LPGA Caves, No Suspension Penalties

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 5, 2008 1:25 PM EDT Comment 13 comments

From a statement from Bivens on LPGA.com today:

The LPGA has received valuable feedback from a variety of constituents regarding the recently announced penalties attached to our effective communications policy. We have decided to rescind those penalty provisions.

After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every Tour player. In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse Tour players to develop a better alternative. The LPGA will announce a revised approach, absent playing penalties, by the end of 2008.

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had to happen

Now is better than January ’09 when the LPGA would probably have been faced with the prospect of suspending a player for not being able to comply with some poorly defined and arbitrary standard. Good for them. They seem to have recognized they were putting themselves into an untenable position and have done something about it.

by dianemarie on Sep 5, 2008 2:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

The whole thing was mangled in its execution and, as we have argued about on here, probably its intent.

The LPGA Tour could have pulled this off if they had done it the right way. I still feel like it will never address the fundamental problems that the LPGA faces with or without an influx of Asian players, though.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 5, 2008 2:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

not just execution or intent

the ends don’t justify the means. the means matter, and so does being able to come up with a decent rationale for them. Bivens failed those 2 crucial tests, as well.

by The Constructivist on Sep 6, 2008 1:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you

…you’ve seen what I’ve had to say. :) But, they really could have gotten this done if they had talked to the sponsors and carefully played this out to the media and fans. The worst possible scenario was to kick it off with a secret meeting of just the Korean players (for honest reasons or not) and then let someone from the media find out through another source. That always spells trouble.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 8, 2008 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

especially...

…when that member of the media decides to do her due dilligence to get the story correct.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Sep 8, 2008 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

When have you ever seen...

the media get it right on the first try? Especially in this day and age, so much of the media obsession is with being first instead of being right. Beth Ann missed some things (especially in her reaction piece) that may have added to the tizzy. But, added to that is that everyone wants to get their take out there first. The bloggers are always first and they can say whatever they are want because they are anonymous. The newspapers try to go over the top so that people will read them. And then people circle around and clean up the mess.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 8, 2008 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"may have" ?

Baldry STARTED the mess with her poor job of reporting. She only had 5 days to get the story right. The meeting was on Wednesday before the Safeway. Her story didn’t come out until Monday. There were so many holes in that story that the Swiss thought she was infringing on their cheese process. That’s a BAD job of reporting on her part.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Sep 8, 2008 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Again

Baldry did not report the issue incorrectly in the initial report. Just sayin’.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 8, 2008 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

excuse me ??

Baldry reported half the story. She did not go to the players who would be affecte by the rule. She did not approach the Tour officials to get the entire story. She reported second hand knowledge, colored it with her own uninformed opinion and salted it with typical media political correctness. She had 5 days to get it correct and complete.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Sep 8, 2008 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Whoa, whoa, whoa

She reported the policy, which was what she was supposed to report. Nothing more in the initial report. That was accurate, right?

Ok, then the second step is to get more word from the Tour and the players. She got word from players on both sides of the equation – not as many as she should’ve, but did. The Tour is, partly, at fault because they didn’t tell anyone except the players about the plan and thought some kind of viral reporting would smooth it all over.

Her opinion is not uninformed. The LPGA is her beat, even if she makes mistakes. And it’s not PC. It’s her opinion and we leave it at that.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 8, 2008 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

REPORTER

She was supposedly REPORTING the story – opinion has no place in a report.

Her opinion falls in with the politically correct crowd – which makes it a statement on political correctness.

A report that is colored by opinion is no longer a report – it is an editorial. Her opinion went against the statements of the few players she did bother to talk to – so why would HER opinion be more important than the story unless she MAKES it that way ?

If you don’t ask the people involved about what is going on – the article is partial and the opinion is uninformed. The player she gave the most space to was Hilary Lunke. Are you kidding me ? If you want an opinion on playing part time as a new mother, or lutefiske – ask Lunke. If you want reaction from and about an issue that affects NON-English speaking players – ask the NON-English speaking players.

Why are you arguing about definitions ? Her beat IS the LPGA – so she has access to players and officials. Why put such a half-assed effort out unless the intention is to embarrass the LPGA ?

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Sep 9, 2008 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm the one with the shovel

Its come upon me to call AP when Doug Ferguson or another writer screws things up. Like when

1- Ferguson reported Geoff Ogilvie being the first Australian to win a major since Greg Norman at the 1993 British Open. How about Steve Elkington at the 1995 PGA.

2- Loren Roberts 62 at the 2006 or 2007 US Senior Open did not break the record for the lowest ever round in USGA history. Christina Kim shot the same score in the US Girls one year.

3- David Mercer reporting Ji Young Oh birdied the first hole of sudden death to win the 2008 State Farm Classic.

4- Doug Ferguson reporting Se Ri Pak if she won the Kraft nabisco, would become only the 5th LPGA golfer to complete the grand slam. Pak would be the 7th.

5- Ferguson repeatedly stating the PGA Tour has had a tournament in the Washington DC area since 1968. Its 1980, Ferguson mistaking the early Kemper Open which was originally played from 68-79 in either MA or NC for a Washington DC area tournament.

There are more but I’d have to dig through my blog archives.

by Bill Jempty on Sep 8, 2008 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs