
Core Junction founder, Jacob Shapiro, with Open Trophy
The 2009 U.S. Open-skies is finally complete as of a few hours ago and like all major golf tournaments, the final round was the definition of exciting. But while players and fans will quickly turn their attention to the British Open and the PGA Championship (in July and August respectively), the U.S. Open raised some serious questions for the USGA (United States Golf Association) and its relationship with golf fans.
On the first day of the tournament (Thursday), play was canceled for the entire day after just two hours due to relentless rain. When questions immediately rose about compensation for fans holding Thursday tickets, the USGA instantly fell back on its stated policy: that 90 minutes of golf constituted a full day and that there would be no refunds or readmission.
It is true that the policy was noted on all tickets, but what the USGA failed to understand is that when you hold a tournament in New York City, the fans are as unforgiving as the weather. Fans immediately went ballistic, ESPN started reporting the story, newspapers picked up on it and New York government officials even commented on the issue within a few hours.
It didn’t take long for the USGA to remember that the Bethpage State Park is in New York and administrators decided to allow Thursday tickets holders into Monday’s makeup session (if necessary) and they offered a 50% refund if there was no golf on Monday. I’ll come back to this point in a minute…
As a Sunday ticket holder, I trekked out to Long Island to get my day of golf in even though rain was looming again. After waking up early, I learned the the tournament was delayed until noon and that the 4th and final round of golf would only commence late on Sunday afternoon. I was upset that I wouldn’t get to see the last round of the tournament (especially after paying extra for Sunday’s tickets), but I was more disappointed with the state of the grounds when I arrived at Bethpage. Read the rest















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