After the NBA’s decision to pull the 2017 NBA All-Star Game out of Charlotte due to North Carolina’s HB2 legislation, the PGA of America was thrown into the spotlight given that next year’s PGA Championship is set to be played at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
 |
BEVACQUA
|
But PGA of America Chief Executive Officer Pete Bevacqua last week never wavered from the organization’s consistent position that while it strongly opposes the anti-LGBT legislation, it will keep the 2017 event at Quail Hollow because it is a private club and not subject to the HB2 law.
However, he also reiterated the PGA of America’s previous statement that any future PGA of America events in North Carolina are in doubt if no changes are made in regard to HB2.
“We are an organization of inclusion and with a long-term plan of diversity, and we have been consistent with our position on HB2,” Bevacqua said while sitting on a Baltusrol Golf Club clubhouse balcony overlooking the 18th green during the Tuesday practice round of this year’s PGA Championship. “We are very much against it but we don’t control the policies in North Carolina. Our hope is that it will change. We are trying to create as inclusive an environment as possible during those seven days we are at Quail Hollow.”
Bevacqua said he did not speak with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about the league’s July 21 decision regarding its All-Star Game. And while the PGA Championship will remain in North Carolina next year, Bevacqua said the PGA of America will look to use the tournament as a platform for change. He pointed to the organization’s policy that will allow fans to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender they identify with rather than, as HB2 mandates, using the restroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate.
He also said he had not heard from any PGA of America sponsors related to the group’s position on HB2 and the event remaining in North Carolina.
“All eyes are on Baltusrol, so not yet,” he said. “We obviously haven’t turned a deaf ear to what is going on. We are more than a year away and we have so much to accomplish. We will do everything we can to make it as successful as possible.”
Ticket and corporate hospitality sales for next year’s Quail Hollow PGA Championship have been strong, Bevacqua said.
“It is a community that is looking to embrace the PGA Championship,” he said. “Sometimes you can have more of an impact by showing how inclusive you can be. Our hope is that it absolutely changes. We have every desire to go back to Quail Hollow.”
