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THE BARCLAYS

August 25, 2015

Peter Mele

Edison, New Jersey

ALEX URBAN: We want to thank everyone for coming. This is the first press conference of the week here at The Barclays. We are looking forward to a great week at a great golf course, Plainfield Country Club. We are here with Peter Mele, Executive Director of The Barclays and also Jordan Ziegler, vice president of the Glen Oaks Club.

And Peter is going to get us started with a little tournament updated and he's going to go over some of the future venues for The Barclays and we'll turn it over to Jordan to talk about Glen Oaks, one of the new additions to the rotation.

PETER MELE: Thanks, Alex. I Googled myself a couple weeks ago and what popped up was the press conference I did here in 2011 to announce we were going to cancel the final round. So it gives me a little chill being up here again. This is a much more pleasant experience than it was the last time I sat up here.

We are very excited to be here this year back at Plainfield and to kick off the FedExCup Playoffs and we are going to have a wonderful week I think and the golf course is absolutely superb. They did a wonderful job getting it ready, so I think we are going to have a great week of competition.

We are also excited to announce a future course rotation. As you know we have been rotating now every year since 2008 and we have settled on what I think to be a great rotation going out for a number of years. We are very fortunate to be able to stage in some of the metropolitan area's best golf courses and we are proud to continue that tradition going forward.

Next year we go back to the Black Course at Bethpage for our second go-around there. Back in 2012, Nick Watney won there. And obviously the Black Course has a great history of hosting a couple of opens and going to be hosting a PGA and a Ryder Cup going forward. We are thrilled to be playing back there next year. And we have also extended our agreement with Bethpage to play there between in 2021 and 2027. So we are definitely going to be regulars back on Long Island at Bethpage.

In 2018, we'll be heading back to the Ridgewood Country Club where we've played three times, last year, most recent time we played there in 2014, Hunter Mahan won for his sixth career victory. So we are excited to go back there in 2018 back in Paramus.

The following year, 2019, we are going to go back to Liberty National. We have been moved off of Liberty National, the rotation there, because of The Presidents Cup going there in 2017, which we are very excited to be involved with, so we had to push Liberty out to 2019. And then again, we'll be back at Liberty National for 2022.

We have a very long-term relationship with Liberty, and to host us as many as ten times going forward over the next 25 years. So we'll be there probably every other year or so going forward.

In 2020, we'll be right back here at Plainfield for the third go around here, and it's one of the -- this year, unless I'm mistaken, this is the oldest golf course that will be played on the PGA TOUR, which is exciting. It's a Donald Ross gem and I'm just glad we're going to be able to play it in dry conditions this year.

What we are really here to talk about today, too, is the newest addition to our rotation. Back in 2017, we are going to spend a second year in Long Island and we are going to be heading to the Glen Oaks Club. Delighted to be there. It's one of the best courses in the metropolitan area and we think it's going to be just a great addition to the rotation. The conditions, of course, will be outstanding. As we went to do our site survey, we said, we could play it today. Craig Currier, formerly from Bethpage does an outstanding job maintaining that golf course.

Brian Goin and I met with the board. We were very welcomed by the board members and by the club and I think it's just an outstanding, outstanding test of golf and outstanding addition to our competition here.

At this point I would like to turn it over to Jordan Ziegler, who is going to be the co-tournament chair for us. Talk a little about Glen Oaks.

JORDAN ZIEGLER: I am the co-tournament chair of Glen Oaks Club along with my co-chair Howard Smith who could not be here today, so I'll make the announcement on behalf of both of us and the membership.

The Glen Oaks Club is honored to be hosting the 2017 Barclays and the Top-125 professional golfers in the world. Glen Oaks is located in the beautiful village of Old Westbury on Long Island in New York. Situated on 250 acres of the old Winthrop Estate is our 27-hole golf course and 110,000 square food clubhouse facility.

In 2010 we hired Craig Currier, the two-time U.S. Open golf course superintendent from the Black Course in Bethpage State Park, and Craig is here today in the room if you have any questions for him, as well. Led by Craig, the club began a renovation of our entire golf facilities including all of our 27 holes which was completed in 2014.

