Tee Sheet: Should the LPGA Allow Pro-Ams During Major Weeks?

Last spring I had the pleasure of playing in an LPGA pro-am event in New Jersey at Upper Montclair Country Club. For those of you who are unfamiliar, a pro-am is a round of golf where amateur golfers get paired up with pros during a tournament week. The amateurs are often folks who work for companies sponsoring the event, other pro athletes, and golf media members (reporters, influencers, etc). For years the pro-am experience on the LPGA Tour was the heart of the organization. Pro-ams are often used as opportunities for folks to get an up close and personal experience inside the ropes with the player ambassadors of the game.

The rule is that pro-ams are not meant to be practice rounds for the players. They are meant to be fun, scramble-like rounds as entertainment—players acting as "hosts". Given the team aspect of the format, pro-ams should move faster than normal rounds of golf. But what I remember is that the day was slow. Like...painfully slow.

We teed off a little after 1pm (I played alongside Yealimi Noh on the front nine and Lucy Li on the back), and I didn't get back to my Brooklyn apartment until about 9:30pm.

Both players were relatively fast in their approach, not taking too long to deliberate and rolling a handful of putts on each hole. Much of the day, as I recall, was us waiting on tee boxes, in between holes. Selfishly I enjoyed myself, I was able to connect and ask questions to each player—but once we hit the five hour mark...I was ready to wrap it up.

As nice as it was so get hours of face time with some of the world's most elite golfers, golf begins to drag after the fifth hour.

Golfweek reported, that the LPGA Tour is cracking down on slow pro-am rounds by upholding and enforcing its no-practice policy. While players are allowed to take extra practice putts, as long as they’re not holding anyone up, there’s a fine structure in place for those who take extra shots.

This isn't a new policy, just a push to get folks on the same page and get back to pro-ams being more enjoyable—while also upholding the new sentiment around speeding up the women's game.

Related: How the LPGA is Addressing the Pace of Play Issue

Nelly Korda opened up earlier this week about the pro-am policy and its impact on her practice ahead of the Chevron Championship, "I can't practice during the round today with our new regulations. I'll probably go out and play 18 [holes] tomorrow. I'm not used to this. Usually I'll play nine, nine, nine, but since I didn't get in until late yesterday and we had the Champions Dinner, I didn't get to play."

Korda competed last week in LA, so she flew into Houston on Monday, had her champions dinner that evening and yesterday (Wednesday) play was suspended for some time due to inclement weather.

The world No.1 player and defending champ wasn't able to get a full round of 18 in before competing in the first major of the season...that feels odd.

Golfweek also goes on to report that guests have complained that the pro-am experience for them has felt more like practice rounds for the players than a fun afternoon. According to GW insiders, the LPGA mindset on pro-ams have shifted, and the feeling is that this new generation of players don't value the experience as much as players in the past have.

LPGA players should embrace the pro-am experience but I think they should be exempt during major weeks. Majors are majors for a reason, and the attitude going in the week should be about letting the best golf take place and that lies in players being as prepared as possible.

That said, the U.S. Women's Open is the only major that doesn't have a pro-am before the tournament, and I think the other four majors should follow suit.

It's all rooted in preparation, while still balancing the fan experience. Often times players are coming in on Mondays, let that be a rest day. Allow them to be mentally and physically rested. Tuesdays should be a closed practice round, all players out on the course getting in the reps. Wednesday, open the course to the public and make it an all out media day (similar to Formula 1) where fans can interact with players. The event could set up some fan/brand activations to get player interactions. And once the major kicks off, the tournament goes on business as usual Thursday through Sunday.

For a major like Chevron, it may not matter as much for players to see/play the full course as it's the same venue. Players who have played it before are more familiar, but things change and if there's bad weather and play is suspended (like there was this week) there's no issue or concern for players who may not feel like their preparation was enough.

There should never be an instance where a golfer participating in a major isn't able to see the entire course before the first round. And with over 30 events on the schedule, removing four pro-am opportunities isn't the end of the world.

Majors usually have media days weeks, even months in advance, as consolation invite some folks out, sponsors, select media members to play the course as a preview. Treat it like a content capture opportunity and it's used as promo to build excitement leading into the tournaments.

Is this the correct solution? Who knows. But pro-ams have been an integral component of professional golf, and especially the LPGA to pull in more draw, and there needs to be some tailoring to make it better for all parties involved.