December 23, 2024
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LIV Golf expected to pour dollars into Sugar Grove and surrounding communities

By David Petesch
Spectators watch Cameron Smith chip onto the 18th green during the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Friday in Sugar Grove. Local businesses hope for "residual spending" in Sugar Grove and surrounding communities associated with spectators and participants.

Spectators watch Cameron Smith chip onto the 18th green during the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Friday in Sugar Grove. Local businesses hope for "residual spending" in Sugar Grove and surrounding communities coming from spectators and participants. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

SUGAR GROVE — Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith, Brooks Keopka and Bryson DeChambeau were just a few of the big names who took to the links at Rich Harvest Farms last weekend for the LIV Golf Chicago event.

The Chicago invitational, which ran from Sept. 16 to 18, was the fifth tournament of LIV Golf’s inaugural season, and although it was a first-time event, area officials were expecting to see some economic impact.

“It’ll be interesting, come next week, to find out what that impact truly was. But certainly there’s going to be an impact.”

—  Cort Carlson, director of Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

Cort Carlson, director of the Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the bureau services 10 communities in the area, including Oswego, Yorkville, Plano, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.

Carlson said any time there is an event of this size the bureau expects to see an increase in residual spending from guests, spectators and even participants on things like gas and local restaurants. With a first-time event, such as LIV Golf, it’s hard to gauge what the economic impact is going to be.

Spectators walk the Rich Harvest Farms golf course during the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational Chicago tournament Friday in Sugar Grove

Spectators walk the Rich Harvest Farms golf course during the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational Chicago tournament Friday in Sugar Grove (Associated Press )

“It’ll be interesting, come next week, to find out what that impact truly was,” Carlson said before the tournament started. “But certainly there’s going to be an impact.”

Other than Sugar Grove, he said he expected Yorkville to see the biggest impact, as their hotels are closest to Rich Harvest Farms and would be right off the route for those traveling from the south on Route 47.

As Carlson predicted, area hotels such as the Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn in Yorkville reported on Saturday, that they were nearly full for the weekend.

Village of Oswego development director Kevin Leighty said he expected to see the hotels in Oswego full over the weekend and an increase in vehicular and foot traffic in Oswego’s downtown and along Route 34.

The impact may not have reached as far as Oswego, however, as the American Inn reported Saturday morning that they were no busier than usual.

“I think it’s good for the region overall, not just Kane County but Kendall County, as well,” Leighty said. “Because this is receiving national attention, it will help showcase the area, and hopefully we will see some future interest because of it.”

Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham said, being so far from the course, he did not expect to see much of an impact in Sandwich other than heavier weekend traffic and an increase in gasoline sales.

Although Latham did not foresee much change in Sandwich, he said an event like this with a national draw is great for the region.

Oswego Village President Troy Parlier said the LIV Golf events came together so quickly, the village didn’t have time to prepare, but he expected the event to be huge.

“That’s something we definitely have to look at in the future,” Parlier said. “Anytime you have an event with that kind of magnitude, it’s going to be beneficial for the development of the region.”