When I bought my new glasses earlier this year I foolishly purchased the accidental damage protection, or so I thought. Last week I dropped them in the cart barn and they got run over. The clip-on sunglasses protected the lenses but the frames were flattened. Took them back to Sears today and new frames were dispatched pronto. An out-of-pocket $16 co-pay was all it took. Sweet.
Yesterday I kicked around the Premium Outlet Mall down the road. Saw a lady ready to sneeze but before letting it rip, she grabbed a pole for support, crossed her legs then belted out the two most pitiful expulsions of mucus imaginable. Barely audible from three feet distance. A superstitious affectation?
Then there was this:
Kia Classic returns to La Costa Resort and Spa in 2012
First Tee accepts nearly 2000 golf clubs from Ruston donor
Tiffany Joh is at it again. Check it out.
Life on Tour 
Sorry that the Kia Classic won’t be coming back to Industry Hills. The galleries were absolutely amazing, as this is a predominately Asian area. Attendance rivaled a major. The course was phenomenal, and the hospitality by Golf Director Dave Youpa outstanding. Don’t know what else Kia and/or the LPGA was looking for.
all they need is a sponsor..duh….maybe the owner of the course and hotel will take some of his money he is trying to use to build a new football stadium for an NFL team to sponsor his own event?
Sorry to tell you DaVinner we need predominately domestic United States of America galleries when playing our in our very very very very few United States events. Why would we need asian galleries in America!!!!!!!. We have enough of them when playing in Thailand, SIngapore, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and other such venues. I caddied at KIA last year and the galleries did not rival a major. Try attending the LPGA in Rochester,a great venue that has been hosting an LPGA event since 1977, or the Women’s US Open. Get your facts straight. We need Domestic events on this LPGA schedule that support US citizens and US players, not more events in Asian dominated areas in theUnited States. You have really made me angry with this very insensitive post. This tour is almost ready to implode due to Asian dominance. See the light dude!!!!!!
So, Worth, do you suggest the LPGA turn away Asian spectators who want to spend money (U.S.dollars) at our local tournaments?
What if they’re Asian Americans?
To embellish on my initial post…… I will tell you what the LPGA should be looking for!!!! They need to be looking for another 15 full field events, in venues like Greensboro, NC, Greenville, SC, Macon, GA, Jacksonville, Fl, Austin, TX, Kansas City, Mo, Lincoln, Nebraska, Boise, Idaho, Eugene Oregon, Des Moines, Iowa, Green Bay Wisconsin, Anywhere Ohio. GET REAL PEOPLE!!!!!!! Can we get back, get back, get back to where we once belong!!!!!!
Worth,
I am afraid the answer is no, the LPGA tour can’t go back to their roots and add 10+ events in the USA. Unfortunately, for the USA, the LPGA tour future is in Asian countries where women’s golf is respected far more than it is here in the USA.
Tom…allow me to jump in here. I think that your use of the word “respected” is misused. The sentence might correctly read “…where woman’s golf is better attended” In male dominated cultures (such as Korea), there is no way the word “respect” should be used in reference to females.
I began my professional tour caddying (PTC) career in 1989. That year, there were 36, mostly well attended, tournaments on US soil. This last year there were 13. Let’s be fair, and not blame this decline solely on the influx of Asians on the LPGA. There were certainly many missteps by various Tour management. However, the greatest one was not recognizing or not caring to recognize the long term effects of an Asian dominated Tour.
I am also afraid that the answer to the question of getting these tournaments back is “probably not!” Rightly so, this is an emotional issue for Worth, as he is not only a PTC but also has a wife who was playing on the LPGA back in 1989…and a daughter that who is trying to play professionally in the US of A.
