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This May Be the Whiniest Thing I've Ever Heard.

Harry Longshanks

Harry Longshanks

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New PGA Tour policy giving rank-and-file players indigestion | Tours News | Golf.com

Something to keep in mind while you read: the "rank and file" players the anonymous pro is referring to (i.e., numbers 50-110 on the money list) made between $950k and $1.65M in 2008.


New PGA Tour policy giving rank-and-file players indigestion

By Anonymous Pro
Published: October 12, 2009

Last week the PGA Tour e-mailed the details of a new policy that forces players to schmooze with tournament sponsors next year or lose their spots in the field. It's an expanded version of the rule that required us to play in the Wednesday pro-ams. Going forward, an event's 42 highest-ranked players will participate in the pro-am. The next 10 will be alternates, and the next 40 or so who don't get into the pro-am will have to spend 90 minutes at a sponsor function on Tuesday or Wednesday.

We know we have a bad economy and have to do something to help the companies that write our checks. And it's not that we don't appreciate the sponsors. But to tell guys that 52 of you may play and another 30 are on the hook to visit sponsors — that's a nightmare. I can tell you that every player would rather endure a five- or six-hour pro-am round than put on a happy face and hang out at a two-hour dinner.

It may not sound like much, but you're there to entertain, and you have to be "on" the entire time. And you can't no-show or leave early or hide in the bathroom, since I'm sure Commissioner Finchem's disciples will be taking attendance.

Part of the problem is that the policy is not going to affect the top players. It's the guys who fall between 50 and 110 on the money list who are going to have to do it most of the time. Those guys have to play more often to keep their cards — 25 to 28 times a year instead of the 16 to 18 tournaments people like Tiger and Phil play — and they'll make more tent visits than a scoutmaster. They'll be burned out by June. For the first time in history guys will be begging to play in the pro-am. One sponsor dinner is O.K., but two dozen of them? Not so good.

If you finish 90th on the money list, you make a lot of cash, but that doesn't mean you want to be a Tour puppet every Wednesday. The Tour keeps looking for more control over us but won't take steps to make us employees. I wouldn't be surprised if this move revives talk of a players' association.

If the Tour really wants to help sponsors, it should start by treating them with more respect. Take Turning Stone, which has put up $6 million a year for the last three years to sponsor an underappreciated Fall Series event (the Turning Stone Resort Classic). Why doesn't the Tour move that event up in the schedule, maybe to the week in July that the U.S. Bank vacated or the week off during the FedEx Cup? To me, that would be a nicer way of saying thank you.
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EDIT: I guess Juli Inkster was right.
Spoiler

do.” - GeoffShackelford.com -
“When you look at the PGA Tour versus the LPGA, there's more youth interaction with the LPGA,” said Torrey Gane, the Samsung World Championship tournament director. “On the PGA Tour, they sign an autograph and keep walking. Out here, they look at the individual, make eye contact. They really interact with people and show their appreciation.”

Inkster has been a proud example of that for nearly three decades.

“It blows my mind how good we are,” Inkster said, “and how much we still have to work to get to where we're at. The guys (on the PGA Tour) wouldn't last a week doing what we do.”
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I agree in some ways and disagree in others. If the dinners were all held with kids that looked up and admired, the PGA players I dont believe would have any issue with it. We have seen players sit and sign for hours. Players that many call babies such as AK we personally watched sit and sign and talk to fans for hours during a wednesday practice round and around the putting green. We even posted pictures of it.

But that is not really what this is about. It is about attending a dinner before an event when they could be out practicing, playing, or resting, so that they can work on their game and not be outside the top 40 anymore.

I see the otherside, which is what is 2 hours for the people paying your bills. But there is a lot more to it than that.
 
That's just terrible! I mean they already have to play 10 times more a year! For a million bucks...no way!




......:D
 
I have a hard time feeling sympathy for the players whining about this...

A couple of hours to thank your sponsors and fans a week sounds like some time well spent; required or not. I'm disappointed that the Tour is having to require the players to participate, they should be doing it to begin with on their own.
 
Well if they have not had to mix with sponsors, and/or fans up till now, but are still in the 50-110 group, they have not done much with the time they saved not interacting with fans, and sponsors. Quite frankly I think they are happy making a million dollars a year, and don't want to be bothered with interacting with others.

