After 21 years, ShopRite Classic cuts ties with LPGA
The ShopRite Classic, a fixture on the LPGA schedule for 21 years, has ended its ties with the tour in a dispute over when the tournament would be played. In a strongly worded statement released Wednesday that never mentioned LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens by name, tournament chairman Larry Harrison accused the tour of ignoring a commitment ShopRite Classic organizers say they had from previous tour leadership guaranteeing its date through 2008. The decision apparently ends an event that was one of the most popular among players because of its proximity to the Jersey Shore and the casinos of Atlantic City.
The standoff turned nasty in July when the tour slotted a new tournament in South Carolina -- the Ginn Tribute -- for June 1-3, one week before the McDonald's LPGA Championship for 2007. Harrison said that week was promised to him. The tour disputes that claim and offered several other dates, none of which were acceptable to the ShopRite organizers. Last month, the LPGA discussed the 2007 schedule at a players' meeting at the Long Drugs Challenge. On that draft schedule was an event listed only as "Atlantic City" slated for Labor Day weekend.
"In effect, there has been no true negotiation with the Tour, and no direct communication with the Tour commissioner or her staff throughout this process," Harrison said in his statement. "Rather, the Tour, through its outside legal counsel, has simply offered a few undesirable and/or unworkable dates, of which only one was even remotely acceptable."
In a tersely worded statement Wednesday night, the LPGA challenged the accuracy of Harrison's version of events and hinted at legal action. "Harrison's statement is full of falsehoods and incorrect accounts," the LPGA statement said. "We've directed our legal counsel to contact Mr. Harrison's attorney and have him rescind the statement."
Harrison's contention that there were no direct communications with the commissioner or her staff during the negotiations is contradicted by his earlier statements. In July he told Golf World he was supposed to meet with Bivens in Philadelphia, but that she was unable to attend because of airline problems. But Harrison said he did meet with the tour's chief legal officer, Libba Galloway, and its vice president for business affairs, Mike Nichols. Asked how the get-together went, Harrison said: "Not very well."
The LPGA also maintains that Harrison resisted earlier attempts at negotiations. "They could have had that date if they had responded to overtures for negotiations in April," Bivens told Golf World on Thursday. "They were guaranteed that date only if they had a signed contract, but they never engaged in talks toward that end. To say that there has not been negotiations is a falsehood. They looked at eight different date options and I've lost track of how many extensions we gave them to make a decision."
According to Harrison, the ShopRite has given $12 million to charity since 1986 -- $1.8 million last year -- and paid out more than $16 million in purses. He told Golf World in July he was offered three alternative dates by the LPGA: The week opposite the men's U.S. Open; the week of July 4th; and the week between tournaments in California and Mexico. None of those dates were acceptable to Harrison.
"We went up against the men's Open once before and it was a total disaster," he said. "No gallery, no press." July 4th weekend on the Jersey shore would be impossible because of the lack of reasonable hotel room rates for the players and the lack of availability of casinos for the two parties during the event. "And what kind of field would I get if we were between stops in California and Mexico?" Harrison asked.
The ShopRite Classic is the second LPGA event to break its ties with the tour in a dispute over scheduling dates. The Wendy's Championship for Children near Columbus, Ohio, a tour event since 1999, pulled out when its late-August date was given to the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore. The tour also has lost stops in Atlanta and Las Vegas this year, while adding the South Carolina event as well as stops in Alabama, Arkansas and Thailand.
"Putting together a schedule is like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube, when you think you have one side solved, you turn it over and see that another piece is out of place," LPGA chief operating officer Chris Higgs told Golf World when the Wendy's event left the tour. "We have to consider what's best for the tour overall and those decisions are not always going to make everyone happy. We don't want to lose events, but we do need a certain level of cooperation."
As recently as this Monday, sources familiar with the negotiations between the LPGA and the ShopRite tournament remained hopeful a solution could be found to keep the event on the schedule. That guarded optimism was shattered by Wednesday's statement. According to both the tour and the Tournament Owners Association, seven other events listed on the schedule for 2007 remain in various states of negotiations and have yet to sign contracts.
Ron Sirak is the executive editor of Golf World magazine