The “pat” reply, of course, is that the Americans should work harder so that they can compete with the Asians. That might be true IN PART. But we must not discount opportunity, exposure and access to sponsor support. The super stars receive lucrative 7 figure contracts from various sponsors. But also, the young struggling players rely on sponsor $$$ to allow them to live while they work hard to improve their games. The dwindling stream of American sponsor money follows the downward spiral of women’s golf in this country. I will here call for a movement to “Occupy the LPGA”…it is the 99% that is getting burnt!
worth, us old guard caddies loved the OLD days when we had 30 events…unfortunately the 5 cent candy bar is long gone. Unless 10 american players can get thru qschool each year and WIN then nothing is going to change. The commish is hitting his head against a brick wall trying to sell the lpga in the usa. He has all these areas in the us that want events but no one is stepping to the plate are they. Its either we(lpga) have lousy sales people or they cant sell the product period. Thats the way it is in this cruel world…if only gulbis could have been a megastar 10 yrs ago, it may have helped.
Get real…who is going to sponser and underwrite these 15 events on Amercian soil. American companies that have pretty much outsourced their labor and manufacturing overseas? Women’s professional golf is dying on the vine here. Even the Golf Channel gives it a second rate status. It sucks. I’m an avid fan of the LPGA, but this is the reality.
Frank, there are 5 tours on the golf channel with the lpga usually on tape delayed basis, just like most of the senior and nationwide events…the pga rules that channel and rightfully so…womens tv ratings are no worse then the senior and nationwide broadcasts…they all have nowhere to go but up…golf channel viewership is basically the over 40 male golfer generation….I dare you to ask members at golf courses if they want to watch the last 3 groups on tv when they are all asians..thats not racist, thats the truth…ask them if they would watch natalie Gulbis on tv, what would the answer be? don’t need a crystal ball to answer that one…
Excellent points, Frank. Who is expecting American companies to dole out $$ to sponsor domestic LPGA events when they have their labor market and factories in Asia? This has nothing to do with the “current” administration. This has been going on for years, and the LPGA is suffering “outsourcing” to Asia just as other businesses are. I, too, am an avid fan of the LPGA, but I realize the LPGA has undergone enormous demographic change in the last ten years. It’s probably never going back to the days of “American golf.”
Strange: if you are basing viewship solely on appearance and sex appeal, well there are quite a few Asians that fit that bill ( IMHO). If its based on the level of play, well the Asians fit the bill too. At the last US Open, even Johnny Miller was impressed with the level of play of the final twosome. Plus he commented on their looks. They are here to stay,. The best player in the world, on any tour, is Asian. ( Seng). The mere fact that Michelle Wie has more commercial time on American TV than Seng does shows you the divide.
LOJO: I agree. I don’t the LPGA will return to “what it was”. Then again, I can name only four Americans that really make the American side of the tour. Kerr, Lincicome, Creamer, Pressel. Throw in a Ryan O’Toole for a week or two and there you have it. I can name a dozen Asian players that compete and place in the top 15-20 week after week. I don’t know what to make of it. But I’m driving to Florida next month to see that final event, mostly BECAUSE of the Asian players. It sucks, buts its true! I like they way they play and the way they look.
( full disclosure, my fiancee is Filipino)
frank, my comment was based on your comment that golf channel gives the lpga second rate status…yes they do, but with 5 tours on its menu, the lpga is just one of the tours that gets second rate staus. Can’t blame them, the pga keeps it in business…my comments about the viewership of lpga events is not based on talent as anyone can tell the asians are the better players on average..just my opinion that most “older” male american viewers tune off the lpga due to the makeup of the tour. Just because Johnny Miller likes the asian players doesn’t make him the speaker for the american golf public..that he likes any player is amazing..lol
frank, if you and your fiance have kids, will they be asian-americans or americans?
Missing brain cells, thanks for your support. I do have a lot more spirit and feelings than the average bear regarding our tour, since Mallory is trying to make her way to that stage. Politically speaking, i am a hard core conservative. I am pulling for gingrich/cain ticket. These two will not let our country get run over by a train, like the present administrtation has. Sort of like the way the LPGA has administered it’s what i call Ladies Randomlythinking golf tour. Never do they have a real plan. It is very off the cuff. We need full field U.S events now. As far as davinner and his question to my post , ” do you not want asians paying money to support our events in america” …. my reply to that is it is not venue related davinner. Lacosta is a better venue than industry hills, all day long. The asians will come. They have 59 asian players to root for, they would go to the moon to pull for their girls.
