In an Associated Press news story, I read that the LPGA Tour has 121 international players from 26 countries, and starting in 2009 the association will require players to either speak English or face suspension. The tour includes 45 players from
According to the LPGA website (LPGA.com), and if I have counted correctly, the 2008 tour has 28 tournaments, and seven of those are not in the
So, I’m trying to figure out why this English-only rule bothers me. If you follow golf at all, you gotta wonder about this.
So, what's up? Does this rule mean that golf is evolving into an English-only sport? If the LPGA is a global tour, why is the new rulo designed to have the language of the PGA English-only? How does this affect those players that have hearing or speech disabilities? But, I'm sure all of these questions have been thoroughly discussed.
It's hard for me to believe that a player must speak English before she can hit a golf ball.
2 comments:
Interesting... especially since golf is a sport where players are expected to NOT talk during the game -- in any language.
I asked the pro golfer I live with what the story was and he said a lot of the advertisers had pulled back their money because of the inflx of Koreans playing in the LPGA. Plus he told me that the viewer likes for the lady golfers to be easy on the eyes and that also brings in the advertising dollars. Although, as a woman, I find this totally insulting in today's day and age, I understand that money talks and without advertising there is no LPGA.
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