Low Ratings

[hdr_ric]

Good thing you aren't a stats genius. Americans winning 22/31 events is dominating.

 

So far this year there have been 23 events. Americans are 14/23 for a 61% clip. In the golf world, that is still dominating.

 

When a group consisting of 65% Americans wins 61% of the tournaments, it's far from dominating.

 

LOL.... you are making things up as you go along.

 

The PGA Tour consists of a season, not a year. Americans this season have won at a 71% clip. In any sport, that is called dominating.when you win over a 60% clip. You are conveniently stating the beginning of the year. What does the beginning of the year have to do with anything?

 

2016-2017 Season Americans won 36/51 events for a win percentage of 71%. Your telling me that isn't dominating? The rest of the world won 29% of the events on the PGA.

 

Sigh. The tour consists of 65% Americans. OK, so 65% of the players on the tour have won 71% of the events. Still not dominating.

 

Well, you could also say that Americans are dominating by taking up (winning) 65% of the available tour cards.....

[Stooch]

Again IMO the LPGA has to be a leader in the new media world coming at us. They gotta invest and take control of producing their own content. It's not that sports networks don't wanna air the LPGA it's that the have no desire to produce the coverage needed to air it. If you film, record and produce the broadcast and deliver it to networks and all they had to do was sell advertising and press play, there would be many willing to take 3-4 hours of broadcast from Thurs to Sun. during the summer months when there is a content shortage. Also money you could make from a streaming subscription sold globally to individuals.

 

 

My understanding is the title sponsors (or sponsors) of the tournament pay for the TV production. I believe that's how GC makes most of its money.

 

LPGA owns the right and they can sell it to whoever they want to. Thats why you hear the Korean broadcast rights is the biggest revenue of LPGA. But in the US, the problem is to find someone who's willing to air it. That's why you always hear Mike Whan talk about how bad he wants more airtime on the big networks.

 

FOX is willing to go Ads free during the USWO coverage, it just shows how little money there is broadcasting women's golf in America. I will be surprised if many networks are vying to air LPGA.

 

Or Rolex wrote a really nice check

 

That's why IMO you take control of creating you own content and try to get your fans all over the world coming to your web site and buying your service for 9.99/month or 99.99 year lol And if you wanna sell the 2 hours of LPGA golf the GC desires each week, you can do that with your content to make a few bucks If the LPGA can produce their own content and can't at the very minimum break even, then board up the windows, it's done.

[sunbeltgolfer]

I have a feeling that many people didn't know that Fox was covering the tournament. If one has a DVR set up to record the LPGA on TGC, it skipped the tournament. How many people sat down Thursday evening to watch the timeshifted coverage and found that there was no USWO on their DVR?

 

Refresh my memory. Did the USGA run any commercials on The Golf Channel for the USWO?

 

Whoever wrote the blurb about there being no stars is an a**hat. A nine time winner and former World's #1 doesn't qualify as a star? I guess Ariya needs to dye her ponytail blonde.

 

A little emabarrassed to say I'm one of those people. Stumbled onto it by accident after searching the guide trying to find it. Yet another senior moment as I didn't remember seeing it advertised and forgot t was on Fox.

[PZero]

I like watching the LPGA. I have a daughter that plays high level golf. The problem is more people are interested in watching the Memorial with Tiger than they are the LPGA. There aren't enough American woman to garner viewership of the product they are selling. I think the LPGA business model is a poor one. To support the LPGA they need American viewership. They aren't going to have it when there is never an American female in contention. Fact of the matter is there are too many foreign woman on the LPGA for Americans to have any real interest in the product they are selling.

 

I also think that most people in the golf world realize that these woman are good. However, Web.com, Collegiate Male Players, high level junior boy's are still better than this product.

 

Funny, but the last time I looked at the men's world rankings half of the players were non-American. More than half the top 20 are foreign.

 

'Must be really hurting the PGA to have Justin Rose, Rahm, Rory, Jason, and Hideki stealing TV time from the yanks.

 

heavyhitter is right and the ratings have been reflecting that for a while. Fight it all you want, the truth is the truth.

[DavePelz4]

I think the biggest mistake here was the timing of the tournament. As has been already mentioned, many of even the most tuned in golf watchers did not know the tournament was even happening, much less that it was on Fox, because the advertising for it was so poorly executed.

