Bivens may be out as head of women’s golf tour

July 6, 1:17 PMBoston Golf ExaminerEmily Kay

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With the U.S. Women’s Open starting Thursday, rumors are flying on the golf course and in cyberspace that LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens may be out of her job before any of the players tees off.

After cancellation of the LPGA’s October Kapalua Classic came to light, several top LPGA players met for dinner last week to flambé Bivens, according to Sports Illustrated. The players broke bread during the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, a day after news broke that the Kapalua sponsor had reneged on its contract for the scheduled Oct 10-15 Hawaiian tourney.

The dinner conversation resulted in an informal no-confidence vote about Bivens, according to SI. Participants may have sent a letter to LPGA president Michelle Ellis voicing their displeasure, but Ellis told SI she had received no such letter. LPGA Hall-of-Famer Juli Inkster, who was at the dinner, also told SI she knew of no letter.

Where there’s smoke? Letter or not, there are at least whispers of discontent with Bivens’ leadership, if not a full-blown uprising among LPGA players. LPGA Tour caddy Larry Smich fanned the flames with a July 5 post on his Life on Tour blog.

“Hold on to your seats!” wrote Smich, who said he was on the bag for Stacy Prammanasudh before she failed to make the cut at the Farr event. “May have some good news by the end of next week.”

Smich added a cryptic post script: “‘Don’t ever take sides against the Family...’”--Michahel [sic] Corleone. Out here, more than likely, you’ll get the axe. Happened again.”

The LPGA’s shrinking schedule is, by now, old news, and the LPGA is certainly not alone in dealing with a foundering economy. But Bivens’ responses to the building crises have been questionable, at best.

In addition to her most visible and controversial marketing blunders -- requiring that LPGA players speak English, urging players to use Twitter during competitive rounds -- golf analysts wonder about her decision to have several tournament contracts expire at the same time. With the economy as it is, and Bivens demanding higher service fees from tournament directors, that move is boomeranging, as long-time sponsors bow out and a dwindling tour schedule leaves LPGA players with more time to tweet than compete.

Immediate resistance. When she took office in 2005 as the first woman head of the women’s professional golf tour, Bivens’ vision to bring the LPGA into the 21st century met with opposition. Several LPGA staffers quit, and her commitment to changing the business model “to better monetize our success” divided players, staff, and tournament owners, noted Ron Sirak, executive editor of Golf World magazine.

“I am quite concerned about some of the decisions and changes I have seen lately,” Annika Sorenstam told Sirak back in 2006. “I just wonder where we are headed.” Inkster was also “concerned,” she told Sirak.

But that was three years ago. Sorenstam has retired and Inkster is playing with young golfers like Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, and Morgan Pressel, who represent the future of the LPGA.

Surprising missteps. Despite her public gaffes, Bivens has a strong background in sales and marketing. Prior to her current post, Bivens was president and chief operating officer of a leading U.S. media-services agency, where she was directly responsible for the firm’s North American operations, including media strategy and planning across all media. Before that, she worked in key positions at USA Today, where she was responsible for designing, deploying, and managing circulation-marketing programs.

Since taking over as LPGA commissioner, Bivens has architected positive plans for the LPGA as well as fumbled marketing opportunities. She negotiated a lucrative, 10-year deal with Golf Channel for more television coverage, and her global vision has enabled the tour to add events throughout Asia. 

But, despite Bivens’ lofty goals and the talent and appealing personalities of the young players on tour, the LPGA must now deal with more mundane issues such as developing a 2010 schedule with more tournaments and fewer off weeks. The commissioner’s hard line on increasing tournament fees has caused long-term sponsors to walk away and indicates an insensitivity and/or bullheadedness to the realities of today’s economy. At some venues, Bivens raised tournament-services fees from $15,000 to $100,000, to help pay for “higher production costs associated with the Golf Channel deal,” according to Golfweek.

The LPGA board of directors extended Bivens’ contract for three years in 2008. But if tournament sponsors can void their contracts, why not the women’s tour? If you believe the rumor mill, the LPGA could do worse than naming Nancy Lopez as its next commissioner.

Read Boston Golf Examiner to learn about the LPGA’s uncertain future as well as the positive future of women’s golf on display at the Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.