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The Chief Communications Officer of the LPGA answers your questions! With the LPGA’s resurgence over the last year, what better time to have Kraig Kann for some LIVE Q&A with GolfWRX members. You’ll no doubt recognize Kraig from his 17 years on Golf Channel and now as CCO of the LPGA, he answered your questions at 2PM Eastern Time, on Tuesday, January 17th.

Recently, the LPGA 2012 schedule was announced and things are looking good. Highlights include:

• The addition of five (5) tournaments with 100-plus player fields and official money, four (4) of which are in North America.
• An increase in total purse from $40.4 million in 2011 to $47 million in 2012.
• 100 percent of Golf Channel’s weekend telecasts of the LPGA’s North American tournaments will have live weekend coverage on Golf Channel and the percentage of overall live telecasts is projected to be at least 90 percent.
• The return to a historically strong venue in Toledo, Ohio for the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic
• The dates of the major championships have been strategically scheduled as the pillars of the season. The Kraft Nabisco Championship, won in 2011 by Stacy Lewis, will take place March 29 to Apr. 1, followed by the Wegmans LPGA Championship, which returns to Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y. from June 7 to 10 – two weeks earlier than 2011. The U.S. Women’s Open returns to Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisc. – site of Se Ri Pak’s historic 1998 victory – July 5-8, where Yani Tseng will look to become the youngest player in history to win the Career Grand Slam. The final major, the RICOH Women’s British Open, will for the first time be played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, which has previously hosted 11 Men’s Open Championships including Tiger Woods’ 2006 victory. The tournament will be played in mid-September to avoid conflict with the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Thanks to Kraig for taking our questions. Welcome to GolfWRX!

More on Kraig Kann

• Chief Communications Officer, LPGA
• Broadcast Talent – 25 years experience
• Media Consultant – Founder and Managing Director; HTK Media www.HTKnow.com

Career Highlights:

• CCO, LPGA since August 2011 and charged with shaping and delivering all media messaging for the world’s largest women’s professional sports organization.
• Founder/Managing Director of HTK Media.  Seminars, Media Training and Consulting.  Kraig leads athletes, sports organizations, executives and other professionals in the quest to become more media savvy.  Shaping the message, sharpening the delivery, selling the brand and sharing the success through real communications experience is Kraig’s aim.
• One of Golf Channel’s originals, Kann was a major part of the on-air talent team from the network’s debut in 1995 until 2011. He served as primary studio host for Golf Central, hosted various talk shows including Grey Goose 19th Hole and Morning Drive, anchored LIVE FROM coverage at major championships and was also the network’s lead play-by-play host from 2000-2003.
• Also worked in local television markets including Columbia, MO., Columbus, GA., Ft. Myers, FL., and Kalamazoo-Grand Rapids, MI., from 1987 – 1994.