Golfgal Golf news and commentary from a business woman’s perspective.
This seems like “much to do about nothing” to me. Drug testing for athletes is common all over the world. If golfers want the game to be called a sport and themselves, athletes, then that comes with conditions (whether they are “needed” or not).
What’s the big deal? As long as they don’t start saying that an antihistamine is a banned drug, I have no problem with this (outside sports in allergy season need to make some concessions).
Anyway..I’d like to hear what you think. A good debate is also fun 🙂
Golfgal
ps: I wasn’t going to mention this, but did you see the LPGA is the first to announce it will bring in testing in 2008. Ladies first – AGAIN! 🙂
PGA Gets Closer To Adopting Universal Drug-Testing Policy
New York Sun
21 Jun 2007
CROMWELL, Conn. — The PGA Tour is getting closer to a rule on performance- enhancing drugs, and with testing likely to follow, commissioner Tim Finchem says golf organizations around the world should make sure they’re on the same page. Even with Tiger… read more…
As long as the testing is done for all and not let Tiger off the hook on this one, I am for it. I am not saying Tiger is using drugs, but if there is going to be testing it should be done to all or none. The top money winners of golf are getting too much preferential treatment as it is. To bow to the demands of the few top players the sponsors are paying to have on television to promote their products is not fair and not good for golf.
I was wondering what the big deal with the LPGA wanting to be first with the testing. Now that I went to my first LPGA Major event I now understand what is being said behind closed doors and off camera… Yes, I can see where there might be some need for testing needed in the LPGA.
Like in anything thing now days where a person can make a lot of money from their physical performance there is going to be those who are looking for the edge or something that will provide them a boost to gain a competitive edge which equals making bunches of money.
It is unfortunate that this attitude has finally got to golf, but this attitude is what develops when lots of money is on the line. So for the sake of the game of golf and the professional who are playing it I feel drug testing will insure a better future for the sport all of us who love to play and watch golf.
Bang on! Very curious about your LPGA comment – behind closed doors and off camera??? Care to share 🙂
I didn’t want to take up your entire blog with what others in the know are writing about as being one of the reasons the LPGA is so eager to do testing.
Several of the former LPGA tour players who are now on camera commentators of television events have waded into the subject of drug testing off camera with reporters and print media sources on their suspicion of some of the ladies on tour using steroids to boost their performance. This is somewhat old news and has lost its luster of the media coverage since the change of the New LPGA Commission who must be trying to play this issue down since it was reflecting badly on her section of the golf world.
The LPGA obviously is also controlling exposure of issue by not showing on camera some of the ladies that were suspected of using performance enhancing drugs. And I would like to thank them for that since I now know why. It is not a very pretty picture.
When I went to the Kraft Nabisco LPGA, the first major money event for the ladies, the camera could not hide what my eyes saw, which were many of the lower to mid ranking tour members bulked up like body builders and not looking very feminine at all. In fact some did not look like ladies at all.
It is obvious that this is not the image the business world or the sponsors of these events want to be associated with so naturally the leaders of the LPGA are wanting to put a lid on it so they continue to move ladies professional golf forward towards being equal to men’s golf, primarily in the amount of money the players are able to win.
As I mentioned the money is what is pushing players to get an edge in performance so they can get a larger piece of the pie. So without any controls being in place I could see ladies golf becoming less of a attraction to businesses wanting to drop millions to be a sponsor of what could become no more than a ladies body building exhibition and not a performance of golf skill.
To be open with why I am interested in this issue is that my profession is to get businesses to use golf as a business tool. With the trend being businesses leaving golf because they do not know how to get it to work towards enhancing the bottom-line the issue of being associated with something with a negative public image does not help me bring to the sport the people and companies who pour funds into the golf industry at all levels. That is why I am in full support of drug testing to bring the game of golf back to being a valuable review of the top skilled players and not a sideshow that is detrimental to the economy of the golf industry. I really could not see partners wanting their little girls to grow up to play professional golf if the current trend in ladies professional golf continues.
There is much, much more to this issue that can’t be reviewed in this blog. That is why I am excited to seeing if there is any debate to issue. Hope that helps and as usual, let me know how I can help.