Pipe dreams die hard, it's said, and this week, a lot of golfer's dreams are either on life support or will experience unexpected fatal trauma at Q-School Pre-Qualifying. Two courses will host the pre-qualifying tournaments, Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, Dade City, Florida, and East Valley Golf Club, Beaumont, California. Players who make the cut will be at one of nine PGA Q-School First Stage Events scattered at eleven different sites. Those events take place either October 21-24th or October 27-30th.
Isabella Beisiegel, the former LPGA player, will be teeing it up with the fellows in another attempt to become the first female to hold a PGA card. Beisiegel has never done things the east way. Izzy, the name she goes by, was diagnosed with Graves’ disease in November 2005 and she had a successful surgery to remove her thyroid and successful thyroid hormone replacement. She's fully recovered now, and seems to be focusing on making the cut in one of the traditionally men's tours.
Biesiegel has long been mocked in her attempts to join a men's tour. She's sometimes called "Dizzy Izzy" by her detractors, and ocassionally derided as being on a Don Quixote-like quest, but for her part, she says on her website that she "believe(s) it is a myth that women can't play against the men. The ball doesn't know whether it is a man or a woman hitting it." The scorecard doesn't care, and that's where this will be settled, and thus far, despite some encouraging streaks, Biesiegel has yet to make it to the PGA Q-School finals.
Brandt Snedecker's brother Haynes will be teeing it up, as will Andrew Giuliani, the former Duke player who was kicked off of the team last year. Sports Illustrated writer Gary Van Sickle's son Mike is also in the pre-qual field, and will be making his first attempt at getting a Tour card.
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1 week ago
Sounds like Izzy needs to have that statement rephrased for her.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that the women can't PLAY with the men - the PGA Tour doesn't discriminate by gender like the LPGA does.
It IS that there isn't a woman on the planet who can succeed against the men on the professional level.
The idea of playing professional golf is to make money. It isn't about making cutesy statements a la Helen Reddy and her feminist theme song "I am Woman".
If you can't make a cut - you can't make any money. Even if the Tour GAVE her a card to do her best and GAVE her entry into all 33 events on the schedule, she would have ZERO dollars at the end of the year and her card would be taken away.
So go ahead - pay your entry fee into the PGA Tour Q-school. Give it your best shot. Nobody can or will tell you not to because the PGA Tour says anybody who has the money is welcome to try.
There will be a few people who will think you are being "heroic" for the effort against the mean ol' men - and a few who will continue to laugh...but most people just don't care. Most people would wonder why she doesn't try to play somewhere she might actually be able to earn a living instead of tilting at windmills.
Good luck, Izzy - hope you don't actually need the money from the entry fee down the road.
The desire to play with the boys is an interesting phenomenon in golf.
ReplyDeleteIn figure skating, only men have the title, "Figure Skating Champion." Women compete to be the "Ladies Figure Skating Champion." Yet I don't know of any gal who ever said I want to be the "Figure Skating Champion" and not the "Ladies Figure Skating Champion."
Figure Skating and maybe gymnastics are probably the only two sports that women get more attention than men. Maybe because men who figure skate get the reputation for being a little light in the loafers, and in gymnastics, if men tried half the moves the women do, we would break in half. :-)
ReplyDeleteCG, you've earned your charter membership in Stereotypes R Us, haven't you?
ReplyDeleteMs. Beisiegel hasn't asked for any exemption, she hasn't asked to play from the red tees and despite her medical issues, she hasn't even asked to be driven in a cart. So why are you accusing her of doing a big feminist routine?
As you've frequently stated, there isn't a woman on the planet who can compete successfully with any man, so please stop implying that it's unfair that the LPGA has a women only rule.
Didn't read much of what I wrote, eh, D ? I never accused her of any of those things. And I certainly didn't say that there wasn't a woman who could compete with "any" man on the planet. In case you hadn't noticed, not just "any man" gets to play on the PGA Tour.
ReplyDeleteDidn't say the LPGA rule was "unfair" either. Just said that it exists. Where do you get this stuff ? I said that the PGA Tour is open to anybody - unlike the LPGA, which flew into a world class dither a few years ago when some guy pushed the point wanting to qualify for the Women's Open and the LPGA Tour.
If you'll read - I said that she's tilting at windmills and throwing a lot of money down the drain - but I didn't say she wasn't welcome to try.
I will, however, debate you anytime anywhere about the double standards women push on society in their favor - demanding special protections and exemptions to keep men out, while also demanding that men open every door for them.