Sarah Brown + Conforming PING Wedge = Disqualified? WTF?Here's the scoop: Sarah Brown, a Duramed Futures Tour Player, was DQ'd because a rules official decided to pull her off the course for using a wedge they "thought" to be non-conforming. Her dad pleading for her to at the least finish her round, (being 3 shots off the lead and about to have her best showing EVER in competitive golf) was denied that right - And then, OOOOOOOOPS!? Sarah's wedge was totally conforming... like, sorry.
Head in my hands and vomit feeling in my tummy...
"We made a mistake," said David Higdon, Chief Communications Officer for the LPGA.
Sarah being the sweet girl that she is, agreed that people make mistakes. Here's the deal Sarah... YOU PAY THE FUTURES TOUR/LPGA so that YOU CAN PLAY PRO GOLF. Knoweldgeable staff is hired to execute a job well-done. This week was a payday and a movement in rankings, and that was taken away, by error.
Zayra Calderon, (CEO of the Duramed Futures Tour) has officially apologized to Sarah for the mistake. Zayra is the same person that noted when I was playing the DFT and on the player board that, playing on the Duramed Futures Tour was not about making a living, it was about learning how to get to the next level, it's a "developmental" tour. Ahhhh yes, Wendy's Chili and rollin' 5-deep at the Knights Inn was a way of life in 2004... :) 
Making a living is an issue, especially with what it costs to be out there. Sarah Brown needs a GIANT apology from the LPGA in payment/exemption format of 5K and an entry into 2010 LPGA Qualifying School. A sorry band-aid from Zayra or a media shout-out from Higdon is politically correct, but perhaps not the be-all-end-all. These ladies fight on and off the course to have a slim-chance at success in Women's Golf, there is little to no money to be made in the Futures purses and sponsorships. These ladies find a way to fund their dream that essentially runs a loss and forever remains a gamble. What happened to Sarah was unacceptable.
Women's professional golf has too many hard-working individuals and world-class athletes to have mediocre tour management that make silly errors that not only cost the growth of the tour, but inevitably hold back success of rising stars.
