LOS ANGELES — Crowds at the Los Angeles Country Club were a bit sparse this week.
While the gallery filled for parts of the US Open for the largest groups, many areas of the court looked and felt quiet and empty.
Almost everyone outside of the largest groups has struggled to garner a mainstream following from the gallery. Even the big pairings had quiet stretches of the course, such as the 13th hole near the old Playboy mansion, where very few fans seemed to venture.
The lack of fans and thus the lack of a traditional major atmosphere does not suit some golfers.
“Very bad… It’s disappointing for the USGA side,” said defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick said Dan Rapaport of Barstool Sports after his round on Saturday. “They want a great tournament. From what I’ve heard a lot of members have bought tickets and that’s why there are so many fewer people. Hopefully it won’t be the same at other US Opens in the future.”
Fitzpatrick backed that off slightly later, and said he was not specifically critical of the USGA. But his point of view was not lost, and he wasn’t the only one defending it. Fans watching at home expressed dissatisfaction with how it looked on TV for about the entire tournament.
“Your decibels [was] It’s just a little higher than we are out here,” Max Homa said earlier this week, comparing crowds at last year’s tournament at the country club in Massachusetts to this year’s across the country.
Fitzpatrick was even shocked by the reaction after hitting a hole-in-one on Friday, prompting one of the loudest screams of the tournament.
“I wish it was louder,” Fitzpatrick said after Friday’s round. “I wish there were a few more people. But yeah, I’m surprised there weren’t as many people out this week as I thought.”
The only notable golfer who really praised the crowd at the Los Angeles Country Club was Scottie Scheffler, who said he knew his wild 197-yard eagle hole-out at the end of the third round on Saturday was only for the “nice crowd.” “ is to be thanked for. that erupted behind the green.
For the first time ever, the USGA was behind ticket sales for the US Open – and the biggest event ever – at the mysterious country club tucked away near Beverly Hills. USGA President Mike Wahn said they were able to sell almost twice as many tickets as they do each day, but deliberately chose not to.
“We have to find the right balance between size and size in terms of where we play, how we televise it and how many people we let on that golf course,” Wahn said Wednesday. “We could have sold 40,000 tickets a day, but we sold 22,000 to ensure that the experience here is still a quality experience for those who go to the golf course.”
But that doesn’t mean there are 22,000 tickets available for the general public. According to Doug Ferguson of The Associated Press, the USGA distributed most of these tickets to corporate sponsors, club members, and hospitality areas. Only about 9,000 tickets per day were reserved for general admission. This has also led to skyrocketing ticket prices on the resale market. As of Sunday morning, tickets for easy access to the track cost more than $300.
The USGA said in a brief statement on Sunday morning that it is “working with our host site to determine on-site access and ticket availability.”
Only about 22,000 tickets were sold daily for the US Open, although less than half of those were released to the general public in Los Angeles. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
While it would be easy to simply blame a smaller number of fans for the problem, part of the problem lies in how the course is actually set up — which isn’t the USGA’s fault. The course is very narrow and there are a number of greens and tees almost one on top of the other.
For example, the #1 and #10 tees are right next to the clubhouse, surrounding the #9 and #18 greens. The ninth green is just a few steps from the 10th tee. The location also makes it nearly impossible to attract fans to this area.
The clubhouse area is cordoned off to members and VIP guests and a huge, often empty, hospitality tent lines the right side of the first fairway. There is a small grandstand at the end of the 18th fairway that can seat just under 1,000 people and a smaller one for members behind the 18th green but that’s about it. To see the first tee or the last green, fans have to watch about 100 yards from the fairway – which is far too far to comfortably see what’s going on.
“Given that 1, 9 and 18 all congregate in front of the clubhouse and has limited space between holes, this combined with the drop and barranca made it very difficult to accommodate a large grandstand,” the USGA said in a statement via The Associated Press.
While this US Open felt unique, it doesn’t belittle golf itself. Rickie Fowler holds part of the lead while Wyndham Clark advances to Sunday’s finals in what would mean his first major league win and a big rebound for the fan favorite. Rory McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major championship in almost a decade, is just a throwback.
But the mood is undoubtedly different along the route, for better or for worse.