Sara and I wish to thank you again for the way we were treated by the LPGA and Porsche as winners of the LPGA/Porche Sweepstakes drawing. From our first notification, you and your staff were efficient and hospitable towards us and our friends, Ed and Rosemary Molloy, who we selected to make up our foursome for this event. All the arrangements were made at our convenience and were totally hassle-free and easy. You really made it seem like making a date with an old friend, and we were so impressed with the cordiality of all your staff and players. The accommodations at the Villas at Grand Cypress were very comfortable and staying at the tournament site made it so easy to watch the entire tournament, which we did, walking the course each day with our favorite players.

The events you set up for us went off like clockwork, and were just delightful to participate in. All of us were absolutely charmed by Jill McGill, who gave us our golf lesson. Jill had just come off the course from a very challenging round, but in spite of a pretty tough day out on the course, showed great enthusiasm and interest in helping us to improve our golf games. Jill has got to be one of the finest ambassadors for the LPGA that you could have picked to work with us. Her down-to-earth sincerity and genuine interest in giving us helpful instruction inspired us to work on our golf, and we will be following her progress on the Tour next year with great interest and trying to watch her whenever we can. We followed her all day on Friday, saw her make a lot of really great shots, and were very disappointed when the putts just wouldn't fall for her and she missed the cut. We all agreed that her instructional skills were excellent and she spent much more time with us than she was obligated for. She made four new friends that will be rooting for her for as long as she continues to compete on the Tour.

Katherine Hull was selected to do a "meet-and greet" with us after her round on Saturday. She is another very fine person who represents what the LPGA stands for extremely well. She, too, gave very generously of her time to get to know each of us and was very articulate and interested in us as fans and consumers of the LPGA "product". We were very impressed with her both as a world-class athlete and affable representative for your organization. She could easily step into a PR role when her competitive days on the Tour are done. Thanks so much for putting us together with her; she has a wonderful sense of humor, really beautiful eyes, and is as kind and gracious as any player we have ever met.

We came to dinner at Hemingway's in the Grand Cypress Hyatt to Anna Rawson and were thrilled that you had been able to bring along Louise Suggs as well. What a terrific "bonus" you gave us to have the evening include one of the true legends of the game! Anna was cordial and beautiful, and despite an early tee time the next day, seemed quite happy to stay late and chat with us. You were so kind and thoughtful to ask Nancy Lopez to take time out from her friends and colleagues in the adjacent bar area and come out to meet us before dinner. The love and great respect she showed for Louise was touching, and getting to meet Nancy was yet another unexpected treat for us. Louise was just amazing. In spite of her recent and serious injuries, she was full of energy and we were captivated by the stories she told of the early days of the LPGA and her interactions with other golf greats of past eras. Please do again convey our gratitude to Ms. Suggs for agreeing to come out for dinner on a chilly evening and entertain us; she is certainly one of the crown jewels of LPGA history and still a great asset to the organization at 87.

In closing, I'd like to include a few thoughts on my personal observation of the LPGA Tour. The level of athleticism and stamina these women display as they travel the world and all its time zones is just amazing. We all agreed that they give so much to the game and to the fans. We also agreed that the level of interaction with fans is much greater than what we have observed at PGA events. This seems to be one of the strengths this Tour has and one of the prime ways that the marketing of your "product" is enhanced. Sara and Rosemary both collected a full roster of autographs on the caps you guys gave us, and they were given out at every request with smiles and a gracious attitude. The women of the LPGA seem to understand that there is more to their profession than just playing great golf and they exude an attitude of accessibilty and warmth towards their fans that exceeds what we've experienced in other sports venues.

Sincerely,
Andy Ridinger

If you have a positive story to tell, feel free to email it to feedback@lpga.com and it will be posted in the For the Love of the Fans section. 

Topics: For the Love of the Fans