Companies Choosing Not To Buy Tickets, Packages For U.S. Open

The USGA is "struggling to sell corporate hospitality packages and tickets" to the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black Golf Course in N.Y. as companies "downsize or opt out of sports entertainment," according to Michael Buteau of BLOOMBERG NEWS. USGA Dir of Communications Rand Jerris said that more than 1,000 weekly and daily ticket packages for the event "were made available for public purchase through local and New York state golf associations," and more tickets are "likely to be put up for sale" as the tournament approaches. Jerris also said that the "demise of many Wall Street financial institutions has had a direct impact on ticket sales." Jerris: "It's from the pool that are typically purchased by the corporations, that we haven't sold. We haven't hit, and don't anticipate to hit, those numbers. Feeling that we're down already, we're going ahead and releasing those tickets to the public." Jerris said that several companies who had "planned to buy 100-person tents have downsized to one table or several tables in a larger tent." Buteau noted hospitality packages at the tournament "range from $32,500 for a table that seats 12 inside a pavilion, to $230,000 for a 40 foot-by-40 foot chalet, which includes furnishings, air conditioning and seating for 80 guests." When the tournament was last held at Bethpage in '02, the USGA "sold 77 hospitality tents," and Jerris said that the organization had "anticipated selling the same number of hospitality packages this year." But Jerris added that the USGA so far has "sold enough for about 50 tents" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/16).

QUITE A FOURSOME: Golf Digest, the USGA and NBC Sports announced that Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and entertainer Justin Timberlake will join Bobcats Managing Member of Basketball Operations Michael Jordan in the '09 Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge. The three individuals will play with one amateur golfer who will be determined by online voting in an attempt to break a score of 100 at Bethpage Black. The 18-hole round will be taped by NBC and televised June 21 from 12:00-1:30pm ET, immediately prior to the final-round broadcast of the U.S. Open (Golf Digest).