‘A game changer for central Wisconsin’: U.S. Senior Open to bring $25M to Stevens Point area
STEVENS POINT – Thousands of golfers and fans will soon flock to central Wisconsin to take in the U.S. Senior Open, hosted at SentryWorld, bringing millions of dollars into the area, spent on lodging, food and beverages, recreation, retail and transportation.
With the event being broadcast to a global audience, hosting the golf championship also has potential to build up central Wisconsin – and the entire state – as a hot spot for vacations.
The Stevens Point Journal talked with local leaders in convention and visitors bureaus and with Travel Wisconsin to get a better idea on how the U.S. Senior Open will impact Stevens Point and central Wisconsin and boost tourism throughout the state.
U.S. Senior Open helps showcase what Wisconsin has to offer golfers
The U.S. Senior Open teed off its first competition in 1980 in New York, according to the United States Golf Association. The competition that started out for golfers 55 years old and older was adjusted to 50 years old and older the following year.
The USGA accepted 3,066 entries for the championship, the second-highest in its history after the 2002 record of 3,101. Golfers from 48 states, the District of Columbia and 46 other countries will compete in the U.S. Senior Open from June 29 through July 2 in Stevens Point.
Travel Wisconsin promotes the state as the country’s top golf destination, featuring 10 of America’s top 100 public golf courses rated by “Golf Digest,” the most of any state. Listed courses include SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes in Rome and other courses in Haven, Erin, Kohler, Green Lake and Sheboygan.
Logan Wroge, a consumer communications specialist for Travel Wisconsin, told the Stevens Point Journal that while Wisconsin is already the best destination for golf in the country, hosting the U.S. Senior Open will be "a game changer for central Wisconsin," and the championship will uplift the sport throughout Wisconsin.
“Travel Wisconsin is thrilled the championship is coming SentryWorld and Stevens Point," Wroge said. "It follows a string of elite tournaments hosted in Wisconsin, including the Ryder Cup in 2021, the PGA Championship in 2015, 2010 and 2004, and the U.S. Women’s Open returning in 2025.”
Hosting the U.S. Senior Open gives Wisconsin a broader stage to share what the state has to offer for golfers. Wroge said he expects the competition to continue raising Wisconsin’s golf profile to golfers in Wisconsin and all over the country.
Championship brings in thousands of people and millions of dollars
The golf championship, with more than 3,000 competitors, will also draw in tens of thousands of fans.
Melissa Sabel, the director of marketing for the Stevens Point Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said she expects between 50,000 and 75,000 people to come into the Stevens Point area for the four-day event.
Those travelers are expected to stay in neighboring communities, as well. Tim White, the executive director of the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention & Visitors Bureau, said they expect to host thousands of people in the Wausau area, roughly 40 miles north of Stevens Point. He said even that far from the actual event, the Wausau area is projecting more than $1 million coming into the community from U.S Senior Open visitors.
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Sabel said it’s hard to estimate how much money the tournament and its visitors will bring into the Stevens Point area without actual figures to reference, but the USGA has estimated visitors will bring $25 million into the area, increasing traffic that will benefit local businesses.
Visitors are making plans to stay throughout central Wisconsin, Sabel said, as far away as Sand Valley, a golf resort in Rome, about 40 miles southwest of Stevens Point. Based on similar events in Wisconsin, organizers expect people to fly into airports in Milwaukee and Chicago before traveling to Stevens Point.
Meredith Kleker, the executive director of the Wisconsin Rapids Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said she conservatively estimates more than $50,000 will be brought into the Wisconsin Rapids area, as championship visitors come for lodging, local restaurants, bars, gas stations, retail stores and other attractions.
Wroge said visitors who spend the night spend on average more than $200 each day in Wisconsin, while visitors who take a day trip spend more than $70 on average. He said with a major event like the U.S. Senior Open, he expects visitors to spend more than those averages.
Wroge said the economic impact the U.S. Senior Open will have on the area is more than the money spent during the event. The championship will be broadcast nationally and will be available for people to watch in more than 90 countries, spotlighting Wisconsin as a destination for golf on a global stage.
Hotel rooms are filling fast, but visitors are booking short-term rentals first
With more than 50,000 people expected to converge on Stevens Point during the four-day event, lodging has been a top priority for local tourism leaders.
Sabel said out of about 1,161 hotel rooms throughout Portage County, only a few rooms remain open in the Stevens Point area, as of May 26.
The Inn at SentryWorld, a boutique destination hotel overlooking SentryWorld’s 18th fairway, which opened last March, no longer has rooms available, according to its website.
White said there haven’t been a lot of hotel reservations in the Wausau area yet, according to hoteliers, but he expects hotels there to start filling soon. Many people looked to book short-term rentals first, he said. Those can be booked well in advance, while the average reservation time for hotels is 45 days early, he said.
Sabel said several homes are still open to rent in the region, and she expects to see more short-term rentals posted online in the next few weeks.
The Stevens Point Area CVB has a landing page on its website that features the U.S. Senior Open, and the organization has worked with local, county and state officials to build an easy-to-use guide for residents to be able to list their homes or properties as short-term rentals.
In its guide, it says Stevens Point-area residents will need to apply for a license through Portage County Health & Human Services and have the property inspected. If residents want to rent out their property for just the U.S. Senior Open, a zoning permit won't be needed, but if they intend to rent out the property for more than 10 days within one calendar year, they'll need one. If residents expect to make $2,000 or more from a short-term rental, they will also need a seller's permit through the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Once all steps are completed, residents can list their properties on Airbnb.com, Vrbo.com and Booking.com.
Sentry also partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for a more nontraditional lodging option for the U.S. Senior Open. Volunteers, contractors and spectators can book a dorm room in the university’s residence hall to stay in during the tournament.
How does central Wisconsin prepare for such a big event?
Convention and visitors bureaus in central Wisconsin have been communicating and promoting the U.S. Senior Open for the last two years, collaborating with community partners and the USGA.
Sabel said the Stevens Point Area Convention & Visitors Bureau has been holding press conferences, sending press releases, hosting travel writers and including the U.S. Senior Open on its visitor guide, website, annual report, social media and print and digital ad campaigns. The championship has been highlighted in meetings with local, regional and state partners across industries, as well. Sabel said the CVB has also coordinated trophy displays at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Stevens Point Area Senior High.
The Stevens Point Area CVB also worked to secure $50,000 in grants to help support the event and participated as part of a $30,000 Central Wisconsin Economic Development hospitality sponsorship. Sabel said the CVB has worked with Pro Links Sports, a sports marketing firm, to connect the firm with potential hospitality partners and every nonprofit sports teams throughout Portage County and provided an updated list of every marquee in Stevens Point and Plover to help promote the event.
Promoting the event has grown through partnerships and collaboration. Kleker said the Wisconsin Rapids Area Convention & Visitors Bureau has been working with its Central Wisconsin Tourism Association partners, which includes the Stevens Point Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and Visit Marshfield, and SentryWorld since 2021.
Sabel said the Stevens Point Area CVB also coordinated and purchased locally-sourced products for player gift baskets. Those gift baskets include cranberry items from the Wisconsin Rapids area, Kleker said.
Contact Caitlin at cshuda@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @CaitlinShuda.
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This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: U.S. Senior Open will be 'a game changer' for Stevens Point area
