Chad Coleman's Focus on Fairways Revives LPGA Growth

Chad Coleman had just landed a job with the LPGA Tour, and he was a little apprehensive about telling his two young daughters. He would explain he was leaving his role at Dude Perfect, a sports and comedy group that gained popularity for family-friendly trick shots and competitions, and his girls, Ella-mae and Rivvy, liked their dad’s job. “It’s funny, because my 7-year-old had become a massive Dude Perfect fan and ironically just started golf camp in the last few months and is super into golf,” Coleman said of Ella-mae.

“For about 10 minutes I lost some cool points when I told her I was leaving Dude Perfect, and when I told her I was joining the LPGA she lit up again and was super excited. “It’s awesome being a girl dad and seeing my daughter and her love for the game starting to take shape and bringing her closer to the game and telling stories and getting her to see anything is possible if you work hard enough. ” Hired by the LPGA in late January, Coleman is the tour's new chief marketing officer, and he’s charged with telling those stories, building a social media following and luring more fans and viewership, among other things.

He has much in common with LPGA Tour commissioner Craig Kessler, who took the helm in July of last year. They both have energetic personalities, live in Texas—Kessler in Dallas and Coleman in the Frisco suburbs—and have experience in golf and other ventures. The two are tasked with ushering in a new era of the tour—a point emphasized in an ad that will debut Thursday on social media and in the broadcast of the first round of the Fortinet Founders Cup in Menlo Park, Calif.

—the fifth tournament of the year, but the first in the U. S. since the season opener in late January.