USGA Rent At Bethpage

I've searched a few articles on Monday's U.S. Open media day and most focus on the sale of unwanted corporate passes, but a witness said that the state of New York's Dave Catalano David Paterson mentioned that the USGA is paying $5.5 million in rent for the Bethpage week. Has anyone seen his comments mentioned? ASAP only features Mike Davis and Tiger Woods' transcripts. That number sounds ridiculously high.

Update on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 07:40 AM by Geoff

We have clarification! It was the governor. From Mark Herrmann's story:

Gov. David A. Paterson, who appeared at media day, said, "They say that sequels are never as good as the originals, but we are working very hard to make sure that this U.S. Open will be as exciting and as energetic as the one seven years ago. From the tens of millions of dollars that will be generated into the region to the $5.5 million that has already been paid as a rental fee by the USGA, this will be a real shot in the arm for Long Island and for our entire state."

Comments

[vwgolfer]

and they still charge me $5.00 for canceling my tee time less than 48 hours. Lame.

[jonathan knoxville]

what were the fees lin 2002 ?

USGA obviously had no problems with 2009 fees, even if $5.5 Million.

[Joel]

He must be ill informed. Perhaps it's the revenue it will generate or some other type of forcast but the fee the USGA pays is set in stone and it's not $5.5 million.

[Kevin]

The USGA annual report pdf on their website isn't readable by my Adobe, so I couldn't get any information there, but here is a snapshot of the economics last year at Torrey (from a San Diego newspaper story about the Open):

WHAT SAN DIEGO WILL RECEIVE

So while the USGA is making a killing on the U.S Open at Torrey Pines, what does the city get out of it?

Most of the return will come from an economic impact estimated in the tens of millions of dollars: national television exposure, tourist spending, taxes collected from sales and hotel rooms, etc.

The city also will receive $500,000 as part of its contract with the Friends of Torrey Pines, which negotiated the U.S. Open lease for the city-owned course.

The $500,000 is considered compensation for lost city revenue because of discounted or lost greens fees and the use of city parking spaces, such as at Qualcomm Stadium. All or part of the North Course will be shut down until September to make way for corporate hospitality and then recover from the wear and tear.

The Friends of Torrey Pines will pay reimbursements up to $350,000 for public safety services (police, traffic control, etc.). The Friends also agreed to pay up to $350,000 on course work related to the Open.

The Friends reported they would receive $5.37 million from the Open, largely from rent payments and corporate hospitality shares through the USGA. Most of that – $3.4 million – will go back to the families and businesses that paid for the renovation of the South Course in 2001. They have said they will contribute that money to charity.

The rest will cover additional expenses, a $50,000 “future championships fund” and $535,000 toward the replacement of the irrigation system at the Balboa Park Golf Course.