In Ron Sirak's Golf World piece highlighting his five critical points for the LPGA Tour to resolve, he brings up the possibility that the LPGA Tour could face stiff competition if the likes of Donald Trump or Rupert Murdoch made a big money investment in their own golf tour, put together a network TV deal, and created a string of no-cut worldwide events to lure in the best players from the LPGA Tour.
Well, there's actually a precedent — other than the USFL — to suggest that such a thing may not work out so well. It was called the U.S. Pro Golf Tour. And I know about it from personal experience.
Back in 2006, I was working with Greens Worldwide, a sports management and marketing company, on doing some work to promote their U.S. Pro Golf Tour on my 19th Hole Golf Show podcast. It was a modest schedule in 2006, including an event in the DC suburbs of northern Virginia. I stopped by the tournament there in Fredericksburg, talked to their leading money winner and two-time winner Lee Williams (he qualified for the U.S. Open that year at Winged Foot), and they even had a banner on their tournament tower for the 19th Hole Golf Show. It was pretty rad for me.
The company had signed a deal with FOX Sports Net to broadcast their tournament schedule in one-hour blocks, except for the Tour Championship, which would get two hours.
The folks behind the U.S. Pro Golf Tour were telling me that they had something big in the works in the summer of '06. They were going to put themselves on the map and become serious competition for the Nationwide Tour and European Tour.
They lined up Donald Trump.
Trump was going to present an event equally as unique as the ADT Championship format hosted at his Palm Beach course. The Trump Million Dollar Invitational was an event played at his digs in the Grenadines. The format would whittle down the field to 10 competitors through 54 holes of stroke play qualifying. The top 10 would carry over to the final day of competition.
Those players would then engage in a nine-hole playoff to determine the million dollar champion. After each hole, any ties would be settled with a skills competition, like a putting or chipping contest. The worst player would be eliminated until the final two players dueled it out on the last hole to win the money.
Australian Stuart Deane won the million dollars on the first playoff hole after the nine holes were completed. It was by far the biggest paycheck of his pro life — definitely eclipsing the money he earned for finishing 59th at the PGA Tour's New Orleans event earlier that year.
Starting in 2007, Trump was going to have his name plastered all over the USPGT's four major championships. All of them would be named after him and they would be contested at his courses in the United States with purses ranging from $1.5 million to a $5 million match play event. His total commitment would be $10.1 million. Even further, there would be a GoTrump.com Cup, presented to the player with the lowest scoring average.
"There is no doubt the talent level is among the highest in the world, and we’re pleased to be an integral part of four major championships on the USPGT schedule," said Mr. Trump.
No doubt — like everything Trump — that his name would be the centerpiece of this organization. But then suddenly, Trump took his name and his money out of the U.S. Pro Golf Tour.
In a hastily-worded release just two days into 2007, when his commitment was set to begin, Trump announced his withdrawal from the five-year agreement. He cited management changes at Greens Worldwide — the parent of the U.S. Pro Golf Tour — as the reason. According to language in his memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Pro Golf Tour, it was well within his rights.
"Although we firmly believe in what the U.S. Pro Golf Tour is doing for the game of golf by giving young professionals an international platform to showcase their talents, we've elected to exercise our option and step back until the new management presents a revised business plan," said Ashley Cooper, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Trump Golf Properties.
The management change? Found Tom Kidd — now back with the company — left the organization and left its members high and dry after taking a $200,000 bonus.
That was basically the death knell for the U.S. Pro Golf Tour. The 2007 season was cancelled entirely and all 450 members that paid dues for the year were told that the Tour would honor those fees in 2008.
In late 2007, a management company named SportsQuest, Inc., signed on with Greens Worldwide — whose stock price was basically zero at that point — to be presenting sponsor for the entire U.S. Pro Golf Tour season for three years. Their deal ends next season. In order to attract more sponsors, the U.S. Pro Golf Tour promised the world to investors: prime time airtime, pro-am clinics, even tickets to other major events in golf.
The 2008 season was to have had five events with a total purse of $4,220,000. All events were to be played using the Trump Million Dollar Invitational format — splitting prize money between the stroke play and playoff formats. The season never got off of the ground, but USPGT player Bryan DeCorso even went on to win the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic.
This season, Jefferson Starship joined the party to perform at the U.S. Pro Golf Tour's events. No joke. But, it never got going.
Even still, the U.S. Pro Golf Tour has operating agreements with SportsQuest and a broadcast production partner in EPIC Corporation. In the agreement announcement with EPIC in March 2008 — for the '09-'11 seasons that may never come — the Tour was still using Trump's name:
"The USPGT has previously conducted the TRUMP Million Dollar International televised on ESPN and ESPN Internationally."
It is tough to stop a crook and a bad business model. In fact, it was probably Trump's eye that kept him from being embarrassed even more so. Most people would never have heard about this investment decision gone awry for Donald Trump were it not for this piece.
The LPGA Tour clearly has a better business model — a 60-year one, in fact. Donald Trump's involvement with that Tour, now terminated, was a much more sophisticated relationship. Trump has since moved onto bigger things, like hosting the U.S. Junior Amateur and pressing 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 challenge the LPGA Tour and build his own women's tour, he would be much more prudent and learn lessons from the U.S. Pro Golf Tour.
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