BOSTON – At this time last year when 131-year-old The Country Club hosted the 122nd U.S. Open, it seemed Boston area sports fan had one question: How do I get a ticket?
Well, the big shock so far this week at the 123rd edition of America’s national championship hosted by Los Angeles Country Club, located smack-dab in the middle of some of the most expensive real estate in the country, is that the event is not sold out.
As of Tuesday night you could go online to the U.S.G.A. “reseller” web site link and purchase tickets for any day. Face value for the daily tickets show Monday ($125.) Tuesday ($150) Wednesday ($200) Thursday ($300) Friday ($300) Saturday ($300) Sunday ($300).
Monday practice round tickets were also available by ticket brokers StubHub and SeatGeek for as low as $22. Tuesday practice round tickets fetched discount prices of only $49. Thousands of tickets were not sold on the U.S.G.A. “reseller” website, including 2 daily tickets I tried to sell at face value. Last summer I bought 2 tickets for all 7 days shelling out over $2500. So far this week I’m out $800 because Los Angeles area sports fans are staying home, at least for the first two days of golf’s third major championship of the year and the first major since the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have merged.
In his “Monday at the U.S. Open” Quadrilateral newsletter esteemed golf writer and part time architect Geoff Shackelford writes: “And more people inside the ropes than out. Welcome to the Team era! With a side order of $125 tickets leading to light spectator turnout. Thankfully, it’s only Monday and both grass groups and turnstile action have time to improve.”
By all accounts Los Angeles Country Club is a stuck up, snobby ultra-private club. Despite being situated on the axis of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the club claims to have no Hollywood actors or high-profile publicity-seeking members.
Josh Sens of Golf Digest writes: “In a city powered by the entertainment business, this week’s U.S. Open host has long been known for keeping ‘Hollywood types’ out of its ranks. Among golf’s exclusive redoubts, LACC is hardly alone in its understated leanings. At The Country Club, in Brookline, for example, it has long been the expectation that a member’s name appear in the local paper no more than twice: once at birth, and once at death.”
So, wouldn’t you think that LA sports fanatics and the general public would jump at the chance, and pay dearly, to rove the grounds and hob-nob at such a pompous, exclusive enclave?
Apparently not. Two days have passed and tickets were practically free. However, ticket inventory for the Wednesday practice round is moving…slowly. But ticket brokers and resellers should expect to get paid well over face value during the four tournament days.
“It’s a mystery to me why LA fans did not turn out during the practice rounds,” said longtime ticket broker “Mugsy” McGuiness, former owner of McTicket. “As the week progress’ you’ll see ticket prices soar. The U.S. Open is a huge event and profitable for ticket brokers everywhere.”
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