home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

June 28, 2005

Ty Votaw

GLADSTONE, NEW JERSEY

PAUL ROVNAK: Ty, first off, thanks for coming and speaking with us. We appreciate your time. This is a new event on our schedule, I think the first time in 50 years that we've had an official match play on the LPGA Tour schedule, $2 million purse, a landmark event. Can you just talk about that?

COMMISSIONER TY VOTAW: Certainly, I'd be happy to. If it's going to take us 50 years to bring a match play event back, we might as well bring one back for $2 million and a wonderful sponsor, a global sponsor like HSBC and a wonderful golf course like Hamilton Farm. There are a number of reasons why we're here, and I certainly want to express our appreciation to HSBC as title sponsor, the world's local bank, and it's aligned with perhaps the truest world tour in professional golf with 96 players from 23 different countries on the LPGA Tour; and the fact that that globalization appeals to HSBC is very gratifying to their support and $500,000 first place prize, $2 million total purse. And you cannot have a great golf course or a great golf tournament without a great golf course, and we certainly have that here at Hamilton Farm. Certainly Dennis Townsend and Susan Townsend and Mayor Boco (ph) honorary co chairs of the event, a lot of the preparation has gone into this week's event, and I know they have worked tirelessly to make sure the players feel welcome and that the setup is accommodating to all of the fans and everybody associated with all of the fans, especially HSBC.

So all of those things combined to make this a wonderful new addition to our schedule. I was very happy to be able to announce this in New York City earlier this year, I was grateful to be part of the Media Day earlier this spring, and now the event is here. I know the players are very excited about it. I was just in the player dining area when the pairings came out, and they were going over them like it was the NCAA basketball tournament, figuring out who was going to put a pool together, to figure out which caddie is going to put a pool together to make the brackets and everything else. It's a very exciting week for us and we're thrilled to be here.

PAUL ROVNAK: We'll take questions for the Commissioner.

Q. Simple question, why this course, why this golf course?

COMMISSIONER TY VOTAW: HSBC wanted to have a presence in the greater New York, northern New Jersey metropolitan area. Looking at all of the options that were available to them, it quickly game apparent that this location, this golf course, and the resources that Hampton Farm could bring to make this such a wonderful match play venue, wonderful hospitality venue and just a true test of golf all the way around is I think the apparent and obvious reason why we're here.

Q. What does the Pro Am meet mean to the tournament?

COMMISSIONER TY VOTAW: I think it means same to this event as it does to the other 30 plus events on our schedule. It is an opportunity for our players to interact with representatives of the sponsors, representatives of the public who have purchased Pro Am spots.

One of the things that has set the LPGA players and our organization apart from other professional sports is how accommodating and accessible our players are. And I have never played in another professional golf tournament Pro Am other than an LPGA event, but from all of the feedback I've received from players who have played in other types of Pro Ams on other professional tours, our players shine through in terms of what the entertainment experience has been, what the hospitality experience has been and how truly gracious they are as playing partners in making the day so enjoyable for the amateurs.

And so from a revenue perspective, from giving back to the sponsors who have contributed so much to this event, having that kind of experience take place over the course of the Pro Am is an invaluable part of not only this tournament, but every tournament on the LPGA Tour.

Q. How fine of a line does the LPGA Tour walk right now in terms of the excitement that a lot of the younger players, very young players have generated, and trying to limit the age at which players are now coming in? It seems like it will be difficult in coming years.

COMMISSIONER TY VOTAW: I don't know how difficult it will be. We do have an 18 year old age limitation in terms of a player has to be at least 18 years of age to be a member of the LPGA Tour. There can be petitions to someone by the ages of 15 and 18 to waive that rule. We've had one of those so far that's been that's gone to final resolution, and that's Aree Song a couple of years ago in the summer of 2003, and she has been somewhat of the bell weather in terms of other potential people that might come down the pike.

