19th Hole
Symetra pro opens up on the harsh financial realities of life on Tour
In the week that hundreds of thousands of dollars will be dished out to the highest-ranked player on many tours, including the LPGA, it is sobering to read the latest interview from Golf Monthly.
Hannah Gregg, a second-year professional and rookie on the developmental Symetra Tour, opened up about the tribulations of those at the lower levels, looking ahead to their futures and yet wondering, quite simply, how they will afford to cope.
“My annual expenses cost on average $50,000, and if you look at the purses on the development tours like the WAPT (Women’s All Pro Tour) – which is the highest paying feeder tour – the average winner walks away with $5-$7,000.” said Hannah.
“Expenses for a cheap tournament are generally $1,500-$2,000, so unless you finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in every single event, you’re not going to make a profit.”
Put simply, “expecting to average top-three for an entire season is not feasible. Even the best players on tour miss cuts and have bad stretches.”
It’s not even a decent living if you do progress. Hannah explains, “…. when you do play well and start winning, you generally start moving up to the next level where travel and accommodation are even more expensive. Suddenly, you need to figure out how to pay a caddie”
The costs are, of course, not limited to the women’s game.
In March 2018, Hannah wrote for GolfWRX examining how much it costs to ‘chase the dream’ of professional golf and whilst nobody should ever deny that the elite players deserve every success, the warning signs are still there many months later.
Explaining in the more recent article how she has to use social media to obtain more sponsorship, Hannah freely discusses the main issues including getting that vital step onto the bigger platforms:
“Lots of girls stop playing because they can’t afford Q-School, which is the most expensive event of the year.” she says. “if you don’t play in that, then you have no Tour status and are left with very few events to play in. You get phased out and others just lap you.”
Last year, I spoke on my podcast to Hannah Holden of National Club Golfer (@HannahHoldenNCG) about the opening up of the women’s game and how attitudes are changing. Slowly, yes, but they are changing, and yet when I caught up with her today she again reiterated what she and many other prospective professionals have experienced.
“It is ridiculously expensive even for amateur golf. I can fork out over £6k to play a pretty small amateur schedule and have my golf lessons, S&C, physio etc… makes it very hard to keep playing if you don’t have anyone supporting you financially.
Even if you make a national team you are getting thousands of pounds of funding a year so people who just miss out on those spots are losing a great deal which is mad considering the last person in a squad and the first person to miss probably have very little splitting them.”
From a player that has been through the junior game and competes in various amateur events nowadays, as well as being involved with equipment manufacturers, this is another voice worth listening to.
“It is a lot more common for boys/men to get people sponsoring them just because the men’s tour game is more visible. Most top female amateur golfers don’t even give professional golf a try because it is so expensive yet so hard to make a living from.
It’s also a deep stem issue because from my experience with England development squads there is a noticeable difference in parents attitudes. Boys parents very much see it as a career and are more ingrained in it. For the girls, they see it as more of a hobby and not a viable career option, so even from a young age girls are disadvantaged in terms of buy in.”
It may be a coincidence that the Golf Monthly interview was published just days after the controversy surrounding the lack of coverage of the important and hugely exciting Pelican Women’s Championship, but I’ll leave it to Hannah Gregg to sum up.
“When it comes to making purses bigger and getting donations from sponsors, everyone has an excuse.
I always hear ‘well the women aren’t fun to watch’ but I’ve never understood that. The men weren’t popular to watch compared to the scale they are now. It takes years of marketing and people engaging with women’s sports for them to have a chance to succeed and grow.
If people really want to help, we should start building up women’s sports and acknowledging that there is a quality product there. Help us raise money when you can, spread the word and find players that you like to watch and then follow their careers.
All of us love knowing that people out there are enjoying our journey and it makes even the struggles that much more enjoyable.”
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Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed all take part in this week’s LIV Golf Orlando, their own prelude to the Masters starting on April 6th.