 

If the event was happening the week after the USO, giving Fox a chance to regularly advertise that the USWO was happening the following weekend, there would have been a much better chance for success. Just a self-defeating scheduling whiff by the USGA, in my opinion.

 

They actually made a conscious decision to make this the permanent place on the calendar but I agree with you. For Fox to miss a promotion opportunity is so un-Foxish.

[tbowles411]

I like watching the LPGA. I have a daughter that plays high level golf. The problem is more people are interested in watching the Memorial with Tiger than they are the LPGA. There aren't enough American woman to garner viewership of the product they are selling. I think the LPGA business model is a poor one. To support the LPGA they need American viewership. They aren't going to have it when there is never an American female in contention. Fact of the matter is there are too many foreign woman on the LPGA for Americans to have any real interest in the product they are selling.

 

I also think that most people in the golf world realize that these woman are good. However, Web.com, Collegiate Male Players, high level junior boy's are still better than this product.

 

Funny, but the last time I looked at the men's world rankings half of the players were non-American. More than half the top 20 are foreign.

 

'Must be really hurting the PGA to have Justin Rose, Rahm, Rory, Jason, and Hideki stealing TV time from the yanks.

 

heavyhitter is right and the ratings have been reflecting that for a while. Fight it all you want, the truth is the truth.

Love ya Arg, but it's true. I love watching them play. You know that. We all do. But there is almost no American lady golfing now that draws eyes. When Lexi for example is in contention, it spikes. She falls away, the ratings do as well. The model works for the LPGA and its survival, but as far as viewership, they're in for a fight because there's no US name that can compete with the rest of the world consistently.

[DavePelz4]

From Sports Business Daily...December 15, 2017

 

Audience Analysis: LPGA Up For NBC Sports Group In '17; Army-Navy Best Since '92

By

Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor

 

December 15, 2017

NBC Sports Group may have had lower numbers for the PGA Tour in ’17, but its LPGA coverage was the company’s best in years. NBC and Golf Channel this past season had the best LPGA average viewership since ’11 (tied with ’13). The average of 221,000 viewers was up 24% from last season. A big boost for NBC was the final round of the Ricoh British Women’s Open, which at 1.1 million viewers was the most-viewed women’s golf round of the year -- a first for the event.

[tbowles411]

From Sports Business Daily...December 15, 2017

 

Audience Analysis: LPGA Up For NBC Sports Group In '17; Army-Navy Best Since '92

By

Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor

 

December 15, 2017

NBC Sports Group may have had lower numbers for the PGA Tour in ’17, but its LPGA coverage was the company’s best in years. NBC and Golf Channel this past season had the best LPGA average viewership since ’11 (tied with ’13). The average of 221,000 viewers was up 24% from last season. A big boost for NBC was the final round of the Ricoh British Women’s Open, which at 1.1 million viewers was the most-viewed women’s golf round of the year -- a first for the event.

Dang facts! LOL

 

I still stand by my statement. I don't have to live in reality! :cheesy:

[4waymiss]

From Sports Business Daily...December 15, 2017

 

Audience Analysis: LPGA Up For NBC Sports Group In '17; Army-Navy Best Since '92

By

Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor

 

December 15, 2017

NBC Sports Group may have had lower numbers for the PGA Tour in ’17, but its LPGA coverage was the company’s best in years. NBC and Golf Channel this past season had the best LPGA average viewership since ’11 (tied with ’13). The average of 221,000 viewers was up 24% from last season. A big boost for NBC was the final round of the Ricoh British Women’s Open, which at 1.1 million viewers was the most-viewed women’s golf round of the year -- a first for the event.

 

You beat me to the punch.

 

https://www.golfchannel.com/article/press-releases/nbc-sports-coverage-lpga-tour-2017-most-viewed-season-ever-nbc-sports/

 

So apparently this ratings thing is not as cut and dried. You could have given me 10 guess and I wouldn't be able to guess the WBO was the highest rated all year.

