First equal pay LPGA event getting the cold shoulder from players

[new2g0lf]

Simple way to close the pay gap is to cap the prize funds on the PGA Tour.

It has developed into a self perpetuating money machine,greedy beyond belief,arrogant and overbearing.

It has lost its real relevance to ordinary golfers whereas the womens' tours still relate to their galleries,show their appreciation for their presence and generally play the game with the traditional values,respect and spirit of golf.

The obvious problems are of logistics and communication and that each tour jealously guards against losing out to 'furriners' though I've never understood why a tournament in Oz is European.

The respective tours need to sit down together and work things out,a possible solution might be to limit the number of events,sponsorship going into a pool that's distributed across the board,in effect a Womens World Tour with a fixed calendar of events worldwide.

 

Ausgolfgirl1,thank you for contributing,best wishes for a successful 2019.

 

The LPGA is effectively already a World Tour, look at how many events are play outside the US. You can pool all female tour funds together and it still won't come close to what the Mens Tours generates. It's viewed as a substandard product, in terms of attendance and ratings and doesn't warrant equal purses no matter how hard you try to contort it.

[Ausgolfgirl1]

Got my first look at the Creek Course yesterday for this year and 12 of our tees are the same length as the men, I'll play the Beach course today where apparently it's now much the same. These article summarises the changes.

 

http://www.vicopengolf.com/news-display/the-course-13th-tougher-for-women-in-2019/102778

 

Given how close both courses are in distance for both men and women it will be interesting to see the differences in scoring between the 2. The men's courses are fairly short for modern day standards. The courses protection is the strong winds we get here.

[ChronicSlicer]

Got my first look at the Creek Course yesterday for this year and 12 of our tees are the same length as the men, I'll play the Beach course today where apparently it's now much the same. These article summarises the changes.

 

http://www.vicopengo...-in-2019/102778

 

Given how close both courses are in distance for both men and women it will be interesting to see the differences in scoring between the 2. The men's courses are fairly short for modern day standards. The courses protection is the strong winds we get here.

 

Good Luck out there!

[Seamus_McDuff]

Here’s the tournament page yardages for Women and Men.

 

http://www.vicopengolf.com/card

[Argonne69]

Here’s the tournament page yardages for Women and Men.

 

http://www.vicopengolf.com/card

 

WTF. Seriously? The men are playing at under 7000 yds? The Beach course is a mere 317 yds shorter for the women, and the Creek course is 367 yds shorter. So, even though the women drive an average of 15% less than the men, they get to play a course that's only 5% shorter.

 

Yeah, equality. Pffffftttttt.

[ThinkingPlus]

Here’s the tournament page yardages for Women and Men.

 

http://www.vicopengolf.com/card

 

WTF. Seriously? The men are playing at under 7000 yds? The Beach course is a mere 317 yds shorter for the women, and the Creek course is 367 yds shorter. So, even though the women drive an average of 15% less than the men, they get to play a course that's only 5% shorter.

 

Yeah, equality. Pffffftttttt.

And yet there are some who will still claim that the women are being given a big advantage with the shorter courses. If it plays fast the women won't struggle with length. The guys will probably hit wedge into most of the par 4s and reach most of the 5s in two (if they can keep the ball out of the bunkers and scrubby stuff).

[Ausgolfgirl1]

The fairways are firm and you get extra roll but a 375yd par 4 can play driver/3 or 4 iron due the wind. Due to where they've moved some of the tee blocks for us this year it makes for some interesting tee shots that were much easier in the past and some girls will struggle to reach the fairway sections on a few holes that play into the teeth.

 

It's an oddity for sure as Argonne points out with comparative length and has had a few girls complaining but the way I see it is we are playing for $1.1 million US and I'll play it however they set it up, it's not supposed to be easy and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

 

Cut is top 65 pros and ties out of 156 after 2 rounds then field is cut to top 35 players and ties after 3 rounds.

 

 

[ThinkingPlus]

The fairways are firm and you get extra roll but a 375yd par 4 can play driver/3 or 4 iron due the wind. Due to where they've moved some of the tee blocks for us this year it makes for some interesting tee shots that were much easier in the past and some girls will struggle to reach the fairway sections on a few holes that play into the teeth.

