Once Again, Joe Fan Is Skinned Alive

Having bought my ticket to the Skins Game a couple of months ago, your excellent advance articles enhanced my appetite to be a spectator at this wonderful sporting event. Listening to Vin Scully’s description and viewing the PGA West course on television, one might imagine it was the most fantastic golf event in the history of the game. No doubt Fuzzy Zoeller thought so, too.

If you were a fan who bought a ticket, you had to be less enchanted. The tickets sold for $60 to $70 per head. On Saturday, the line of cars entering the PGA West property was so long and the single entry road so congested that it took approximately one hour to drive the last couple of miles to the dusty dirt lot where thousands of cars were parked. If that were not enough, we were then queued up for 10 to 15 minutes waiting to get on shuttle buses to travel several more miles to the golf course. Leaving after the event was even more difficult because just about everybody tried to leave at the same time.

This would have been tolerable if we fans could have seen what we paid for. The event was so oversold and so crowded that the spectators were unable to see a large percentage of the shots. Unlike a regular golf tournament where the spectators are spread over 18 holes, this tournament was played one hole at a time. Imagine approximately 10,000 people rushing from tee to tee and green to green for a position which would enable them to see the action.

I, and a number of other people I talked with, did not go back for Sunday’s session. Fighting the traffic and the crowds just took the fun out of it all. Once again, Joe Fan has been kicked in the pants and had his wallet pilfered by greedy sports promoters (and real estate developers).

SANFORD SANOFF

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