The other members of the group are Sandra Gal of Germany and the University of Florida, Johanna Head of England and Mikaela Parmlid of Sweden and USC.
Along with Bob Aube, who manages the Wilhelmina 7, Esch said they did their homework to scout for the right players. They went to LPGA events at Arizona, Florida, New York and also the Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage. The photo shoots were done in Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
"I wanted them to look attractive, I wanted them to look sexy," Esch said. "And that category can't only be Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer.
"What I hope for the Wilhelmina 7, I hope that they get exposure beyond golf. It's about style and fashion too. I want people to come out to the golf course and say, 'What are they wearing this weekend?' "
There are more than 1,200 models represented at Wilhelmina, which is branching out with its Artist Management arm and last month signed David Leadbetter to a deal.
Leadbetter, known for his golf academies and for his work with such pros as Trevor Immelman, Lee Westwood and Wie, said the plan is for Wilhelmina to market the Leadbetter academies and its names with an emphasis on a holistic approach to golf.
"When you think about it, golf is not just about instruction," Leadbetter said.
And women's golf is about a lot more than players hitting shots, he said.
"I think it's high time they used femininity in the right way. There are a lot of pretty girls on the LPGA Tour."
Selling players' good looks isn't new on the LPGA Tour. It has a long history, from Jan Stephenson reclining in a bathtub full of golf balls and the calendar highlighted by Cathy Reynolds and Muffin Spencer Devlin in the 1970s to the more recent swimsuit calendar from Gulbis and the 'Five Points of Celebrity' espoused by former commissioner Ty Votaw.
A spokesman for the LPGA said it would be too soon to comment on the Wilhelmina endeavor because no one has had enough time to study the deal. The Gulbis calendar was not sold at tournaments by the tour but was a best-seller anyway, and Gulbis was recognized by FHM Magazine as one of its 100 sexiest women of 2007.
At the time, Annika Sorenstam said she had no problem with Gulbis' revealing photographs, but said it wasn't for her.
"I don't have the body for a calendar," she said.
Hall said she's excited about the possibilities the photos may create and noted that there's a camaraderie growing inside the group of seven, maybe even a competition.
As for critics among her other peers, Hall said she couldn't blame anyone for skepticism.
"And at the same time, some of them are probably wondering, 'How come I'm not in that group?' Look, we're all women. We all get our Victoria Secret catalogs and order stuff from there," Hall said.
"But in the end, it's about golf. Nobody in the group wants to be [an Anna] Kournikova.
"You always put pressure on yourself to perform. We're in the limelight, so we're going to do that playing golf, not standing around looking glamorous."
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thomas.bonk@latimes.com
