Bailed-out Firms Save Face By Skipping The Masters

RUSS BYNUM

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Corporate customers at the Masters normally keep chef Karl Kwoka busy all week prepping gourmet dishes such as Angus beef filets with bleu cheese fritters and crepes de mer with lobster cream sauce. Catering to elite fans and their top clients during the April golf tournament typically accounts for a quarter of his income.

This year, the unpalatable economy has piled Kwoka's plate with more cancellations than customers. Four large corporations that in past years hired Kwoka to prepare private meals have backed out, leaving him with a single company to cook for, not enough to justify hiring the usual 30 extra workers. Kwoka estimates the cancellations cost him more than $70,000, and the temporary staff are missing out on big money, too.

In its 75-year history, the Masters has established itself as the Super Bowl for those who prefer single-malt scotch to Miller Lite, a sort of Mardi Gras for the country club crowd. The Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates the tournament pumps more than $100 million into the economy of this city of 200,000, which relies on the Army's Fort Gordon, a medical college, several hospitals and a smattering of manufacturing the rest of the year.