I’m a little confused here, excuse me, but what is it you’re trying to do Mr. Blackwelder? You want an exclusive “American” women’s tour? The LPGA is losing it’s viewership , so why would your tour be popular? I guess I’m just not getting this, maybe you could explain again. Trust me…I’m not being “snarky” about this, but I don’t “get” what you’re trying to do. I’m thinking your tour is only Americans, no Asians, what about Asian Americans? Would that work? No offense, but sounds kinda racist to me.
Sad to say, but the “train” that is running over the LPGA is full of Asian players that are, on average, better golfers than American players. In fact, Spain is coming on strong as well. I have been involved with the LPGA since the days when SeRi was the only Korean player on tour. She awakened the sleeping Korean giant to the fact that girls could make $$$ for their families, and that was the beginning of the end for your American-dominated tour. Fight it all you want, Worth, but the good-old-days are just that…OLD. If you really want the LPGA to prosper, you will embrace the international flavor that is going to keep it afloat.
DaVinner wrote: she (SeRi) awakened the sleeping Korean giant to the fact that girls could make $$$ for their families.
You must not know much about Korea…because working class Koreans cannot afford to play golf. The Korean LPGA players by and large come from solid middle or upper-middle class families – that don’t need their daughters’ earnings to get by.
The exception is the middle-class Korean family that gives up everything and immigrates the US for the sole purpose of furthering their daughter’s golf career.
DaVinner…
Did you not read that this is an emotional issue for Worth (and many many others!) Just stick a dagger in his (our) heart with the “fight it all you want” What kind of person would write that?
Your complete lack of understanding shows in this statement.. “In fact, Spain is coming on strong as well”
Spanish Ladies Golf :: Korean Ladies Golf
is the same as
Apples:: Orange Julius Franchises
Get it???
I gleaned this from a recent article. It goes directly to one of the causes of the Asian tsunami in women’s golf and why the USA will continually be at a disadvantage. Nationalism and not individualism seems to be the norm. It’s tantamount to a country grooming their players for the Olympics. They are developing a “team” of players vs the lone individual, usually bankrolled and guided by mom and dad, as in the US. How can we compete with that? What about all the quality players who will fail to reach the height of their ability for lack of resources? The easy answer is too bad, they should play harder or that’s life. The deck is stacked against them now and in the foreseeable future.
—————————————–
Within minutes after capturing the LPGA’s first tournament in her native Taiwan, Yani Tseng turned around and pledged $100,000 — one-third of her winner’s prize — to develop the next generation of Taiwanese talent.
The money will go to Taiwan’s national federation for junior coaching and competition abroad.
“It is a long road to develop and groom a golfer,” Tseng said after notching her seventh LPGA victory of 2011.
“Young golfers need as much support as possible to help them compete with the best from the rest of the world. … I hope I can set an example so more people will follow suit to help chip in and contribute to this cause.”
spain coming on in golf,,,,him did seve father a few girls that no one knew about…in fact the top 100 is just loaded with spanish players on the lpga..what money list are you looking at?
hanrogers, there are quite a few korean families where the parents sold there business in korea, alot of them move to Orlando, put there kids in Ledbetter or IMG academies, play a full schedule of ajga until they are 18 and they hit q school. Most of these young korean players have been advanced because of there abilities while they were in Korea. By the time they are 18, they may have played over 100 events on the ajga, way ahead of most american players who go to college and play 10events in college plus amateur events in the summer. The typical american player who goes that route is a rookie at 21 or 22 yrs age if they complete college. The Koreans are 3 to 4 yrs ahead of them experience wise…the korean parents travel with there children and the player now supports the parents..that is alot of pressure for them and that is why the korean parents drive there child to play better or ELSE….there is no second best for them..just the difference in cultures..
Maybe this would all be a moot point if our ladies, like Mallory, could consistently beat up the Asian dragon ladies (on the golf course, silly).