So, of course, at Wednesday’s presser, they were asked about their preparations, what would happen if one were to win at Augusta and, naturally, about ‘Cone-gate,’ a recent incident involving Koepka, a traffic cone, and an insult hurled at NHL defenceman Aaron Ekblad.
Is that Brooks Koepka calling Ekblad a fucking traffic cone from the stands in Florida??
?: IG/floridapanthersfp pic.twitter.com/LqolbAuYYt
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) March 26, 2023
Koepka, captain of the Smash GC team, was happy to answer the reporter’s question and had his fellow LIV players intrigued by his revelations:
Q: Brooks, sort of a viral clip from last week at the Panther game, I was just curious what’s your beef with Aaron Ekblad, and did you bring the cone from home?
Brooks: I did not bring the cone. He gave up a bad goal. It was a bad pass in the third. I’m a die-hard P’s fan, and he gave up a bad goal.
Bubba: What sport is this?
Reed: Hockey.
Brooks: Really?
Yeah, it’s all right. Yeah, he gave up a bad goal I think midway through the third, and I just felt like if they didn’t win that game, they weren’t going to make the Playoffs. Dedicated fan, man.
Bubba: What is that cone he’s talking about?
Brooks: There was a cone. There was a cone that was just outside, so I —
Bubba: Were you hydrated that night?
Brooks: Yeah.
Bubba: Now we’re getting to it.
Brooks: Absolutely. Listen, I’m a die-hard fan.
Bubba: Is your shirt on or off?
Brooks: It’s on.
Bubba: I ain’t gonna look at it then.
Brooks: But I’m a die-hard fan, man. When they do something good, I’m the first one to cheer them, I’ll text these guys.
Bubba: Did you not text him?
Brooks: I didn’t text him, no. I did not.
Well, Ekblad has since responded, and told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he doesn’t know Koepka and that they will “never be buddies.”
Aaron Ekblad, biting his lip, says he doesn’t know Brooks Koepka: “We’re not buddies. Never be buddies.” https://t.co/fPXmRy0LXF
— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) March 29, 2023
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With the permission of Augusta National, the field for next week’s Masters will include six former champions that made the decision to join LIV Golf.
Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel and Phil Mickelson will all tee it up on 6th April, certain to show that the move to the rebel tour has not diminished their ability to still compete amongst the world’s elite.
However, Pete Cowan, coach to the likes of Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, says that he is “not optimistic” about the chances of the LIV players at the first major of the year.
In an interview with The Times, the 72-year-old short-game wizard said,
“I’m not optimistic about players who aren’t playing competitively on a regular basis,”
“It’s a big deal. Like any sport, if you’re not competitively sharp you struggle.”
To put that into context, the official world’s top three players have taken part in a total of 21 events between them, with number three Jon Rahm leading the way with eight competitive outings, one ahead of the world number one Scottie Scheffler.
In contrast, 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson has only played two events since the turn of the year – LIV Mayakoba and LIV Tucson – and the current LIV table leader Charles Howell has done the same.
As The Times states, the most active PGA athletes will have played ‘more than double’ the number of rounds compared to their LIV counterparts come the Masters. There is concern over the level of commitment and desire to win from the LIV players, with last year’s Open Championship winner Cam Smith finishing fifth and 24th in his two outings in 2023, and DJ ranking in 35th and 13th in limited fields.
It may be that it’s money for old rope, but the incentive to appear in one of the PGA Tour’s ‘elevated’ events must also weigh heavily on those that took the big bucks to jump ship in 2022.
Cowan doesn’t slate those that went for the money, agreeing it has to be a motivating factor in sport, no matter what the public persona might say.
“Whether they say they do or not, they all play for money,” he said, before continuing
“They are selfish and they have to be to be very good players. Ask Rory how much appearance money he gets a year. They all need to get round a table because if someone is investing billions into my sport I’d be saying, ‘How can I accommodate you?'”
