Golf tournament 2003?

[MBIJ]

Does anyone know the dates of the WDW Golf tournament next October? And, do the DVC properties fill up b/c of the tourney? In other words, if we want to go next year, should I be sure to book exactly at the 11 month window?

 

[TroyWDW]

The PGA Tournament at Disney does not have any official dates yet for 2003. The sponsor of the tournament, National Car Rental, has filed for bankruptcy protection and will not be renewing it's sponsorship. I believe the tournament organizers are looking for a new corporate sponsor and are looking to sign another multi-year contract with the PGA. I believe the current contract expired this year.

So at this moment the tournament is in limbo.

I called this week to get 2003 dates from Disney and they gave me tentative dates for next year which I believe are incorrect. They have the tournament playing from Friday to Monday (yeah, right).

I tried to explain to the CM why I thought the information they had might be incorrect and asked them if they could check with someone or give me a contact. The CM kept repeating that the computer says those are the dates. Oh, well...

Yes, you want to book early. All resorts, not just DVC, will be full during the tournament.

Troy

 

[PamOKW]

Before Troy posted, I sent an e-mail to WDW asking about the dates. I got the same response this morning. The dates have not yet been set.

The tournament has changed sponsors several times over the years but it's always in October. My guess is that will happen again this year. The tournament doesn't seem to have much of an impact WDW or DVC rooms. In the "old" days, they played the early rounds on LBV. I sure wish I always planned to try to be at OWK for that but they went and changed the courses before I got a chance.

 

[gmboy95]

here is a thought....why cant disney sponsor its own golf tournament...i watched the touramant this year on espn, and minus the national car rental spots, disney was able to spend a whole lot of time promoting itself through shots from the blimp, to descriptions and scenes from each park...it kind of made me want to make an impromptu reservation.

 

[DemoBri1]

One word for you gmboy...MONEY. They are in bad shape now financially, and putting on a tournament like that is not exactly cheap. Plus, they would have to put up the prize money.

I do agree that it would be a great vehicle to promote the World, but not at the expense of raising ticket prices for us again.

 

[raidermatt]

The demographics attached to golf tournaments are the same demographics coveted by WDW.

Since Tiger has an endorsement deal with Disney, the are pretty much assured he will play, which makes it a more valuable tournament.

The numerous blimp shots and descriptions of the parks and resorts on a show with strong demogrphics would seem to be a pretty good move for Disney, but who knows what they are thinking these days.