Speak English Or Take A Seat, LPGA Says

Women's Pro Golf Tour Wants All Players Conversant In English By 2009

(AP)  The LPGA Tour boasts players from all over the world, and it wants all of them to be able to speak English.

The LPGA will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been LPGA members for two years facing suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule is effective immediately for new players.

"Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development," deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it."

The tour held a mandatory meeting with South Koreans last Wednesday at the Safeway Classic to inform them of the new policy, which was first reported by Golfweek magazine. There is no such rule on the PGA Tour.

There are 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour, including 45 players from South Korea.

The South Koreans were informed of the rule, however LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens has not given them - or anyone - a written explanation, Galloway said.

But the message already appears to be lost in translation. The magazine said every South Korean player it interviewed believed she would lose her card - not be suspended - if she failed the English evaluation.

Angela Park, born in Brazil of South Korean heritage and raised in the United States, said the policy is fair and good for the tour and its international players.

"A lot of Korean players think they are being targeted, but it's just because there are so many of them," Park told the magazine.

Galloway said the LPGA is a "global tour and is not targeting any specific player or country."

Seon-Hwa Lee, the only Asian with multiple victories this year, said she works with an English tutor in the winter. Her ability to answer questions without the help of a translator has improved in her short time on tour.

"The economy is bad, and we are losing sponsors," Lee said. "Everybody understands."

The policy was endorsed by at least one tournament director, Kate Peters of the LPGA State Farm Classic.

"This is an American tour," Peters said. "It is important for sponsors to be able to interact with players and have a positive experience."

Galloway denied the move was based on sponsors and said interest in the tour has never been stronger.

"We are connecting with fans and sponsors like never before," she said. "But we want things to continue to get better, to continue to grow."

[carlylaine]

dmw1167:

Biden was bald until he purchased PLUGS...

[oneworldusa]

Let me address the prior comment a bit more.

If you live in America and/or the majority of your work/income is in America, you should speaka da language.

I am sure at times we have legitimate travelers with translators and such with international firms. No problem.

[oneworldusa]

Anyone who works or makes money in America should be required to speak the language. We need to remove all the Spanish crutches that encourage illegal immigration. If you don''t speaka da language, you don''t getta da paycheck (that you usually get in cash.)

[oneworldusa]

Posted by frigginnutz1 at 11:11 PM : Aug 27, 2008

LOL! Golf is actually a challenging sport, and good exercise if you walk the course as I do. Sport, you say? So did I when Tiger Woods was named Athlete of the year or something like that many years ago. That was before I golfed. I thought, Athlete?? Are you serious? Then, I picked up a club and hit a few and my legs and rib cage were sore for days.

Golf may not be football or basketball as far as endurance and high-energy bursts, but yes, golf is actually an athletic sport.

A little walking up and down some hills and valleys never hurt anyone''s health regimen.

[linfinster]

Naaaaah, they''re just testing the waters of both our society and the rest of the world to see what kind of uproar they get, ... or they''re starting small, hoping it wont get much attention and working their way up ... to global dominance of one language .. haha doubtful but this IS a test case for sure!

[frigginnutz1]

GOLFS FOR LAZY BOTTOM FEEDERS

[missingamerica]

It should be a law that monolingual idiots should not have access to computers or the internet.

Posted by rudy654 at 08:30 PM : Aug 27, 2008

lolll..harsh, rudy, harsh...

If that is your criteria, I do not see how you can reasonably object to our changing our immigration criteria to require English as a language skill of anybody seeking entry to the United States.

Can''t be demanding fluency in two or more languages of our citizens, while saying that it is not a requirement of our immigrants...

[rushlimpdrug]

Seon-Hwa Lee looks like a man.

Anyway, they should make the ladies wear hooters
t-shirts and hooters shorts.

[frigginnutz]

WHO CARES GOLF SHOULD NOT EVEN BE A SPORT. UMBDA ITCHBA

[rudy654-2009]

It should be a law. Come to America, you must speak English. I wouldn''''t go out of my country and expect any different.
Boohoo, go to your own country and cry about it.


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Posted by Duskay13 at 05:34 PM

It should be a law that monolingual idiots should not have access to computers or the internet.

[sociald63]

whats pga ??? and who cares -

[lawyertom1]

No it is not necessary to speak English to attrach an audience. Just look at the worldwide popularity of soccer and basketball. Fans are everywhere, even if they do not speak "our language".

[lawyertom1]

More jingoistic balderdash from the LPGA. Pathetic.

[random_radar]

This illustrates the fact that professional sports is all about money, not being the best at the sport. Obviously no one needs to speak english to play gold, but they do need to speak english to attract money from audiences and sponsors. That is fine, but let us not confuse professional sports with being the best in the world at a sport.

[hypnotoad72]

Why not? On the USS Enterprise, everyone spoke English too.

Or is pseudo-liberalism only one-sided?

[causeway_n]

That is not practical due to the fact that the tour de France is an anual event...the LPGA tour lasts all year

Posted by jocro12 at 04:20 PM : Aug 27, 2008"

Irrelevant - this is just a crude whay for the US to push it''s fat useless players up in the rankings

[causeway_n]

Guess this is the only way the LPGA can get a useless american player up in the rankings

[duskay13]

It should be a law. Come to America, you must speak English. I wouldn''t go out of my country and expect any different.
Boohoo, go to your own country and cry about it.

[haoli25]

How about Major League Baseball next?

[gwagener]

VOTE GOP TO BLOCK AMNESTY,,,
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Posted by trrrorislam4 at 04:47 PM : Aug 27, 2008

You have not learned your history. Both Democrats and Republicans have given amnesty to illegal aliens.