(Editor's Note: Charlotte Mayorkas, a rookie on the LPGA Tour in 2007, is filing entries for her LPGA Tour Diary throughout the season. If you would like to suggest topics for Charlotte, or ask questions about the Tour life, send them to golf.guide@about.com.)
So what ended up in my bag?
I have been playing heavily with each set of the golf clubs I received from Titleist, Cleveland Golf, Callaway Golf and TaylorMade (see my previous diary entry for details on the clubfitting of these sets). It has been an incredibly difficult decision for me to make!
There are many things I like about each set and I want to heartily thank each of the golf manufacturers, including Mizuno, for their wonderful expert staffs and support in helping me locate my new golf tools.
I have made a decision. The new Hogan Apex blades will be making their debut in my Tour staff bag Feb. 15 at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay in Oahu, Hawaii. Also in the bag will be the new TaylorMade TP 460 driver. Plus my Titleist Vokey wedges and my Scotty Cameron putter, each of which have been in my bag for a number of years.
The Tour Staff Bag
About the Tour staff bag: LPGA tournament players are required to use a professional, regulation-size Tour bag during all practice, pro-am and tournament rounds. The Tour bag must be a minimum of eight inches in diameter, non-collapsible and have no attached kick-stand. Players are fined if these regulations are violated. I will be carrying a customized OGIO Tour bag as well as using OGIO's stylish travel gear. I love their colors and products!During Rookie Orientation, I was told I could have as many sponsor logos on my staff Tour bag as a NASCAR racer has on his car! There's no limit. In customizing my OGIO staff Tour bag, I will have six sponsor logos:
I selected these companies because I either use their products or services, or have a relationship with them.Advertising is all about product placement. Where the logo goes is important. The most visible place is on a player's body so understandably the most expensive logo placement is on a player's hat. The order of preferred placement then goes: front/back of shirt, shorts or pants, and then golf bag. My advisers instructed me not to jump at the first endorsement contract offered, no matter what the product was or the amount of money involved.
Like every consumer, I use products and want those products to do the job. I spend time researching equipment or products that are important to me before I make a purchase. I read product reviews, but I actually tend to do my own testing and sampling. It's not enough to kick the tires, I look under the hood myself.
For example, I recall being in a Sports Authority with a fellow player on the Duramed Futures Tour, looking for the perfect jump rope. I use a jump rope during my gym sessions as apart of my warm-up routine to break a sweat. It is very important to me to have one that I like. I delicately slipped open packages, and looked at length and even started to jump rope in the store, making sure that the product met my needs.
Look at the process I undertook to find my new set of clubs. It's another example of how much I care about the equipment I use.
If I am endorsing a product, I am also bound legally by Federal regulations. By law, "an endorsement means any advertising message (including verbal statements, demonstrations, or depictions of the name, signature, likeness or other identifying personal characteristics of an individual or the name or seal of an organization) which message consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experience of a party other than the sponsoring advertiser." (Citation: 16 CFR 255)
Sponsor Support for Young Golfers
Looking back, my introduction to sponsors began during college when I was an amateur golfer on the Women's UCLA Golf Team. As representatives of the university, members of the golf team are issued free clothing (Adidas), golf bags (Ping), golf balls (Titleist), equipment, etc. With the Adidas connection, both the Men's and Women's golf teams were also able to visit the TaylorMade "Kingdom" and receive fittings for clubs. There are very strict NCAA Rules and Regulations that govern what is acceptable and what is not.Sponsorship support is difficult to attain on the lower-level tours like the Duramed Futures Tour. Golfers tap into their amateur connections and approach the same corporate college representatives for "free" stuff.
When you're traveling across the country from one tournament to another, things add up fast. Gas, housing, food, golf balls, etc. Players will also share corporate contacts. I was introduced to incentive programs sponsored by sport-related companies. For example, a cash bonus was offered to the player who finished highest in a series of tournaments during the season while wearing a specific type of spike.
Duramed offered an incentive program, as well, for those players who made a hole-in-one during the season. Those players also received a cash prize, and the top player in selected tournaments received both a Duramed Futures golf bag plus a cash award - $500.
Another example: If you played with a Yes putter in three tournaments or more, you were automatically entered into a putting contest, with the top finisher in the contest earning another cash bonus - $1,000.
On the Duramed Futures Tour, tournament purses are small in comparison to those offered on the Nationwide Tour. How small? In 2006, the lowest winner's check on the Nationwide Tour was higher than the total purse of all but three Futures Tour events. So every little increase in cash flow helps enormously. (If any corporate decision makers are reading this diary, please consider supporting the Duramed Futures Tour.)
As a Rookie on the LPGA, I am still learning about the complexities of sponsorships and product endorsements and hope to report more during the upcoming 2007 LPGA season.
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