Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Economic impact of PGA Tour coming
BMW Championship brings golf’s best to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square later this week
Even as 70 golfers hope to be among those lining up to gain a hefty prize, Delaware County may be the biggest winner of all as the BMW Championship comes to the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square.
Barbara Lehman, director of communications for Destination Delco and a decade-long golf enthusiast herself, explained that certain professional golf events of distinction - such as the BMW Championship - can be the equivalent of the Super Bowl for fans and hosting communities.
“It’s a big deal,” Lehman said. “We do know the entire county will benefit. We’re the last event before 30 guys have a shot at $10 million.”
The BMW Championship is the penultimate event in the PGA Tour playoffs for the FedExCup. Seventy players including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and others will take to the Aronimink greens from Sept. 6-9 and be whittled down to a field of 30 for the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Ga.
Conducted by the Western Golf Association, proceeds from the event support the Platts Evans Scholars, which awards full tuition and housing scholarships to caddies of mod-
est means.
According to Aronimink officials, this BMW championship is the first time in 59 years that it has been held in Pennsylvania.
“We look forward to bringing a major worldclass event to Aronimink,” said Steven Zodtner, Aronimink president. “Our membership and the Philadelphia golf community are excited to partner with the WGA, BMW of North America and the PGA Tour to showcase our championship golf course and to return professional golf to our region.”
Delaware County is not foreign to professional golf events. In 2013, the U.S. Open was held not far away at the Merion Golf Club in Haverford.
Estimates from various U.S. Opens put estimates at $70 million in direct spending for the area from the event with $1.5 million in tax dollars generated. At the U.S. Open, about 60,000 of the 100,000 attendees were believed to be from out-ofstate.
Lehman said she didn’t have estimates available for what the BMW Championship would reap for the Delaware County area but she said the area could expect to receive 130,000 to 150,000 visitors.
“That’s a lot of people coming to our very small area,” she said, adding that the Aronimink is located central in the county in Newtown Square so visitors would get to see many highlights of Delaware County on their way to and from the event.
In 2016, Golf 20/20 and SRI International published a report called “The Pennsylvania Golf Economy” for the Golf Alliance of Pennsylvania and it found that Pennsylvania’s direct golf economy was about $2.3 billion. By comparison, it found that medical equipment and supplies manufacturing produces $3.5 billion, agricultural crops $2.6 billion and breweries $1.3 billion.
The report also found that the total economic impact of Pennsylvania’s golfrelated activities, the industry generated $4.8 billion of direct and indirect economic revenues. It also impacted 56,000 jobs totaling $1.4 billion in wages for 2014.
Of the direct golf revenues, the study divided the $2.3 billion of revenues into categories: golf facility operations; golf facility capital investments; golf supplies; associations and major tournaments; charitable giving; real estate; and hospitality/tourism.
For golf facility operations, a number generated from green frees, membership fees, golf cart rentals and the like, the report stated that almost $1.3 billion was reaped in 2014.
“Golf is a sizeable industry even when compared to other popular revenue-generating sports,” it reported. “For example, all other professional spectator sports in the state combined are only twice the size of golf. Football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer generated revenues of $2.76 billion in 2014.”
Then, there’s construction of new courses and renovations of existing ones, which was tallied at $110 million.
Golf-related supplies from golf balls, golf clubs, golf apparel and golf media garnered $4.4 million in 2014 from Pennsylvania golfers. Pennsylvania retailers, it found, earned an approximate $108.3 million profit margin from the sale of their products that year.
Associations and tournaments generated nearly $15 million in revenue while charitable giving netted $132 million.
The report also noted the attractive value of golf courses for those selling and buying homes as it noted housing developments with golf courses such as Applecross in Downingtown and The Links at Raven’s Claw in Limerick. It estimated that new golf-related real estate construction garnered $25.5 million in 2014 and that the sale of real estate that year in Pennsylvania’s 58 golf communities was $15.1 million.
Lehman certainly understands the allure of the sport, especially watching it in person.
“It’s a very personal thing and you get to experience it with them,” she said. “It’s exciting to be in the middle of it. If you yell out, he hears you. If your guy does bad, you can hear every groan.”
Likewise, you can hear the roar of the crowds for players like Woods and Mickelson from holes away.
“It’s also personal because it’s one guy battling himself,” Lehman said, adding that you get to see who’s hitting the fairway and who’s having a meltdown. “You can’t be in the top five without battling your own issues.”
In addition, she said Aronimink’s a tough course.
“You can lose a tournament on one hole,” Lehman said. “There’s only 18 chances you have that day. They have 18 shots at getting under par and if you’re not under par, you’re not winning.”
Win or lose the tournament stands to be a highlight in Delaware County’s story.
“This is a time when Delco’s friendliness will be on display,” she said, adding that the county’s charm and earthiness will be on display. “Everyone in the county is a tour guide.”
Lehman also said this tournament is only one of more to come with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship scheduled for Aronimink in 2020 and the PGA Championship scheduled for the same course seven years later.
The reason Delco is slated for repeat business with golf tournaments is simple: Aronimink is a great course.
“You also need a club that is made up of people who are passionate about hosting an event,” Lehman said. Then, there’s the need for at least 2,100 volunteers. “And, we have them all.”
And, even as the tournament wraps up at the end of the week, Lehman expects that the county will see ripple economic benefits as visitors who came to Delco for the championship decide to return.
“We anticipate people wanting to come back again,” Lehman said. “We have high hopes regardless of how many hotel rooms we fill from this event that we will add more from what a great weekend escape this is. If you come here and you love it, you’ll come back.”