By Bob Sherwin
So much technical analysis has taken place — so many logistics, time horizons, extrapolations, projections, predictions and propositions, all to discern this region’s residual economic benefit from the U.S. Open, June 18-21 at Chambers Bay.
Perhaps its impact can best be summed up with one highly technical term: humongous.
There simply is no comparison. Nothing previously in the history of the region has been staged on such a massive scale within such a short time frame.
Could this be the biggest financial event in the history of Pierce County?
“Absolutely. Unquestionably,” Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy says. “I would even go further. It’s probably the biggest singular financial event ever in the state of Washington.”
Tom Norwalk, President and CEO of Visit Seattle, the arm of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, doesn’t shoot that lofty notion down.
“Yes, it could be. I’m not sure we’ve had many events that come close to this,” he says. “We want to compete for a Super Bowl here one day. That would be the only thing right up there.”
Will more revenue be generated in one week at the University Place facility than that once productive gravel mine rendered in an entire century?
“That is also true,” McCarthy says. “This has never happened before in the Pacific Northwest.”
So, how much are we talking about? The working number is roughly $140 million. For all the extensive research and simulated economic models, it’s not an exact science, and some estimates range as high as $200 million. One thing is for sure, money will flow.
“[That] $140 million [is] merchandise, hotels, restaurants and rental cars, among other things,” McCarthy says. “That’s based on a study after Torrey Pines (2008 U.S. Open).”
There are other studies that reach beyond that figure. The North Carolina Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that Pinehurst, which held the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens on successive weeks last year, generated $169 million.
That report even broke down the revenue sources: lodging (41 percent), food and beverage (25 percent), retail purchases (14 percent), recreation/golf (12 percent), transportation (five percent) and other (three percent).
John Ladenburg, the former Pierce County Executive, said Pinehurst’s back-to-back Opens “were estimated by the local convention bureau to have an impact of $238 million. The USGA typically estimates an economic impact of the men’s Open at $170 million. I think this one will be the best ever due to higher interest and I believe this will end up in the $200 million range.”
Ladenburg was instrumental in pushing for the 950-acre Chambers site to become a world-class links golf facility, and says the merchandise tent “will be 44,000-square feet, more than a football field and a half. There will be another 10,000-square foot tent at the other end. They will generate $20 million in sales. That’s enough to provide half of University Place’s budget for the year.”
He compares it to hosting four consecutive Super Bowls in one week, and says all the local economies will feel the love.
“Our tax system is better here since we do not have a state income tax,” he says. “We have a high sales tax for hotels, rental cars. Of that (taxes), half will go to the state. And about a third of the second half will go to King County. Next would be Pierce County, but Thurston, Kitsap and Snohomish will all receive multi-millions.”
With that kind of impact, why did it take 115 years to get one of these U.S. Open championships in the Northwest? It wasn’t until the late 1990s that a handful of elected officials and local entrepreneurs, staring at a degraded gravel pit on the shores of the Puget Sound, had the vision for a world-class course that would challenge the world’s best golfers.
Ladenburg said the property was never going to be “just another golf course. What if we could build a professional golf course that could hold a major tournament? Then we could use it as an economic tool like other areas in Nevada, Arizona, the Carolinas and Florida. Build it to attract tourism. Why can’t we do that?”
They did, despite many who said they can’t or shouldn’t. Ladenburg and the others who drove that vision were lambasted for the folly of thinking big. It didn’t help their cause when the Pierce County Council kept transferring millions annually to cover the debt on the more than $25 million to develop the facility – during the toughest stages of the recession. It wasn’t until last year that the eight-year-old course finally turned a profit.
Throughout that rough ride back to the black, Chambers Bay had two heavyweights to help the besieged local supporters. One was Robert Trent Jones, Jr., the renowned golf course architect, whose team fashioned an inspired links course along the Puget Sound. The other was Mike Davis, the executive director of the United States Golf Association (USGA), who enthusiastically climbed aboard before the first shovel was turned.
It was Davis, just nine months after Chambers Bay opened in 2007, who announced that the 2010 U.S. Amateur and the 2015 U.S. Open would be held there.
Now here we are, just weeks from vision confronting reality.
“The heads of all the major corporations will be here — Rolex, American Express, NASDAQ,” Ladenburg says. “Coke will have three planes fly here from Atlanta with their executives. When they’re talking about where to put new plants, they can look at Seattle/Tacoma and say, ‘I’ve been there. Let’s look at that.’ Suddenly, we’re on the map. That helps economic development.”
Norwalk said his Visit Seattle team will take a proactive approach.
“The invitation is out,” he says. “This is our chance to use this to our best advantage. We can show off the area to our best customers and meeting planners from around the world and have them join us during that week. It will put us on the map. We’ll have a global spotlight on us. It’s a rare and spectacular opportunity.”