 

I mean I remember Inky ( not a household name ) , had a 6 shots lead going into the final round, with a bunch of no-names ( sorry DP, that includes Jodi )no prominent Americans chasing her. ( My future wife made a brief run but quickly fizzled out)

 

The sentimental side of me wants to believe people tuned in to watch Inky's redemption. But who knows the reason why. It could be people likes early morning broadcast, with no football, NBA or hockey to choose from?

[Argonne69]

Here's the problem. There has not been a dominant American in over 20 years. If we looked back before that, is it really valid to compare TV ratings from the 90's to today? The world of media is completely different back then. Most homes didn't even have cable TV in the 90's. To say that ratings need a dominant American player to improve simply can't be proven. There's anecdotal evidence at best. Are the 2017 ratings improvement significant? The LPGA had 34 tournaments last season, The Americans won 7. They played 34 events in 2016, and the Americans won 3 times.

 

Are you saying the 4 additional wins sparked the ratings increase? I doubt it.

[Pepperturbo]

Imagine if a new dumbed-down "professional" tournament ball gets implemented. All tournaments will have to use it, including LPGA, right?

As it stands, this ole man hits the golf ball as far as many LPGA players. What happens to the LPGA's touted distance playing a dumbed-down golf ball? They can only make fairways so fast; they need the run to claim their distances. Could be the icing on the close the doors cake. :beach:

[4waymiss]

Imagine if a new dumbed-down "professional" tournament ball gets implemented. All tournaments will have to use it, including LPGA, right?

As it stands, this ole man hits the golf ball as far as many LPGA players. What happens to the LPGA's touted distance playing a dumbed-down golf ball? They can only make fairways so fast; they need the run to claim their distances. Could be the icing on the close the doors cake. :beach:

 

First of all, who watches LPGA for their "touted distance" ?? Secondly, perception is all relative, the day when DJ can only carry it 280 , Lexi carrying it 240 won't be perceived as "short".

 

There won't be dumbed down ball, only dumbed down people.

[hebsan]

Here's the problem. There has not been a dominant American in over 20 years. If we looked back before that, is it really valid to compare TV ratings from the 90's to today? The world of media is completely different back then. Most homes didn't even have cable TV in the 90's. To say that ratings need a dominant American player to improve simply can't be proven. There's anecdotal evidence at best. Are the 2017 ratings improvement significant? The LPGA had 34 tournaments last season, The Americans won 7. They played 34 events in 2016, and the Americans won 3 times.

 

Are you saying the 4 additional wins sparked the ratings increase? I doubt it.

 

I wonder if the ANA debacle sparked interest, for a little while anyway.

[Cwing]

Poorly promoted. I didnt realize it was a major until Sunday.

[fredogolfer]

The LPGA made a huge mistake when they instituted their dress code. It may drive feminists crazy but it’s much easier to get men to watch when the attractive gals dress sexy. Then after the men are watching they start to appreciate the skill. Same thing with Tennis but their commissioner didn’t ruin it for everyone. Personally, I immediately stopped watching after the dress code was implemented on the principal that I won’t be influenced by crazy feminists.

 

People made it seem the players were going to start wearing ankle length skirts with the option of a nun's habit if it was below 60 degrees which wasn't the case at all.

[fredogolfer]

I saw in the op the uswo ratings but there has been no mention of what the men's ratings typically are for comparison. Sorry to say but the women's sports are seem to always be niche sports in television.

WNBA has terrible ratings and is mostly Americans. Does that shoot down that theory for the low women's golf ratings? Not sure the clothing ban had an impact either. Beach volleyball ratings are not every good either.

Bottom line those of us that enjoy watching televised golf are a rare breed.

 

Americans know that WNBA is inferior to NBA and collegiate basketball at most levels. You could even take high level boy's AAU teams and they would dominate a WNBA team. Same thing goes with the LPGA. You can take high level high school boy's and they will beat woman on the LPGA. While the woman on the LPGA play golf at a higher level than a scratch male, they don't play it better than the best male counterparts playing tournament golf at high levels, even high school boy's.

 

Tell me you're kidding? I went to a small university in the NAIA division (primarily small private universities across the US). My particular university produced one lpga player and one pga tour player from the time I was there. The men and women's teams would often play their matches at the same course on the same day or the day after, same set-up and all. Many teams would shoot similar numbers, if the guys shot better than the girls it'd be on courses where length came into play and it'd only be by 3-4 strokes.

