The PGA Tour BMW Championship will draw "as many as 30,000 golf fans" each day at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Ill., and "about 7,000 will be in the exclusive hospitality areas," according to Christopher Placek of the Illinois DAILY HERALD. The suites "range in price from $18,000 to $300,000." The sold-out Clubhouse Suite "will grant 150 guests access to the Conway Farms clubhouse dining room and adjacent patio off the 18th hole for prime views of tournament play." It is the "most expensive package at $300,000." Meanwhile, "Super Suites" are 30-by-66-foot tents at the 16th and 17th tees that "each have room for 200 guests and are priced at $240,000 and $260,000, respectively." BMW as the title sponsor of the event has the "largest hospitality venue on the course." The BMW Owners Pavilion, located between the 17th tee and 16th green, is an "exclusive area for anyone who owns a BMW vehicle." The front portion of Conway Farms' parking lot is "reserved for BMW owners." BMW owners also get "complimentary admission to the tournament on Thursday, though organizers are asking them to make a donation to the Evans Scholars Foundation." The local and national corporations to rent out suites for the event include "Blue Cross Blue Shield, Waste Management, Wintrust Financial, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Anheuser-Busch, PricewaterhouseCoopers, FedEx and KPMG" (Illinois DAILY HERALD, 9/10). In Chicago, Herb Gould wrote the tournament "seems to be benefiting from its location, which is convenient to the many golfers in the north suburbs." The event was held "at Cog Hill for the last two decades." Tournament VP Vince Pellegrino said, "Ticket sales have been great. For corporate hospitality, we've exceeded our goals. And we set our goals very high" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 9/7).
