Bumped for golfers,
a religious group is teed off
at the Fairmont Turnberry
Isle Resort & Club.
Organizers of a
Passover holiday event for more than 500 Orthodox Jews
filed a lawsuit in November in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court
seeking an injunction, as well as damages, against the Fairmont
Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Aventura. The resort had
notified organizers in a letter in October that it was canceling
the contract for a Passover holiday event, to be held in April, to
make room for a Ladies Professional Golf Association
tournament.
“They just said point-blank, the owners
want to host the LPGA, so we can’t host the group,” said Lynda
Clare, owner of Presidential Holidays Southeast. “To find a
location with the space that can accommodate a 10-day program and a
block of more than 150 rooms is quite difficult at this time.” She
added that many attendees already had booked their trips and that
various religious requirements also complicated any attempts at
rebooking.
Clare charged that Turnberry
Associates, which manages the property, was more to blame than
Fairmont. “It’s the owners who are calling the shots,” she said.
“We have a great relationship with Fairmont.”
David Freeman, attorney for
Presidential Holidays, charged in a statement that Turnberry’s
president, David Soffer, “desired to attract and establish a
long-term relationship with the LPGA, which could result in media
coverage and publicity that would showcase the resort.”
Fairmont and the LPGA both told
M&C that it is company policy not to comment on any
cases in litigation, and at press time Turnberry had not responded
to e-mails or phone calls.