Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff_LaG
Indeed, the previously quoted numbers for the Vibram Open were based on an expected Open Women field of 30, and paying out 15.
Despite Steve practically begging and pleading them to come, only 12 women entered the event.  |
Too bad more women didn't come to play this year. No question that playing the Vibram Open would be a great experience, for any player, and well worth the costs.
There has been a lot of discussion among the ladies about the problem of luring more women to play the big tourneys, and this is probably a limiting factor that keeps FPO from breaking the $10K frontier. The touring pros who do play at Vibram are all so incredibly great players, maybe a lot of other women don't feel they have any chance to get into the cash. Which is fine, of course, so long as one reasons that the tourney expenses are worth it, if you have the spare cash (which is not plentiful these days). And women are usually juggling a lot of responsibilities, especially if they have kids.
It will be fun to work toward hosting ladies-only events with $0 registration fee, and a host arrangement (perhaps subsidized) that keeps local expenses low (i.e., <$10/day) by finding good places to sleep and refresh, holding barbecues and cook-outs through their entire stay, etc.. If we work hard enough, we can raise enough added cash to get a huge payout for the FPO field, and then we can also begin working beyond that to subsidize travel expenses to the tourney, help with day care, etc., etc.. Of course, we'd like to see this direction for the entire sport, but I think the ladies would be a good place to start.