January 11th, 2010 at 5:34 pm

 

Last week I attended a luncheon where the speaker was a marketing/branding expert.  As she explained branding and spoke of all the benefits of branding it made me wonder, “Can you brand your golf game?”

 

I believe we can.  Branding makes you memorable.  Write a strategic plan for your personal golf brand. Make sure people remember you the way you want to be remembered.  Branding your golf game not only helps people remember you, but helps them remember what YOU want. 

 

This can be especially useful when using golf for business purposes.  Companies spend tons of money on branding.  Think Nike.  Personal branding is just as important for you. 

 

How do you want to be remembered after a round of golf with your number one client?  Great putter?  Long ball driver?  Impeccable etiquette?  The most enjoyable person they have ever spent 4 hours with?

 

Or would it be – Bad sport?  Always complaining?  Disrespectful?  Or worst of all – SLOW!

 

What is your brand?  How are you remembered?

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December 13th, 2009 at 6:42 pm

 

I tried to keep from commenting on the Tiger Woods saga, but now I am curious how women feel about the subject.  As women, how do you feel?

 

I have listened while the other professional athletes come forward to stand up for Tiger and his extra marital affairs.  Most all have admitted to doing the same.  Most notably are the numbers of NBA professionals who seem to have a mistress at every stop during the season.  We see Tiger could not even resist “Sin City”.  What happens in Vegas rarely stays in Vegas.

 

As I watch Sunday football I am reminded of Tom Brady who was juggling a couple of superstar women as one of them became pregnant.  He seemed to escape without notice, other than praise.  Is this because he was the playboy bachelor and his girlfriends were beautiful and famous?

 

One woman commented that Elin “was just a nanny before she married the most famous, richest golfer in the world”.  One man commented that “how could Tiger do that when his wife is so beautiful”.

 

To add another twist to this, what would we think of a married, woman professional athlete who conducted their sexual lives in this manner?  Is there a double standard?

 

Are professional golfers held to a higher standard than athletes in other sports?  We know how you can tell so much about a person by playing golf with them.  I wonder if the people Tiger played golf with saw his true character.

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December 6th, 2009 at 5:58 pm

 

There has been a lot of talk concerning why so few Americans have won on the LPGA tour this year.  The LPGA is having some PR issues of their own without also having the media somehow think it is the LPGA’s responsibility to have American wins.

 

I recently saw an interview with Paula Creamer.  Her response to why so few American wins was quite interesting to me.  Her comment was two fold.

 

First, she said the Asian and European players are more focused when they turn professional.  She said, for herself, that there are times when she should be practicing or working out but tends to go out with her friends instead.  She implied there were lots of distractions to take her fellow American’s minds away from the work of golf.

 

She also said the Americans needed to step it up!

 

When we see not only professional athletes but women who are successful in business and think it was “easy” or “they have made it”.  We tend to forget just how much work and perseverance it takes to not only make it to that level, but to stay there.  Look at the some of the men on the PGA tour who had to go back to Q school this year.

 

What do you think?  Are the Americans just as good as the rest of the world and just need to focus and get to work?  Have Americans lost their edge to the rest of the world? 

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November 1st, 2009 at 6:02 pm

 

On October 7^th, eight staff members of the LPGA were laid off.  Among those was Libba Galloway the deputy commissioner and an employee for 10 years and Connie Wilson the VP of Communications and a 15 year veteran.  The general counsel who ran the drug testing program was also among the eight to leave.

 

The LPGA gets 6 percent of all purses.  Last year the tour lost 7 events which meant a drop in revenue of $762,000.  That is a lot of money!

 

Projections for 2010 are no better.  It looks like the new commissioner will have some major work to do.

 

What’s your take on what 2010 will bring for the LPGA?

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October 26th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

 

Last week I was in NYC attending a conference.  There were a lot of authors, media producers and editors in attendance.  I was surprised at the number of people who were talking about social media etiquette, everything from Facebook, texts, emails and Twitter.  I even heard of a woman who received a $200,000 advance for her first book deal until……the publisher found on the internet where her and her husband ran a “swingers club”.  Money had to be returned and end of the book deal.

 

The producer from a major daytime talk show said he always does a goggle search of a potential guest – and an extensive one.  It made me once again realize we all need to be aware of our online reputations.

 

I thought about golf and how golf is such a game of honor and etiquette.  We even have classes taught on golf etiquette.  We even have penalties in other sports for unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

One writer commented that in business today, workers have no etiquette.  She spoke about potential employees who show up for interviews without social manners.  There is a lot of attention placed on how to find employment using the internet, but what happens when this person shows up for the interview?  What about those first impressions we were so concerned about only a few years ago.   

 

I know most of us from time to time have played golf with someone who has no clue about golf etiquette.  But hopefully the people you play with most of the time have only a few goof ups now and then.  No one is perfect.  Golf is so enjoyable when your partners have the respect of others in mind.

 

My question to you this week is, “do you think golf etiquette spills over to all areas of ones life?”  Can you compartmentalize etiquette to only the golf course?

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October 11th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

 

Last week I attended, Conversation with Sandra Day O’Connor, at the Biltmore Resort in Phoenix.  I anticipated what the spunky cowgirl might talk about during this breakfast meeting where over 6,000 people were in attendance.  What I anticipated did not compare to what I heard.

 

The first shocking story she retold was how she was unable to secure an interview after graduating third in her class from Stanford law school.  She was turned down for interviews due only to the fact she was female.  She did get one offer - to be a secretary for an attorney.

 

During the introduction for the award for the AZ Woman of the Year, the story was told that she took golf lessons for 2 years before she would go on the course and play in public.  She must have known from the start golf that golf is not something you master – ever.  Being such an accomplished woman in every aspect of her life, I would like to have known what made her tackle golf.

 

She must have gotten the “bug” like most of us because her bio will include the term “avid golfer”.  In fact, she had her first hole-in-one in 2000 at Paradise CC at the age of 70.  I say her first because she is still playing.  I am still waiting on my first, so this fact gives me hope.

 

This morning I remembered when I took those first lessons at the driving range and my instructor telling me I needed to get out on the course and play.  I was terrified to go out on the course.  It took me forever – but not 2 years – to get the courage to tee it up on the plastic mats at our executive course.

 

I remember that time with great fondness.  It is such a wonderful feeling to overcome an obstacle or fear.  Golf can teach us life lessons every time we play.  Golf can give you the confidence to overcome many of life’s obstacles and fears.  I just love it!

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