 

The Oklahoma State High School championships usually includes both boys and girls headed for D-1 schools and no one ever shoots under par, winning score for both boys and girls is about even. Same courses, same set-up.

 

Similar story in Texas even with the large, prestigious, private schools.

 

Time after time I have witnessed male members thinking they are going to beat the crap out of the LPGA pros during a pro-am. Yes, they may hit their driver 30-40 yards further but the female pros overall game is much stronger. A mid range LPGA pro could hold her own and perhaps beat a good college level player.

 

You've obviously not spent time around high level women's golf to know what you're talking about.

[Singapore Joe]

Imagine if a new dumbed-down "professional" tournament ball gets implemented. All tournaments will have to use it, including LPGA, right?

As it stands, this ole man hits the golf ball as far as many LPGA players. What happens to the LPGA's touted distance playing a dumbed-down golf ball? They can only make fairways so fast; they need the run to claim their distances. Could be the icing on the close the doors cake. :beach:

I used to watch LPGA a lot but got bored of watching golf of any kind. The two arguments I had for LPGA (vs. PGA Tour) was that 1) the game the women play has some very distant relationship to my game, unlike PGA Tour which has nothing to do what what I do with golf clubs, and 2) the events are smaller so they are more fun to watch as one gets a bit closer to the action.

 

However, now that I have watched a bit of LPGA again I would argue that the game has to become more athletic. The players MAY be very athletic but the young players that have been doing well recently certainly don't appear so. I really liked Suzann Pettersen, for example, as she looks like she can whack the living jesus out of the ball and beat it twice as hard as it refuses to do as told. All this "always happy and smiling even after bad shots" rhetorics is total BS. It reduces female athletes to sweet and cute implements that are on the course to act ladylike in some 1950's standard instead of viewing them as modern, highly trained athletes. Maybe a dumbed down golf ball would fit the "always happy and smiling" image but it would be a total disaster from the viewability point of view.

 

Give me strong, focused players with strong personalities who look like they are there for one thing, and one thing only: winning tournaments. I might start watching again if that happens. And if the golf broadcasts started to show actual golf instead of all peripheral nonsense. Learn from the European Tour!

[PuttingIsNotGolf]

Ignore heavy hitter, he’s a chauvinist pig (apparently xenophobic as well)

[dhc1]

Imagine if a new dumbed-down "professional" tournament ball gets implemented. All tournaments will have to use it, including LPGA, right?

As it stands, this ole man hits the golf ball as far as many LPGA players. What happens to the LPGA's touted distance playing a dumbed-down golf ball? They can only make fairways so fast; they need the run to claim their distances. Could be the icing on the close the doors cake. :beach:

 

Pepperturbo,

 

From what I understand, the way premium balls are currently designed, the golfer who swings under 105mph barely gets any of the distance advantages that a fast swinger gets.

 

Therefore, a reduced ball could drop 10% off of 120mph swing (30 yards) and less than 1% (2.5 yards) off an amateur/LPGA swing.

[Pepperturbo]

Imagine if a new dumbed-down "professional" tournament ball gets implemented. All tournaments will have to use it, including LPGA, right?

As it stands, this ole man hits the golf ball as far as many LPGA players. What happens to the LPGA's touted distance playing a dumbed-down golf ball? They can only make fairways so fast; they need the run to claim their distances. Could be the icing on the close the doors cake. :beach:

 

First of all, who watches LPGA for their "touted distance" ?? Secondly, perception is all relative, the day when DJ can only carry it 280 , Lexi carrying it 240 won't be perceived as "short".

 

There won't be dumbed down ball, only dumbed down people.

 

Who? Many women as well as men that may or may not be older that relate distance and game wise to the women's game vs. PGA. Yes, perception is relative - but you're stating the obvious with no bearing in sight. :beach:

[Pepperturbo]

Imagine if a new dumbed-down "professional" tournament ball gets implemented. All tournaments will have to use it, including LPGA, right?

As it stands, this ole man hits the golf ball as far as many LPGA players. What happens to the LPGA's touted distance playing a dumbed-down golf ball? They can only make fairways so fast; they need the run to claim their distances. Could be the icing on the close the doors cake. :beach:

 

Pepperturbo,

 

From what I understand, the way premium balls are currently designed, the golfer who swings under 105mph barely gets any of the distance advantages that a fast swinger gets.

