LPGA Issues Statement Regarding Policy On Effective Communication In English

The LPGA issued the final word on its language policy and it essentially was “sorry.”

Commissioner Carolyn Bivens announced on Friday that the women’s golf tour will not go ahead with the plan to suspend players who fail to speak English. The plan was widely criticized after it was reported in Golfweek magazine.

What had begun as a move to improve public relations for a tour that has an increasing number of top players from South Korea and other nations became a major public relations headache.

“The LPGA has received valuable feedback from a variety of constituents regarding the recently announced penalties attached to our effective communications. We have decided to rescind those penalty provisions,” Bivens said in a statement.

“After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every Tour player,” she said. “In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse Tour players to develop a better alternative. The LPGA will announce a revised approach, absent playing penalties, by the end of 2008.”

Golfweek reported that the policy was first broached to LPGA golfers from Korea, which now has 45 players on tour, including two winners of major championships. One tour member said the Koreans felt targeted by the proposed penalty - a suspension for anyone who does not learn to speak “effective” English after two years on tour.

LPGA officials denied that any one group was the focus. They added that the tour was merely trying to help players become more comfortable in speaking with the media, giving victory speeches and, possibly most important, conversing with partners who pay thousands of dollars to participate in pretournament pro-ams.

Bivens recently criticized the critics, telling Golf World magazine “the media does not know the whole story” and adding, “I can’t imagine that someone who has thought this through does not realize that in opposing this measure they are penalizing the very people they are trying to help.”

The Asian Pacific American Legal Center had scheduled a news conference Friday, at which it was going to demand the LPGA policy be overturned. Bivens’ statement was issued hours before that event was to begin in Los Angeles.

- Mark Herrmann, Newsday