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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 2, 1999

Mary Capouch

WEST POINT, MISSISSIPPI

RHONDA GLENN: Mary Capouch of Mandeville, Louisiana is the chairman of the United States Golf Association Women's Committee. She has been on the USGA Women's Committee for 16 years, and this is her 15th Women's Open. Mary, I understand that you have an announcement about an upcoming Women's Open.

MARY CAPOUCH: Yes. We are very excited to announce that the Women's Open at 2002 will be in Prairie Dunes, Hutchinson, Kansas, July 4th through 7th. This is a great venue. This is the first time a Women's Championship has been to Prairie Dunes since the Curtis Cup in 1986; and, prior to that, the Women's Amateur in 1991. It's a great site and a wonderful golf community and a fabulous golf course. And I think that the players are going to love playing there. It has a wonderful feel, and we're very excited and honored to be invited.

RHONDA GLENN: It's the Women's Committee, with the assistance of the USGA staff that runs the U.S. Open, makes all the decisions regarding the Women's Open. Any questions you have, Mary is ready to field them, whether it be about scheduling or whatever.

Q. Mary, at a time when women's golf is trying to sort of -- is bumping up obviously against The SENIOR TOUR, PGA TOUR, trying to get more attention, why is it that you are picking fairly isolated sites, and I don't know where Hutchinson is, but I assume it's fairly isolated; and next year bumping up against the British Open. Doesn't that sort of conflict? Or detract from the media attention? Are you concerned about that?

MARY CAPOUCH: Well, yes and no. Right now, we're at a point with our Women's Open where we have grown so much -- even in just the last five years -- that we feel we can take the Women's Open anywhere and be successful. Now, obviously this area is not the easiest marketing area, but in the case of George Bryant's invitation to the USGA and for our Women's Open, we had somebody that really wanted us, a club that was just really raring to go to host the Women's Open, and George's enthusiasm and a $900,000 commitment from the state of Mississippi to help market the Open. Those things helped in our consideration in coming here and the fact that -- what you have to remember is the USGA is an organization of member clubs, and we like to take our championships all over the United States; so this gave us an opportunity to come back to Mississippi. We had only been here one other time, and that was for the men's Mid-Amateur in 1986. And as far as being opposite the British Open, that was a case where the Merit Club invited us. Those were the dates that we picked for that event, and we ended up opposite the British Open. But I don't think that that is going to have that much of a bearing on the Women's Open, because we are in a great market area, and I think that, as I say, we are standing on our own now.

Q. Do you anticipate that this event will start going to some of the more traditional places that the men have been playing at Oakmont, Merion, Congressional, or is that not in the future?

MARY CAPOUCH: Well, some of our places have been traditional for us. We did go to Oakmont in '92. I think we kind of like to carve our own path, and we have been very successful the places we have gone, and taking the Open to new market areas and men's market areas; so I think that's a really positive thing. Merit Club will definitely be a good site, because people got used to us last year in Kohler and Libertyville is the northern suburb in Chicago and we expect to get good crowds in Milwaukee, and possibly even north of there.

Q. As you may know, the U.S. Tennis Association gives equal prize money for men and women in its U.S. Open in September. Other national governing bodies of their sports also give equal prize money to the men and women of that particular sport. Why doesn't the USGA give equal money? And, in fact, it's only half for the women compared to the men? Why is it not equal prize money at the U.S. Open for both men and women?

MARY CAPOUCH: We're working on that. As I say, the U.S. Women's Open has grown in the last few years, particularly the last five years. And we're proving our worth as a USGA Championship, and our attendance is growing. And as we grow, we hope our prize money will grow, and it has. We're at 1.75 million. And compared to where it started, and we're in great shape; and it can only get better.

Q. Does your committee work to get it equal? I understand with the history of discrimination in golf against women that maybe there might be some people that might say: What, you want the women to have equal prize money? But vis-a-vis the national governing body aspect of this, is this a sense of your group and your committee that it must be equal?

