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Atlanta Loses 40 Year Old Tournament
Filed in archive Golf News by Chris Henry on June 9, 2008
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There is word today from the PGA Commissioner's office that the AT&T Classic, which has graced the fair southern city of Atlanta, Georgia for 40 years is no more.

AT&T has decided to pull the plug.



The tournament, which many of us remember best as the BellSouth Classic, was unable to find another sponsor for next year.

Commissioner Tim Finchem said the lack of a sponsor on the immediate horizon meant it was time for the Tour to move on.

The Atlanta Classic Foundation, which oversaw the tournament and organized it each year beat the bushes but turned up nothing.

There are several reasons why a major U.S. city like Atlanta - just 141 miles from Augusta, home of The Masters- can't find a sponsor for a PGA golf tournament but in the end, it boils down to one big reason. The U.S. economy is in recession, dragged down by oil prices that keep going higher and higher (thanks to rampant speculation but don't get me going on that. It ain't all demand from China and India - their economies are grinding down, too).

Forget existing home sales reports and pending home sales reports that showed strength from April to May in America; the country's economy is tanking.

Atlanta is one of the cities in the United States where real estate foreclosures are going crazy. Even former heavyweight champ, Evander Holyfield, is trying to unload his 17-bathroom monster on the outskirts of Atlanta to avoid foreclosure. Mind you, anyone who dribbles away a 200 million dollar net worth probably deserves such ignominy.

If you have 10 million U.S., you can snap it up today. Or you can wait until it goes up for auction on July 1 and get it for 50 cents on the dollar.

So, the demise of a 40 year old tournament on the PGA Tour comes down to an economy in the grips of what could be a long and torturous recession. There simply isn't the money flowing through the taps of Atlanta corporations, anymore.

And it begs the obvious question: how many more PGA tournaments will disappear for the same reason?

Permalink: Atlanta Loses 40 Year Old Tournament
Tags: golf  pga  tour  at&t  classic  loses  sponsor  tim  finchem  pga  tour  commissioner  says  atlanta  loses  tourna 
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