Rain Washes Away Business For Bob Hope Classic

LA QUINTA – Every year fans at the Bob Hope Classic spend millions of dollars at the tournament and all around the valley. The event is a big boost for our economy, but this year’s unusual weather put spending and plans off course.

“We’re moving along but it has been challenging,” says John Foster, Bob Hope Classic Tournament President.

The Bob Hope Classic got off to a stormy start. Rain postponed the second round and organizers scrambled to reschedule and mop up the mess.

“We have little practice in dealing with these kinds of delays,” says Foster.

The delay forced some celebrities to drop out of the game and fans to drop from the crowd.

“Attendance is down, no one wants to come out if it’s raining,” says Foster. ” It really effected us.”

Low attendance means less money. Now, tournament directors are struggling for to meet their charity goal.

“We try to give between $1.5 and $2 million every year, we should still be able to meet it,” says Foster.

Some fans say, they hoped to add to that goal by spending at the tournament, but rain sent them elsewhere.

“We didn’t spend here, we spent in town,” says Renate Landefeld. “We would have rather spent it here.”

“It was so disappointing,” says Erma Hanks.

The rainy weather didn’t completely destroy every golf fans’ day. Since they couldn’t go outside and watch their favorite players, they came inside to shop and prepare for their own game.

“I bought a set of irons, about $600 spent since the tournament was canceled,” says Bill Landefeld.

As people found refuge in local shops, valley businesses cashed in.

“We did a lot of shopping,” says Landefeld.

Even though the tournament is coming to an end, this weekend’s weather is a bright advertisement that’s sure to keep visitors coming back year after year to boost our economy.

“One day I’d like to come back and stay forever,” says Al Meluskey.