LPGA T&CP Education Is Going Global

The LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals are expanding their National Education opportunities to now become International. With 42 LPGA Tour Members, Korea is a perfect choice to host and Seoul will be the first site for this global LPGA education...and yours truly will be on the first team to travel to Korea in May of 2012!

PGA Master Professional Jay Na will serve as the Approved Education Provider for the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) membership in South Korea. In this role, Na will help to schedule, promote and conduct LPGA Teaching and Club Professional education and certification programs throughout the country.

Na, a PGA Golf Professional since 1999, has already been tutoring Korean LPGA applicants for several years. His philosophy of instruction and belief that every student has his or her own unique way of swinging the club aligns well with the LPGA’s student centered approach to teaching.

LPGA T&CP Professionals achieve certification by completing a multi-year series of educational programs. They must first pass a Playing Ability Test (PAT) to ensure that they are qualified to play and teach the game of golf. After passing the PAT, LPGA Professionals go through three levels of education and testing in order to obtain Class A membership status.

I have been involved with various aspects of the LPGA's education since 1996, and to now see it go Global is quite amazing. To say the least it is very exciting news and I am honored to have been selected to participate in such a new and wonderful expansion for the LPGA T&CP.

안녕...That's Goodbye in Korean...better get learning!

Keep Swinging!

Jane

Senior Sentiments

Older, wiser and still playing great golf, Julie Inkster is causing the youth of the LPGA to take notice. She is playing so well that currently Julie would make the Solheim Cup team. Her experience and leadership would be welcome weapons for Captain Rosie Jones.

Word on the fairway is that even if Julie plays her way onto the team, she would step aside and allow the next in line to play. Say it Ain't so! Julie, if you qualify for Team USA PLEASE play. It would mean that you are one of the elite players that deserves to be representing your country, a true honor for you and a special gift for the fans.

Now there is a lot of golf left in this season. Will the senior swinger be able to continue the birdie barrage as the season grinds onward? Only time will tell if the fountain of youth will keep Julie humming for a few more months. It sure would be grand. Perhaps a side trip to St. Augustine would be in order!

I for one will be cheering Julie on at every event. To see her with the red, white and blue proudly displayed and hoisting the Solheim Cup would be spectacular. Besides, who wouldn't want to see the fleet footed Inkster dancing up a storm one more time? I'm smiling already.

Keep Swinging!

Jane


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Paula Made the Call

Paula Creamer made the call all on her own. No living room rules official with high def tv had to speed dial the Kia Classic and tattle on this classy professional. She saw when her club accidentally touched the sand in a bunker during her backswing and immediately called the two stroke penalty on herself. That's the way the game has been played for eons...players calling penalties on themselves.

Listening to Paula being interviewed was impressive. She eloquently stated that the rules are the rules, she saw it happen and there was no question that the penalty had to be called. Those are the lessons in sportsmanship that need to be broadcast for adults and youth to hear. It was a significant call as she finished the day tied for 60th rather than tied for 34th. Paula will always be able to look herself in the mirror as having done the right thing even when no one was looking.

On another note about Paula, I am extremely jealous that she had the opportunity to fly in an F-16 with the Thunderbirds. Looked like a blast. I came close one time to a ride with the Thunderbirds however my best airplane experience is when I was fortunate enough to fly Crazy Horse, a dual controlled P-51 Mustang. I did aerobatics for an hour and then got to land the great bird. What a thrill.

Keep Swinging!

Jane

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Great Week For LPGA

As a fan of Golf, I thought the LPGA aced the RR Donnelly Founders Cup. What a great venue for crowd participation and the competition was very exciting. Congratulations to Karrie Webb for showing the youngsters a thing or two about winning. I think she gets classier every year.

Seemed as if the players were relaxed and very approachable throughout the week. The various highlights they did about the players, past and present, was very interesting and I think helps the image and brand of the LPGA.

Charity was the ultimate winner with much support being given to the relief efforts in Japan. May the country heal quickly.

One other great bit of news from the LPGA tonight. This was a Tweet, yes I'm on Twitter now @JaneFrostGolf:

From Annika:

"SURPRISE! I went into labor today & William Nicholas McGee was born at 6:33 PM. I'm well. Will is hanging in there fine for being 27 weeks."

Congratulations to Annika and her family at this joyous time. May good health rule for Mother and Son.

Keep Swinging!

Jane

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The LPGA is Alive!

What a joy to watch the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup held in Phoenix. Today was a great tribute to those 13 women who had the vision to create and grow the LPGA into the Global sport that it is today. How wonderful to see the youngsters paying tribute to Shirley Spork, Louise Suggs and Marilynn Smith. A real lesson in respect for the game and for the pioneers who have paved the way for these young women to reap the benefits of today's purses and endorsements.

