In a recent, unrelated post, some comments were made about the LPGA needing some kind of shot to the arm to increase viewership and interest. While those comments were focused more on the influence of Korean golfers, it seems to me that the “problem” is more fundamental and rests with the fans.

I think it’s a shame that women golfers have to market themselves to the calendar crowd in order to bolster the viewership. It may be a shame, but at this point, it’s probably necessary. You don’t see this happening with the men. I certainly don’t want to see a half naked Singh or Daly, but I love to watch them golf.

Keep your shirt on. Photo from the Augusta Chronicle.

If we really want the LPGA to grow, we need more good players. If it gets to the point that only the beautiful ones get endorsement packages and the accompanying support that goes with them, regular looking but talented girls will be discouraged from pursuing the sport as a profession. Herein lies the catch-22: the purses are too small (though growing) to inspire the same kind of dedication in female golfers as male golfers. To increase the prize money, we need to generate more revenue. To generate more revenue, what do we need? Better golf or better-looking golf?

The LPGA is an association for professional athletes, not beauty queens. That some of them are stunning ought to be a bonus, not the focus. By focusing on the cover-model golfers, we’re kind of growing the interest while narrowing the field with irrelevant standards. One place to start would be with a sponsor (say, Nike) endorsing and promoting the hell out of a good golfer with an interesting personality but maybe not the best looking (say, Christina Kim, or better yet, someone more obscure that we don’t know yet). There’s a saying that “it takes money to make money.” How about some sponsors investing some serious dough for the purses to make it really interesting? And investing in some good golfers to make it about an athletic competition instead of a golf event as the talent portion of some beauty pageant?

It’s the age old dilemma… the media show us what they think we want to see because they want our money. We buy their products because it’s what’s there. Sure, sex sells but so does talent.

Maybe we need an entirely new Association — the BGA (Beautiful Golfers Association) for men and women. We can have a panel that selects the talent (ahem) and they all compete against one another for huge prize money. And we can have judges decide who wins. It wouldn’t be entirely based on score, either – that would just be one segment of the judging. Okay, maybe it’s not an association to rival the PGA and LPGA… it’s more of a bad reality show. But admit it — you’d watch. And it just might stigmatize the selling of sexiness in the LPGA enough to put the focus back on golf there.

I started this by saying that the “problem” might rest with the fans. But only because we’re buying what they’re selling. Will we buy an LPGA that’s about golf?

Next post.

Today I played at Simi Hills. I walked on and got paired up with THE DULLEST golfer ever. It’s amazing what a difference that can make in a round. He might have said eight words to me the whole round, and never once even cracked a smile. Oowee, Tiara… I hope he’s near the top of the list for the personality transplant, because his has coded and is completely non-functional.

As for my round, it was dismal. I had to go spout off my mouth in a recent post about my consistency in hitting fairways with my driver. I hit a whopping 3 out of 13. A couple were in better position because I cut corners, but still. And as for greens… I don’t know why I carry a ball-mark repair tool. I didn’t hit a single green in regulation today. Maybe I just like being a janitor and cleaning up everyone else’s marks.

On the positive side, it was a beautiful day for an 18-hole walk. And for those of you who know the course, they are repairing that ravine on 11 that got damaged in the rains. Meanwhile, it’s temporarily a par-3 with a green in the middle of the fairway.

Oh, and there were literally THOUSANDS of tadpoles in the lake on 14. That place is going to be swarming with frogs soon. Ribbit! Also, I must have seen at least 50 bunnies. Most of them were in pairs, so that number’s getting bigger as I type!

Next post.

If you live in a climate where rattlesnakes thrive, ’tis the season, so be on the lookout!

Last week I played at Tierra Rejada. There are “caution: rattlesnake” signs posted around the course in certain areas, but I guess I had become complacent over the winter.

I had been paired up with a couple of big hitters from a local college team and their coach, but they left after nine holes so I was a single sandwiched between two foursomes. The course was pretty crowded, so there was no space to play through. It was a gorgeous day, the first one in a long time, so I tried not to let the waiting get to me. I admired the course, the vegitation, the rabbits and squirrels playing. Then I thought I’d go easter egg hunting while I waited. I had lost a few balls and thought I could replace them with a couple quick hunts.

I took two steps into the long grass and thought to myself “this is probably a bad idea – at least go back and grab a club to whack around in here.” Just as I took one step to the edge, a three-foot rattlesnake slithered right by my foot! No rattling, so he probably wasn’t a threat, but I admit I squealed and jumped. Sure, in hindsight that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. It was lucky the snake didn’t seem to mind. And I’m glad there was no one nearby to witness it.

The guys I played with on the front nine spotted a baby one just off the cart path by one of the tees. They’re out there, so be careful!

I decided I didn’t really want to find anymore golf balls that day.

Next post.