The Los Angeles Country Club will host the United States Golf Association’s U.S. Open in 2023, the association announced Wednesday.
It will be the first time the club – sandwiched between Century City, Holmby Hills and Beverly Hills – has hosted the event, according to USGA spokeswoman Janeen Driscoll. It will also mark the first time the U.S. Open has been held in Los Angeles since the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades hosted it more than 65 years ago.
It’s good news not only for the Los Angeles Country Club but also for tourism and local businesses, said Gary Toebben, chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Between the thousands of visitors who will come to L.A. for the tournament and the millions who will watch on TV, we will generate millions of dollars in new spending and millions of potential new visitors in the future,” Toebben said.
The announcement might also be a consolation prize for local golf fans. The Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes was supposed to host this year’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf in October, but the PGA opted to move the event to another venue after course namesake and owner Donald Trump made disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants.
Jakks Shares Spike on Sales Boost
Toymaker Jakks Pacific Inc.’s second quarter brought a new headquarters, increased sales and a substantially slimmer net loss – and sent the company’s stock soaring.
Shares of the company, which earlier this month moved to Santa Monica from Malibu, closed up 9 percent Wednesday after reporting stronger sales and a smaller loss than analysts had expected.
For the quarter ended June 30, Jakks’ sales hit $131 million, a 5.6 percent increase over the same period last year. And the company’s net loss of $5.7 million (-30 cents a share) was significantly smaller than then $9 million net loss (-43 cents a share) in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected a loss of 33 cents a share on sales of $125 million.
Jakks Chief Executive Stephen Berman said sales for the quarter were led by Walt Disney Co.’s “Frozen” licensed products and Disney Princess and Disney Fairies’ product lines. The company sold $28.7 million in merchandise overseas, up from $17.5 million last year, with the increase also driven by “Frozen” and other Disney-licensed products.
