The PGA of America Announces Official Hospitality Sales for 39th Ryder Cup

The PGA of America completed a strong pre-sales period for the 2012 Ryder Cup, reversing the recent trend in corporate sports entertainment. Today marks the official start of hospitality sales to the general public for the 39th Ryder Cup to be held at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club, from Sept. 25 to Sept. 30, 2012. The Ryder Cup is golf's most patriotic and prestigious international team competition matching the top United States golf professionals against those of Europe. Hospitality sales have been extremely successful during the three-month pre-sale period held exclusively for PGA of America partners, past hospitality purchasers and those with a relationship to Medinah Country Club. With an initial offering of (53) fifty-three chalet and clubhouse packages the Ryder Cup has written commitments for (42) forty-two of those packages. In total, the Ryder Cup currently has hospitality involvement from over (85) eighty-five different companies. To initiate this strong start, Ryder Cup officials froze pricing from the 2008 Ryder Cup held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. and offered a five percent price incentive for those that committed by June 30, 2010. In essence, meaning that companies were given the opportunity to pay 5 percent less for the 2012 Ryder Cup than they did for the 2008 Ryder Cup. "While the Ryder Cup is arguably the biggest golf event in the world, we also recognized the economic conditions and wanted to react appropriately by not raising prices and offering a price incentive," said Michael Belot, director of the 2012 Ryder Cup. "As a past purchaser and current 2012 Ryder Cup partner, I can clearly see that working with the PGA of America on Ryder Cup hospitality has been very positive," said David Biscan, PepsiCo Foodservice - National Account Sales Manager. "Spending 5-7 hours with our partners each day, during past PGA events, has been invaluable with fostering relationships." Due to this early success, The PGA of America and Medinah Country Club are going to extend the five percent pricing incentive to all new clients until Oct. 31, 2010. This will be the first time such an incentive has been offered to Ryder Cup prospective clients. As the only authorized sales force with official on-site 2012 Ryder Cup hospitality packages, The PGA of America has developed creative hospitality offerings at various price points for companies of all sizes. Packages are available to accommodate anywhere from 10-150 people per day. Hospitality packages are all-inclusive providing a premium on-course experience with parking, food, beverages and alcohol. An added benefit for clients is the PGA's concierge service that can help with accommodations, ground transportation, and other entertainment options in the Chicago area. "The tremendous demand to date proves that the Ryder Cup and the sport of golf remains an elite and cost-effective avenue for businesses to reward valuable customers, meet with clients, and network with high profile business leaders in a major marketing environment, all to the backdrop of golf's most historic and prestigious team event. Even though the event is over two years away, companies need to act now to secure these limited quantities of hospitality packages and have adequate time to make arrangements for their guests," said Don Larson, general chairman of the 2012 Ryder Cup. A limited number of grounds tickets to the Ryder Cup will be sold to the general public. Given that the demand for tickets has historically exceeded the available inventory, individual tickets may only be purchased through an official random draw conducted by The PGA of America. Applications for the draw will be available in Spring 2011. The only way to guarantee access to the event is to purchase Ryder Cup hospitality packages. For more information or questions regarding other hospitality sales offers, please contact Larry Sinclair, sales director for the Ryder Cup at 502-245-2000, lsinclair@pgahq.com or visit us online at www.rydercup.com/2012.