The fact that the article was authored by "Anonymous Pro" gives the article no credibility. JMHO :clapp:
 
These guys own their own businesses--themselves. THey are the product, and this is part of the marketing. Suck it up and get over it.
 
A Two Hour Dinner!!!???

Oh the humanity!

You know, as that letter was being written, there were thousands of people across this country who were choosing the refrigerator carton they would be sleeping in that night, thousands more who were having their belongings put out to the street by a sheriff with an eviction notice and thousands more beyond that who were sitting at their kitchen tables poring over the mountains of overdue bills and late notices that have accumulated since their jobs were lost and their unemployment checks are running out.

So the idea of someone who plays a game for a living whining about having dinner with the people who supply their courtesy cars, free golf balls and who puts money in their pockets just for wearing their logo on a shirt is beyond comprehension.

Try living a REAL life and you'll be welcoming those boring dinners in a heartbeat.


[ ] <------ The area between the brackets represents the level of sympathy I have for you poor unfortunate souls.



My advice? Shut up, count your blessings and stop whining.


-JP
 
I see this as easy. If you don't like going to the dinner, get better and play in the pro-am. It really bugs me when these guys whine about things like this. It's a bit like the Michelle Wie - she's taking a spot from a man syndrome. The man she's taking a spot from isn't good enough. If he was, he'd be playing anyway. So man up.

That all aside, JP has it right.
 
I agree that the pro who wrote this letter is whining a bit, but my reasons are different from most of you except Claire. Sponsors allow these guys to play golf and earn the living they do so I'm surprised it took the PGA this long to make these changes. In this economy, the PGA needs to work harder to keep sponsors happy and that includes wining, dining and Pro-Ams.

I don't agree with those of you who are commenting on how much money they earn or talking about homeless people. In my opinion, their level of pay shouldn't be part of this discussion. I don't see the relevance.
 
I think the guys on tour all work really hard for the money but the money is good. I think that if any of us had the talent we would trade places with any of them. Not only would I eat stinky cheese and drank sour grapes with them but I would wash their car and pull the weeds from around their house. I do have my limits though...I think the PGA just wants the players to get more involved with the sponsors to make the sponsors feel more a part of the "tour community". I mean with things the way they are...it couldn't hurt.
 
The relevance is that it is a very very small and very very easy part of their very very well-paid job and that they are so insulated from what an ordinary person has to do to earn a paycheck that they consider it a huge burden.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
The relevance is that it is a very very small and very very easy part of their very very well-paid job and that they are so insulated from what an ordinary person has to do to earn a paycheck that they consider it a huge burden.
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Could you imagine if ANY other sports teams had to do this? Take an NBA team for example. Or how about an NFL team? I understand the difference because they are paid from an owner, but the fans still support them.
 
That would be tough to knock a few back for 90 minutes with people who sponsor the events. From the players side though, it might make it tougher for them to get into that zone for Thursday.
 
JB said:
Could you imagine if ANY other sports teams had to do this? Take an NBA team for example. Or how about an NFL team? I understand the difference because they are paid from an owner, but the fans still support them.
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I bet they show up if the owner calls them up for dinner. And they definitely do charity events/work at the direction of the team.

Fans pay to get into golf tournaments too. But it's the corporate sponsors that pony up the money that goes directly into the players pockets. As we've seen countless times this year, no sponsor, no paycheck. It's exactly the same principle as the pro-am.

EDIT: NBA fines both Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards $25,000 - ESPN

NBA fines both Arenas, team $25K

The NBA is making Gilbert Arenas -- and the Washington Wizards -- pay for his silence.

Arenas and his team were fined $25,000 apiece Tuesday by the league because he has not been talking to the media during the preseason, including before and after exhibition games.
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Here's an idea. I will retire from my current job, take on their duties to schmooze with the people who write their checks and they can pay me 10% of their gross earnings. I will have a nice smooth retirement and they won't be bothered to show any respect at all for the people who actually provide their living for them.