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When high school sophomore Anna Davis won the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, everything went her way.
From charging through the field on the final day with a 69, to seeing leader Latanna Stone finish double-bogey, bogey to hand her the title, the then 16-year-old admitted, “I’m still a little shocked. I literally… I’m speechless. I can’t even fathom what just happened.”
Fast-forward 12 months and the defending champion had a completely opposite opening round, the bad day highlighted with a four-stroke penalty on her opening hole.
In the first round of the ANWA at Champions Retreat, host for the first two rounds of the 54-hole event, Davis twice lifted, cleaned and placed her ball while it was in the rough, mistakenly believing it was ‘preferred lies’ from anywhere.
Davis was then told on the 4th hole that there was a chance the committee would penalize her, but it was only after she finished her round that they confirmed she had lost four strokes, and had to sign for a 9 on hole one.
Chairman of Competition Committees James B Hyler Jr explained, “During play of her first hole, Anna Davis lifted her ball and failed to replace it on its original spot on two separate occurrences. Under Rule 9.4, Ms Davis has been penalized two strokes for each occurrence of playing from a wrong place. Her score on hole 1 will be increased from 5 to 9.”
Davis, who made four cuts from seven outings on the LPGA Tour last season, followed her opening hole with a double at the fourth hole and bogey on the next, standing at eight over par after just five holes. However, she fought back with four birdies and no dropped shots through the last 13 holes, eventually recording a four-over 76, 10 behind leader Rose Zhang.
The 17-year-old told reporters that she had checked the ruling with the group scorer. She asked if the preferred lie ruling apply all over the course and says she was told yes. “I guess he didn’t know,” Davis admitted.
“Aside from hole 1, I played pretty good today,” Davis said. “I hit a lot of shots close. The putter wasn’t really rolling, but I hit good shots.”
“I felt pretty good with my game the next 14 holes after that. I hit good shots. I just tried to forget that the 1st hole happened. All I can really do is have that give me motivation to do well tomorrow and have a good round tomorrow.
I’m playing well so I’m confident that I can do well tomorrow.”
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Neal M
Dec 7, 2021 at 10:30 am
Point of interest – the Arizona Women’s Open is currently being played in Scottsdal, Az. (Dec 7-9) This is where “rookie tour pro” Hannah Gregg resides yet she is not in the field, which is filled with actual Symetra tour players and real aspiring professionals.
Maybe someone, like Jason Daniels, should reach out and inquire as to why she’s chosen to skip this event. It’s a $500 entry fee with $10k to the winner, zero expenses as she lives in the Phoenix area and she’s coming off a “-11 showing” in her last start, according to Fredrick Lindbolm (whoever that is). Seems like this goes against her statements in the article above.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Ashley Bennett
Dec 6, 2021 at 1:46 pm
Women’s golf isn’t fun to watch because it’s almost impossible to watch. I’d happily watch men, women, amateurs, etc. if it was easy to find on TV. In the UK, Sky Sports shows most of the golf and apart from the women’s majors rarely shows women’s events. And even then, if a women’s major clashes with a mid-tier PGA event it won’t be getting the airtime.
No likey big donkeys
Dec 7, 2021 at 11:33 am
Where’s the donkey, Matt Kuchar?
Kdouuuuuuuuuuuuche, Kdouuuuuuuuuuuuche, Kdouuuuuuuuuuuuuche….
ray arcade
Dec 6, 2021 at 12:44 am
Dear Golfwrx,
Why is this still trending?
Chris
Dec 12, 2021 at 5:50 pm
Probably because it’s about more than just golf
Fred Tupper
Dec 2, 2021 at 9:13 pm
When you understand the logic of a woman you realize its equal to handing over the yoke of an airplane to a monkey during a nosedive.
Andrew J
Dec 2, 2021 at 1:58 pm
It is brutal at the lady’s minor league level. But tellya what, if you are great at GIRs, please holler at me to caddy you to the next level by taking your putting to among the Tour best using a P&SI-EGOS.
