Stick a fork in it- The LPGA’s Ginn Tribute is dead

Bill Jempty | Sunday, July 27, 2008

Commissioner Bivens looks more than ever like the fool considering she sacrificed the Atlantic City LPGA tour stop by giving their dates on the schedule to the Ginn Tribute. From Golf World-

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — The Ginn Tribute which, along with the Ginn Open, has a $2.6 million purse, the richest of any U.S.-based LPGA event except the U.S. Women’s Open, will not return in 2009, multiple sources told Golf World. While neither the LPGA nor Ginn would confirm the demise of the Tribute, which is played at RiverTowne CC near Charleston, S.C., neither expressed optimism about its future.

“The [Ginn sur Mer] Classic [on the PGA Tour], the [Ginn] Championship [on the Champions Tour] and the Ginn Open are happening this year and next,” said Ginn spokesman Ryan Julison. “After we get past the Ginn Open we don’t know what the future holds.”

The Ginn Open is played in April and the Ginn Tribute comes after it, in May. Sources involved in broadcasting, tournament ownership and the LPGA said Ginn has pulled the plug on the Charleston event. The uncertainty expressed about the future after the Ginn Open also raises questions about the existence of all the Ginn tournaments after 2009.

“We have all those tournaments and no sponsors and in this economy it’s like a perfect storm,” Julison said. Ginn, which does its business in real estate, the hardest-hit sector in the downturn of the American economy, is said by insiders familiar with the cost of running tournaments to be on the hook for $25 million annually for the four events, one of the most ambitious investments by any company in tournament sponsorship. Late last summer, Robert Gidel, an expert operations man, was brought by investors to run the day-to-day business of the Ginn Company with Bobby Ginn remaining chairman and CEO.

“If I had to handicap the situation right now I would say that it is less than 50-50 that the Ginn Tribute will happen in 2009,” LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens told Golf World at the Evian Masters. “That said, we will have a tournament to replace it.”

Ginn has contractual obligations both to the LPGA and to NBC, which broadcasts the Ginn Tribute, for two more years. “We’re having ongoing conversations with the Ginn organization and we hope to work things out amicably,” Bivens said. “We also hope our broadcast partners, in this case NBC, are respected.”

Annika Sorenstam, who runs her Annika Golf Academy out of the Ginn Reunion Resort near Orlando, where the Ginn Open is played, hosts the Ginn Tribute. One possibility is the Ginn Open would become the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika. Sorenstam said she was unaware of the future of the Ginn Tribute.

The news is unconfirmed, and Sirak has serious limitations as a LPGA commentator, but he is usually dead on target when reporting straight news. Like his reporting a new LPGA tour stop in China months before it was officially announced.

There were rumors in April that Ginn tried to buy their way out of the 2008 event. I’m betting the rumors were true.

Update- Just thought of this. Seon Hwa Lee won the last Shoprite in 2006 and in 2008 she also won what appears to be the last Ginn, the tournament that replaced the Shoprite. Seon Hwa is quite a tournament wrecker, the HSBC Matchplay is also defunct. Will the NW Arkansas tournament be around in 2009?

The same thing used to be said about Lou Graham over 30 years ago. His first two wins on the PGA Tour were defunct already when Lou took home the 1975 US Open.

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Tags | Golf Annika Sorenstam, Bill Jempty, Carolyn Bivens, LPGA Tour

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• Let me repeat myself- LPGA Tour Commisioner Carolyn Bivens has to go  linked with  OTB Sports

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