 

It's an oddity for sure as Argonne points out with comparative length and has had a few girls complaining but the way I see it is we are playing for $1.1 million US and I'll play it however they set it up, it's not supposed to be easy and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

 

Cut is top 65 pros and ties out of 156 after 2 rounds then field is cut to top 35 players and ties after 3 rounds.

Get after them girl! We will be cheering you on.

[A.Princey]

This sounds like is they would prefer PGA and LPGA revenue all be combined and distributed evenly on both Tours. It'd be like paying Two and A Half Men stars less so the unwatched program actors on CBS receive equal pay. The best and most popular get the most money, totally separate "shows".

[4waymiss]

Finally , a heavyweight speaks out.

 

https://golfweek.com/2019/01/27/karrie-webb-considers-playing-more-lpga-events-with-eye-on-advancing-womens-game/

 

I imagine Webbie was biting hard on her tongue when she said "some top-tier players might not have had enough time to think about what the Vic Open represents on a larger scale"

[Bunker2Bunker0no]

Wanted to give little perspective from 2 angles of this discussion. 1st, have a young friend that qualified for LPGA for first time thru the new Q Series this fall, after several yrs being full time on Symetra Tour. With all the higher ranked players skipping, she was eligible for event, but also decided to skip. Modest background, with very minimal financial backing, so for her, it came down to.... Do I spend a large chunk of my budget for travel to Australia, hotel, caddie etc and risk a MC and start my season in a financial hole. Same issues aren't on radar of guy graduating to PGA Tour from Web.Com. A Tour card will usually get you enough endorsement cash, even for a low profile 1st yr player to at least cover all early season travel expenses, caddie pay etc, without the thought of, a MC in my first event could impact my entire rookie year.

Second, as a former Brand Manager for a Fortune 500 company that advertised in the professional golf marketplace, economics play the vital role in this pay descrepancy. What we paid for advertising during a PGA Tour event vs what we would have paid for same commercial to be run during an LPGA event was substantial. Why? The number of eyes that our message would reach on one platform vs the other. This plays out across all media, why is a Super Bowl ad so expensive compared to buying a 30 min block for an infomercial at 3:00AM on a cable network channel? Personally, I wish we could get to a point that it is equal prize money/salaries for sports and entertainment performers but until we get to the point that interest/viewership is equal, equal pay will face the constant hurdle of how to raise our revenues in order to raise our pay/purses. Unless a billionaire benefactor steps forward and says, that he or she is willing to underwrite this economic disparity, unfortunately women will continue to play for substantially smaller purses. Same as my career, when I left an established multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 company for a small start up, our sales numbers are a fraction of my previous employers. Therefore, what we can pay our employees is also smaller. Are most of them substantially less talented than my previous colleagues? Definitely not, but the economics of our sales revenue dictates our pay scale.

[Raving Shanker]

Wanted to give little perspective from 2 angles of this discussion. 1st, have a young friend that qualified for LPGA for first time thru the new Q Series this fall, after several yrs being full time on Symetra Tour. With all the higher ranked players skipping, she was eligible for event, but also decided to skip. Modest background, with very minimal financial backing, so for her, it came down to.... Do I spend a large chunk of my budget for travel to Australia, hotel, caddie etc and risk a MC and start my season in a financial hole. Same issues aren't on radar of guy graduating to PGA Tour from Web.Com. A Tour card will usually get you enough endorsement cash, even for a low profile 1st yr player to at least cover all early season travel expenses, caddie pay etc, without the thought of, a MC in my first event could impact my entire rookie year.

Second, as a former Brand Manager for a Fortune 500 company that advertised in the professional golf marketplace, economics play the vital role in this pay descrepancy. What we paid for advertising during a PGA Tour event vs what we would have paid for same commercial to be run during an LPGA event was substantial. Why? The number of eyes that our message would reach on one platform vs the other. This plays out across all media, why is a Super Bowl ad so expensive compared to buying a 30 min block for an infomercial at 3:00AM on a cable network channel? Personally, I wish we could get to a point that it is equal prize money/salaries for sports and entertainment performers but until we get to the point that interest/viewership is equal, equal pay will face the constant hurdle of how to raise our revenues in order to raise our pay/purses. Unless a billionaire benefactor steps forward and says, that he or she is willing to underwrite this economic disparity, unfortunately women will continue to play for substantially smaller purses. Same as my career, when I left an established multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 company for a small start up, our sales numbers are a fraction of my previous employers. Therefore, what we can pay our employees is also smaller. Are most of them substantially less talented than my previous colleagues? Definitely not, but the economics of our sales revenue dictates our pay scale.