 

Therefore, a reduced ball could drop 10% off of 120mph swing (30 yards) and less than 1% (2.5 yards) off an amateur/LPGA swing.

 

Thanks for that. Still, the problem I have is I hit ProV1+ further than ProV or other balls, and I don't swing 120mph. When I push it, I am still 100+ at my old age. Even at 2.5 yards loss, that could mean off my cover yardages, not what I want. If a ball forces me to adjust downward tees/course yardages, I will not support it. :beach:

[shotmark]

I get the same response from my roommate. He'll tolerate it being on, but he sees nothing in it and thinks it's silly I watch it. I can tell you that Kerr's ridiculous talking to the ball annoys both fans and non-fans alike! But even on this board, it's a very small sub-group of folks who follow it which seems weird to me.

 

I'm curious as to why I'm drawn to the LPGA. I get that there are obvious reasons why a guy might prefer to watch ladies...but all that aside I legitimately feel there's something about the golf and the broadcasts that I just enjoy and so I'm surprised more guys don't enjoy it.

 

I'll be honest, I like very few things about the men's game these days. I don't watch the tournaments anymore outside of the biggies. I just kind of feel done with it TBH. It's so tired watching the same crap over and over. Something about the LPGA feels fresher.

 

I too enjoy watching women's golf. As far as the 'obvious' goes, I think there are very few candidates to make it worthwhile for that reason alone. I just enjoy watching people hit the ball distances I can relate to.

[heavy_hitter]

I saw in the op the uswo ratings but there has been no mention of what the men's ratings typically are for comparison. Sorry to say but the women's sports are seem to always be niche sports in television.

WNBA has terrible ratings and is mostly Americans. Does that shoot down that theory for the low women's golf ratings? Not sure the clothing ban had an impact either. Beach volleyball ratings are not every good either.

Bottom line those of us that enjoy watching televised golf are a rare breed.

 

Americans know that WNBA is inferior to NBA and collegiate basketball at most levels. You could even take high level boy's AAU teams and they would dominate a WNBA team. Same thing goes with the LPGA. You can take high level high school boy's and they will beat woman on the LPGA. While the woman on the LPGA play golf at a higher level than a scratch male, they don't play it better than the best male counterparts playing tournament golf at high levels, even high school boy's.

 

Tell me you're kidding? I went to a small university in the NAIA division (primarily small private universities across the US). My particular university produced one lpga player and one pga tour player from the time I was there. The men and women's teams would often play their matches at the same course on the same day or the day after, same set-up and all. Many teams would shoot similar numbers, if the guys shot better than the girls it'd be on courses where length came into play and it'd only be by 3-4 strokes.

 

The Oklahoma State High School championships usually includes both boys and girls headed for D-1 schools and no one ever shoots under par, winning score for both boys and girls is about even. Same courses, same set-up.

 

Similar story in Texas even with the large, prestigious, private schools.

 

Time after time I have witnessed male members thinking they are going to beat the crap out of the LPGA pros during a pro-am. Yes, they may hit their driver 30-40 yards further but the female pros overall game is much stronger. A mid range LPGA pro could hold her own and perhaps beat a good college level player.

 

You've obviously not spent time around high level women's golf to know what you're talking about.

 

LOL.... not kidding.

 

You just said the women didn't play from the same yardages.

 

I am around high level golf everyday. I know exactly what I am talking about. I have a daughter that plays D1 golf. My son is 13 and when they play the same yardages, he beats her. She brought her team mates home for Thanksgiving and he beats them.

 

High level Junior males will beat the tar out of LPGA players. Do you really think that Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson at 16 were better than their junior counterparts? Even at 17 or 18 and so on. They aren't.

 

Ignore heavy hitter, he's a chauvinist pig (apparently xenophobic as well)

 

Can't handle the truth?

[Argonne69]

Lol. Seriously? Lydia won the Canadian Open at 15 years old shooting 13 under. She followed it up the following year with a win at 16. I haven't seen a high school player shoot four subpar rounds in a row.

