The tournament is the sport’s biggest moneymaker in the U.S., but this year’s coronavirus restrictions have lowered expectations.
Walking up the 18th hole at Winged Foot’s West Course in early September, it was hard to believe that the 2020 United States Open was just a few weeks away.
Some things were the same. The rough was U.S. Open thick — over three inches at that point, with plans for it to reach five inches by Sunday’s final round. The fairways were pristine. The undulating greens were rolling just a little slower than they will during the championships. And the venerable gothic clubhouse, with its blue and white patio awning, loomed over the course.
But there was not a grandstand, concession tent, merchandise pavilion or corporate suite to be seen.
The absence of the infrastructure that defines a typical U.S. Open is good for the condition of the club’s second course, which is used to stage much of what gets built, but it’s bad for the revenue-generating potential of an event that accounts for 75 percent of the annual budget of the United States Golf Association, the governing body of golf in America.
Simply put, no fans at the course means less money to give to the scores of nonprofits that count on the U.S.G.A.
With strict protocols from the State of New York in place because of the coronavirus, the championship is being played at the Mamaroneck, N.Y., course without fans. Instead of 45,000 people filling the course, and spending money, just 430 will be allowed on site, with each expected, per the state, to be there to work, and a total maximum of 2,000 people on site per day.
In any given year, this one championship generates about $165 million, and some $70 million from that goes to support the game of golf, including all the other U.S.G.A. championships, as well as youth golf programs, regional golf chapters and agronomic research. It is the only one of 14 championships that makes a profit.
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