 

I thought there being two events in Australia would help the turnout of both tournaments. Your young LPGA debutante would have made one trip for two tournaments. Admittedly, Melbourne and Adelaide are 700 km apart (435 miles, or 145 leagues), but there are plenty of cheap ways to get between these two places.

[anth]

I read somewhere that flights were covered for LPGA players this week. Not sure if true, but if it is that’s even more disappointing

[Seamus_McDuff]

Wanted to give little perspective from 2 angles of this discussion. 1st, have a young friend that qualified for LPGA for first time thru the new Q Series this fall, after several yrs being full time on Symetra Tour. With all the higher ranked players skipping, she was eligible for event, but also decided to skip. Modest background, with very minimal financial backing, so for her, it came down to.... Do I spend a large chunk of my budget for travel to Australia, hotel, caddie etc and risk a MC and start my season in a financial hole. Same issues aren't on radar of guy graduating to PGA Tour from Web.Com. A Tour card will usually get you enough endorsement cash, even for a low profile 1st yr player to at least cover all early season travel expenses, caddie pay etc, without the thought of, a MC in my first event could impact my entire rookie year.

Second, as a former Brand Manager for a Fortune 500 company that advertised in the professional golf marketplace, economics play the vital role in this pay descrepancy. What we paid for advertising during a PGA Tour event vs what we would have paid for same commercial to be run during an LPGA event was substantial. Why? The number of eyes that our message would reach on one platform vs the other. This plays out across all media, why is a Super Bowl ad so expensive compared to buying a 30 min block for an infomercial at 3:00AM on a cable network channel? Personally, I wish we could get to a point that it is equal prize money/salaries for sports and entertainment performers but until we get to the point that interest/viewership is equal, equal pay will face the constant hurdle of how to raise our revenues in order to raise our pay/purses. Unless a billionaire benefactor steps forward and says, that he or she is willing to underwrite this economic disparity, unfortunately women will continue to play for substantially smaller purses. Same as my career, when I left an established multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 company for a small start up, our sales numbers are a fraction of my previous employers. Therefore, what we can pay our employees is also smaller. Are most of them substantially less talented than my previous colleagues? Definitely not, but the economics of our sales revenue dictates our pay scale.

 

I thought there being two events in Australia would help the turnout of both tournaments. Your young LPGA debutante would have made one trip for two tournaments. Admittedly, Melbourne and Adelaide are 700 km apart (435 miles, or 145 leagues), but there are plenty of cheap ways to get between these two places.

 

You’re assuming she’d get in both events. There’s a chance her priority isn’t high enough for next week.

[ThomasBE]

Here’s the tournament page yardages for Women and Men.

 

http://www.vicopengolf.com/card

 

WTF. Seriously? The men are playing at under 7000 yds? The Beach course is a mere 317 yds shorter for the women, and the Creek course is 367 yds shorter. So, even though the women drive an average of 15% less than the men, they get to play a course that's only 5% shorter.

 

Yeah, equality. Pffffftttttt.

 

One thing to note is that the men are playing both courses as par 72 and the women are playing one as par 72 and the other as par 73.

[new2g0lf]

Here's the tournament page yardages for Women and Men.

 

http://www.vicopengolf.com/card

 

WTF. Seriously? The men are playing at under 7000 yds? The Beach course is a mere 317 yds shorter for the women, and the Creek course is 367 yds shorter. So, even though the women drive an average of 15% less than the men, they get to play a course that's only 5% shorter.

 

Yeah, equality. Pffffftttttt.

 

One thing to note is that the men are playing one course as par 72 and the women are playing one as par 72 and the other as par 73.

 

I noticed that yesterday, that will help offset the scores a bit.

[Argonne69]

It's ~90 yds per stroke, so subtracting 90 yds for the women still puts them at only 6.5% shorter than the men.