Thursday, June 08, 2006

The Classic is of Course, Over

As is so often the case, a special week in your life can pass in a flash, with so much left to say and do. In this case, the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Seaview of Atlantic City came with somewhat of a whimper, but left with a bang. A brilliant final round 63 on the Bay Course at Seaview by the young amateur Seon Hwa Lee clenched her first LPGA title.

As painful as it is to admit, to both the reader and your scribe, the organization and implementation of the tournament was in many respects very disappointing. However, at every turn the golf and the LPGA golfers themselves were nothing short of amazing. Professional golf is a unique sport that provides both risk and reward to be part of day in and day out. My respect for the LPGA golfers grows each time I am afforded the opportunity to watch how golf can be played.

My concerns about the organization of the tournament are, in some cases, out of the control of the organizers, but some are.

The ShopRite Classic Website

This has disappointment written all over it. A website is a tool to communicate information. If the website does not convey information needed by the visitor, it has failed. At every turn, the website leaves the visitor with far less than they need to know. This forces the visitor to call and be shuffled to volunteers who are clearly unprepared to address these questions adequately. The un-official phrase of the ShopRite Class is "I'm just a volunteer." Still today, the website has not been updated with the winner's photo and scores.

Parking

Do all tournaments charge for parking? This will have to be looked in to more closely. To date, this is the only tournament I have had to pay to park at. It is also the only tournament that I have attended where the bus would wait until it was full to continue on to the tournament; an obvious necessity when there are only four busses shuttling spectators to and from the course. The parking fees are not listed on their website.

Will Call

It seems an oddity to have the Will Call booth open at different times every day of the event. This causes confusion for out-of-town visitors who may be traveling long distances to come to the tournament. The hours of operation for Will Call are not listed on the website. In addition, when you purchase a ticket online, no confirmation email is sent, which would be a perfect time and method of communicating when and where you can pick up your tickets.

Signage

The signage for the tournament was clearly wrong from the local's perspective. The signage from the White Horse Pike, directed the visitor to the rear-entrance of Stockton. The Will Call booth is at the front of Stockton. In many ways a trivial point, but an extreme inconvenience when you are toting an 18-month-old. This forced the visitor to exit the bus upon leaving and wait yet another 15-20 minutes for the next but to arrive.

In spite of the ShopRite Classic organizers best efforts to thwart any possibility of walking in the front gate of the tournament in a good mood, I loved the tournament and will always make a concerted effort to attend. This tournament represents one of the most important charitable efforts in South Jersey and rewards so many. This tournament is the foundation of Atlantic City Golf and represents what is could be. However, every day we all must learn to do whatever it is that we do better and improve upon the past.