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KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2019

Bryan Karns

Rochester, New York

BRYAN KARNS: It started with a Thad question about an hour ago that we just wanted to go ahead and confirm, but this is the largest Friday attendance for the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in our history.

So as that news was coming in today, obviously we saw crowds that we haven't seen in a long time spilling down the gates, spilling onto the golf course. It's exciting for us to watch. We wanted to share that news with the community.

And I think, again, it speaks to what I've really been saying for the last two years, every turn, whether it's the volunteers, whether it's the corporate support, whether it was the tickets, in general, really every metric that we use to measure success, we're not just hitting it, we're blowing by it.

So I don't think it's any surprise that when we saw a great forecast for Friday, a great field, we really got excited about what could happen today, and it did. So we're thrilled to announce that. And if anybody has any questions, glad to take them.

Q. What's the formula? What's the formula that you use to come to that -- I know you can't give a number, but --
BRYAN KARNS: We obviously see at every entrance the scans. We know how many people are coming on site. And so that's how we measure that. Like we said, we don't give out those numbers. But we did want to certainly give Rochester the recognition it deserves to say we've done this 80 times, going back to 1937, and for us to have that record set at Oak Hill, I think it means a lot.

Q. Is the expectation Saturday/Sunday that this could continue?
BRYAN KARNS: We know --

Q. I mean in a record-setting fashion?
BRYAN KARNS: We hope. I mean, you never know. And obviously we have another great day to try to do it again, and Sunday.

But I think we're excited about what happened today. I mean, that's what we focus on, one day at a time. This has been a lot of planning, two years that's gone into it. And so, you know, today is about today, in my mind. We just celebrate this and you look back, and you see all the people that are here. The Fairway Club today, I mean, the crowd for Tom Colicchio was incredible. Standing room only. People were packed in there. I've never seen anything like that.

And so we had this discussion about even though we don't share specific numbers, we want to let Rochester know what's happened today, because I think it's important for the legacy of this as a golf community.

Q. Bryan, first interview you gave to at least us, probably everyone else, you were excited to bring this to Rochester, you said this was a great golf town. But does this and this announcement here, does that kind of blow by even your expectations?
BRYAN KARNS: Yeah. It does. I mean, you think a lot about this, you know, over the last two years, and I've been with PGA of America for 10 years, and you think about these kind of days, right, because you put in so much hard work, and sometimes there's things that are out of your control that don't allow you to kind of accomplish some of those things.

And so for this to happen, yeah, it means a lot for me, not just professionally but personally. I mean, this is -- you know, it was really special. And there were a few moments today looking at those crowds that you just, you know -- you're kind of speechless because this is the way you draw it up. And that's what's fun for me about today, to kind of see it all come. It doesn't mean that the other days that we didn't get here we didn't try just as hard, but this is certainly the result of a lot of people coming together. The volunteers, the corporate support, everyone that bought tickets came out here and made this important.

Again, just want to say thank you, because we wouldn't be here. It's not me, it's not our team here, it's the community. It's tremendous.

Q. Bryan, yesterday obviously weather was a factor. Tomorrow's weather, a factor again. Moving the tee times up. How much stress is it that you guys want to get another round in and kind of build off of this day? I know you talk about one day at a time, but to keep this going with weather coming again?
BRYAN KARNS: Sure. Well, I mean, obviously, you know, the most critical thing is the championship, you're getting the play in. And starting tomorrow at 7 o'clock, threesomes off both tees allows us to hopefully get all the golf in tomorrow.

And what that does is it sets up really well for Sunday to get back in a routine of having everybody start off of No. 1 and twosomes and have that great sort of Sunday finish. That's the idea there.

And we hope people come out again tomorrow. We feel like they will. Friday -- or Thursday we had a little bit of weather, didn't stop people from coming out. Rochester, people love golf. I mean, you guys say that all the time. I've sort of picked up on that. It's become a part of my vocabulary. And, again, it's two years in the making, and I don't think we could be any happier with the way this has all played out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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