help them. However, we also know our No. 1
priority is to protect the golf course and the
property, so we find a balance there.”
During the 2007 U.S. Open, semis
and trailers regularly squeezed through
Oakmont’s modest front gate, which leads
directly toward the clubhouse and course.
Deliveries were constant. The parking
lot, along with the players’ practice area,
always seemed in gridlock. Oakmont
members, and USGA staff alike, moved
about gingerly. Players acclimated to the
ambient noise. While on the practice
green pre-championship, then-Masters
champion Zach Johnson quipped that it
seemed like the Daytona 500.
The usable acreage has already relieved
congestion thanks to new temporary
and permanent roads. A new fenced-in
compound has been established featuring
a bevy of operational trailers, creating
citification of sorts. From a procedural point
of view, it has vastly eased the perpetual
traffic that once crammed through the
front gate.
On March 14 construction of the first
tent—the 36,000 square-foot Merchandise
Workers construct a tent at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina for the 2014 U.S. Open Championship.
“I won’t have a vacation day until the
championship ends,” said Howe in March.
“You run on adrenaline. There’s always
something to do.”
In terms of cool outside-the-ropes
features, the USGA will continue its mobile
device policy after allowing cell phones
through the gates for the first time last
I won’t have a vacation
day until the championship ends...
You run on adrenaline.
There’s always something to do.”
USGA PHOTOS
— CHARLIE HOWE
Pavilion, just off the third hole and next to
the famed Church Pew bunker—kicked off
a laborious two months of construction.
The upgraded ticket package tent, 1895
Club, Trophy Club, media center and
hospitality facilities went up next, followed
by the massive Oakmont, Fownes and
USGA Partner villages, next to the third,
17th and 18th holes, respectively.
Howe said one new wrinkle will be added
this year. The Palmer Suites within the
new Palmer Pavilion will feature a doubledecker, all-glass front boxed seating area,
along the par-3 13th hole.
Without a doubt, May offers a surreal
reality check. Grandstands and TV scaffolds
are part of the final additions, and then
there’s the matter of at least 40 training
sessions for the 5,000-plus volunteers.
vsga.org
year. Good thing, too, because an updated
app is planned to be launched in June.
The app will offer an interactive map
with concession locations, restrooms,
grandstands sites and several Wi-Fi zones.
Spectators will also be able to locate players
on the course in real-time or where they’re
to be expected one to three hours ahead.
As fans flock to the area, there is
an expected spike in dollars spent. The
economic tremors from hosting a U.S.
Open shouldn’t be minimized. Last year
at Chambers Bay, the championship
generated $134 million for Pierce County
and its surrounding Washington state areas.
In 2007, the Pittsburgh communities
accumulated about $59.8 million in direct
spending that was attributed solely to the
U.S Open, said VisitPittsburgh.com’s Lynn
Glover, director of communications. At
the time of print, the site was conducting
an economic study for the impact the
championship will have thi