LPGA officials call players to meeting

to discuss Credit Crunch knock-ons

The LPGA Tour players have been to a mandatory meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia, called by officials of the world's No 1 women's professional golf circuit.
On the agenda were ways and means to combat the shrinking LPGA Tour schedule - five tournaments have been lost and another is tottering on the brink because their sponsors can no longer afford the outlay - and what the players themselves could do to fight the knock-on effects of the worldwide Credit Crunch.
The keynote speech to the gathering of the best female golfers in the world was given by former tennis superstar Billie Jean King.
"!I think with what we're going through with the economy and stuff like that, I think the players are scared. I wanted to bring them together to know that if we stick together, the cream always will rise to the top," said LPGA Tour president Michelle Ellis.
The focus of the meeting was on how the players can expand the game's fan base by not only playing great golf, but by engaging themselves in the community as well.
"What we've been doing is great, but we obviously have to do a lot better on the stuff outside the ropes," player Cristie Kerr said, saying the underlying message from the workshop sessions was to keep tending to their supporters and fans, but do it "exponentially better."
The meeting was part business and part pep rally, Kerr said, and the players were encouraged to utilize social networking avenues like Facebook and Twitter to stay engaged with their fans and the sponsors whose dollars make the hefty purses at tournaments possible.