What you will see is a beautiful golf course presenting a great challenge to golfers of all abilities along with world-class playing conditions. In addition to Craig courier, our club is managed by very strong and experienced team including our general manager Jeff Riegler; head golf professional Tim Shifflett, who is also in the room today; and executive chef Alex Lee, formerly executive chef at Daniel in New York City.

This year we were named club of the year by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association and in August 2016, Glen Oaks will be hosting the 101st Met Open that's being held at Winged Foot this week. Glen Oaks is a special place, a family-oriented club that feels very strongly about philanthrophy and giving back to the community.

I know our membership and our entire management and staff will do whatever it takes to make this a great event, a venue that the Barclays and the PGA TOUR will be proud of and a place that the players, the media and the community will embrace. Thank you.

Q. Just curious if every year in the next foreseeable future there's a major event coming in golf to this area, does that help you guys generate interest or is it harder to compete for ticket sales and attention?
PETER MELE: I think, yeah, it's definitely competition in the marketplace, and I think a lot of our rotation was set up to be geographically sensitive to that.

So when we looked at going to Bethpage in 2016, knowing that the PGA was going to be at Baltusrol in 2016 so geographically trying to do some penetration. With The Presidents Cup going to Liberty National in 2017, we felt our best opportunity in success would be out in Long Island.

And then going forward, back at Ridgewood in 2018 and then the Open is at Shinnecock. So we tried to do some geographical strategy, if you will, to get us separation from the majors as best we can.

Q. Can you talk about just how much the competition to host this tournament has grown since you guys decided to move it to this sort of rotation?
PETER MELE: From a club perspective?

Q. In terms of the clubs that are viable hosts for it and are interested in hosting it. Is there a lot of competition to host this tournament?
PETER MELE: There's a lot of interest. I think what we've found, there's probably more clubs that want to host it than probably are able to host it.

The event has grown significantly over the years and a lot of these great old golf courses that are in this area, which there are so many, just don't have the facilities to host a major event, whether it be practice facilities or staging space on the golf course for hospitality. So it's a real challenge.

Some of them are just too short. As long as the guys are today, some of them just don't have the length to be a championship-calibre golf course.

Q. Is the toughness of a course important to you guys in weighing those factors to see a course really challenge the field or is that less significant than some of the other factors?
PETER MELE: No, I think you want a course that can hold up to the championship. It needs to, first and foremost among signature is it has to be a competitive golf course, and once we feel like it is a competitive golf course, then we can go ahead and talk about all the other stuff that goes along with it. But if the course can't -- if we don't feel the course can be competitive, then we won't consider it.

Q. What's the first year that is not filled right now?
PETER MELE: 2023.

Q. And have you considered Westchester County?
PETER MELE: Westchester Country Club, not specifically, no. If an opportunity arises where there's a club up in Westchester County that would be wanting to host us that could host us, we would certainly consider it.

Q. What kind of juice has Jordan Spieth added to this week?
PETER MELE: It's great to have the No. 1 player in the world and the No. 1 player in the FedExCup points to be here. We're thrilled. I think he's so dynamic and he's such a great person. It's exciting to have a 22-year-old, just turned 22 I guess, be the No. 1 player in the world. And I think between Jordan and Rory, who is recovering from his ankle and Rickie Fowler and so many of the Young Guns out there, I think the TOUR is in great hands for the next many years, it's awesome.

Q. How are ticket sales?
PETER MELE: Ticket sales are going well. It's funny, the Playoffs have transformed the interest in the event over the years, and I think people know we are going to have the best 125 golfers here assuming they are healthy. And I don't think any one particular player is going to make that difference any more because the Playoffs are so significant now.

Q. Have we seen a little bit of a Tiger bump?
PETER MELE: Probably a little bit. Would have been the longest of shots ever. But right now I think we have the best field in golf.

ALEX URBAN: Thank you everybody.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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