The end of the 60th U.S. Women’s Open will in a sense mark the beginning of Carolyn Bivens’ new career as LPGA commissioner. Named 11 days ago to replace Ty Votaw, Bivens enters her new job at a time when interest in women’s golf may be at an all-time high. In the process of moving from her current job at Initiative Media Services to the LPGA, Bivens, 52, took a side trip to Las Vegas. While there, the former executive with USA Today spent a little time talking about her new gig.
Anthony Cotton: You’re being
missed at the U.S. Open.
Carolyn Bivens: I’m trying to
very smoothly transition from my
other job, giving the proper goodbyes
to clients and to staff.
AC: But I didn’t know part of the
transition meant breaking the bank
in Vegas. Isn’t the LPGA paying you
enough?
CB: (Laughs) Every once in a
while, you have to sit at a roulette table
for a few hours just to get your
mind off everything else.
AC: Did you wake up one day and
decide, “I want to be LPGA commissioner?”
CB: Actually, it’s a bizarre story.
When I was at USA Today, I used to
tell people that the only job that was
better than mine was LPGA commissioner.
It was such a big joke that on
my 40th birthday, my colleagues
roasted me and mocked up a copy of
the sports section front with me being
named commissioner of the senior
LPGA. So when I got the phone
call a few months ago, I said, “OK,
who is this from USA Today?” I
thought someone wasn’t moving
along with their lives and was stuck
in a very old joke.
AC: So what happened?
CB: They assured me this was for
real. I said, “Well, my career has taken
a very different turn, and I’m flattered,
but I don’t think so. They said
don’t just brush it aside as out of
hand, which would be very uncustomary
of me, and we were going to
be in the same city, so we had a meeting.
And I started thinking that you
don’t always plan the course of your
life, and after I assessed it, I decided
this was a time in my life that I could
do this kind of thing. And based on
the attributes and experience they
were looking for, it almost seemed
like everything I’d done before was
in preparation for this job at this
time in my life.
AC: You’ve said that you don’t
come from the world of golf. Howdo
you look upon this job in terms of
business versus athletics versus entertainment?
CB: I see it as a combination of
sports and entertainment. Two
weeks ago, Richard Wagner from
GMwas speaking to a group and said
General Motors had woken up and
realized they weren’t in the business
of transportation anymore, that they
were in the business of art and entertainment.
The LPGA is certainly
about golf.Wehave some of the best
golfers in the world, not just the best
women golfers. But sports aren’t
only about sports; it’s also about entertainment
as well, and last but not
least, sports also have a big dose of
business in it. That’s the engine that
sustains and drives everything else.
Weare in sports, we are in the world
of golf, but we’re also in the world of
golf entertaining, and business entertaining
and it’s golf and the business
of golf.
AC: Does this feel like you’re making
a leap similar to the start-up of
USA Today?
CB: Not at all. Starting USA Today,
I don’t know how many people
could do that kind of start-up twice
in their lives. This brand has a personality,
lots of personalities. And
it’s a time in its history that I’m so excited
about. You have players well
into their 40s who are not only in
contention, but winning tournaments.
Then you go through the Annika
(Sorenstams) to some of the
newer players on the tour, the Paula
Creamers and somebody like Cristie
Kerr, who hasn’t really been playing
all that long. And then you look in
the pipeline, and obviously, the first
person people think about is
Michelle Wie, but there’s a lot more
coming up. This is a product with
very broad appeal.
AC: Your predecessor, Ty Votaw,
is I guess ultimately responsible for
the tour’s new slogan: These Girls
Rock. Are there any catch phrases
you’ve got in mind?
CB: No, you don’t tinker with a
brand when things are right. I’m going
to take the foundation that Ty
has laid. I do not disagree with it. I’m
a huge supporter of the year-end
playoffs and a supporter of the campaign.
I’ll build on that campaign;
I’m not going to change it.
AC: How many players have you
met with since you were named commissioner?
CB: I was at LPGA headquarters
for less than 48 hours last Thursday
and Friday. Outside of the players
who were on the search committee,
I’m making phone calls and trying to
make the entire rounds of tournament
owners, the sponsors and every
one of the players.
AC: Have you gotten a sense of
what their concerns are about the
tour?
CB: I don’t know yet. The calls
have been more along the lines of,
“I’m looking forward to working
with you, and I promise to take good
care of the product you’ve
launched.” What I do plan to do is
talk to every one of the players and
every one of the constituents in a survey,
maybe a questionnaire as well.
Wewant specific information. What
do you think is going right? What do
you want to make sure doesn’t
change?
AC: Talking with some of them,
there seems to be a concern about
the number of events and the size of
the purses.
CB: I think it’s going to vary by
constituency, depending on where
one is on the money list and, frankly,
where one is in terms of longevity
with the tour. But the point is, we
want a comprehensive overview
based on empirical evidence. And
what I mean by that is people who
are willing to sign their names and
say, “This is what I think is really going
well, and this is what we need to
do more of, and this is what the problems
are and this is what can happen
as the result of us solving them.”
AC: When the search committee
was formed and a recruiting firm
hired to help find candidates, many
of the players expressed hope that
the new commissioner would be a
woman. Is it important to you?
CB: No, no, not at all. Women are
no more monolithic than men are.
The previous six commissioners
have all been male but they’ve all
been very different. They’ve had different
objectives to deliver, and this
is a different time and place. The
search committee was looking for
someone with a business background,
somebody who knew their
way around media, someone who
was comfortable with sponsors and
being in sponsors’ offices, and
whether that was a man or a woman
was very secondary to the process.
AC: When was the last time you
played golf?
CB: The last time was probably
about six months ago, at Bel Air in
Los Angeles. I shot well worse than
my handicap.
AC: I’m not sure if the handicap
will improve or not now.
CB: I’m hoping that I will get preferential
treatment for lessons.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at
303-820-1292 or
acotton@denverpost.com.
