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| U.S. Senior Open Golf Tournament to grace Hutchinson, Kansas |
| June 27, 2006 |
Hutch's Prairie Dunes gets ready for crowds
by BY SCOTT PASKE, The Wichita Eagle
HUTCHINSON - The scene in front of the clubhouse at Prairie Dunes Country Club yields no evidence of change.
Members still drop off their clubs at the front door. Jovial men congregate on the first tee under the midday sun, limbering their arms with practice swings.
A leisurely element perseveres. But elsewhere on the course, workers race the clock to build temporary structures for spectators of next month's 27th U.S. Senior Open.
"It's definitely moving at a high speed," Senior Open director Greg Conrad said in his tiny office at championship headquarters, a trailer at the north end of Prairie Dunes' parking lot. "That's the fun part about it, because you realize that all the pieces are coming together and everybody's trying to get their component worked out."
Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Greg Norman and Tom Watson are among the golfers expected to compete in the nationally televised event, which begins with practice rounds on July 3 followed by the championship July 6-9.
The Senior Open is expected to attract 130,000 spectators over seven days and generate a direct economic impact of $18 million for the area.
But before many of the world's best 50-and-older players come to town, the brunt of Prairie Dunes' transformation into a tournament venue will occur.
In the course's trademark native rough along the 16th, 17th and 18th holes, construction of corporate hospitality suites has begun. Colonnade Events, a company that builds temporary structures at golf tournaments across the country, had a 30-man crew erecting steel platforms last week.
The suites will offer corporate sponsors and their guests a haven from Kansas' July heat. Amenities will include air-conditioning, televisions and food and beverages.
"It's the same stuff from place to place," said Derek Widis, senior project manager for Colonnade. "It's just a different challenge as far as terrain and things like that."
Widis works from a portable trailer not far from Prairie Dunes' 14th fairway in an area tournament officials call "the boneyard." Since May 8, it has been the delivery point for numerous truckloads of supplies.
Colonnade's target date for completing the corporate village is June 26. Touch-up work will continue until the start of the championship, and Widis said workers will remain once it begins.
Other companies start arriving Monday. Jill Ulrich, the championship's marketing director, said the construction will begin this week on grandstand seating for 10,000. Everything from concession stands to restrooms to gallery ropes will appear in the coming weeks.
Prairie Dunes members witnessed the same well-scripted buzz of activity four years ago when the club hosted the U.S. Women's Open. This time, championship officials got a welcome change to the script.
Palmer, the 76-year-old golfing legend, announced Tuesday he plans to play. At last year's Open in Kettering, Ohio, Palmer said his days of competing in major championships were over.
But this spring, he committed to play in last weekend's Senior PGA Championship in Edmond, Okla., before withdrawing days before the tournament.
With major tournament golf still on Palmer's radar, Allen Fee, a Prairie Dunes member and the Senior Open's general chairman, made it known Palmer was welcome to play in Hutchinson.
"I just think having a legend like Arnold Palmer back at Prairie Dunes for the Senior Open is going to be huge for Prairie Dunes, the community, the entire area and the state of Kansas," Fee said. "We're going to have a lot of people here get a chance to see one of the legendary people in golf. You don't get that opportunity very often."
Tournament officials shared the news Friday with corporate sponsors who came to Prairie Dunes to pick up boxes filled with tickets, parking passes and hospitality suite wristbands.
Marvin Lao, the Senior Open's public relations and sales director, said a minimum of 50,000 tickets were distributed. General public orders will be mailed later this month.
The Senior Open staff hopes to capitalize on Palmer's decision to play through last-minute advertising. Ulrich said the championship's Web site had about 5,000 hits on Memorial Day -- the day before Palmer's announcement -- and 15,000 on Wednesday.
It's icing on the cake for those who monitor area businesses' bottom lines.
LeAnn Cox, director of the Greater Hutchinson Convention/ Visitors Bureau, said most of the city's 950 hotel and motel rooms have been booked for weeks. The bureau maintains a hotel hotline to help visitors find rooms in surrounding communities, including Wichita.
"A good, solid week of our available lodging is sold out, which is wonderful," Cox said. "This is a great boost for our service industries."
IF YOU GO
U.S. SENIOR OPEN
When: July 6-9
Where: Prairie Dunes Country Club, Hutchinson
Tickets: Available at Dillons stores across Kansas, on the Internet at www.2006ussenioropen.com, or by calling 877-325-4653. |
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