Thomas Jefferson
Dec 2, 2021 at 1:05 pm
Allowing women to vote has been the downfall of the west.
Tyler Skurden
Dec 2, 2021 at 1:04 pm
Women should not even be allowed to vote, let alone think they’re entitled to be paid alot of $$$ to play professional sports that they suck at. Truth hurts, doesn’t simps?
Rich Cooper
Dec 1, 2021 at 5:58 pm
Ohhhhh boo freaking whooooooooooo. Find something else to do if its not paying the bills.
Acemandrake
Nov 28, 2021 at 7:27 pm
Why don’t more women watch & support women’s golf?
Kev
Nov 26, 2021 at 10:25 pm
Watching symetra tour players play is like watching men’s +1 handicap to 4 handicap play from 6200yds.
Adam
Nov 23, 2021 at 8:57 am
Well written article but the perspective of the golfer featured is skewed. Golf is expensive but it becomes even more expensive when you’ve cashed 2 checks in 3 years of pro golf and have become a donation on the WAPT. Instead of complaining about the pay maybe take accountability for your lack of performances and get better so you can move up to a tour with more money. Pro golf isn’t for everyone and this article shows exactly that.
Dan
Nov 22, 2021 at 6:48 pm
I love watching the LPGA tour and I would love to see more TV coverage and money for them and the mini tours. An earlier poster had it right when he said these smaller tours are supposed to weed out those who don’t have the talent or grit to make it. It should be hard, yes – but not impossible.
I encountered the same thing in becoming a professional guitarist in Nashville. You come up through the ranks, pay your dues, make terrible money at first, work a day job or some other side gig, and keep at it. Everybody is insanely good, and those who can’t hack it figure that out pretty quickly and head home. But you also need some luck and a couple of good breaks.
I can’t help thinking it’s probably harder for the women on the mini tours because there’s simply less money, and that’s too bad and I hope it changes. But fortunately, women are tougher than men.
Rod Taylor
Dec 2, 2021 at 1:00 pm
Women are tougher than men. LOL LOL LOL LOL
Yeah sure, white knight. I am sure women would love to prove how tough they are in roofing, or maybe underwater wielding, or mining, or construction, or steel working, or farming etc. Oh yeah, that’s right. They only want equality with the easy stuff.
Mike
Dec 7, 2021 at 10:04 pm
You do realize that women are employed in every job you mention. Wake up sport, it’s 2021. Also, go have a few babies. Toughness?
Chris
Dec 12, 2021 at 3:09 pm
Dan you were doing so well up until that final sentence.
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Progolfer
Nov 19, 2021 at 4:27 pm
As a current men’s professional golfer at the mini tour level with some success, I can tell you it’s basically the same…
Q school is way more expensive than it should be, and it doesn’t even grant one access onto the PGA Tour anymore. I have friends on Tour who got through q school back when it got them onto the PGA Tour, and they told me with the current system they probably wouldn’t have made it.
Chasing single events is no cake-walk either with pre-qualifying, and then needing to shoot 62/63 in the Monday qualifier to get into an event. Even If one gets through the Monday, 90-95% of the time the qualifier gets lapped in the event by pro’s who know every bump of every green. There goes another $5,000 by missing the cut…
The system is set up to weed out people who either don’t have enough talent or don’t have enough money. Seems like Hannah falls into both categories.
Benny
Nov 26, 2021 at 8:23 am
Adam, Dan and Pro Golfer all well said. Tiger brought way more eyes into Pro Golf including way more $$. So like anything that attracts way more people, kids and parents who believe their child has what it takes to chase this dream. But guess what, like all sports that pay out big $$ there is far more competition. Like most things on this planet to become successful you have to be better than others. You have to see past all the obstacles. Be ok with the uncomfortable hurdles and know you can do it. Like so many in other countries, industries, sports and even armed forces like Navy Seals or Snipers you have to suffer to overcome. Suck it up or move along and settle. Its a dog eat dog world and if you aren’t eating you are starving.
ballswet
Nov 19, 2021 at 10:54 am
Chris = golfs economist.
