KPMG Women's PGA Championship Offers Tickets

Tickets for the inaugural KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, to be held at Westchester Country Club from June 9-14, 2015, go on sale to the public this week. While a daily pass starts as low as $15 for the June 9 and 10 practice rounds, those who want the “VIP treatment” at the tournament can purchase a Weekly Clubhouse Pass for $200.

“The PGA of America, the LPGA, and KPMG are growing the game, so setting ticket prices reasonable enough for not just individuals but for families to come is a great way to get people involved,” says championship director Bob Jeffrey.  “The $15 day pass for practice rounds is about as good as you’re going to see for golf or any sporting event.”

Daily and weekly packages for grounds or clubhouse access will allow spectators to be a part of history. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is the first women's major run by the PGA of America, which also stages the annual PGA Championship and bi-annual Ryder Cup competition.

Jeffrey points out, “You’ll see the best female golfers in the world. We’ll have Stacy Lewis, Michelle Wie, and our defending champ Inbee Park so you’re going to see some great golf.  Westchester is a great venue for viewing, too. There are several holes where you get an amphitheater feel."

Ticket options include:

• Weekly Clubhouse Pass - $200 (includes access to the golf course, main clubhouse and clubhouse foyer, patio and lawn areas, Tuesday through Sunday); upgraded food and beverage available for purchase
• One-Day Flex Pass - $35 (allows golf course access on day of choice, Thursday through Sunday)
• Daily Grounds Pass (allows golf course access)
$15 Tuesday and Wednesday
$25 Thursday and Friday
$30 Saturday and Sunday

According to Jeffrey, there will be additional features to make the event even more attractive to families and juniors: “On the weekend, we’re going to have some junior clinics and junior golf activities on site, so if you bring your family out, there will be things for them to do in addition to watching golf.  There will be chipping and putting in the middle of the course at our junior activities area.”  He adds, “The pro-am on Tuesday is a great time to get close for photos and autographs with the players.”

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship brings together a world-class, annual major golf championship with a women’s leadership summit and an ongoing community initiative to inspire and develop new generations of female leaders.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Get an Insider's Look at KPMG Women's PGA Championship

An army of volunteers as big as the event itself is needed for the inaugural KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to be held June 9-14, 2015, at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y.

"We’re looking for about 1,800 volunteers," says Championship Director Bob Jeffrey. "About half of those are marshals we get through local clubs who are great supporters.  The rest serve on volunteer committees that handle admission sales and will call, contestant transportation, leaderboards and thru boards, and walking scorers."

It sounds like a lot of work--and it is--but the opportunities to experience the tournament are big, too. "Volunteers work three or four shifts depending on their committee assignment, so they have plenty of time to attend and enjoy the tournament the rest of the week," Jeffrey points out.  "Marshals and walking scorers are inside the ropes and are close to the players. Some jobs, like transportation, get opportunities for even more personal contact."

Adult volunteers, ages 22 and older, are required to work four shifts and contribute a minimum of 16 hours total, while junior volunteers, ages 16 to 21, are required to work three shifts and contribute a minimum of 12 hours.  Shifts will last between three and four hours.  For details on positions available, visit www.kpmgwomenspgachampionship.com/volunteer.  You can also contact Jenna Boyce, Volunteer Operations Manager, 914-595-6801 or jboyce@pgahq.com.

"We’re absolutely looking for men as well as women," Jeffrey says, "and we even have junior positions for young people 16 to 21. There’s no fee for them. We want to get as many juniors involved as we can."

Adult volunteers pay $96 to participate. In return, Jeffrey explains, "they get items with a much greater value. The package includes a Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, headwear, a credential they can use to access the course anytime whether they’re working or not, meal and water vouchers for on-course concessions, a program, complementary parking, and a discount for merchandise."

Not sure you know enough about golf to hold a responsible position at a professional tournament?  Not to worry.  "Not every job requires a lot of golf knowledge," Jeffrey says. "Transportation, admissions, and office volunteers don’t need any golf knowledge at all."  He adds that there will be training and orientation offered in late April and, the weekend prior to the tournament, volunteers will visit the course to see what they will actually be going before they start their first shift.