 

So we've gone from a 4 capper beating an LPGA pro to a middle aged scratch player beating an LPGA pro to a high school boy beating the snot out of an LPGA pro. Oy veh.

 

[Sean2]

I saw in the op the uswo ratings but there has been no mention of what the men's ratings typically are for comparison. Sorry to say but the women's sports are seem to always be niche sports in television.

WNBA has terrible ratings and is mostly Americans. Does that shoot down that theory for the low women's golf ratings? Not sure the clothing ban had an impact either. Beach volleyball ratings are not every good either.

Bottom line those of us that enjoy watching televised golf are a rare breed.

 

Americans know that WNBA is inferior to NBA and collegiate basketball at most levels. You could even take high level boy's AAU teams and they would dominate a WNBA team. Same thing goes with the LPGA. You can take high level high school boy's and they will beat woman on the LPGA. While the woman on the LPGA play golf at a higher level than a scratch male, they don't play it better than the best male counterparts playing tournament golf at high levels, even high school boy's.

 

Tell me you're kidding? I went to a small university in the NAIA division (primarily small private universities across the US). My particular university produced one lpga player and one pga tour player from the time I was there. The men and women's teams would often play their matches at the same course on the same day or the day after, same set-up and all. Many teams would shoot similar numbers, if the guys shot better than the girls it'd be on courses where length came into play and it'd only be by 3-4 strokes.

 

The Oklahoma State High School championships usually includes both boys and girls headed for D-1 schools and no one ever shoots under par, winning score for both boys and girls is about even. Same courses, same set-up.

 

Similar story in Texas even with the large, prestigious, private schools.

 

Time after time I have witnessed male members thinking they are going to beat the crap out of the LPGA pros during a pro-am. Yes, they may hit their driver 30-40 yards further but the female pros overall game is much stronger. A mid range LPGA pro could hold her own and perhaps beat a good college level player.

 

You've obviously not spent time around high level women's golf to know what you're talking about.

 

LOL.... not kidding.

 

You just said the women didn't play from the same yardages.

 

I am around high level golf everyday. I know exactly what I am talking about. I have a daughter that plays D1 golf. My son is 13 and when they play the same yardages, he beats her. She brought her team mates home for Thanksgiving and he beats them.

 

High level Junior males will beat the tar out of LPGA players. Do you really think that Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson at 16 were better than their junior counterparts? Even at 17 or 18 and so on. They aren't.

 

Ignore heavy hitter, he's a chauvinist pig (apparently xenophobic as well)

 

Can't handle the truth?

 

A very good friend of mine's daughter plays on the LPGA Tour (she is now 20). I have played a lot of golf with her and I have seen her beat adult scratch golfers without breaking a sweat. NO high level junior golfer will beat an LPGA player. NONE. In fact, when she was a junior herself she played in a lot of local tournaments competing with the boys...she usually either won, or finished in the top five.

[DavePelz4]

A very good friend of mine's daughter plays on the LPGA Tour (she is now 20). I have played a lot of golf with her and I have seen her beat adult scratch golfers without breaking a sweat. NO high level junior golfer will beat an LPGA player. NONE. In fact, when she was a junior herself she played in a lot of local tournaments competing with the boys...she usually either won, or finished in the top five.

 

So you're saying that an amateur can't beat a top pro?

 

Will Grimmer (who)

Matt Parziale (who)

Luis Gagne (who)

 

Are all playing the weekend at the US Open. Here's a short list of Major winners who aren't:

 

Tiger Woods

Jordan Spieth

Bubba Watson

Jason Day

Lucas Glover

Graham McDowell

Rory McIlroy

Charl Schwartzel

Danny WIllett

Adam Scott

Sergio Garcia

Keegan Bradley

Ernie Els

 

You might want to re-think that.

[Naptime]

Women's sports rarely get a huge male audience. Notable exception was US Women's Soccer World Cup in the Mia Hamm era. The women's game has a different rhythm than the men's game. Don't see women taking dives etc. like in the men's game. It was like cheering for our sisters and the country really got on board.

[fredogolfer]

I saw in the op the uswo ratings but there has been no mention of what the men's ratings typically are for comparison. Sorry to say but the women's sports are seem to always be niche sports in television.

