R&A Blame The Weather for Poor Attendance

Val

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I think £75 for what you get is ok, not great but not poor when you take into account what's on offer, one thing that they do is put on a good spectacle for spectators and Muirfield was great for getting close to the players and getting good views of the action.
 

HawkeyeMS

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Really!! Does that include the practice days and pro am days as well or just the 4 tournament days

Indeed, £38/day or about £75 for the whole thing. Can't be sure about practice days as they never used to charge but I believe this year it was £10 for practice but don't know if that was included in the season ticket.
 

brendy

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Id love to know where the costs come from that can make the R&A justify the 75 quid pricetag per day, they are sponsored by doonsan, Mastercard, HSBC,Mercedes, Nikon, NTT Data, Ralph Lauren and Rolex, it is a golf competition first and spectator sport second, the paying fans should not have to pay more than 30-40 quid tops as other costs are involved as mentioned above.
Turning it into a family day is ludicrously expensive (Holiday abroad type expenditure) and I think the R&A just handed their backside on a plate, someone somewhere is naively trying to write it off as any other reason but the actual.
 

In_The_Rough

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Indeed, £38/day or about £75 for the whole thing. Can't be sure about practice days as they never used to charge but I believe this year it was £10 for practice but don't know if that was included in the season ticket.

Cant grumble at that. Even if practice days are charged then it is good value. May well have a look into going next year
 

DCB

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If the weather had been 'normal' then numbers would have been a lot less than that. Park & Ride for £15 is too much, but then, how else would you get there. And even the Rail link was too expensive. Given that there is no other means of access, they've got you over a barrel.
 

Doon frae Troon

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Id love to know where the costs come from that can make the R&A justify the 75 quid pricetag per day, they are sponsored by doonsan, Mastercard, HSBC,Mercedes, Nikon, NTT Data, Ralph Lauren and Rolex, it is a golf competition first and spectator sport second, the paying fans should not have to pay more than 30-40 quid tops as other costs are involved as mentioned above.
Turning it into a family day is ludicrously expensive (Holiday abroad type expenditure) and I think the R&A just handed their backside on a plate, someone somewhere is naively trying to write it off as any other reason but the actual.

Like Augusta the R&A sell the TV rights for squillions. They make a big profit on the Open and it funds all of their admin.
 

In_The_Rough

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If the weather had been 'normal' then numbers would have been a lot less than that. Park & Ride for £15 is too much, but then, how else would you get there. And even the Rail link was too expensive. Given that there is no other means of access, they've got you over a barrel.

This was a point I made earlier which is where lytham came into its own. Part of a big town anyway, loads of Hotels and B&B's right on the doorstep,Dozens of pubs and restaurants yards away, Blackpool literally a few miles up the road it was a onto a winner from the start. We stayed in a very nice B&B about 10 mins walk from the course. When the courses do not have all this on tap they need to tempt people in and price increases is not the way to do it
 

MegaSteve

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Just found my 'ticket' from '93 it was £20... Fairly certain 2003 was £40 and 2011 was £60 but can't find the tickets... Herself treated me to all four days at the millennium open... She seems to think the cost was £120...
 
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Riverdale

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I think it's complete and utter arrogance from the R&A to try to spin the sunny weather as being the main factor behind crowds being down.

The majority on here believe prices are way too high - and lets face it, those posting on a golf forum are pretty much the R&A's target audience.

If anything, the beautiful sunny days of last week would have made me more tempted to go to the Open, despite the £75 price if i'd lived closer. Had it been cold, wet and windy there wouldn't have been a hope in hell that I'd be tempted, when I could sit in my armchair in the warmth of my own house and watch it on TV.
 

Mary

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MegaSteve - I think that 2009 was £50, so they've been hiking the prices quite a bit in the last couple of years.

I had toyed with the idea of going up for the week, but by the time I added up travel costs, the accommodation costs (which are usually vastly increased for Open week), costs of ticket, including 18th green Grandstand, plus food and drink - it was rather extortionate.
 

Tommo21

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We should not bring the price of a football match into it. Golf is a full day out not 90 mins watching overpaid players roll about as if they’re going to die.

Hot weather, what, Saturday and Sunday, both days were not scorchers. £75 is a put off, that’s why I got a paid job at the open.

Paying to park your car, it’s should be part of the original price. There should be a different price structure for OAP and the amount of people in each car. That alone will encourage people of all ages and families to use that facility.

Doosan, who are they, NTT data, who are they and Mercedes took up a large area that could have been golf related although they won’t want the open turned into a golf show................or should they. How many would that pull in if more manufacturers were allowed to show their equipment?

Players getting involved with their respective brands...........that would be good.

Rip off Ralph Lauren..............need I say more.

£7 for a programme................eh. Magazine price tops.
Getting into the 18th stand..............eh.

Hospitality for the privileged with straw hats and corduroy breeks took up a massive amount of space, do they really need that space.