The Championship will offer a purse of $3.5 million, among the highest in women’s golf.  The event is a collaboration of KPMG, the PGA of America, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Continuing in the tradition of the LPGA Championship, which was first played in 1955, the event will rotate annually among prestigious courses in major metropolitan areas.

Throughout Championship Week, KPMG will spearhead an on-site women’s leadership summit bringing together top women leaders in business, politics, sports, and society to network, learn, and give back. KPMG also will manage the ongoing community initiative to provide today’s top women leaders the opportunity to cultivate the next generation of female leaders and equip them with the leadership skills, networks, and confidence through scholarships, training, and internship and mentoring programs.

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be broadcast on NBC and Golf Channel

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

LPGA Teams With USGA To Improve Pace of Play

Competitive pace of play has been improved by science-driven solutions developed through joint partnership of the USGA and the LPGA, according to presentations today at the USGA’s second Pace of Play Symposium.

The LPGA reduced its average round time by 14 minutes during the 2014 season, using methods based on USGA analysis of data and with the support of officials and players. Aggressive control of the lead group’s pace and wider tee time intervals contributed significantly to the reduction in average time per round.

“We actively participated in the USGA’s Pace of Play Symposium last year, and took their recommendations to heart,” said Heather Daly-Donofrio, the LPGA's chief Tour operations officer. “We were easily able to implement solutions that delivered immediate and positive results. We’re proud of the progress and will continue to push for improvement.”

Based on test programs conducted at several tournaments throughout the 2014 season, the LPGA crafted a new pace of play policy, and communicated regularly with players and officials during its implementation. Per its policy, a time par sheet is created for each tournament, representing the time allotted for lead groups to finish each hole during a round. While the lead groups are bound by the time par, every other group in the field is responsible solely for maintaining its position on the course in relation to the group preceding it.

If a group falls out of position, that group may be warned or timed. The policy allows officials to warn or time the lead group, even if it is under its time par, if it is holding up the group behind.

“We all have a role to play in affecting pace,” said Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, LPGA player president. “The players and staff have worked in a true spirit of collaboration to learn and introduce new concepts, and it’s gratifying to see results.”

The USGA monitors pace at all of its national championships, with notable improvement seen in the U.S. Women’s Open. In the 2012 championship at Blackwolf Run, the average playing time for groups of three for the first two rounds was more than 5 hours and 40 minutes. The average time at Pinehurst No. 2 for the first two rounds of the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open was nearly 30 minutes less.

Using a data-based approach, the USGA has been working with numerous organizations including the LPGA to improve playing times of competitive and recreational rounds around the country.

“At last year’s Pace of Play Symposium, we discussed the importance of starting-time intervals as well as setting aggressive requirements for the pace of the lead group,” said USGA Technical Director Matt Pringle, Ph.D. “We were happy that the LPGA focused on these areas to improve flow during their tournaments, and set a policy that can serve as a model for the industry.”

Pringle and Daly-Donofrio presented the results of the LPGA’s pace improvements during the USGA’s second Pace of Play Symposium today. The gathering draws industry leaders from both competitive and recreational circles to encourage data-driven solutions and best practices to improve the time it takes to play a round of golf.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Aulenti Honored by LPGA

Angela Aulenti

Angela Aulenti of Sterling Farms has been selected by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) to receive the 2014 Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award.  The national honor recognizes an outstanding member of the LPGA’s Teaching and Club Professionals division who reflects qualities valued by Hall of Fame legend Lopez: leadership, passion, giving and approachability. Aulenti is the Head Golf Professional at Stamford’s Sterling Farms Golf Club and also Director of Golf for the town’s E. Gaynor Brennan Golf Course,

Aulenti, the first female head golf professional in Connecticut, combines a reputation as an expert clubfitter with her dedicated and superior teaching skills.  Her year-round indoor facility at Sterling Farms provides the most current technology and precise fitting analysis for golfers of all ability levels.

“Angela is a wonderful example of true, passionate leadership, not only within the LPGA and PGA, but in her community and in the golf industry as a whole,” said Nancy Henderson, Chief Teaching Officer of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals and LPGA Foundation President.
“She is a tremendous role model in the same spirit as Nancy Lopez and a deserving recipient.”