We have just come off of a fantastic U.S. Women's Open where the excitement of not only some Amateurs that were not members of the LPGA who were teenagers; certainly Morgan Pressel finishing second in a very dramatic way; Michelle Wie, the anticipation of her going into the final round with a lead; and Brittany Laing and what she did on the final day as a teenager and non member. Certainly Paula Creamer who is playing here this week is an 18 year old, leading the rookie race so far on the LPGA Tour; clearly ready to play on the LPGA as an 18 year old.

I think in each individual case, you're going to see the LPGA, whether it's me, if there's any petitions before I'm out the door, or the in future when Carolyn Bivens takes over as Commissioner, that there will be a very devout and deliberate process where we take what's in the best interests of the individual and the best interests in the organization to play as to whether or not those petitions, if they come, get granted.

But non LPGA members can play into up to six LPGA events a year through sponsor exemptions. We welcome those amateurs to come and play and to test the dream of playing on the LPGA and test themselves against that dream. We think that when they do that, it creates a greater sense of awareness and a greater sense of media attention and greater sense of the public's imagination being captured, and only makes the awareness levels of our members that much greater when the attention gets thrust upon the entire tournament that they are playing.

We think it's a positive, and that's why we limit it to six events a year for purposes of their own development as people and players. But when they do come out, we think it's very good for the sport.

Q. In the Pro Ams, is there revenue you receive directly from that or just the sponsors as a whole?

COMMISSIONER TY VOTAW: The individuals who play in the Pro Am, they are either there through the purchase of individual spots or the fact that their participation is part of a package that's part of a larger sponsorship.

And so in either case there are revenues that are tied to that participation in the Pro Am. And given the field of only 64 players here, and a one day Pro Am, I think the Pro Am field is, what, 56 out of the 64, and so you multiply that by four people times 56, there's whatever value is attributed to those spots in the marketplace. That's something that can be a sizable portion of the tournament revenue's budget.

Each event is a little different. Each event handles it a little differently, and some events don't have as many spots open to the public as others because they are all wrapped into packages. But at the end of the day it is a significant piece of the revenue puzzle for a tournament.

PAUL ROVNAK: I'd like to introduce Pat Norton, president of the Met Golf Writers Association to say a few words.

PAT NORTON: A little bit of a surprise, Ty, as you know, the LPGA and the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association have shared a very special friendship for many, many years. In fact, many LPGA members who are now Hall of Fame members, as well, have won our top award, and two former commissioners also have achieved the Distinguished Service Award. We also were instrumental in working through Mayor Giuliani's office, as you remember, to commemorate the LPGA's 50th anniversary by getting a proclamation, LPGA Day.

When we learned that you were stepping down as commissioner this year, we had hoped to honor you last week at our 54th Annual National Golf Awards Dinner. As you know, the date coincided with the U.S. Women's Open and we could not salute you in front of 650 of your friends and peers. So today, it is my pleasure as president of the Met Golf Writers Association to present you with a special accolade, if I could just read: "For his excellent leadership and dedication to the growth of the game, the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association acknowledges Ty Votaw, Commissioner of the LPGA. The Metropolitan Golf Writers are proud to be your friend and we salute all of your accomplishments."

Thank you for what you've done and best wishes for your future success, Ty.

COMMISSIONER TY VOTAW: Thank you very much. That means a great deal to me, and coming from you, who I know has a very rich history with supporting women's golf, both with your time at the LPGA and subsequent to that, I've always enjoyed coming to your annual dinner every year. I've always enjoyed interacting with your members, and the fact that your membership felt it appropriate to honor me in this way, means a great deal and I appreciate it very much.

Golf is such a great game in that you get to meet all sorts of wonderful people. You may not hear many commissioners say this, but among the nicest people that I've come to know in my time as commissioner have been golf writers, and the fact that your organization, the Metropolitan Golf Writers Organization, is represented by some of the best writers in all the world in terms of golf, is a testament to your organization and your leadership, and I just cannot tell you how much I appreciate this honor, and it means more to me than you can know.

Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297