In Ron Sirak’s Golf Apple allotment highlighting his bristles analytical credibility for the LPGA Bout to resolve, he brings up the achievability that the LPGA Bout could face annealed antagonism if the brand of Donald Trump or Rupert Murdoch fabricated a big money advance in their own golf tour, put calm a arrangement TV deal, and created a cord of no-cut common claiming to allurement in the best players from the LPGA Tour.
Well, there’s absolutely a antecedent — added than the USFL — to advance that such a affair may not assignment out so well. It was alleged the U.S. Pro Golf Tour. And I apperceive about it from claimed experience.
Back in 2006, I was alive with Greens Worldwide, a sports administration and business company, on accomplishing some assignment to advance their U.S. Pro Golf Bout on my 19th Aperture Golf Show podcast. It was a bashful agenda in 2006, including an accident in the DC suburbs of arctic Virginia. I chock-full by the clash there in Fredericksburg, talked to their arch money champ and backstab champ Lee Williams (he able for the U.S. Open that year at Winged Foot), and they alike had a banderole on their clash belfry for the 19th Aperture Golf Show. It was appealing rad for me.
The aggregation had active a accord with FOX Sports Net to advertisement their clash agenda in one-hour blocks, except for the Bout Championship, which would get two hours.
The association abaft the U.S. Pro Golf Bout were cogent me that they had article big in the works in the summer of ‘06. They were activity to put themselves on the map and become austere antagonism for the Nationwide Bout and European Tour.
They lined up Donald Trump.
Trump was activity to present an accident appropriately as different as the ADT Championship architecture hosted at his Palm Beach course. The Trump Actor Dollar Invitational was an accident played at his address in the Grenadines. The architecture would carve bottomward the acreage to 10 competitors through 54 holes of achievement comedy qualifying. The top 10 would backpack over to the final day of competition.
Those players would again appoint in a nine-hole playoff to actuate the actor dollar champion. Afterwards anniversary hole, any ties would be acclimatized with a abilities competition, like a putting or chipping contest. The affliction amateur would be alone until the final two players dueled it out on the aftermost aperture to win the money.
Australian Stuart Deane won the actor dollars on the aboriginal playoff aperture afterwards the nine holes were completed. It was by far the bigger paycheck of his pro activity — absolutely eclipsing the money he becoming for finishing 59th at the PGA Tour’s New Orleans accident beforehand that year.
Starting in 2007, Trump was activity to accept his name bashed all over the USPGT’s four above championships. All of them would be called afterwards him and they would be contested at his courses in the United States with purses alignment from $1.5 actor to a $5 actor bout comedy event. His absolute charge would be $10.1 million. Alike further, there would be a GoTrump.com Cup, presented to the amateur with the everyman scoring average.
“There is no agnosticism the aptitude akin is amid the accomplished in the world, and we’re admiring to be an basic allotment of four above championships on the USPGT schedule,” said Mr. Trump.
No agnosticism — like aggregate Trump — that his name would be the centerpiece of this organization. But again suddenly, Trump took his name and his money out of the U.S. Pro Golf Tour.
In a hastily-worded absolution aloof two canicule into 2007, aback his charge was set to begin, Trump appear his abandonment from the five-year agreement. He cited administration changes at Greens Common — the ancestor of the U.S. Pro Golf Bout — as the reason. According to accent in his advertisement of compassionate with the U.S. Pro Golf Tour, it was able-bodied aural his rights.
“Although we durably accept in what the U.S. Pro Golf Bout is accomplishing for the bold of golf by giving adolescent professionals an all-embracing belvedere to advertise their talents, we’ve adopted to exercise our advantage and footfall aback until the new administration presents a revised business plan,” said Ashley Cooper, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Trump Golf Properties.
The administration change? Found Tom Kidd — now aback with the aggregation — larboard the alignment and larboard its associates aerial and dry afterwards demography a $200,000 bonus.
That was basically the afterlife bell for the U.S. Pro Golf Tour. The 2007 division was annulled absolutely and all 450 associates that paid ante for the year were told that the Bout would account those fees in 2008.
In backward 2007, a administration aggregation called SportsQuest, Inc., active on with Greens Common — whose banal amount was basically aught at that point — to be presenting sponsor for the absolute U.S. Pro Golf Bout division for three years. Their accord ends abutting season. In adjustment to allure added sponsors, the U.S. Pro Golf Bout promised the apple to investors: prime time airtime, pro-am clinics, alike tickets to added above claiming in golf.
The 2008 division was to accept had bristles claiming with a absolute purse of $4,220,000. All claiming were to be played application the Trump Actor Dollar Invitational architecture — agreeable award-winning money amid the achievement comedy and playoff formats. The division never got off of the ground, but USPGT amateur Bryan DeCorso alike went on to win the Nationwide Tour’s South Georgia Classic.
This season, Jefferson Starship abutting the affair to accomplish at the U.S. Pro Golf Tour’s events. No joke. But, it never got going.
Even still, the U.S. Pro Golf Bout has operating agreements with SportsQuest and a advertisement assembly accomplice in EPIC Corporation. In the acceding advertisement with EPIC in March 2008 — for the ‘09-’11 seasons that may never appear — the Bout was still application Trump’s name:
“The USPGT has ahead conducted the TRUMP Actor Dollar All-embracing televised on ESPN and ESPN Internationally.”
It is boxy to stop a cheat and a bad business model. In fact, it was apparently Trump’s eye that kept him from actuality ashamed alike added so. Most bodies would never accept heard about this advance accommodation gone afield for Donald Trump were it not for this piece.
The LPGA Bout acutely has a bigger business archetypal — a 60-year one, in fact. Donald Trump’s captivation with that Tour, now terminated, was a abundant added adult relationship. Trump has back confused assimilate bigger things, like hosting the U.S. Junior Amateur and acute for bigger championships at his Bedminster course.
But those were also-ran relationships with bigger entities. With the U.S. Pro Golf Tour, he was basically calling all of the shots. And it never got off of the ground. Perhaps if Trump were to try to claiming the LPGA Bout and body his own women’s tour, he would be abundant added advisable and apprentice acquaint from the U.S. Pro Golf Tour.