WNBA has terrible ratings and is mostly Americans. Does that shoot down that theory for the low women's golf ratings? Not sure the clothing ban had an impact either. Beach volleyball ratings are not every good either.

Bottom line those of us that enjoy watching televised golf are a rare breed.

 

Americans know that WNBA is inferior to NBA and collegiate basketball at most levels. You could even take high level boy's AAU teams and they would dominate a WNBA team. Same thing goes with the LPGA. You can take high level high school boy's and they will beat woman on the LPGA. While the woman on the LPGA play golf at a higher level than a scratch male, they don't play it better than the best male counterparts playing tournament golf at high levels, even high school boy's.

 

Tell me you're kidding? I went to a small university in the NAIA division (primarily small private universities across the US). My particular university produced one lpga player and one pga tour player from the time I was there. The men and women's teams would often play their matches at the same course on the same day or the day after, same set-up and all. Many teams would shoot similar numbers, if the guys shot better than the girls it'd be on courses where length came into play and it'd only be by 3-4 strokes.

 

The Oklahoma State High School championships usually includes both boys and girls headed for D-1 schools and no one ever shoots under par, winning score for both boys and girls is about even. Same courses, same set-up.

 

Similar story in Texas even with the large, prestigious, private schools.

 

Time after time I have witnessed male members thinking they are going to beat the crap out of the LPGA pros during a pro-am. Yes, they may hit their driver 30-40 yards further but the female pros overall game is much stronger. A mid range LPGA pro could hold her own and perhaps beat a good college level player.

 

You've obviously not spent time around high level women's golf to know what you're talking about.

 

LOL.... not kidding.

 

You just said the women didn't play from the same yardages.

 

I am around high level golf everyday. I know exactly what I am talking about. I have a daughter that plays D1 golf. My son is 13 and when they play the same yardages, he beats her. She brought her team mates home for Thanksgiving and he beats them.

 

High level Junior males will beat the tar out of LPGA players. Do you really think that Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson at 16 were better than their junior counterparts? Even at 17 or 18 and so on. They aren't.

 

Ignore heavy hitter, he's a chauvinist pig (apparently xenophobic as well)

 

Can't handle the truth?

 

Where did I say they didn't play from the same yardages? So if the women are so terrible and your daughter who allegedly plays D-1 golf and her teammates gets beat by your 13 year old son, she isn't a high level player right? So you're not around high level women players correct? The university that I went to won Men and Women's nationals, often the same year in the NAIA division so that's why I use that example. What LPGA courses have you played the week after and what did you shoot if the courses were so easy? You must have been flirting with a 60 and your son could probably break some course records.

[ClintDagger]

I’m not sure what the cut off is but the very best high school golfers in the country are certainly better than the very best LPGA players. There are a handful of guys as high schoolers that could play in tour events and look like they belonged. You even have guys some years that flat out get to go prove it like Spieth did as a 16/17 year old. You can’t say that about any LPGA tour player. Guys like Spieth don’t come along every year but I know enough about college golf recruiting to know there are guys out there that from a talent standpoint are tour ready. They need more maturity before being thrown in that grinder but from a talent perspective they are a cut above anyone on the LPGA tour. Now are we talking 5 HS guys a year, or 10, or 20 or more. I don’t know and it probably varies from year to year.

[fredogolfer]

A very good friend of mine's daughter plays on the LPGA Tour (she is now 20). I have played a lot of golf with her and I have seen her beat adult scratch golfers without breaking a sweat. NO high level junior golfer will beat an LPGA player. NONE. In fact, when she was a junior herself she played in a lot of local tournaments competing with the boys...she usually either won, or finished in the top five.

 

So you're saying that an amateur can't beat a top pro?

 

Will Grimmer (who)

Matt Parziale (who)

Luis Gagne (who)

 

Are all playing the weekend at the US Open. Here's a short list of Major winners who aren't:

 

Tiger Woods

Jordan Spieth

Bubba Watson

Jason Day

Lucas Glover

Graham McDowell

Rory McIlroy

Charl Schwartzel

Danny WIllett

Adam Scott

Sergio Garcia

Keegan Bradley

Ernie Els

 

You might want to re-think that.

 

Sean2 said no high level junior golfer. You may want to rethink your answer.