MARY CAPOUCH: Very definitely. We want it to grow and we want it to prosper, and we'd like it to be as big as it possibly can, and we're working on it each year to carve away at that.

Q. Listening to your answer of Christine's question, it sounds like when the Women's Open becomes a revenue generator that can meet the standard, then you'll be able to raise the prize money.

MARY CAPOUCH: That's part of it.

Q. But the USGA has more than enough money to make this an equal event.

MARY CAPOUCH: Well, I think the USGA has to examine its priorities, and I think the Women's Open is a priority. But I think that all the things that we said before about the Women's Open is growing and proving its worth. I still think we have to get there, and I really can't answer your question beyond that.

RHONDA GLENN: An interesting question along that line might be: When did the Women's Open first begin to make money, or is it making any money at all?

MARY CAPOUCH: It began to make money in 1995 at the Broadmoor.

Q. It's interesting that it was making money then, but isn't it the USGA's responsibility to be fair to all golfers? And in this particular case, the factor is that there's women golfers and men golfers. No one cares about the fact that the Women's Open didn't make money until '95. What we're concerned about is the perception that women golfers don't get equally treated in their Open versus men golfers.

MARY CAPOUCH: Equal treatment to the USGA is conducting a national championship of high quality, and we do the same treatment for the women at the Women's Open as we do for the men at the Men's Open. But, you know, our committee is working as hard as it possibly can to do everything we can to make the purse higher. And that's all I can say.

RHONDA GLENN: I think also the Women's Open purse is the largest purse on the LPGA TOUR.

Q. Do you feel like sometimes though if you are pushing the Women's Open along, does it sometimes fall upon deaf ears? I know that your committee is not the engine that drives the USGA. Do you feel like sometimes your requests are falling on deaf ears?

MARY CAPOUCH: I feel we're doing better at having listening ears.

Q. What would it take for next year? What has to happen to equalize the prize money, and what are you waiting for? What has to happen specifically?

MARY CAPOUCH: Well, obviously, if we have a blockbuster success here at Old Waverly that will definitely help our cause. I can't say them escalating the prize money next year to make it equal to the Men's Open. Realistically, that's not going to happen. But we have to commit you're request to the executive committee and they are the ones that make the determination of the prize money for all three USGA Open Championships.

Q. Has the committee ever just come out point blank and said: We would like the prize money to be equal? Has that ever happened, and do you see that happening any time soon?

MARY CAPOUCH: Well, we always say that. But what we try to do is ask for something that's realistic.

Q. So you haven't specifically asked for equal prize money?

MARY CAPOUCH: Yes, we have.

Q. And you've been turned down repeatedly?

MARY CAPOUCH: Well, I would say we've asked for equal prize money, but it's been an unrealistic question, and we realize that. And, of course, we always preface or say after that that we would like it to be X and always ask for something higher than it would be. I mean -- I just mean the opposite, sorry. We always ask for something realistic, and we hope we will get that.

Q. The USGA events more or less have to stand on their own, but going back to what Alex was talking about here, does the profit or the money made from the Women's Open pay for the Women's Amateur and the profit made from the Men's Open pay for the Men's Amateur, or does all this money go into one pot to support all these other championships and the different things that the USGA supports?

MARY CAPOUCH: The money that helps us conduct our championships basically comes out of one pot. It will, like you said. It's not based on the revenue that comes out of the Women's Open. In other words, what we make in the Women's Open doesn't help us conduct the Women's Amateur, if that's what you were asking.

Q. Sorry to belabor the point and maybe we need David Fay in here, I don't know. But when you said it was a matter of the USGA needing to examine its priorities. Going back to this decision to have the Women's Open on the same weekend at the British Open, I would dare say most of the reporters here from major newspapers won't be at the Women's Open next year; they will be at the British Open. Just a guess. Is this something you protested? Because it sure looks to those of us in the media like it will be a real slap to the women in terms of media coverage, which, of course is the extension of your event. If you don't have media coverage and good media coverage, and maybe even stripped across the top of the British Open, which certainly will have that. Is your message for the good of the game not getting out?

