Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce

7/21/2008 - $Golf Green$....Navistar LPGA Classic

$Golf Green$
Navistar a moneymaker for area

By Marty Roney
mroney@gannett.com

PRATTVILLE -- Officials expect the Navistar LPGA Classic Golf Tournament to generate increased revenue and to spread the bounty across the rest of the River Region when the event returns to the Capitol Hill Golf Course this September. Last year the event brought about $13 million to the area, with most of the economic impact centered near the course.

New attractions in downtown Montgomery should pull some of those tourist dollars south, said a spokeswoman for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center will serve as one of the entertainment venues, which will guarantee that more people with money to spend will make the short drive down Interstate 65.

"We think the impact for Montgomery is going to be significantly greater this year," said Dawn Hathcock, vice president of the chamber's Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The Renaissance is an added attraction of course, but there are more things to do in our downtown this year. The golf tournament is going to be great for everyone in the region."

Jonathan Romeo, the tournament director, said the golfers, staff and support people who pull off a major tournament already are making preparations for the event, which runs Sept. 22-28.

Ten of the top twelve women on the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings have committed to play, including LPGA money list leader Lorena Ochoa and defending champion Maria Hjorth.

The major sponsor, Navistar, which has a plant in north Alabama that makes truck engines, will also bring a slew of people. So will workers who produce the national TV coverage.

"Navistar has rented the Legends that week as their headquarters hotel. The LPGA, players and Golf Channel staff are scattered in the hotels all over the area," Romeo said. "It's going to be a huge economic impact this year. For a first-year effort last year, everyone involved went away very well pleased with the way things went. The LPGA and players are looking forward to coming back to the River Region."

The total gallery for last year's weeklong event was estimated at 40,000, a number Romeo says was unusually good for a first year event. But good golf isn't foreign to Prattville. Five years before the LPGA event landed in town, Capitol Hill hosted the Nationwide Tour Championship -- a low-level PGA event -- that featured a field of 55 to 60 golfers playing for their PGA tour cards.

The Nationwide tourney generated about half what the LPGA event did -- taking in about $6.5 million. The Navistar Classic, with a field more than double the size, generated just about twice as much as the Nationwide Tour, according to chamber and tournament officials' estimates.

"The tournament is good news for our local businesses, hotels, restaurants and stores," Prattville Mayor Jim Byard said. "The Golf Channel will be airing play. There is no way to calculate how much that free advertising for our community is worth. Nationwide was big, but when you see the LPGA brand out there, it means so much more."

The mayor and local businesses are banking on the newly opened retail areas on the east side of town to draw tournament participants and spectators as well.

Romeo said officials with the LPGA who came to town last week for a visit almost couldn't recognize the place, it's grown so much.

"They were amazed with what they saw when they turned off the interstate onto Cobbs Ford Road," he said. "With all the new shops and restaurants out there, they said it looked like a new city from last year."

The tournament's future looks bright, he said. The city of Prattville entered into a three-year deal for the tournament. Romeo would like to see the tournament stay here longer.

"We are working at extending the event past the third year," Romeo said. "It's looking good that there will be an event in Prattville for a long time. The people of the River Region should be proud; they take very good care of us."

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