Chris
Dec 12, 2021 at 5:53 pm
Chris = someone who still applies logic in order to navigate the trials and tribulations of life instead of relying on “feels”
Neal M
Nov 19, 2021 at 9:53 am
It is shocking and bothersome to find another golf reporter has interviewed Hannah Gregg. It’s as if Google doesn’t exist to these people. A simple search reveals that Gregg has no actual status on the Symetra tour. She has played in one Symetra event, only got into that one because it was the prep week for Q-School and most full status players chose to prep in Palm Springs, creating an opening for Gregg. She shot +10(79,75). It should also be noted that EVERY girl who registers for Symetra Q-School is placed on the provisional status list, Gregg was 496th for the 2021 season.
Gregg only plays in occasional mini-tour events, rarely breaking par and making very little money (less than $200 total career earnings), this is due to poor play and nothing else. Again, a simple google search shows this to be fact. With average scores well over par, it is hard to conceive how this person would claim to be a professional golfer. She is an influencer and quite good at that. The unfortunate part is she falsely portrays the former and somehow cons people into giving her money and products. This is an insult to players, both men and women, who have the skills, work ethic and scores to play professional tournament golf, even at the mini tour level. Gregg should stick to “influencing”, perhaps promote herself as that and ONLY that. She should play mini tour events and spread the growth of the game rather than presenting a fraudulent version of herself that no one with any actual golf knowledge is buying.
Women’s golf is growing and the purses are fair given the amount of people and viewers each event attracts. People like Gregg only hurt the growth with misleading and false representations. She and this author should take this into consideration before printing articles such as this one.
In an earlier comment, the author suggests it is difficult to find a Symetra tour player to interview, I suggest this to be false. Simply go to any event roster, find 5-10 names near the cut line, reach out tot them via social media, most will appreciate the opportunity and it will produce an article with information from a qualified player; who is no doubt more worthy of the exposure Gregg will receive from this fraudulent piece, “ Hannah Gregg, a second-year professional and rookie on the developmental Symetra Tour”, this statement exposes this piece as misinformation and negates any information in the article.
To the author – do better work on a subject that matters to the girls with the skills, work ethic and integrity to make it at the highest level.
Steve Cantwell
Nov 25, 2021 at 11:57 am
Thank you. I would suggest that this website Hire you for future contributions. However, it is “fluff” rather than facts that gets the clicks.
Neal M
Nov 26, 2021 at 5:15 pm
Of all the sports, golf is the only game where true integrity matters. To highlight a player who clearly has no idea what that word means is a sad commentary on where we are in the game.
Gregg was recently called out in her IG profile, which is public, and proceeded to attempt to “dox” the commenter, tagging his place of employment and attempting to cause him issues at work.
Gregg is a “public figure”, which opens her up to criticism, both good and bad, if she can’t handle both professionally, she needs to find a new line of work.
Is this really the player this or any other site needs to be profiling? Surely there are players more worthy of this type of attention.
Benny
Nov 26, 2021 at 8:28 am
Wow nice work Neal. I didn’t even try to search and goad you did man. Sad!
gwelfgulfer
Nov 18, 2021 at 11:05 pm
NO one cares about women’s golf, much lime women’s sports in general… The sad reality is that outside of a few sports, JV boys club teams can beat ‘professional’ women’s teams at virtually anything…
SO why on earth are people going to sponsor an inferior product and put money into it when there is very little to no interest or appeal…
K44
Nov 19, 2021 at 2:05 pm
Big talk for someone who lives off their wife’s earnings.
gwelfgulfer
Dec 25, 2021 at 9:21 pm
Just stick behind that keyboard tough guy…
Billy2Day77
Nov 22, 2021 at 2:43 pm
Too Funny> As a Fossil & a Guy!! I’ll take 3 Ladies off of the LPGA or Symetra Tour anytime & kick it to you!!
