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GREENSBORO — With just three weeks left before the start of the Wyndham Championship, the Triad's PGA Tour event is on solid financial footing, tournament director Mark Brazil said Tuesday.

In the midst of the Great Recession, there's not much left to sell besides tickets to the tournament at stately Sedgefield Country Club.

"(Corporate) sales have gone all right," Brazil said. "It's a whole bunch harder to raise money, and I think everybody understands that. To be honest, I figured we'd be coming out of this recession by now, and that has not happened. I don't know if it's deepened, but it's certainly leveled off at the bottom. Hopefully this is the bottom."

Rock-bottom economy or not, the Wyndham's bottom line is fine thanks to its corporate sponsors.

Luxury suites on the 10th, 17th and 18th greens — which cost $70,000-$75,000 — are sold out.

All the skyboxes on the 15th, 16th and 18th holes — which cost $40,000-$45,000 — are gone except one on 15, "and there's a couple people looking at splitting that, so we'll be sold out there, too," Brazil said.

The suites and skyboxes include premium seating, food and an open bar, plus anywhere from 40 to 70 tickets every day to the suite/skybox and the Ross Pavilion outside Sedgefield's clubhouse.

"We've actually added inventory," Brazil said. "We've got something on the back of No. 10 for the first time. That's trending pretty well. It's certainly trending better than we did last year."

At $20,000 per three-player team, the Wednesday pro-am event is sold out. Only three open spots, at $15,000 per team, remain for Kevin Harvick's pro-am on Monday.

"We're better off than we were last year at this point, but probably not as strong as I was hoping for from the budget standpoint," Brazil said. "We're not quite there, but we're still strong. We're pretty happy. We just need some good ticket sales, and we'll be pushing hard these next three weeks."

Ticket sales are important, but make no mistake: Corporate dollars drive the tournament.

Along with primary sponsor Wyndham Worldwide, Greensboro's event gets significant contributions from businesses such as BB&T, Harris Teeter, VF Corp. and Flow Automotive.

"All of it is important, but the corporate support is where we're able to pay for this golf tournament," Brazil said. "And we do that on purpose. We want to keep those numbers up so we can keep ticket prices low. We haven't increased ticket prices in six years. They're still $25, and if you're smart enough to figure out how to get discounts, you can get them even cheaper."

There are ticket specials for Chamber of Commerce members. Ticket specials for groups. Even ticket specials at Harris Teeter by using a VIC card.

And the ticket prices are already bargains compared to other events on the PGA Tour. For instance, tickets to last week's RBC Canadian Open cost $70 per day, and single-day tickets to Charlotte's event at Quail Hollow start at $45.

"Ours are low," Brazil said. "We don't do it because we don't feel our product is strong. We do it because we want to make sure that anybody in the Triad and in North Carolina who likes golf can afford a day at a PGA Tour event. I don't think we'll ever change that. There are some (tournaments) that charge $50 a day, some are $75. But in this economy and the world we live in now, you shouldn't have to pay $200 to bring yourself and three family members for a day."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com