When the McDonald?s LPGA Championship tees off today at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace, Harford County and state officials hope it will once again be a long drive for the area?s economy.
“It?s a regional event ? think of it as a mid-Atlantic activity,” said Robert McGlotten, assistant secretary for business development with the state?s Department of Business and Economic Development. “We?ll get people attending from Philadelphia all the way down to mid-Virginia. This is a major showcase for Maryland.”
In its fourth year at Bulle Rock, the event has packed the streets and restaurants of downtown Havre de Grace each year. But this year?s tournament will take on a new importance with the impending BRAC relocation of many Defense Department workers to nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Five new charities were added to the event?s rolls this year, one of them specifically connected to BRAC, said Jim Richardson, Harford County director of economic development. He said he planned to meet during the tournament with several companies that have already moved to the area, and invitations had been extended to Fort Monmouth, N.J., residents to attend the weekend?s events.
“One of the unquantifiable impacts is of course the name recognition and the marketing and the worldwide coverage it provides for us,” Richardson said. “We?ve been trying to find hotel rooms for another program and there are no hotel rooms available from White Marsh to Aberdeen and Havre de Grace.”
A study conducted by the Department of Business and Economic Development in 2005, the tournament?s first year at Bulle Rock, estimated about $5 million in direct and indirect impact on the Maryland economy. That figure included between $3.1 million and $4.3 million in spending and between $1 million and $1.5 million in wages and salaries.
In that report, attendance was estimated as high as 90,000 over the six days of preliminary events and LPGA play. However, this year?s attendance might be higher ? it?s the last chance to see LPGA great Annika Sorenstam play locally before her retirement at the end of this season.
The LPGA tournament has also increased interest in Bulle Rock itself, not just generally as a top-notch course, but among female players, said general manager Rick Rounsaville.
“We definitely see an increase in ladies play here from what we saw before we had the events,” he said. “They want to play where they see the girls play.”
