Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
It’s hard to believe that a young lady born in early 1900’s as Fanny Rose Shore is now best remembered as the founder of a women’s professional golf tournament where the winner leaps into a lake in celebration.
In 1972, the LPGA’s Colgate-Dinah Shore-Winners Circle Classic in southern California was born. Throughout its 51 years and rotating sponsors in California, the tournament’s spirit was always reflected by everyone’s affection for the founding host, Dinah Shore.
Last week, the LPGA major tournament’s newest sponsor, Chevron, relocated the event to The Woodlands, Texas. I was fortunate enough to have spent a few days at the golf course as it transformed into the Chevron Championship.
Chevron and the LPGA organizers did a terrific job at continuing the spirit of Dinah Shore at this year’s event – right down to the unique victory leap into a lake by the winner.
Born as Fanny Rose Shore in Tennessee, the young woman battled through polio in her early years. Though one of her legs would remain shorter than the other, she was a cheerful youth who excelled in the classroom and in sports. She also loved to sing. She attended nearby Vanderbilt University and participated on the swimming and fencing teams.
Armed with a degree in Sociology, Fanny Rose Shore’s singing talent earned an appearance on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry Show with its large national audience listening via the clear channel 50,000 watt WSM 650 radio.
After singing the popular 1930’s song “Dinah”, a radio personality began to refer to her as “That Dinah girl.”
The nickname stuck.
Dinah Shore became a popular singer and entertainment personality for the next forty years. She cranked out hit records during the 1940’s and 50’s. She became one of the first female television hosts with her own popular television variety show series into the 1960’s. During the 1970’s, Dinah Shore’s interpersonal skills and disarming Tennessee charm helped extend her career as she became one of the forerunners of television talk and interview shows.
Much like Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore had become an early trailblazer for women in the entertainment business.
It was Dinah Shore’s longtime love for athletics which opened the door for her involvement in women’s professional golf. A talented tennis player and golfer, she was a big attraction at celebrity tennis and golf events.
In 1972, the LPGA Tour had 29 weekly events. The average weekly purse was about $30,000 to be split among the top half of the field.
The inaugural Dinah Shore golf tournament (held annually in April) would debut with a total purse of $110,000. It was the first LPGA event to top $100,000 in prize money for participating players.
Dinah Shore remained personally involved with the event every year until her death in 1994 at age 77. She personally promoted the golf tournament for months beforehand and attended the entire slate of events during tournament week. The Dinah Shore name attracted national television coverage as the host even spent time in the broadcast booth as a guest analyst to welcome viewers to the golf tournament.
After a generally successful 50-year run at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California, the tournament began to lose its luster and needed an injection of new life.
Enter Chevron and the state of Texas.
The new sponsor upped the payout by over 40% this year to more than $5 million. The four day tournament regained national television coverage via Golf Channel and NBC. The event (one of five “majors” on the LPGA Tour) was moved to the Jack Nicklaus signature golf club located 35 miles north of Houston (Chevron’s home) in The Woodlands, Texas.
Though California may be grieving over the loss of this longtime LPGA event, the new tournament sponsor promised to keep Dinah Shore’s “touch” in mind though it would now be played in Texas.
Last week, each day of the Chevron Championship featured special events which were patterned directly from the Dinah Shore golf event in California. At the conclusion of the week, the winner received the tournament trophy which still bears Dinah Shore’s name.
Here are a few comments from attending my first LPGA event in more than 50 years:
The professional women golfers really hit the ball a long way!
Even the tiniest LPGA golfers are able to hit the golf ball 240 yards or more off the tee. A few golfers are regularly hitting the ball over 275 yards. It is quite impressive.
The women’s short game skills are every bit as good as the men’s tour.
The greens at the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course were a bit smaller than the LPGA tour average. Many featured slopes which quickly ushered some shots off these lightning-fast greens. Whether chipping back onto the green or via lag putting, the LPGA tour players displayed incredible skill in getting down in two shots on most occasions. It reinforces the need to spend more time practicing your short game.
The Golf Channel/NBC television crews worked some really long hours!
The television operations crew put in some long hours in the elements last week. The tournament featured three hours of live television coverage during midday and then returned for two more hours between 5 and 7PM. The weather forced temporary delays on a few days. These underappreciated workers were based in a battalion of production trailers located just offsite in a very muddy quagmire which featured a fine assortment of local snakes.
The pace of play is far too slow.
Most LPGA golfers hit the ball off the tee quickly and purposefully walk down the fairway. However, the leaders still took an average of 5 hours and 20 minutes to play 18 holes on Saturday and Sunday. Once the players arrived at the green, it wasn’t hard to locate the problem.
So, why are the golfers so slow on the green?
I watched as most of today’s professional golfers now walk along the line of their upcoming putt and stop (usually twice) to form a “bridge” with their feet over the potential line. The golfer apparently believes that their feet are able to judge which way the ball is going break as it heads toward the hole. The former way (look at the shot from both sides of the hole) has been replaced by this quite silly-looking routine. All greens are fast at this level. That is why each golfer should spend enough time on the practice green before starting play.
Start enforcing the penalties for slow play!
This weekend at the Chevron Championship, one player (Lucy Li) was fined after completing her third round for slow play. She first received a warning and, later, a fine. With play now routinely exceeding five hours, amateurs (especially college golfers) and professional golfers should receive a two shot penalty for every slow play violation during a round. Tournament officials should place “traffic cops” along the course to enforce pace of play and the rules.
Did I say snakes?
The name of the city which hosted this event is The Woodlands. In addition to a few deer which were randomly meandering across the property, the golf course featured several lakes. With a lot of water and woods nearby, the local snake population was enjoying spring weather and, in all likelihood, doing their best to help repopulate their own species.
The tradition at the former Dinah Shore golf tournament in California has been for the winner to take a flying leap into a designated special pond just off the 18th hole. In California, that pond was man-made.
At the Jack Nicklaus club in The Woodlands, the large lake along the 18th hole was home to many of the aforementioned snakes and water creatures. When interviewed by the television crews, many LPGA golfers were hesitant to commit to jumping into the lake water if they should win the tournament on Sunday.
This year’s winner, Lilia Vu, was equally concerned about taking such a leap of faith:
“Cole (caddie) and I passed by 18 during the practice round and discussed would you jump, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I would jump; if I won here, of course I would jump,’” she said with a laugh. “Yesterday or the day before we saw a snake on 17 pond so I was kind of thinking about that today, but I think the emotions were high and just adrenaline (said) ‘Got to jump into that pond.’”
Fortunately, the initial Chevron Championship Texas lake leap made by Lilia Vu and her caddie came off without a hitch.
Here’s a suggestion, Chevron. Next year, just do the trophy presentation along a pier above the lake on #18…along “the Dinah shore!”