Area hotels at capacity while welcoming golfers, spectators from around the world
The U.S. Open's historic 10th time at Oakmont Country Club means a ton of revenue for the Pittsburgh region and all of Western Pennsylvania.
Jim Britt is the Vice President of Sports Events for Visit Pittsburgh. He says the USGA is anticipating more than 200,000 people coming into town and staying in area hotels for the championship.
'We'll see a really high occupancy across all of our hotels, and Downtown and surrounding areas are really feeling that impact,' Britt said. 'We're hearing that from all of our hoteliers.'
That includes hotels by Pittsburgh International Airport, to the east in Greensburg and Latrobe and just off the Turnpike in Cranberry, Monroeville and Harmarville. Britt says the biggest impact, however, will be felt Downtown.
We stopped by the Oaklander Hotel off of Fifth and Bigelow, right next to Pitt's Cathedral of Learning. Kelly Giger is the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Oaklander.
'This property is 167 rooms,' Giger tells Channel 11. 'The average rate is going to start around $799 and go up from there.'
Giger says they host players and groups from all around the country and when the U.S. Open gets underway, they'll be at capacity, which requires a lot of pre-planning.
'It's a lot of responsibility to ensure that they have a great stay,' Giger said. 'These golfers travel all over the world and experience luxury and that's what we thrive on. Making sure we're staffed, we have everything ready to go, the kitchen is ready for an influx of restaurant orders and the bar is fully ready to go.'
It's also about standing out in a crowded field. After play has ended for the day, the bar will transform into a putting green. They'll offer hot dogs and a signature drink called 'The Turn.' It's a take on the U.S. Open's traditional Dewar's Lemon Wedge.
From Oakmont to Oakland, it's a chance to highlight all that Pittsburgh has to offer.
'It's great recognition for the city,' Giger said. 'Everyone's putting their best foot forward and making sure everyone coming in is having a great time.'
'This is a world-class event,' Britt adds. 'The whole world will be looking at PGH for this week.'
Even after the U.S. Open has ended, the work continues for the hotels. They're already planning for the 2026 NFL draft, which is expected to bring three to four times the number of people to town.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The PGA Tour unveiled a new tracer that is absolutely incredible
The PGA Tour is with our friends up north this week with the RBC Canadian Open. Given that the U.S. Open is next week there is obviously a lot of buzz in the air. During the opening round of play on Thursday the Tour unveiled something rather amazing during the broadcast. While we are used to seeing shot tracers used all of the time, this particular one following Shane Lowry's tee shot was different. Advertisement As you can see Lowry's tracer line changed colors from blue to green. The green signifies that the shot is likely to find the fairway. If Lowry's drive were to be headed too far right or left then the tracer would have been red. This is absolutely amazing. This technology was implemented at times throughout the rest of Thursday and the days after and showed a variety of shots and therefore colors. Sometimes one drive would start off red and change to green, this is because it is all based on how the technology is predicting the drive will fare. It is difficult to innovate in our current day and age because technology surrounds us at every turn. But this was an awesome development from the PGA Tour, one that is hopefully a sign of more to come in the future.
USA Today
29 minutes ago
- USA Today
Scottie Scheffler shoots his first over-par opening round since last year's U.S. Open
Scottie Scheffler shoots his first over-par opening round since last year's U.S. Open OAKMONT, Pa. – Scottie Scheffler entered the 125th U.S. Open as the presumptive favorite but he struggled in the first round at Oakmont Country Club on Thursday. The world No. 1 made six bogeys and posted 3-over 73, his first over-par round in the opening round of a tournament since the U.S. Open a year ago at Pinehurst No. 2. 'The greens just got challenging out there late in the day,' he said. 'There's so much speed and so much pitch and then with the amount of guys going through on these greens, they can get a little bit bumpy. But you know that's going to be part of the challenge going in. You've got to do your best to stay under the hole and stay patient.' After a quick birdie at the second, Scheffler made three bogeys in a four-hole span starting at the third. 'The way he opened up the first few holes, you thought this was going to be a Rolls Royce performance from him,' Golf Channel's Paul McGinley said on 'Live From.' 'He's not been himself at all today. His stats are bad and he's hit a lot of poor shots for him with some uncharacteristic mistakes.' Scheffler hit just 7 of 14 fairways, 11 greens and was 3 for 7 in scrambling. Scheffler has never come back from outside the top 30 at the end of the first round to win an official tournament, but McGinley didn't seem overly concerned. 'He's like a marathon runner. He knows how to pace himself,' he said. 'There's also a little bit of an intimidation factor going on. He's so highly regarded by his peers and he's a hell of a competitor.' Scheffler, for one, wasn't too stressed out about being seven off the lead held by J.J. Spaun. 'When I look back at my round today, I think I just need to give myself some more looks at birdie. That's really all it came down to,' he said. 'I'll clean up some of those mistakes, a couple three-putts and stuff like that, and I think tomorrow will be a better day.'
New York Post
34 minutes ago
- New York Post
Early US Open leader J.J. Spaun is just fine being ‘uncomfortable'
OAKMONT, Pa. — 'I like feeling uncomfortable.'' Those words came from J.J. Spaun about an hour after he seized the early first-round lead in the U.S. Open at mighty Oakmont with a bogey-free, 4-under-par 66. Advertisement As it turns out, the 34-year-old from San Diego is in the right place if he embraces uncomfortable as he tries to conquer what the best players in the world say might be the most difficult golf course in the world. 'All you've been hearing is how hard this place is,'' Spaun said. 'It's hard to not hear the noise and see what's on social media. So, I was actually pretty nervous. But I actually tried to harness that, the nerves, the anxiety, because it kind of heightens my focus, makes me swing better.
