salt Lake City, UT. and Scottsdale, AZ.

First year purses will be $100,000, second season $125,000 and the third season $150,000. The purse will increase every year. The second largest purses to the LPGA.

Still shooting for below par, "The Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour," has created a not-for-profit foundation. "The Global Victory Foundation" will provide "The Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour" with the unique opportunity to support, cause-related initiatives focusing on improving health and wellness of young women through golf. The foundation will be an independent 501 (c) (3) housed and staffed by the Global Environment & Technology Foundation in Arlington, Virginia.

"The Pro Women's Victory Golf Tour" was organized by Andrea Sims, Co-Founder and President, and Cindy Wulf, Co-Founder and President of Tournament Operations, both residents of Washington, DC. Ms. Sims and Ms. Wulf expect an unusually high number of entries from lady golfers from the 60 countries who will be advised of the tour.

The first tee-off will be April 28, 2008, at the Mystic Dunes country club in Orlando. Cindy Wulf a professional golfer has played in LPGA qualifying events, as well as in Europe, the Asian tour and the Futures tour.

Ms. Sims was named by Forbes magazine in 2006 as one of the "World's Hottest Party Planners." She is a public relations and event productions professional with a career-long track record for producing high-profile, sold out events, including A-list celebrity galas, award shows and tournaments. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Sims was the President of Lion's Share Communications, Inc. (LSC) (www.lionsshareinc.com), a global event and public relations firm that she founded in 1989. While at LSC, Ms. Sims built a strong reputation for coordinating all facets required for successful event execution and media coverage, both independently and in partnership with other prominent organizations, including Women In Film and Video, a Washington, DC., based international association with 1,300 members in Washington, DC., 10,000 plus members internationally and more than 20 chapters.

Ms. Wulf has been a professional golfer for 11 years and competed in more than 200 professional golf tournaments. Ms. Wulf has organized successful golf tournaments during this period. Since 1994, Ms. Wulf has been self-employed as a professional golfer acting as her own agent, business manager and promotions firm. She successfully attained sponsorships and endorsements to keep her career flourishing. Ms. Wulf also organized tournament operations for numerous country clubs and golf courses. Ms. Wulf also developed and produced a golf instructional program at Raspberry Falls Golf and Hunt Club in Virginia with PGA of America, known as the Play Golf America Initiative. This program was named the most successful in the country by the PGA in 2004. In addition, Ms. Wulf has produced numerous high-profile fundraising and charitable events, including a Golf-a-thon for the Breast Cancer Foundation (Stoneybrook Country Club) and "Play with the Pros" (Wedgefield Country Club), to benefit local charities. In 2003, she personally developed a player program called "Golf for a Cause" where professional golfers pledged a percentage of their winnings to their favorite charity throughout the tournament year.