“Being the recipient of the 2014 Nancy Lopez Award is the crowning achievement of my professional career,” Aulenti stated.  “Nancy and I played junior golf together and Nancy has been a tremendous role model not just for professional golfers but for all female golfers worldwide.  Nancy is and always will be a true legend in our sport.  There are no words to express the significance of this honor.”

Aulenti, a PGA and LPGA member, currently is in her third term as president of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals’ Northeast Section.  In 2012, she was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.  Aulenti has won numerous awards for her excellent service and commitment to the game, including the 2011 LPGA Professional of the Year and the 2014 Callaway National Clubfitter of the Year Award.  She resides in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Play Morgan Pressel At Shackamaxon CC

If you've ever dreamed of playing head-to-head against a professional golfer in front of a gallery of enthusiastic fans, now is your chance. On Oct. 2, 2012, Shackamaxon Country Club will host the inaugural Garden State Tour Pro Challenge, a charitable event that will pit six lucky amateurs against LPGA star Morgan Pressel in a series of three-hole matches on the club’s Tillinghast-designed course.

Morgan Pressel
photo courtesy of Shackamaxon CC

The “Challenge” will benefit the New Jersey Golf Foundation, the official charity of the New Jersey section of the PGA. Qualifying tournaments are currently taking place at 20 private and public clubs around the state. The entry fee is $20. For more information on how to enter one of the remaining qualifiers, contact The New Jersey Golf Foundation at (732) 465-1212.

The qualifers in five categories (Ladies Net, Ladies Gross, Men’s Gross, Men’s Net and Men’s Senior Gross) will compete in a playoff round at Shackamaxon Country Club on Sept. 24. The winners in each category will advance to face Morgan Pressel on Oct. 2nd.  A sixth spot will be reserved for a qualifier from the First Tee, the internationally respected youth organization that promotes life skills and leadership through the game of golf.

Morgan Pressel is one of the LPGA’s brightest stars. In 2011, she recorded eleven top-10 finishes and has over four million in career earnings. She is undefeated in U.S. Solheim Cup competitions and was the runner-up in the 2005 U.S. Women's Open (as an amateur).

The “Challenge” will feature a full day of exciting activities at Shackamaxon.  The day begins with an 18-hole celebrity pro-am that features participants playing alongside former NFL greats, as well as New Jersey PGA professionals. Each foursome will meet and take photos with Morgan Pressel, enjoy a continental breakfast, a barbecue lunch and awards ceremony. Individual pro-am spots are $500. Visit www.shackamaxoncc.com or call (908)233-1300 ext. 230 to reserve your spot in the field.

While the action takes place on the course, The New Jersey PGA will conduct a ladies golf clinic on the putting green followed by a Ladies Benefit Luncheon/Auction featuring Morgan Pressel as the honored guest. The luncheon is open to the public. Tickets are $100 and proceeds will benefit the Ashley Lauren Foundation, a charitable organization that was created to assist families of pediatric cancer patients with emotional support and financial assistance. To register for the Ladies Clinic or Luncheon, contact Jennifer Gerhart at (908) 233-1300.

At 2 pm, the “main event” will take place as Morgan Pressel begins her head-to-head matches against the lucky New Jersey amateur qualifiers on Shackamaxon’s historic A.W. Tillinghast-designed masterpiece. Gallery Tickets to watch the action at the afternoon’s Pro Tour Challenge are only $10 and may be reserved by calling (908) 233-1300 ext. 230. Tickets will also be available on-site at the club on Oct. 2

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

LPGA Exits New York Market

Among the many sidelights and lowlights (there aren't any highlights) of the LPGA Tour schedule for 2010 is a big zero in the number of events to be held in New York. The Sybase Classic was unable to come to terms with Upper Montclair Country Club in New Jersey where it's been held for the last three years. The tournament organizer, Octagon Worldwide, tried but failed to make a deal with Essex County Country Club and the event is now officially off the tour.

From 1990 until it moved to Upper Montclair, the event was held at Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, NY. The last LPGA event held there was the HSBC Match Play in 2007, which lasted only a year.

