Dubai: Ladies European Tour (LET) CEO Ivan Khodabakhsh announced the schedule for the 22-leg 2014 season on the sidelines of the season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club on Saturday.
In his first year since taking over from Alexandra Armas — and despite continuing economic constraints throughout Europe — he has managed to retain every tournament and raise the total prize-fund of over €10 million (Dh50.3 million) by €500,000. Gulf News tracked him to find out what the future held for ladies golf and how he — after settling into his new role — intended to turn consolidation into definite progress.
GULF NEWS: What have you done in your first year in charge?
IVAN KHODABAKHSH: In 2013 we did an audit of who we are, what we are doing and where we are heading. Defining and repositioning the LET with a new vision and creating a strategy for marketing events and player development. We now have a five-year strategy and a business plan for the first three years, so this is ground zero and we have to take-off and try to implement what we have been planning in these last 12 months.
GN: What’s the focus now looking forward?
IK: We have created four tiers in which we will be building our strategy, one of them is the strength of the brand, basically with emphasis on marketing, digital engagement and looking into more PR activities, not just linked to tournaments. We want to connect the dots, if you see the tournaments as dots, we want to connect them together to tell a story for our fans.
GN: Will there be a concerted effort to raise prize money?
IK: With a strong brand and the marketing that increases the value of the tour and each tournament, the prize monies will go up. But that’s the last step. There is no point pressing promoters for more money without providing greater market value. If you make more money, more players come in. It’s not about competing with other tours it’s about raising the profile of women’s golf, which I think is still very much underrated.
GN: Are you concerned about the moneylist being won before the season-ending event?
IK: We are looking into ways of creating a minimum number of tournaments the player has to play on Tour, so that it makes a difference in the moneylist if you play China, India and Dubai. I don’t want to say anything yet because we haven’t tweaked the numbers. But we are looking into ways of encouraging players to play more tournaments on our tour, so the moneylist isn’t done just because they have played in and won the [most lucrative] Evian Masters.
GN: Did Europe’s Solheim Cup win give you more belief in your product?
IK: Very much so, it was historic because it was the first time Europe had ever won it on American soil and twice in a row. We also had the largest margin any team has ever won by, 18-10. We really saw the best of European golf and that was excellent. If there was any doubt somewhere in the corner of my head about the strength of the brand and it’s potential, it was gone. I was amazed by the competitiveness.
GN: Will funds go back into player development?
IK: The LET has an obligation to inspire young women to pick up the sport. I don’t want to be in a new country without first knowing what’s going on with golf in that country. We are not just here for the money, because there’s a tourist board, or golf here would make good TV. We are here to develop golf. We have the LET Access Tour, where 50 per cent of fields are amateurs from host countries, and this should be the link to connect the professional game to what is happening at grassroots.
