Four months ago, the San Juan Oaks Golf Club in Hollister
already was receiving calls about the U.S. Open
– not from fans looking for a place to stay, but for those
looking for a place to play.
”
We get spillover from the people who are visiting Monterey and
attending the Open,
”
said Scott Fuller, general manager of San Juan Oaks.
”
We were getting calls three to four months ago from people who
wanted to book here because they were going to be at Pebble for the
Open.
”
Four months ago, the San Juan Oaks Golf Club in Hollister already was receiving calls about the U.S. Open — not from fans looking for a place to stay, but for those looking for a place to play.
“We get spillover from the people who are visiting Monterey and attending the Open,” said Scott Fuller, general manager of San Juan Oaks. “We were getting calls three to four months ago from people who wanted to book here because they were going to be at Pebble for the Open.”
Watching four days worth of golf is more than enough to get even the most casual of fans excited and on the course — a nearby course, that is.
Local courses in Hollister have seen a noticeable uptick this past week with the U.S. Open being held just 40 miles away. Although it began Thursday and will continue through the weekend, the U.S. Open is sold out and is expected to draw more than 35,000 visitors a day to the Monterey Peninsula.
And the overflow into San Benito County is apparent.
Tee times at Bolado Park Golf Club in Tres Pinos increased 60 percent on Monday — one of the slowest days of the week for the nine-hole course — while lodging was sold out or nearly sold out at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club from Thursday through Saturday.
“Making the reservations, people are saying that there is no lodging in Seaside or Monterey,” said Alex Andersen, a lodging clerk at Ridgemark.
Andersen noted that a weekend sellout isn’t out of the ordinary at the Hollister country club. However, nearly all of their customers this weekend — all but two or three small groups, she said — were not signed up for the club’s popular stay-and-play golf package.
“Most of them are just staying,” Andersen said. “A lot of people called and wanted to be here Thursday through Saturday, and we’re completely booked with 12 to 13 people on a waiting list.”
According to a report by the National University System Institute for Policy Research, $76.3 million came into the San Diego region as a result of hosting the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
In other words, there is money to be made, even in a struggling economy.
“Hopefully, as we go through this week it will get better,” said Steve Janisch, general manager at Bolado Park Golf Club. “I anticipate that because people do get revved up.”
Fuller estimated bookings — when compared with a normal week in June — have increased 35 percent this week, with a full block of tee times already scheduled on Thursday from 6:50 a.m. to 2:50 p.m., and a full block of tee times scheduled on Friday from 6:40 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We’re very full this week — everyday,” Fuller said. “I think part of it is the attention the Open brings to golf. We also get a lot of people coming and going to Monterey and they make us a part of their trip to the Open.”
Fuller said it was a similar scenario in 2000, which was the last time Pebble Beach hosted the U.S. Open. The annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, meanwhile, also gives the local courses an upturn in revenue.
“When there is a PGA event over there,” Fuller said, “we benefit from it.”
Although bookings are steady at Ridgemark, the club will take advantage of the U.S. Open setting with its members-only tournament — the Ridgemark Open.
On Saturday, some 50 amateur golfers at Ridgemark will draw the name of a pro at the U.S. Open, and will compete in a combined gross-score format.
“It’s kind of unique and it’ll be an interesting thing to see,” said Chris Branon, the head golf professional at Ridgemark. “Around 3 or 4 o’clock (on Saturday), everyone will be glued to the TV.”
