VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. – Corporate hospitality sales for the 2005 U.S. Open Championship are ahead of schedule, according to Pinehurst officials. The U.S. Open is the National Championship conducted each year by the United States Golf Association. The U.S. Open was last conducted at Pinehurst in 1999.
The total number of corporate hospitality marquees for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst has been increased from a record-breaking 50 in 1999 to 65 for the 2005 Open. To accommodate what will be the largest corporate marquee village in U.S. Open history, Pinehurst will use their practice facility, commonly referred to as Maniac Hill. A new contestant practice facility is currently under construction on the first holes of Pinehurst Nos. 3 and 5. However, both courses will remain open through 2005 National Championship play with exception to their respective first holes.
“We had originally hoped to have 50 marquees sold prior to the 2004 U.S. Open this June,” said Reg Jones, championship director for Pinehurst Championship Management, the division of Pinehurst Resort responsible for managing the 2005 Championship. “We quickly reached our original capacity of 60 marquees and had to add space for 5 more to meet demand. While all clubhouse and marquees packages are sold out, a handful of Trophy Club packages are available.”
“Given the economic climate, we were prepared for a challenging sales environment, but we have been gratified by the incredible reception we have received from North Carolina’s business community,” said Jim Hyler, Chairman of the 2005 U.S. Open President’s Council, a group of 21 leading business executives who are serving in an advisory role for the U.S. Open. “We already have a very strong list of corporations who have signed on and are eager to be a part of the 2005 U.S. Open – many of which participated at Pinehurst in 1999.”
The Trophy Club package is a smaller, more intimate entertainment option in a sports bar-themed pavilion featuring full food-and-beverage service, VIP parking, private restrooms, televisions and air conditioning. Each package, priced at $40,000, includes a reserved table with corporate signage and 12 tickets per day.
“We anticipate that all 125 Trophy Club tables will be sold out before the end of the year,” Jones said. “Outside of participating in the USGA random drawing for general spectator tickets, the Trophy Club is the only way for a company to secure tickets.”
For more information about Trophy Club table packages, contact Tom Pashley at (910) 295-8151.
Pinehurst has eight championship golf courses, including the world-renowned Pinehurst No. 2, site of the 2005 U.S. Open Championship. Built in 1895, Pinehurst resort is located in North Carolina, about 70 miles southwest of Raleigh. The resort is one of more than 200 clubs and resorts worldwide owned and operated by Dallas-based ClubCorp, which was founded in 1957 and has about $1.6 billion in assets.