British Open:Organisers of the British Open Championship are offering help to golf fans to get to Turnberry in Ayrshire, Scotland in July.
With the credit crunch affecting corporate hospitality just like every other big sporting event, the Royal and Ancient Club (R&A) are taking steps they hope will boost the attendance when Pádraig Harrington goes for a third successive title and Tiger Woods returns to the championship.
“We are encouraging clubs to bring members and the R&A will pay £250 (€280) towards the cost of a coach,” said Director of Championships David Hill.
“In this period of recession we’re trying to reach out to clubs and we will be contacting them with details. We’re asking them to bring 30 people.
“We’re also conscious that with the success of golf in Ireland we’re anticipating a lot of people coming over and there will be a coach service from the ferry terminals.
“Corporate hospitality is 15-20 per cent down in line with all UK sporting events - everybody has suffered from that a little bit and it reflects the world we are currently in.
“But we’re not hugely concerned. We are pretty upbeat and we are confident that there is huge interest and that we should get to the same figures we had when The Open was last here in 1994.”
While Opens at St Andrews always prove the most popular and attract in excess of 200,000 people Turnberry’s attendance 15 years ago was 115,000.
A daily ticket will cost £55 (€62) and Hill added: “When you compare that to other sporting events I believe it’s fantastic value.”
Peter Dawson, the R&A chief executive, dismissed as “media hype” a report that nearby Royal Troon had been put on stand-by because of problems completing renovating work at the course’s five-star hotel in time.
“That has absolutely never been discussed,” he stated, while David Spencer, chief executive of new Turnberry owners Leisurecorp, insisted that the first phase of the refurbishment would be completed by the end of June as planned.
Hill commented: “We are quite satisfied that the hotel will be ready to serve as the headquarters for competitors. We are in constant touch with Leisurecorp and are assured it will be ready in time.”
Among the corporate sponsors reducing their involvement are the Royal Bank of Scotland, but their contract extends through to next year’s championship at St Andrews - the 150th anniversary of the first Open - and Dawson said: “They have been supporters of The Open for a long, long time.
“I know they are going to continue in sports sponsorship and we very much hope The Open will remain part of that portfolio.”
Prize money has still to be announced for this summer’s event, but it was noted that the US Masters earlier this month showed no increase on last year.
This will be the first Open with drug testing, but Dawson said that with testing taking place on a regular basis on the main world Tours for the past year the championship will be viewed by the players as “just another week”.
Harrington will defend his title from Thursday, July-16th-19th.