You know, probably most of the guys on tour are nice, down to earth fellows, but the one who wrote the article gave them all a black eye.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
The relevance is that it is a very very small and very very easy part of their very very well-paid job and that they are so insulated from what an ordinary person has to do to earn a paycheck that they consider it a huge burden.
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How do you know they wouldn't consider it a huge burden if they earned what you or I do? I don't know what you earn, but I know I earn significantly less than they do. I agree with you that this is part of their job, but to them it's an added task that they aren't used to doing. Most people don't like change.
 
The gentleman that wrote that article sounds like a child really. He knows he as to do it, but he has to complain about it.

With a lot of us, if a job forces something on to us that we really don't like, we go out and find another job. These guys don't have any other option where they can earn the same living.

What is funny is that pretty much any golfer outside the tour would love to be in those dinners. I know I would.
 
That story belongs in the Saddy Boo Hoo thread lol:act-up:
 
I don't think 90 minutes at a sponsor's dinner is any big deal. The pros should do anything they can to promote the tournament and be greatful to the sponsors for their generosity for putting up millions of bucks in prize money. Besides, you never know when you'll want to be remembered by the sponsor down the road when you are needing a sponsor's exemption to get into a tournament.
 
I pay to play golf not the other way around. Pro Athletes need to come back down to earth every once in a while. I think we should just start paying them corporate wages. Could you see the NFL if a starting quarterback made 125,000 a year with benefits. And a punter 40,000? I have no sympathy for rich people who don't understand they are only rich because capitalism has made their sport what it is. Look back at Arnold Palmer and what he did when he made 1/100th of what these guys make. I wish they would find out who wrote this article and ban them from life.
 
I think many professional athletes are overpaid and I agree that this is part of their job; however, I don't understand why everyone keeps mentioning that these guys are paid a lot so they should stop whining. Is whining a luxury that is only allowed for those earning less money?
 
Diane said:
I don't understand why everyone keeps mentioning that these guys are paid a lot so they should stop whining. Is whining a luxury that is only allowed for those earning less money?
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Nobody is forcing them to be on the pro tour, they could take a significant pay cut and become the head pro at a course, or work in R & D at a golf company, etc... Its just like real life, the bigger money comes with bigger responsibilities.
 
Diane said:
I think many professional athletes are overpaid and I agree that this is part of their job; however, I don't understand why everyone keeps mentioning that these guys are paid a lot so they should stop whining. Is whining a luxury that is only allowed for those earning less money?
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They're entitled to whine about it as much as they like. Just as we're entitled to suggest that they're being petty and totally disconnected from the real world by whining.

If I was out there on tour and I didn't used to have to do this stuff, but now I do, I'd probably whine about it too, but most likely with my fellow players. Not publicly where it's insensitive to whine about what you have to do for a million bucks a year, when there are guys sleeping in doorways begging for money for dinner (or booze).
 
Diane said:
I think many professional athletes are overpaid and I agree that this is part of their job; however, I don't understand why everyone keeps mentioning that these guys are paid a lot so they should stop whining. Is whining a luxury that is only allowed for those earning less money?
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The money enters into the equation for me for the following reason.

These guys are making (I'm guessing) several times the annual compensation of what a typical corporate executive makes. And probably 10-15 times what the average salaried professional makes.

At least in my work experience, salaried individuals at the lower end of the scale are not expected to do much more than put in a good 40 to 45 hours a week, and maybe attend a business social function a few times a year.

As folks move up the food chain, the hours often get longer, and so do the "outside" requirements. I don't think it's uncommon for a corporate mid-level executive to work significantly more hours, and attend business social functions a couple times a month. Executives often put in stupidly long hours, in addition to multiple business social events per week.

The reason that money matters is that these guys are getting paid multiple times what an ordinary joe does, to play a game that lots of ordinary joes spend an entire adult lifetime working for the day that they get to pay to play whenever they want. What's being asked of them is less than what a corporate executive making a fraction of their salary is typically asked for.

"To whom much is given, much is expected."

If they don't like it, there are lots of club pro's who would gladly switch places with them.
 
Lets look at this from the other way around...

Someone comes to me and says I'll pay you $1,000,000 per year but you have to work 4 days a week and attend a 2 hour dinner party. Now you only have to work about 30 weeks a year.

I'm in.
 
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