MARY CAPOUCH: First of all what you have to realize is that in 19 -- actual actually the Old Waverly Women's Open was supposed to be in 2000 at the Merit Club, and the PGA scheduled their championship within three weeks of our championship; so, we moved our dates, moved our location to Old Waverly for 1999 and the Merit Club for 2000. So we ended up with our 17-21 or whatever because we were trying to avoid being in competition with the PGA, which is going to be in the Chicago area this year. My take on the British Open is that not every newspaper can afford to send their entire sports staff to -- across the pond to cover it; so, we feel like we're in a major metropolitan area, and we're going to get -- we're still going to get good coverage.

Q. Is the issue that -- maybe we're getting at the fact that there's just such an ingrained feeling -- and again I apologize if we're hitting you with these questions. Maybe we should be talking to David Fay, but such an ingrained feeling that women are second-class citizens in golf; that you're just so happy to have anything?

MARY CAPOUCH: Oh, I don't think so at all. I really feel like we have so many players, female players that play golf and men that play golf. We have a smaller piece of the marketplace. A smaller piece of the pie just by virtue of the numbers of the women that play golf. I think that you know it's taken us longer to get where we are than the men just by virtue of the numbers.

Q. Is it too late to change the date, if you wanted to change the date, for the Open next year?

MARY CAPOUCH: Is it too late to change the date for next year? We could not change that date now.

Q. Basically, are you concerned about what's going on now weather-wise in this Open in terms of logistics of parking? And we don't know whether it's going to rain all night or stop in a few minutes and be great. What kind of weather concerns do you have for what's going on this week?

MARY CAPOUCH: I played in the Southern here two years ago, and there was a ton of rain and the course drains really well. I'm not concerned about that so much. I do think the parking areas are pretty high. Two systems have come through. This is the second one that had more stuff in it. I think we're going to be okay. This course, as I said, does drain really well, and the course is in perfect condition, and they did not have a lot of rain prior to last weekend; so I think the course can stand water.

Q. I'm confused on one thing on the dates of the Merit Club. If it had been this year, or even next year, why could the dates not have been the first week of July like it was last year at Blackwolf Run instead of the third week where it goes up against the British Open?

MARY CAPOUCH: Those dates, there must have been a conflict with some other -- some other USGA Championship or something else that was going on with the Merit Club. You know, the people that ask us, the clubs that ask us to come are our hosts, and we have to work with them on the dates. I'm not sure I can answer that. I'm just guessing.

Q. And also, even if the Merit Club made such a nice invitation, do you have the responsibility to yourself to say, great invitation but we owe it to ourselves to not run into such a conflict, and there's got to be other courses out there with just as good an invitation? No matter how nice the invitation, don't you owe it to yourself that when you run into a conflict where you're going head-to-head with the British Open to find another invitation from another course?

MARY CAPOUCH: Well, we already circumvented one problem and that was the PGA. Actually, we see it as a conflict, but we don't see it as a tremendous problem. Like I said, we feel like we're standing on our own now, and women's golf definitely has an interest following. And I think that, you know, you are not going to find everybody in the Chicago metropolitan area flying across to go to the British Open. I know from a press standpoint that concerns you, but we still feel like we're going to be all right. One thing I'll add about prize money: I don't want to belabor the subject, either, because it's not a very exciting subject, at least not to me, but to the players it is. But the Senior Open -- we have always tried to maintain equality, if not a prize money that's better than the Senior Open; and we have certainly done that and have had the prize money that's equal to the Senior Open; so we feel good about that. We feel like that's a step in the right direction.

RHONDA GLENN: Thank you very much Mary. Have a great week. We'll hope the weather dries out.

End of FastScripts….

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