& Laff all the way to The Bank!!
BTW: What Cave are You In??
Yep; These Girls Can Play!!
Know I’m out on a Day Pass & smart enough not to tick off Canadian Ladies in any Sport!!
Cheers.
gwelfgulfer
Nov 25, 2021 at 5:52 pm
No one denies they can play… Just no one cares… Which is painfully obvious as we see nothing but crying for equality in purse size when they can’t bring in the sponsors…
It’s simple economics… A product no one wants, brings in no money…
Boyo
Nov 23, 2021 at 6:26 am
Another village idiot gets to sound off. It’s now wonder the Chinese censor the internet.
gwelfgulfer
Nov 25, 2021 at 5:50 pm
You know I’m right and still try and save face… Pure jokes from the peanut gallery…
Johnny Penso
Nov 18, 2021 at 7:25 pm
Hannah is more along the lines of Spiranac than Brooke Henderson or Jin-Young Ko. Nothing wrong with that, you make the best with what you’ve got, but I’d guess her goal is more celebrity status than tour status.
Getta Jawb
Nov 18, 2021 at 4:43 pm
Tough luck. Everybody is hiring right now.
golf man
Nov 18, 2021 at 3:31 pm
If you want more prize money, then you need bigger entry fees. Players have to pay more to earn more. No gain/profit in that. #Economics. Things are the way they are for a reason
Golfman
Nov 18, 2021 at 3:27 pm
Simple… play better golf and make more money. No handouts. Problem solved.
Maria D.
Nov 18, 2021 at 11:36 am
Ms. Gregg does not have active status on the Symetra Tour. She did not make it through the first stage of qualifying for the 2022 season. She constantly promotes herself as a professional golfer on social media and while she technically is a “professional”, she does not have playing status on any tour and only plays in an occasional “pay for play” event for which anyone wishing to pay an entry fee can play. Playing in “pay for play” events is quite different that attaining status where tournament play is allowed based on playing ability. Although she lives in Arizona, she chooses not to play in Cactus Tour events where many high level players chasing their dream of the Symetra Tour and/or LPGA and most likely doesn’t play because it would discredit her social media posts which always imply she is a touring professional with status. Mr. Daniels should have done some journalistic homework before posting the article and while there should be higher purses and better opportunities for female golfers chasing tour status, there are hundreds of women with actual status on the Symetra Tour who could better represent the challenges they are facing.
Jason Daniels
Nov 18, 2021 at 3:31 pm
Thank you for your insight Maria. I would be very happy to interview someone with ‘actual status’ on the Tour to find out more about the life on the road. I’ll be interviewing one of the male mini-tour stars very shortly and it will be of interest to see how the life differs. Reading much of Ryan French’s stuff, there are many players of both sexes struggling to chase the dream.
ck
Nov 18, 2021 at 10:17 am
There is a reason why they call them “Developmental Tours”! These tours are around to make the organizers money and provide a place to play competitively, gain experience, gain exposure, and finally try to make the next step. These tours do there job perfectly, they weed out the players by attrition. Either fiscal, Mental, or physically. Personally I look back at my time playing on the Moonlight, Golden Bear, Gateway, and NE Pro Tours. The amount of guys that competed week in and week out driving in a caravan of SUV’s was crazy. Every year it was a new crop of fresh faces, and some of the old dogs. Unfortunately golf in general is expensive, you have to go into the professional game knowing that. Most of the guys would have side jobs when not playing everything from bartenders, strip club bouncers, CC Caddies, waiters, etc. and compete around a schedule. Then you had the guys that would buy spots from the tour members on a week to week basis, that was me. And finally you had the guys that were out there full time because they had the bankroll from Dad or Dad’s Country Club buddy’s. To me this article did bring attention to the “plight” of the Lady Professional, but it came off as a little whine session. The economics of the game are very simple, the better you play the more money comes in through every avenue. But this is also indicative of woman’s sports, exposure for advertisers and corporate sponsors is everything. If you have an event and no one comes , then what type of exposure do you have? Everyone deserves to chase the dream, just make sure you can pay for it and you don’t have a fiscal situation you can’t get out of! This has been in place for years, if not decades.
