Erensen balances his time with both key staff and corporate partners during tournament weekend BEN SOLOMON
The LPGA Hugel-Air Premia L.A. Open teed off Thursday in the heart of Hollywood. Eiger Marketing Partner TIM ERENSEN, whose company owns and operates the event, has helped bring a mix of star power and top players to Wilshire Country Club for the week. He caught up with THE DAILY ahead of the weekend to dish on what made Wilshire an attractive host, how he’ll spend his time over the final two rounds and which celebrities teed it up in the pro-am.
BACK IN THE SADDLE: This is year two for us after bringing the event back to Hollywood. We put the first one together in about 90 days -- signing contracts and everything after the first of the year in ’18. To come back to the marketplace with a proper 365 days to plan certainly gave us the ability to enhance the experience for both players and attendees. There’s a ton of momentum in professional golf right now, but particularly the women’s game. For us to blend the best of the ladies’ game with Hollywood has been a great opportunity for us.
WHO'S WHO: Earlier this week for our pro-am we had a great blend of some of the best players and stars out here. We had WAYNE GRETZKY, CHRIS PRATT and LYNN SWANN and then media folks like BILL SIMMONS and STAN VERRETT. Wilshire is where MARK WAHLBERG plays each morning, too. Unfortunately he was out of town this week, but he’s been a big supporter of the event. NICK SWISHER and ADRIAN GONZALEZ are also part of the membership out here at Wilshire. The club is a real hidden gem in the L.A. golf scene.
DAILY AGENDA: From an event perspective if something’s not done by now it’s probably not going to happen. We feel like we have a pretty well-oiled machine and when Thursday rolled around it was game time. The attention turns over to the players and competition. From our end we’re really dealing with typical event issues that might pop up -- spectator flow, concessions, really just enhancing our spectator experience. I spend most of my time around our key staff and key partners -- whether that’s folks from the LPGA or Wilshire, our community outreach folks. We’re trying to be good neighbors to the marketplace. We’re never quite sure what each day will bring, but we make sure to spend time with our partners. We also came off a good staff party Wednesday night -- our team is good for that.
IN THE MEANTIME: Next weekend is one of my favorite activities of the year -- I’ll be attending my 27th running of the Kentucky Derby. Big horse-racing fan so I’m really looking forward to that in 10 days or so. Outside of that you can either find me spending time with my wife and two kids or you can probably catch me teeing it up at Winged Foot where I’m fortunate enough to spend some time. Sports-wise, I’m a depressed N.Y. Rangers fan. There’s many of us! One of the highlights is keeping an eye on our Draft position. I’m still optimistic that there’s better things ahead. Teams like the Hurricanes are giving the Rangers a little bit of hope. The Hurricanes and Islanders are playing into May, why not the Rangers?
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