In my career I have had the good fortune to actually play with Shirley Spork, Marilynn Smith and Patty Berg. In fact, I even attended a Dallas Cowboys football game with Marilynn Smith. What a thrill and what great ladies indeed.

I was very impressed with Commissioner Whan's interview and how adamant he is to bring this tour back to it's rightful place in the golf world with 30 to 33 tournaments being held annually by the 2012 - 2013 season. He has an enthusiasm and a genuine concern about the LPGA and it's stars, past and present. Mr. Whan has proven to be one of the best commissioners the LPGA has seen in many years.

How refreshing to hear the tour players say that the best advice they ever received as a junior golfer was to have fun, play by feel and to not get bogged down in mechanics. Hallelujah! Yes, let's get back to the PLAY of golf and to engage in an activity that brings joy. We all need to golf our ball rather than playing golf mechanics while out on the course. My motto is Hit it, Hunt It, Hole It...repeat until the round is complete. If you have fun first...good golf will follow.

To learn more about the LPGA Founders please visit: http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?mid=2&pid=3421

Keep Swinging!

Jane

Muchas Gracias

Hard to believe that we are coming up to the year anniversary of the mighty mite from Mexico, Lorena Ochoa, retiring from competitive golf on the LPGA.
She had so much going for her as she reached so many milestones at an early age. Lorena was #1 in the world for 3 years and finished with 27 LPGA
victories, two of which were majors. Those gaudy numbers qualified her for the LPGA Hall of Fame once she completed 10 years on the LPGA tour in 2012.

Yet Lorena had found another side of life that had a greater calling than the tour. In 2009 she married Andres Conesa and immediately fell into the roll as step mother, a roll that she enjoyed far better than the grind of the tour or the allure of the Hall of Fame.

While she is no longer prowling the fairways of the tour she has hardly been retired from the world of golf as her philanthropic activities are keeping her busy. She is the queen of humanitarian efforts as her foundations reach out to children, especially the Latino community.

She has recently announced a program called the Lorena Ochoa Neighborhood Golf. It has been described as a version of a backyard bounce house seen at a youngsters birthday party except it has a tent, golf clubs and limited flight golf balls. Because of the mobility of this country fair like game, Lorena is striving to introduce the game of golf to American minorities throughout the country. This is all in an effort to bust the myth that golf is a rich, white persons game. Seriously, in 2011 we are still battling this stigma? Sometimes I think we have not evolved at all.

I have not had the honor of meeting Lorena. Everything I hear is nothing but glowing. She may only meet you once and yet at the next meeting she will remember every detail about the first. A rare talent indeed and shows her deep connection to the world and to making a difference with mankind.

In the world of professional athletes whining about how are they going to feed their families with only a 5 million dollar contract, it is refreshing to know that one Hall of Fame Athlete has chosen to follow her heart and make a difference. A difference that will touch future generations of golfers, the golf industry and perhaps even the evolution of mankind where people are seen for the good that they do and not the color of their skin.

Keep Swinging,

Jane

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Who Makes the Call?

I am a rabid football fan who like every other fan occasionally has a thing or two to say about the officiating, especially when my beloved Patriots are wronged. Seems as if the refs never hear me through the tv so I decided one Sunday that I simply had to call CBS and tell them that from the comfort of my own home, with hi-def tv I know the officials got that call wrong. The solution of course is to wait until the end of the game and then correct the call and disqualify one of the teams and then take away their paycheck for the day. Get real. Like that will ever happen...wait a minute...it does happen in golf and no one knows better than Padraig Harrington about the sting of the penalty...DQ'd and no paycheck. All because technology has made it possible for viewers to see what the human eye can not. And the powers that be in the golf rule kingdom allow Joe Slicer to affect the outcome of the tournaments and the lively hood of these professionals.

It is time for the Royal & Ancient, the USGA and all tours to take a stand about this living room officiating and to change the antiquated rule of disqualification for a player returning an incorrect scorecard as a result of information that comes in after the round has been completed. Not fair.

Golfers as a whole have been way above average in self policing themselves on rules infractions. Countless penalties have been called by the players themselves. They have a respect for the game of golf and their fellow competitors.

Can you imagine Wes Welker saying to the official " Oh no, it was my push off that caused the contact. It wasn't pass interference at all." That is not going to happen nor is it the nature of team sports. In that arena the officials on site can and do influence the outcome of games...not the fans.

Please let the golfers continue to be their own officials and if the naked eye can not see a rules infraction then hi-def tv should not be allowed to influence the outcome of this honorable game.

Keep Swinging!

Jane

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