Facility Notes

Winged Foot Nets $1.5M From Hosting 106th U.S. Open

The N.Y. POST’s Page Six reports Kenneth Beitz, treasurer of Winged Foot Golf Club, which hosted this year’s U.S. Open, in a letter to members wrote, “A number of members have asked the Board for a summary of how we did financially.” The club received $5.6M from a “fixed payment, corporate hospitality sales, and a consumer price index escalator.” Beitz added that “after deducting the costs of ‘bringing in our fairways and expanding the rough areas,’ plus the loss of normal revenue, ‘our profit’ for hosting this Open is approximately $1.5[M].” Page Six notes members “were seething because they couldn’t get tee times and because of damage done to the grounds” (N.Y. POST, 10/24).

SECURITY GUARD: In Salt Lake City, Gordon Monson reported the Jazz spend $2M a year on security at the Delta Center, but “most of the security issues ... are tied in some way to alcohol consumption, not some evil mastermind’s crazy plans.” Jazz Owner Larry Miller said that there “are upward of 80 security people on hand” at games (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 10/21).

COMBO PLATTER: A SACRAMENTO BEE editorial stated of the Maloof brothers’ new Carl’s Jr. TV ad and their campaign for financing for a new NBA Kings arena on the November ballot, “They don’t have much of an appetite for campaigning for a new arena for their team or the millions in taxpayer dollars it would bring them. But when it comes to publicizing themselves as playboy millionaires and their casino as a hot destination, they’re bottomless pits” (SAC. BEE, 10/21).

FAMILIAR TERRITORY: In St. Paul, Charley Walters writes the Vikings “are expected to return to square one in their quest for a new stadium. There still is behind-the-scenes hustling to keep the Vikings in Minneapolis while Anoka County tries to keep its proposal alive in Blaine. But don’t be surprised if a renovated Metrodome, despite the team’s strong opposition to the idea, resurfaces for consideration” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 10/24).