Nicholas Astbury and Lewis Leonard (above) took silver
in the Junior Boys Doubles while Nicky Golowich and
Mike Glendenning won gold.
“The Triple Crown is an especially big deal at the
Open because our format is different,” Evon said. “We
don’t have the consolation second chance, play-in, so
you cannot lose at all. You have to be on your game from
beginning to end. The people who win the Triple Crown
are people who don’t ever lose throughout the week.”
This year, the growth came not only in the form
of players, but in spectators as well. Tournament
Director Terri Graham said, “The mass of people was
unbelievable. We had 1,300 players last year, and we
capped the players at 2,000 this year, which is a lot, but
what put us over the threshold were the spectators.”
Graham added, “We were parking 1,700 cars a day
and needed remote parking lots with trolleys shuttling
people to the event. I was amazed that all the people on
the trolleys were spectators. Also, the amount of people
who flew in just to be a part of this party atmosphere
was astounding.”
The Minto US Open has generated millions of dollars
for vendors and the local businesses. This year, the
on-site vendor tent was packed and it was often hard
to find a table in the Naples area restaurants. Chris
Evon of Spirit Promotions was tasked with the sales and
marketing for the event. She said, “We had a lot going
on last year, but it was more than we expected this
year. The telltale sign that the event grew again was the
Vendor Village and the sold out stadium attendance.”
Evon added, “We were also pleased to hear from the
vendors that consumer traffic and shopping greatly
increased over last year.”
While last year’s tournament boasted spectator
crowds in the thousands, this year the number was
well in the tens of thousands. Graham thinks inclement
weather in the northern parts of the country probably
Continued on next page >
MINTO US OPEN P
Jennifer Dawson won gold in Senior Pro Doubles and silver in
Senior Pro Singles.
one
Corrine Carr and Sim
men’s Pro Doubles.
Wo
Jardim won gold in
IONSHIPS
ICKLEBALL CHAMP
ville)
(powered by Margarita
MAY/JUNE 2018 |
MAGAZINE
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