U.S. Open (Golf) Fan Guide 2015

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1 1 5 T H U . S . O P E N C H A M B E R S B A Y
Friday, June 12, 2015 • Thenewstribune.com/Entertainment
PRACTICE
ROUND TICKETS
AVAILABLE
Tickets to U.S. Open practice rounds
Monday-Wednesday remain available
through usopen.com.
Individual tickets for those days start at
$50, with the least expensive three-day
package going for $100.
Fans can pay more for tickets that include
food and access to air-conditioned
tents.
Active-duty military members can get
free admission to the practice rounds
and their relatives can get half-priced
tickets. Service members can claim their
tickets at the will-call window. They
must show their military ID and another
photo ID, like a driver’s license.
Kids 12 and under can get into the championship
free with a paying adult.
Psst! Buddy. Look out
for US Open ticket fraud
Potential ticket buyers will see a premium price with limited resale-ticket inventory
BY ADAM LYNN AND BRYNN GRIMLEY
Staff writers
It’s a warning that’s been around for
about as long as human beings have
engaged in commerce.
Let the buyer beware.
In light of this year’s Super Bowl ticket
troubles, it bears repeating as the U.S. Open
at Chambers Bay nears, and as fans go to
the Internet in search of tickets to the
sold-out championship rounds.
Officials from the USGA and the
Washington state Attorney General’s Office
said people can’t be too careful when
buying tickets from so-called “secondary
markets” such as Craigslist and ticket resale
websites.
“Our advice: Don’t use third-party
vendors because we simply can’t guarantee
the tickets are authentic until they are
scanned via their unique barcode on site,”
said Janeen Driscoll, public relations
director for the USGA.
Peter Lavallee of the Attorney General’s
Office offers advice that is a bit less dire.
Lavallee said his office encourages people
to use sources they trust, or, if using a new
site, to research its reputation before
forking over money for tickets. The Better
Business Bureau is one source of
information, he said.
“I think in light of lessons from the Super
Bowl, try to get tickets in hand as far in
advance of the event as you can,” Lavallee
said. “For people who aren’t in the
immediate area, I would not book travel or
hotel without knowing you have tickets in
hand.”
Those Super Bowl lessons were tough.
Several people, including some from
Pierce County, shelled out thousands of
dollars to ticket resellers that were unable
to deliver tickets. Some folks didn’t learn
they’d be without tickets until the last
minute, when they’d already traveled to
Arizona and checked into their hotels.
The state Attorney General’s Office in
February sued one ticket reseller, SBTickets
of New York, alleging violations of the
state’s Consumer Protection Act.
Unlike the NFL, the USGA does not have
a relationship with a resale vendor, Driscoll
said.
“We haven’t had nearly the same
problems as other sporting events just
because we protect that process to the best
of our ability,” she said.
Tickets to the Thursday-June 21
championship rounds of the 2015 U.S. Open
— a weeklong event that will be played at
the University Place golf course — sold out
in February. The USGA made 30,000 tickets
per day available for those rounds.
Almost immediately, some people began
advertising tickets on sites such as Craigslist
and StubHub, usually at a premium.
StubHub spokesman Cameron Papp said
interest in the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay is
high, likely because this will be the first one
held in the Pacific Northwest in the event’s
120-year history.
Traffic for U.S. Open tickets also got a
bump after the Masters golf tournament,
which saw 21-year-old Jordan Spieth score a
Tickets to the
Thursday-June 21
championship
rounds of the
2015 U.S. Open
sold out in
February. The
USGA made
30,000 tickets
per day available
for those rounds.
Staff
surprising win, and elite golfer Tiger Woods’
announcement that he intends to play the
event, Papp said.
“A ticket to this year’s event also is more
expensive than last year,” he said.
Inventory is relatively low, however. Papp
said major golf events do not generate as
much resale as the Super Bowl or NBA
Finals, for example.
Papp also advised consumers to use
resale sites they trust to purchase tickets.
He encouraged people with tickets to
refrain from posting photographs of them
on social media sites to help discourage
counterfeiting.
All U.S. Open tickets are “hard tickets,”
meaning there are no electronic versions
that can be downloaded or printed, he said.
“Security is pretty high with those, which
is good for fans,” Papp said.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
@TNTAdam