A day of heavy rain washed out more than just the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. It washed out the hopes of fans who went to Bethpage in hopes of watching a day of championship golf. Not only was the day ruined, the USGA announced that its tickets wouldn't be honored on Friday or any other day of the tournament. No refunds either, which made those fans the only people in New York left high and dry.
It's a tough spot for the USGA, which has finite space limits when it comes to spectators on the golf course but they handled it badly by sneaking the announcement onto the Web site toward the end of the day. To their credit, they came up with a decent alternative. They're going to honor those Thursday tickets if there's golf on Monday. If there isn't golf on Monday, there will be a 50 percent refund on every ticket.
Given the weather report for Saturday, there's a pretty good chance that there will be golf on Monday. Maybe it is a playoff, maybe it's the final round but whatever golf they're playing will be of greater consequence than the first round on Thursday. That's a pretty decent deal.
The USGA isn't totally clean, though. Its policy on refunds, which no one gets because players teed off on Thursday, is asinine. Half the 156 golfers had teed off when play was called, and none was anywhere close to completing a full round. That's not enough golf to fulfill what's promised by a ticket and that policy should be reviewed and refined going forward.
And, since we mentioned the Saturday weather forecast, it would be a good idea for the USGA to outline exactly what fans can expect if there's another washout on the course. Get ahead of the problem, rather than taking a hit for being obtuse about what the contingency plans are for the people who have spent money to enjoy their product.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
