San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
VIRUS KEEPS U.S. OPEN PLANS IN AIR
Officials who run the prestigious U.S. Open golf tournament are working with five different scenarios related to crowds and COVID-19, while planning for the event’s return to San Diego’s Torrey Pines Golf Course in June.
Depending on the effectiveness of vaccines and the number of COVID-19 cases this spring, the tournament could range from having no in-person fans to having the roughly 40,000 people who attend each day, like when Torrey hosted the event in 2008.
“With COVID throwing us a curveball, we’ve really had to change our planning,” said Danny Sink of the United States Golf Association. “There will be a point in time next year when we have to make some tough decisions, and we’ll work with our partners at the city and the county health officials to determine what’s a safe way to have the championship.”
Leaders of San Diego’s tourism industry say they’d love to have dozens of corporate hospitality tents and Torrey brimming with fans.
It was nearly 13 years ago when Tiger Woods won the Open in a dramatic playoff with Rocco Mediate.
But even without fans, the tournament is expected to give San Diego tourism a major boost, by showcasing the city and its many attractions to millions of people watching the event on TV across the globe.
“It’s all about the TV exposure, because this is a worldwide event,” said Bill Evans, who owns several of San Diego’s most iconic hotels. “For us to have support of our brand like that is just amazing.”
Mayor Todd Gloria said it would be great for vaccines to be effective enough for fans to attend the event. If not, the TV exposure would be coming at a perfect time for the tourism-reliant city.
Because of dramatic drops in hotel tax revenue and sales tax revenue, which have been blamed primarily on diminished tourism, San Diego is facing a $45 million budget gap in the ongoing budget year and a projected $124 million deficit in the new budget year that begins July 1.
When the U.S. Open was held here in 2008, it generated an estimated $142 million for the local economy, according to an analysis paid for by tournament organizers.
That $142 million included estimated hotel and sales tax revenues of $3.2 million, an amount that would drop sharply if the event has no in-person fans.
Sink, the USGA’S senior director for the U.S. Open, said the organization is hopeful they can go with the scenario where there are fans and hospitality tents and all the other hoopla that was here 13 years ago.
But they have created four other scenarios.
One includes no fans at all, just essential personnel, TV crews and a bare-bones team of volunteers. That was the approach in September when the U.S. Open was played just north of New York City.
Another scenario would allow some limited guests, but no general admissions fans.
A third option would allow 25 percent capacity, a fourth would allow 50 percent capacity, and the fifth would be a normal U.S. Open with all the bells and whistles.
“We’re looking forward to Torrey Pines and seeing all of our friends again, but we just don’t know in what capacity and how many we’re going to see,” Sink said. “There needs to be a date when we decide what the U.S. Open is going to look like.”
The footprint of the hospitality area must be decided long before the decision will come on fans, he said. That’s because the planning involved includes adhering to building codes for the tents.
A decision to allow fans could be made at nearly the last minute, he said, although coordinating shuttles to the course, which has limited on-site parking, requires some planning.
Even before the pandemic, Sink said the USGA was planning to somewhat reduce the number of fans compared to 2008, which was the first major golf championship ever played in San Diego.
“Torrey in 2008 was one of the highlights of my 20-year career with the USGA,” said Sink, noting the event drew record attendance and set records for hospitality revenue. “We just knocked it out of the park.”
But some critics said the crowds were too large. A total of 295,000 people attended at least one day.
“I don’t think we were planning for that many on the site this time, because we want to make sure our fans have a great experience,” Sink said. “When you’re following a group and you’re 10 people deep on every fairway, that’s maybe not the best experience.”
San Diego has spent many years preparing for the 2021 Open, which the city secured in 2014.
Torrey’s South Course, where the event will be played, has undergone $14 million in renovations.
And the City Council agreed this week to spend $950,000 to build a large driving range that is required to host the event.
“We have 156 players, and the current range at Torrey is not nearly wide enough or big enough,” said Sink, noting that a similar range was built in 2008.
The USGA is paying San Diego $2.5 million to host the event, which is five times as much as the $500,000 San Diego received in 2008.
The U.S. Open is scheduled for June 17-20.