Octagon says it's diligently trying to find a venue, sponsors, and a date that works for the LPGA in hopes that 2011 will be a different story. If the 2011 LPGA schedule is anything like 2010's, finding an available date should be the least of their problems.

In the meantime, the ShopRite LPGA Classic will be held June 14-20 at the Seaview Resort in Galloway Township, marking a return to the Atlantic City area after a three-year absence. That's close, but it isn't New York.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

Good Luck To Francella and Hill

Two women golfers I've followed for several years are competing in this week's U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, PA. My best wishes for a successful tournament go to both of them.

Meaghan Francella of Port Chester, NY, came onto the LPGA Tour in 2007 with a bang by defeating defending champion Annika Sorenstam in a four-hole sudden death playoff at the MasterCard Classic in Mexico City, just her third tournament after moving up to the big show.

“I was a little intimidated when I first shook her hand on the tee,” she told me at the time. “But after that I just tried to stay in my game and play patient.”

It was an auspicious debut that led her to 29th on the money list that year. She also scored three other top-ten finishes in 25 events, taking home over $500,000 in winnings for the year.

Twenty-two-year-old Nan Hill qualified her way into the Open this year. Nan's no stranger to competition, having tied for sixth at the 2009 NCAA Division I Championship and finished fourth at the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. She also won the 2007 Landfall Tradition, leading Wake Forest to its first team title since 2004.

I talked to her the first time when she was a senior at Pelham (NY) High School, where she anchored the boys golf team. By that time, Nan had won the NY State Girls Amateur three times.

"I love the pressure. I love that it's just me out there. No matter whether it's golf or whatever sport I play, I think I would always try to be the best because that's always how I am."

She'll have a great chance to test her mettle this week at Saucon Valley.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

Louise Suggs To Receive Gold Tee

Louise Suggs, one of the founders of the LPGA in 1950 and the first woman inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame, will be recognized for her achievements by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association at their 58th National Awards Dinner on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Old Greenwich, CT. Suggs will receive the Gold Tee Award, the MGWA’s highest honor.

Suggs has one of the finest career records in golf--men's or women's--or in any other sport, as far as that goes. She racked up 58 professional victories including eleven majors. She was a dominant force in the U.S. Women's Open, competing 29 times and securing more top‐five (14 times) and top‐10 (19 times) finishes than anyone in the championship’s history. In the 1949 U.S. Women’s Open she beat defending champion Babe Zaharias by 14 strokes, a victory margin that remains a championship record.

In 1966, Suggs became the first woman to be elected to the Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2007, she was honored with the USGA’s Bob Jones Award, bestowed on an individual in recognition of their distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In 2008, she was honored by the Golf Writers Association of America with the William D. Richardson Award for her consistent and outstanding contributions to golf.

Suggs joins an elite club of distinguished individuals who have received the Gold Tee Award that includes Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Phil Mickelson, Patty Berg, Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam.

The MGWA’s National Awards Dinner is the largest and longest-running golf dinner held annually in the U.S. It's supported by all of golf’s governing bodies--the USGA, PGA of America, the LPGA, PGA TOUR and Champions Tour—-and some 700 industry leaders and local golfers attend. Proceeds from the dinner go to the Metropolitan (New York) area scholarship programs and the MGA Foundation. More than $950,000 has been raised over the years for charitable endeavors.

For advance table and ticket sales reservations or additional information, please contact Kate Keller at (914) 347‐4653 or kkeller@mgagolf.org. Tickets also may be obtained online at www.metgolfwriters.org.


Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

Radio Daze with Brian Crowell

I had some fun recently visiting with Brian Crowell and his partner in crime Mark Jeffers on the Clubhouse Report, their weekly golf/sports/whatever talk show on WFAS Radio. The Hartsdale, NY, station is at AM 1230.

While I was officially there to plug my novel Heart of Diamonds, we also talked about all sorts of golf, including the FedEx Cup, the Ryder Cup, and the LPGA's controversial but never-adopted policy to require players to demonstrate English proficiency. Click to hear an mp3 excerpt from the program.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo