FORT WORTH, Texas — The merchandise tent for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge is a little cramped, a little warm and a little difficult to navigate.
But tournament organizers say it’s still something of a blessing.
After a fire that was snuffed out in an empty tent on Sunday night, the area that houses the merchandise and the performance center was rendered unusable just before those at Colonial Country Club were set to fill it with this week’s shirts, hats and other souvenirs.
“Something sparked. We’re still not sure what,” said Dennis Roberson, the tournament director. “We have security on site the entire week and they discovered it fairly quickly and helped put it out.”
Over the next 24 hours, crews put up a smaller tent in an area traditionally reserved for tennis. Although Roberson said organizers would prefer a different, grander presentation, he’s still happy with the way his team has jumped into action.
“We’ve been given a circumstance and we’re moving, managing, solving problems, putting up new signage and making the best of an unfortunate situation,” he said. “We’re doing the Colonial thing and going forward.”
And what if the tents had been filled already?
“If it happens Monday night, the whole thing probably goes up in flames and it’s a disaster,” Roberson said. “The way it happened we got to salvage things.”
Here’s a look at what’s available in the makeshift tent:
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Spanish