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The Women
Are Coming
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Business New Haven
5/4/1999
By: Michael C. Bingham
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Buchholz acquires Atlanta tourney;
will succeed men's event by one week
Pilot Pen of America CEO Ronald G. Shaw knows from show business. After all, the one-time standup comedian is chairman of New Haven's Shubert Performing Arts Center, where Broadway producers once tested audience reaction to new shows before taking them to the Great White Way.
Now, as sponsor of the Pilot Pen International tennis touney and the newly relocated U.S. Women's Hardcourt Championship, Shaw is setting the stage for another pre-New York tryout.
The August 24-29 women's event, to be held at the Connecticut Tennis Center, will be renamed the Pilot Pen International Women's Championship. It will take place one week after the men's event - and one week before the U.S. Open in New York.
That's why tourney Chairman Butch Buchholz is optimistic that his new distaff event, held last year in Stone Mountain, Ga., will attract top female players as a tune-up to the Open, much as England's Queen Court tourney helps players prepare for the greensward of Wimbledon in late June.
To date Buchholz has but one player commitment, that from No. 2-ranked American Lindsay Davenport, who won last year's singles in Georgia. At an April 28 press conference Buchholz explained that relocating the $450,000, Tier II event, which normally would be guaranteed at least three Top Ten players, voided that guarantee. “So we'll have to go out and do some recruiting,” said Buchholz, to fill out the 32-player field.
He also noted that a commitment had been obtained from CBS to broadcast the finals of the men's and women's events on the consecutive weekends leading up to the first week of the U.S. Open.
Acquiring the women's event, which was resuscitated last year after having folded two years previously, is seen as a bold move by Buchholz, who made his reputation building the highly successful Lipton championships held each May in Key Biscayne, Fla. Obtaining the men's New Haven event a year ago from James Westhall, Buchholz suffered through the weakest attendance since the event came to New Haven, and is presumed to have taken a substantial bath at the box office.
Now, with his men's and women's New Haven events running over consecutive weeks, he will begin to enjoy economies of scale in marketing both to potential corporate sponsors and ticket-buyers alike.
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