Tales From Bethpage Black

Five representatives of Monterey Bay Property Management left Monterey at 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, bound for SFO and on to New York for the 2009 US Open. We started off in full marketing mode by passing out at least a dozen cards and inviting people in the airport to visit the Monterey Peninsula!

We flew into JFK roughly six hours later, continuing to pass out our business cards to passengers in proximity to us and extolling the benefits of a visit to the Monterey Bay area! "Can't make it to the Open in Pebble Beach in 2010? How about a trip in October when the weather is fantastic? Or for the ATT?"

We arrived at Bethpage Black at 8:00 a.m. to watch the practice rounds. Felt like 5:00 a.m. - guess we're still on west coast time! It is a beautiful day, however rain and storms are predicted for the rest of the week. Went on a Monterey Bay promo rampage, talking with spectators, vendors and employees throughout the day's events. We quickly learned how to profile those that would be most likely to attend next year... example....matching USGA garb....buttons....you get the idea. Also serious looking hardened golfers/fans smoking expensive cigars...lol! In the end, no one was safe from us! In a good way!

We are hoping the rain won't be as bad as they say for the rest of the tournament. The weather was good today, people were happy and dry, and there was a nice casual atmosphere due to it only being a practice round. The course was beautiful, and for those who may not know, Bethpage Black (one of five courses at Old Bethpage Park) is a public course, open to all for a very moderate price (when the Open is not in town!) The players commented that it is tough, but fair. Right now, it looked pretty intimidating!

There was a great crowd, and the players were very open for autographs and a bit of social interaction with the fans. The fan base, was largely from the East Coast, as Bethpage is not far from thousands of die hard PGA/US Open fans along the East Coast. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, of course, seemed to make up a large percentage of attendees. Let's just say our California accents stood out, but were well received! We all agreed that we have been overwhelmed with how friendly everyone has been. From the cab drivers, to the tournament officials, to the random locals on the train. Great people.

So if you are keeping up with the tournament back here, you know that today was wet and nasty, to say the least. Play was called at about 10:00 a.m. due to unplayable conditions and a crazy amount of standing water on the course. It was also a bit crazy with 50,000 fans with umbrellas slipping and sliding all over the mud and muck!

Anyway, to make the best of the situation we continued speaking with the fans, vendors and employees about the 2010 Open at Pebble Beach. The Trophy Club seemed to be a shelter spot for most who wanted to seek shelter, but stay at the course in hopes of play resuming. Fat chance! We left the course after play was officially called for the day, most of the remaining fans had gone, and our clothes and shoes could no longer hold any more water. We then went out to a highly recommended Italian restaurant close to the course. Great food and more friends made.

This morning, unbelievably, the rain stopped, and the course was playable. Rounds started at 7:30 a.m. to make up time (still feels like 4:30 a.m., Monterey time...ugh!). It turned out to be a great day, actually very warm, and lots of golf to be played and people to talk to. I did a quick phone interview with the Monterey Herald about how the tourney is going and how interest is developing towards next year's US Open on the Monterey Peninsula. It was a very long day, since they played double rounds to make up for the rain out yesterday. We wound up the day in a nearby Japanese restaurant, where we met great people who were very enthusiastic to talk to the California folks.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Today was another great, albeit long, day on the course. Every effort is being made to get in as much golf as possible every day to make up for the earlier delays. Play was finally called about 7 p.m. We continued to spread the word and invite everyone we met to come to the Monterey Peninsula in 2010. We connected with vendors and fans, including some of the major suppliers of clothing and paraphernalia. Had dinner at a restaurant called Fuse at the Hilton Hotel, where we rubbed elbows with lots of golf fans!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Can’t believe we won’t see the end of the tournament today, and certainly we can’t predict how this one will turn out! But got to get back to work! There are houses to rent, and all these folks that we have met this week will start thinking about where they will stay in 2010, come Monday! Hope we have enough places for them to stay!