Immigration Law

LPGA Reverses Decision On English-Only Golfers

By Robert Kraft

I wrote a note just a few days ago about the seemingly unjustified decision by the LPGA to require all professional golfers to be proficient in English in order to play on the U.S. tour. Now the Dallas Morning News reports that the tour has reversed its decision, and will simply encourage players to "get by with the basics of the language."

Of course I understand the reasons for the original decision —the corporate sponsors of the golf tournaments want the players to be able to chat with the sponsors and with the amateur players who pay thousands of dollars to play on the pro-am days of the tournament. But the original decree was just too ham-fisted. A gentler approach will be better, and will ensure that the LPGA appears to be more interested in good golf than in keeping the sponsorship money flowing. Here are excerpts: 

Under increasing criticism, the LPGA Tour on Friday backed off plans to suspend players who cannot speak English well enough to be understood at pro-ams, in interviews or in making acceptance speeches at tournaments.

LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens said she would have a revised plan by the end of the year that would not include suspensions, although fining non-English speakers remains an option.

Bivens disclosed the tour's original plan in a meeting with South Korean players two weeks ago at the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore., Golfweek magazine reported. The policy, which had not been written, was widely criticized as discriminatory, particularly against Asian players.

Bivens' announcement came two hours before the Asian Pacific American Legal Center planned a news conference in Los Angeles to demand the LPGA overturn its policy.

Full post as published by Immigration Law Answers Blog on September 06, 2008 (boomark / email).