Disconnected at door

BY JAMIE HERZLICH | STAFF WRITER

June 16, 2004

Only a U.S. Open could make Rich Kruse part with his cell phone for a day. Barring a major catastrophe or family emergency, it would be unfathomable for Kruse to ever think of giving it up.

"It's killing me," said Kruse, who runs a sales and marketing association and a public relations firm in Farmingdale. "I'm having panic attacks." But like hundreds of other people attending the second practice day of the U.S. Open yesterday, Kruse was forced to hand over his phone to get in.

The United States Golf Association prohibits bringing cell phones, beepers or any other noise-producing devices into the Open to avoid distracting the players. A similar ban was in place at Bethpage during the 2002 U.S. Open and prevails at many other tournaments, and not without reason: Fans forget or simply refuse to turn them off, and some spectators have been known to chatter away even at the most crucial moments.

In February 2003, Tiger Woods cursed a fan at the Nissan Open after his cell phone rang while Woods was in the middle of what turned into a three-putt bogey from 6 feet on the 17th hole. The same year, Ernie Els complained about cell phone interruptions at the Singapore Masters. "They got some weird tunes over here," he told The Associated Press. "It's a problem wherever you go."

Executives who simply had to make a call yesterday could try to use the phones in the corporate villages, if they were lucky enough to know someone to get in and had a special VIP pass. But most had to rely on the 80 pay phones that were scattered throughout the course.

"I feel naked," said Stuart Kertzner, a CPA with Gettry Marcus Stern & Lehrer in Woodbury. His business partner, Mark Warshavsky, who was also at the event, left a voice mail at the office telling clients he was checking in sporadically.

Jeffrey Wurst, a lawyer with the Uniondale law firm of Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, thought ahead and brought a calling card to use at the pay phones.

By midafternoon, the lines were starting to build up at the "disallowed" trailer by the main entrance where items ranging from cell phones to oversized backpacks were held. One staffer said they had collected more than 500 disallowed items in the last two days, including more than 200 cell phones.

"It's been a major problem," said Tim Fennelly, who owns Classic Security and Investigations in Hampton Bays, which was having people check in any unallowed items. "They don't read their tickets. A lot of people said 'no one told us.' "

"I'm going to check out the lines for people who checked in their cell phones," Wurst said. "If it's not that bad, I'll take my cell phone on Thursday so I could have it on the train ride home."

"I don't know how they will find mine," worried Andi Gulija, who owns the Plaza Cafe in Southampton. "They had a huge pile when I walked in." She was waiting on the "disallowed" line to retrieve her cell phone, as well as her pocketbook since bags larger than a small purse also had to be checked in.

Fennelly said they were tagging items so that they wouldn't get lost.

Chris Klein, an account manager for KeySpan Energy Delivery in Hicksville, sure hoped so. "I am going through complete communications withdrawal," Klein said. "It feels like a piece of me."