I think it has to be accepted that a lot of US players are just not good enough. I can understand Mr Blackwelder wanting the best for his daughter, but the stats show some of these American players aren’t ‘hacking’ it.
Whatever most Americans like to think about themselves, the majority of you are very parochial and lacking awareness of world events and trends. I think Americans are going to have to learn they are longer leaders in every world sport and have to accept other nationalities winning events on American soil.
It’s very easy to blame the number of Asian players, but perhaps we need an attitude adjustment too.
Larry ~ I don’t know what article you read – but I have to disagree with some parts of it.
Referring to the Koreans (who make up the vast majority of the “Asian tsunami”) – yes – they are extremely proud of their ladies’ performance on the golf course. They even stay up ’til the wee hours of the morning to watch golf tournament broadcasts from North America.
But…
There isn’t some national program designed to identify Korean kids with the talent to excel and develop them. That sort of thing is non-existent. The driving force is individual parents – especially the fathers. And even among those who have made it into the LPGA – there isn’t a great deal of unity (but that’s another story altogether).
Unlike in America – where a working class kid with talent can usually figure out a way to get out on the course (by working at a local course, playing on the high school golf team, etc.); very, very few such opportunities exist in Korea (PGA player YE Yang’s story is the only exception I know of).
To play golf in Korea – you either have to have the money (be middle-class+) or have parents willing to make a huge sacrifice.
Don’t think you followed my train of thought hanrogers. The part I read was at the bottom of my initial comment regarding Yani. As far as the evolution of Korean players, I was told by one of them that children are evaluated at an early age regarding their golfing ability and segregated for further development. Golf is the main subject. If it’s only the parents with money I don’t know. I noted this in one of my earlier posts but not going to search for it. Maybe I’ll come across it one day. Did find some interesting articles though.
Why Korean golfers are dominating LPGA Tour
How is Korea producing so many good golfers?
This is the most comprehensive article, by far, on the subject. Read it all and all will become clear.
Korean LPGA Golfers: Factors of Success
If you made your daughter walk through a cemetry at night by herself to “build a strong mental side”, would that be called child abuse!
The article did not mention about the abuse the player receives (verbal & physical) at the golf course or behind closed doors, because they are either not achieving or not doing what the parent(s) have asked them to do. Nothing is mentioned about the players social life on tour.
Quote from page 9:
“In the process, however, it is important to create an autonomous corporate culture in which talented employees can “devote” themselves through shared value toward shared goals, rather than simply following top-down orders. Also, a culture in which failure is tolerated so that young talents do not fear challenges should be widely spread. For this to happen, it is crucial to operate a sponsorship system by top management, including the CEO, through which these talents can display their true capabilities”.
Source: http://www.allbusiness.com/sports-recreation/sports-games-outdoor-recreation-golf/15706001-1.html#ixzz1c8augjG8
So in other words they want to build robots / machines.
I dunno bout that Ozz. My granddad tells me stories bout ‘Spare tha rod, spoil tha child.” He says that kids nowadays are spoiled rotten. I tell him it’s cuz all the teachers like sleepin with students instead of punishing them lol!
Sort of curious as to why the men’s side of this Korean golf obsession has not played out on the PGA or Nationwide Tour. Are the competing westerners on the LPGA and LET just not as strong players as the men?
Larry ,
We need another Update from you to get a new conversation started>>
Tomas
Larry,
Are you staying in Ala during the “Over Seeding”?
It’s MS and yes. May visit Tex up in Hattiesburg one day.
It’s called wrappin’ them in cotton wool. Down Under at some schools, kids are not allow to play running games in case they fall over and graze their knee or hurt themselves.
The outsourcing to Asia analogy doesn’t hold water. The LPGA isn’t hiring Asian players to the exclusion of American players. The Asian surge on the LPGA Tour happened because women around the world started playing competitive sports and started playing golf which was traditionally played only in the US, Great Britain and Australia. If the LPGA, its players, and its fans want the LPGA Tour to be the best in the world, it’s imperative that it include players from around the world. If the Americans (or Europeans or Australians) want to keep up with the Asians, they have to work harder.