William E
Nov 18, 2021 at 8:58 am
Great perspective from Hannah, and interesting to hear from a pro golfer who is living this every day. Many large corporations want to be seen as “growing the game” but money and actions are the only thing that matter.
I would love to see Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist and Ping go to bat for these ladies and give them a more viable route to pro golf. These companies can all step up and give more back. Invest some of the profit into building the future of golf viewership.
I also agree with the marketing comment. Hey GolfWRX, can you spotlight in a WITB series that the vast majority of amateurs should be modeling their bag off of the LPGA? (Chad, I know you carry your drive 350 and use a 80g TX Ventus platinum tipped 3 inches, take it easy bud)
Dugan
Nov 18, 2021 at 7:09 am
The only way to get away from these smaller tours and join the big leagues is to play better. People hate to hear that, but it’s the truth plain and simple. The people running these events have to make a living too. If it cost too much to play in the “minor leagues” why not focus your money on Monday qualifiers? I grew up competing in rodeos and tried the prca (pga tour of rodeo) when I became an adult. Realized I wasn’t good enough to compete at that level and got a real job. But I still enter amateur rodeos on the weekends as a hobby cause I still love it.
Jerry
Nov 17, 2021 at 7:08 pm
Mega millions are sloshing around golf and some of it should find it’s way to the feeder tours. Didn’t the PGA just give Tiger $8 million of that social media influencer money even though he has not played for almost a year? The rich keep getting richer. Bryson is right.
John
Nov 17, 2021 at 6:24 pm
Those purses are pitifully small. That needs to be changed. There is probably money there, the players should get more of it.
Oh, and Hannah, “give it a rest” lol, that’s a pretty typical response when someone dares to speak up. Just keep pushing, hopefully things will get better. Best of luck with your career.
Chris
Nov 18, 2021 at 11:24 am
It’s simple economics but go ahead and push your strawman argument that a statement of fact is some kind of attack on someone speaking up just because it contradicts their BELIEF of how something should be vs the REALITY of what it is and why it is that way. What a lazy, unintelligent rebuttal lol. If you feel so strongly about the purses for women’s golf becoming larger and it “needs to be changed” then put your money where your mouth is and start sponsoring some of the events out of pocket or go fundraising. Better yet create your own broadcasting company and make women’s golf the majority of your programming and let me know how that goes for you. Once you reach the level of the sport that these women are playing at it’s no longer a game it’s a business and businesses runs on money. Let me know when creditors start accepting idealism as payment. Is air time free? Should companies purchase commercial spots at the same price they do during mens events out of the goodness of their hearts even though ratings tell them they will not get the same bang for their buck? Now I have nothing against women’s golf, I watch it when it’s on because I love golf in general but I admittedly don’t make an effort to seek it out like I do men’s golf. I’ll go out on a limb and say men make up the vast majority when it comes to viewership of sporting events so if the majority of men don’t find women’s golf entertaining enough to garner their attention and it’s only myself and others in the minority that occasionally watch then revenue will be smaller which means the pie i smaller which means smaller pieces will be available. Consumer demand drives money and the consumer demand is clearly not there. You want them to have more revenue available but who’s going to foot the bill? Your reply reeks of the “everybody is a winner” mentality that has been taught to the children of this generation and some in the previous generation by their parents which has only polluted their minds into believing life can never hand them an L. The golfers are the talent and without them there is no business so if the problem is as big as you believe it is then I would suggest that the ladies start withdrawing from tournaments which will in turn obviously affect the revenue. No product to sell, no money coming in. Businesses understand money not feelings. The problem with this of course is for every golfer that decides to withdraw there are ten others hungrily waiting in the wings for their opportunity and they will gladly take that spot. If it takes finishing in the top ten each week to survive the grind then practice more and get better. If that doesn’t work and the stress becomes unbearable then maybe it’s time to accept you just don’t have what it takes and move on. Life’s hard and it doesn’t care about your feelings. There are people working two sometimes three jobs just to put food on the table and I’m going to sit here and worry about someone complaining that it’s too hard chasing their dream of playing a sport for a living? LOL
AlsoChris
Nov 18, 2021 at 10:11 pm
Chris.