Weather...............yeh we need wind and pishing rain to bring in the crowds. The R&A are loosing sight of what the open is about GOLF..................bags, bats, balls, gloves, trolleys, waterproofs, shoes. We canny have that can we.

And now we have the mumbling, namby pamby, wishy washy old guard tell us it was too hot.
 

huds1475

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Suggested reading... http://www.randa.org/en/Working-For-Golf/Golf-Development.aspx

"The R&A is committed to encouraging the playing of golf globally. Two factors make this possible: one is the annual surplus from The Open Championship and the other is the position of influence held globally by The R&A. These two combined give scope for the worldwide advancement of golf"

At least they're trying to do the right thing with the money they raise.

Factor that in before posting about them ripping people off...
 

MegaSteve

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MegaSteve - I think that 2009 was £50, so they've been hiking the prices quite a bit in the last couple of years.

I had toyed with the idea of going up for the week, but by the time I added up travel costs, the accommodation costs (which are usually vastly increased for Open week), costs of ticket, including 18th green Grandstand, plus food and drink - it was rather extortionate.

Hello Mary... I agree the prices have been hiked somewhat in recent years but they are only reflecting a general trend in this 'recession'.... There aren't many family days out now for less than a ton... £45 for an adult at LEGOLAND for instance... Think when I first went '93 Greg got 100.000... What did Phil get yesterday? A million or more?
 

Tommo21

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Suggested reading... http://www.randa.org/en/Working-For-Golf/Golf-Development.aspx

"The R&A is committed to encouraging the playing of golf globally. Two factors make this possible: one is the annual surplus from The Open Championship and the other is the position of influence held globally by The R&A. These two combined give scope for the worldwide advancement of golf"

At least they're trying to do the right thing with the money they raise.

Factor that in before posting about them ripping people off...

Will do..............:rolleyes:

Oh...........Projects all over the world, from Brazil to Bulgaria and Venezuela to Vietnam............most too hot to play golf or pay to watch.
 
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Hacker Khan

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Personally I don't think the price is that bad for a major sporting event. Also car parking and food at these big sporting events is always a rip off.

I paid much more to see badminton at the Olympics but I thought it was excellent value for money. As someone has already said, they need to make the day out an experience, so if you have lots of golf nuts in one place means lots of golf related stuff in the tented area. It should be such an easy thing to do, as they should know golf fans are suckers for new golf related equipment. Also as someone else has mentioned, possibly the interest in golf is waining a bit. Plus we have had such a summer of sport in the UK this year with the Brits doing so well, I think the Open kind of got lost a bit. And I would still argue that all the fuss over women members, whilst of course not being a main reason for people not coming, did not help attract the casual visitor who may have possibly turned up on the day and did a lot of harm to the brand of the Open.

But if the R&A are going to stick their head in the sand and pretend it was the weathers fault then they are simply not fit for purpose. Would much rather they manned up, admitted they possibly got it a bit wrong and will try harder next time. Don't insult our intelligence.
 
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FairwayDodger

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I think it's complete and utter arrogance from the R&A to try to spin the sunny weather as being the main factor behind crowds being down.

The majority on here believe prices are way too high - and lets face it, those posting on a golf forum are pretty much the R&A's target audience.

If anything, the beautiful sunny days of last week would have made me more tempted to go to the Open, despite the £75 price if i'd lived closer. Had it been cold, wet and windy there wouldn't have been a hope in hell that I'd be tempted, when I could sit in my armchair in the warmth of my own house and watch it on TV.

I was away on holiday so had no intention of attending. However, knowing that I'd get back late on Saturday night I toyed with the idea of going largely because the weather had been so good.

Ultimately, I didn't go because of the expense and because of postings on here about the general lack of relevant trade stands/merchandising etc.

Sorry but the R&A just making fools of themselves again with this nonsense.
 

Riverdale

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Suggested reading... http://www.randa.org/en/Working-For-Golf/Golf-Development.aspx

"The R&A is committed to encouraging the playing of golf globally. Two factors make this possible: one is the annual surplus from The Open Championship and the other is the position of influence held globally by The R&A. These two combined give scope for the worldwide advancement of golf"

At least they're trying to do the right thing with the money they raise.

Factor that in before posting about them ripping people off...

If you think what the R&A spend their money on justifies the prices they are charging at The Open, then you're as out of touch with people's views as the R&A hierarchy.
 

Rooter

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Doosan, who are they, NTT data, who are they and Mercedes took up a large area that could have been golf related although they won’t want the open turned into a golf show................or should they. How many would that pull in if more manufacturers were allowed to show their equipment?

you are looking at the far east sponsors, Doosan have sponsored the open for the last 4 years, korean based engineering ish, construction plant company which has multiple companies, its only in the fortune 500.

NTT are the telco of Japan, (Think BT but probably worth more)

I think without these huge corporate sponsors, these events probably wouldn't even happen these days...

Ralph Lauren is a good one though, my mate is a polo plod ever year, he told me last years jacket was on sale at £200 or something silly! bet people bought them too though!
 
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