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The LPGA is coming in for heavy criticism after players arrived at this week’s season-opener to discover no locker room facilities available to them.
As first reported by Golfweek, the 29 players contesting the Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club can make use of the bathrooms and showers on-site but have nowhere to store valuables.
It is understood that the locker room provisions were unavailable due to the hospitality arrangements on-site. Aaron Stewart, the vice-president of sports marketing at Hilton Grand Vacations, said that the intention had been to order temporary lockers for the week to be used on the lower level of the Lake Nona clubhouse, but added that the tour ultimately decided against that.
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LPGA tour star Ryann O’Toole told Golfweek: “I’m not mad at the club; I’m not mad at the sponsor. I’m annoyed at the LPGA for that just being an overlooked factor.”
Another player, Matilda Castren, added there should be “a certain standard” for staging events.
This is just the latest piece of negative PR to hit the LPGA.
In November, the CEO of the tour’s biggest sponsor threatened to withdraw his support unless the LPGA’s leadership “get their act together”
The CME Group’s Terry Duffy said he was “embarrassed” after no players attended the firm’s Global Financial Leadership Conference staged in Florida in the week of the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
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He added: “I’m concerned about the future of the tour because the leadership needs to work with their players to make sure that everybody has a clear understanding of how we grow the game together, along with sponsors and others. You need everybody. They say it takes a village, and I think their village is getting a little fractured.”
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, appointed in 2021, apologised and offered assurances it wouldn’t happen again.
Update
Since this story was first published, a representative for Hilton Grand Vacations has contacted bunkered.co.uk with this statement…
“After learning about the locker situation, Hilton Grand Vacations worked in partnership with Lake Nona Golf & Country Club and the LPGA to install 36 additional lockers prior to the official start of the HGV Tournament of Champions tomorrow. This ensures that every female at the tournament – both LPGA Players and celebrity players – has their own locker.”
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