You just really, really don’t get it.
RationalChris
Nov 19, 2021 at 9:14 am
Chill out Chris.
Chris Fan from Canada
Nov 23, 2021 at 11:03 pm
Not seeing anything wrong with Chris’ comments.
Brian
Nov 26, 2021 at 4:07 pm
Paragraphs are your friend, Chris. You may have made some excellent, salient points but I’ll never know because I refuse to read a wall of text.
Chris
Dec 12, 2021 at 5:49 pm
Dearest Brian,
I generally give internet posts I make the time and effort they deserve, which is very little. Your reply, although short, speaks volumes to the type of character you possess. Please allow me to elaborate.
The fact that you chose to make grammar the topic, (before you begin telling yourself you didn’t let me remind you that 2 of the 3 sentences you wrote in response to my post were in regards to my terribly, terribly embarrassing grammatical faux pas), tells me that you have an inflated sense of self which is likely due to the fact that don’t feel sufficiently validated in some way in your day to day life. Because of that I guess you feel that your best or easiest option to curry favour with the those here in attendance, in an to attempt to close that validation deficit, is to come here and dazzle us all with your superior understanding and application of the English language in all its forms. And as we all know, the internet is where only the greatest scholarly minds convene so I ‘m sure you have succeeded in your mission. That’s like finding joy in being seen as the most articulate patient in the psych ward. Congratulations Brian you’re king of the looney bin. “Ah it’s Brian. Now he only eats his feces with grey poupon so don’t be giving him any of that yellow mustard that’s for the uneducated mental patients.”
The fact that you would reply to another grown man in such a condescending fashion, once again, speaks volumes to your character. To be honest it’s something I wouldn’t be surprised to here coming from a woman but not from another man whom I’ve never met or conversed with before. To have the audacity to dangle your validation in regards to the content of my post, like it’s something I should actually place any value in at all, only to snatch it away in closing is quite comical and leads me to believe that you’ve had some sort of success with this approach in the past. Is this perhaps how you trained your dog? I’m not your dog Brian.
In closing, I’d just like to say that I tried very hard to make sure this post contained numerous paragraphs because I REALLY wanted to make sure you were able to bear down and make it through this one as I know the previous post caused a lot of difficulty for you. That being said I’m sure I’ve made some more errors in this post so I can only hope at the very least I receive a passing grade from you. It’s a shame you didn’t have more to contribute to the topic other than your worthless “hey look it’s me I’m here too” response.
P.S.
I’m confused as to how you were able to ascertain that I had “made some excellent, salient points” if you did in fact actually refuse to read the “wall of text” as you stated? Am I missing something? Dare I say you’re not a man of your word Brian?
Chris
Nov 17, 2021 at 5:57 pm
Give it a rest already. Viewership influences sponsorship which influences the dollars attached. If the demand for women’s golf matched the demand for men’s golf then the “supply” of money would follow and purses would be larger. Equal opportunity doesn’t mean equal outcome. As far as the cost of trying to make it goes, if it becomes too much for you then choose another line of work. No doubt the financial stresses may be there but you and you alone choose to keep chasing that dream or not.