Cherry Hills Village – Cherry Hills is getting ready to host its first women’s national golf championship, but head golf pro Clayton Cole said he wouldn’t be surprised if the club bids on future U.S. Women’s Open events and becomes part of an unofficial “rotation” considered by the USGA.
He concedes it’s unlikely Cherry Hills will ever again host a men’s U.S. Open or PGA Championship. For one, the course isn’t long enough to handle a men’s championship with the advent of technology that has changed the game. And, it also lacks the space to accommodate the huge corporate hospitality areas now a staple of men’s championship golf.
Cole estimates five acres are needed for corporate hospitality at a U.S. Women’s Open. He said he was told the men’s U.S. Open requires 10 times that space.
Corporate hospitality tents will be near the Cherry Hills tennis courts. There isn’t much additional room to be found anywhere on the club grounds.
The bleachers surrounding the No. 9 and No 18 greens will inch onto the clubhouse patio.
The logistics of parking
A vacant area east of the clubhouse was used for parking in previous national championships hosted by Cherry Hills but is now a housing development.
Spectators for this year’s event will park in various designated areas west of Interstate25 near Belleview Avenue. Last week, Stan Cohen, who works with the transportation committee, secured parking spaces from PeopleSoft. All of the lots combined will accommodate approximately 8,000 vehicles, which Cohen estimated should be enough.
Eighty school buses have been leased to shuttle spectators from parking areas to the golf course. None of the businesses that donated parking areas asked Cherry Hills for compensation.
“The response from the community has been amazing,” Cohen said. “It will be a good system. People won’t have to wait.”
