Just a few days after the LPGA Tour canceled a tournament in Morelia, Mexico, citing security concerns due to drug-cartel violence, the tour now has another situation it must monitor in Mexico. Guadalajara - site of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November - has seen "a marked escalation of criminal activity in the Guadalajara metropolitan area," the United States Consulate in the city said in a Feb. 3 "Security Update."
The U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara has advised its own employees to stay off the roads after dark, and specifically warned about the highway to and from the city's airport.
"We are aware of the recent warnings about Guadalajara," LPGA spokesman David Higdon told About.com, "and our security firm provided us a report this past week and recommended that we maintain our plans to play there in November."
On Feb. 3, the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara issued a "Warden Message" with the subject "Security Update." In part, it stated:
The statement goes on to make multiple recommendations and cautions, such as, "If you are driving or walking and you hear or see gun fire and/or explosions, take immediate evasive action ..."
Not what you want to hear about the city where you're supposed to be playing golf.
But the LPGA does have one thing going for it in this case that was absent in Morelia: another major event in Guadalajara a couple weeks earlier.
"We have the luxury of time on our side for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational," Higdon said, "plus the fact that Guadalajara also will be hosting the Pan American Games ... in October 2011."
Forty-two countries are sendings thousands of athletes to Guadalajara in October for the Pan Am Games, a competition held every four years for athletes from across the Americas. The Games run from Oct. 14-30. The Lorena Ochoa Invitational is scheduled for Nov. 10-13.
Guadalajara won the right to host the Pan An Games in 2006, and you can bet securing and making safe the city is the top priority in the region over the coming months.
But that didn't stop the recent criminal activity from escalating, in the words of the US Consulate, or stop the consulate from airing its safety concerns.
Said the LPGA's Higdon: "The Pan Am Games' organizers also will be closely monitoring the situation and we'll continue to do the same, as we do with all our tournaments."
The U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara has advised its own employees to stay off the roads after dark, and specifically warned about the highway to and from the city's airport.
"We are aware of the recent warnings about Guadalajara," LPGA spokesman David Higdon told About.com, "and our security firm provided us a report this past week and recommended that we maintain our plans to play there in November."
On Feb. 3, the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara issued a "Warden Message" with the subject "Security Update." In part, it stated:
"On the evening of February 1st, beginning at approximately 8:45PM, a series of road blockades were set up in various sections of the Guadalajara metropolitan area. The blockades consisted of buses, trucks and cars being forcibly commandeered and set on fire. One of the blockades was installed on the Chapala highway between Guadalajara and the airport at the same point that was targeted on the evening of Saturday, January 15th.
"In light of the changing security situation, the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara has now prohibited U.S. Government officials from travelling after dark between Guadalajara and the Guadalajara International Airport and recommends that U.S. citizens consider similar precautions. The Consulate General's prohibition on intercity travel for U.S. Government officials after dark remains in force."
The statement goes on to make multiple recommendations and cautions, such as, "If you are driving or walking and you hear or see gun fire and/or explosions, take immediate evasive action ..."
Not what you want to hear about the city where you're supposed to be playing golf.
But the LPGA does have one thing going for it in this case that was absent in Morelia: another major event in Guadalajara a couple weeks earlier.
"We have the luxury of time on our side for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational," Higdon said, "plus the fact that Guadalajara also will be hosting the Pan American Games ... in October 2011."
Forty-two countries are sendings thousands of athletes to Guadalajara in October for the Pan Am Games, a competition held every four years for athletes from across the Americas. The Games run from Oct. 14-30. The Lorena Ochoa Invitational is scheduled for Nov. 10-13.
Guadalajara won the right to host the Pan An Games in 2006, and you can bet securing and making safe the city is the top priority in the region over the coming months.
But that didn't stop the recent criminal activity from escalating, in the words of the US Consulate, or stop the consulate from airing its safety concerns.
Said the LPGA's Higdon: "The Pan Am Games' organizers also will be closely monitoring the situation and we'll continue to do the same, as we do with all our tournaments."
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