Northwest courses hope to see benefits of U.S. Open with an increase of golf rounds in June

When the United States Open hits the Pacific Northwest June 18-21 at Chambers Bay the economic impact will be felt by restaurants and hotels throughout the Puget Sound area. Thousands of golf fans are expected to visit the area for a week and pump millions of dollars into the Northwest economy.

Local golf courses are also hoping to get a part of the action. There are many courses within a short drive of Chambers Bay and those courses are hoping to get a piece of the action.

“You never know what will happen with a big event coming to the area, but we want to be ready,” said Eric Hinrichs of Riverbend Golf Course in Kent. “There will be a lot of golf fans in the area, hopefully we can get some.”

Hinrichs said plans are for a U.S. Open type of tournament the week of the championship and special pricing might be involved.

Other courses know they will have some plans in place, but are still waiting to put the final piece in place. At North Shore Golf Course in Tacoma head professional Dave Wetli said there will be a U.S. Open Ball Buster event on Wednesday of tournament week. “We want to put our best foot forward and show people what we have.”

Allenmore Golf Course is just minutes from Chambers Bay and is a course which will be seen by hundreds of golfers heading to the U.S. Open. The course is owned by the Elks Lodge and they plan some events during the week.

Oki Golf, which runs several courses in the Pacific Northwest, has its closest course at Hawk’s Prairie in Lacey. Kevin Myers the director of golf said that a couple of deals are in the works including taking reservations well in advance and a possible Stay and Play package with the Red Lion.

The Home Course in DuPont, which hosted the U.S. Amateur along with Chambers Bay in 2010, will have a couple of special events planned during the week and will work with the USGA on the tournament as well as the events at The Home Course.

There will be plenty going on the week of June 18-21. The local Puget Sound courses will be ready. “This is a one-time deal,” said Wetli. “We need to have people know how good golf in the Pacific Northwest is.”