Duh. The celebrities draw more crowds than people chasing white balls.
This year, the ATT Pro-Am did not boost local businesses as much as usual. Many owners attributed the decline to the absence of celebrities.
“Everybody would go out to see celebrities, Bill Murray, maybe you’ll catch your favorite actor or football player, Tom Brady but this year it really wasn’t like that and the vibe has changed a lot,” said John Culcasi, owner of Rosine’s.
The PGA Tour changed the ATT format last year and continued with it this year, making it an elevated event that attracted the world’s best golfers but no celebrities.
Some business owners said the lack of celebrities translated to a different crowd.
“The past two years it’s been a different crowd a lot more is golf-centered people they kind of go back to their hotels and they go out there early they don’t really go out like how it used to be,” said Culcasi.
