U.S. Open’s Tent Villages Shrink as Wall Street Scales Back By Michael J. Moore
June 17 (
Bloomberg) -- Bill Ciraco went to Bethpage’s Black Course in 2002 for the final day of the U.S. Open as a guest of Bear Stearns Cos. and was greeted with cigars, a welcome bag and an umbrella bearing the New York firm’s logo.
As the championship returns to the Farmingdale, New York, state park starting tomorrow, the former caddy will see fewer hospitality tents lining the fairways as Tiger Woods and the rest of the world’s best golfers battle a course that features a warning sign labeling it “extremely difficult.”
“I imagine this year the amount of tchotchkes will be reduced,” said Ciraco, a trader at Para Advisors Inc., who will attend the final round as the guest of a bank he didn’t identify. “When I go, it’s not to hang out in the hospitality tent all day and drink gin and tonics and smoke cigars. It’s to actually figure out the best spots on the course to sit and watch six or seven groups of golfers come through.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought Bear Stearns after the Federal Reserve was forced to rescue the investment bank, and its tent won’t be the only one missing from the three hospitality “villages” that surround the fairways of the first and last holes. Wall Street firms are cutting expenses and many that received federal bailout funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program are shying away from sports entertainment after criticism from members of Congress.
At the 2002 tournament, the U.S. Golf Association sold 78 hospitality tents, the most ever, helped by an expansive layout at the park that features four other courses. This year, corporate sponsors purchased 43 tents as many downgraded to providing tables or just tickets to clients and employees. ..........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aJwH7fKQEQGE
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