Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
With a leisurely nonchalance, Aree Song was pounding balls on the driving range while keeping a running conversation with her caddie.
Frequently smiling brightly, she mixed in stories of airport delays and seeing old friends as she rotated clubs and drilled one ball after another toward the distant screen at the Las Vegas Country Club.
But fun time for the cheerful 17-year-old prodigy was about to end.
Dad was coming.
In Jong Song, clad in tan, plaid pants, a gray windbreaker, a blue shirt and a baseball cap in an outfit that clashed with his financial status, handed a yardage book to the caddie and spoke two or three words in Korean to his daughter. As the caddie passed the yardage book to Ms. Song, In Jong motioned toward the balls lying on the ground waiting to be hit.
There would be no more conversation. Aree had work to do and In Jong was there to make sure she did it.
Only when fellow Korean Jenny Park-Choi came over to the range from the practice green and bowed to In Jong and exchanged "How are you doing?" remarks -- in English -- with Aree, did the routine vary even slightly.
But Aree was quickly back to the task at hand and she put in several more minutes of diligent practice before her father stepped forward and motioned again. With that, Aree and her caddie packed up her bag and followed the elder Song to the first tee, where she presumably began a Monday practice round.
The Ladies Professional Golf Association tour is in town for the Takefuji Classic (Thursday through Saturday) and that means there's a Korean invasion as well, just as there is in any city that hosts the tour in this day and age.
An unprecedented 23 Koreans are playing on the LPGA tour this year and 96 of the 200 LPGA members are foreign born. Tour players representing 24 international countries are playing on the tour and most are doing well, as evidenced by the fact three Koreans -- Song, Grace Park and Mi-Hyun Kim -- are currently ranked among the top six in earnings.
But there are American players who take at least some offense, as petty as it may seem. The complaints are infrequent, but some would say telling.
Jan Stephenson lit into the Asian faction on tour in last November's issue of Golf Magazine, saying "Asians are killing our tour, absolutely killing it. Their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English when they can.
"There should be a quota on Asian players."
Fellow veteran Juli Inkster had a few unkind words as well in the magazine Golf For Women, saying "Where I get mad is they just come over here to play and take the money and don't give back to the LPGA (by) doing pro-ams and press conferences."
For the most part, such complaints come across as sour grapes. No player is obliged to be a sweetheart, as Vijay Singh exemplifies on the men's tour.
But there is one area of concern that may be legit, and it has to do with parental involvement.
Without citing players by name, at least one unidentified U.S. player maintains that the Koreans occasionally receive unfair benefits from family members who comprise the tour's galleries. It has been alleged that more than one parent of a Korean player has kicked a ball to a better lie, used hand signals as a means of coaching and stood in positions that assist their daughters' lines of sight.
As anyone who has attended an LPGA event knows, such indiscretions are certainly fathomable and within the realm of possibility. Any fan, let alone parent, can cunningly alter a ball's lie or position if they are so inclined.
The only solution may be a better indoctrination process, one that Grace Park has been asked to fortify. She's a four-year tour player who moved to Hawaii from Korea when she was 12 and who later attended Arizona State University.
Aside from being a great player who has a victory to her credit this year, Park is now the official international spokeswoman for the LPGA tour. She told the Arizona Republic last month that "everyone can be more friendly and we can all work harder about being better and doing things to help the tour; we can all give something back."
From what I've seen the Koreans on the tour are outgoing and friendly enough, and peer pressure may eventually negate the parental influence -- and lessen the cultural differences -- that restricts at least a few of them. Aree Song, for instance, has a vibrant personality and the time is apt to come when she'll tell her father she can decide where and when she wants to hit practice balls.
But even if she doesn't grow into a more domineering role and even if In Jong Song maps out Aree's day until the moment he dies, so what? He has devoted his life to his daughters' careers -- twin sister Naree Song plays on the minor Futures tour, with her mother as a constant companion -- and he's entitled to his input as long as he isn't kicking balls into better position on the golf course.
I'm inclined to let the Koreans do as they please (and maybe even police themselves).
But the one thing I would do today if I were Aree, however, is take ol' dad to Mervyn's or J.C. Penney and remake his wardrobe. A man of his means shouldn't appear homeless, especially with his beautiful, rich daughter trailing behind and snapping to his commands.
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