Cherry Hills Village – By almost any measure, the 60th U.S. Women’s Open was a stunning success. If it seemed there were people craning from every nook and cranny of Cherry Hills Country Club as Birdie Kim stood in the bunker on her 72nd hole Sunday, it was because the grand old club was bulging at the seams.
The final-round crowd of 31,037 broke the single-day attendance record set just the day before. For the week, 131,137 came out, another all-time high.
“They’d be crazy if they didn’t come back here,” 2004 Open champion Meg Mallon said, echoing the thoughts of virtually every player.
But what seems like a no-brainer to almost anyone who spent time here this past week may not be so cut and dried. Some club members – and more important, USGA officials – complained about difficulties with Cherry Hills Village itself and how it put on the tournament.
“It hasn’t affected what I do, but it’s affected what we do, and it’s also affected what the club does,” said Tom Meeks, USGA senior director of rules and competition. “I don’t really get into the political arena, but apparently it’s been a problem in preparing for this.”
The major sticking point was the event permit process the USGA and Cherry Hills underwent with the village government.
“Approximately two years ago, the city passed an event permit ordinance, which included, in concept, some pretty good things,” said Jeff Riggs, a Cherry Hills member who was general chairman for this year’s Open. “The application of this ordinance, the first time through, made it difficult for the club to work on the planning of the championship. We’ve worked through these challenges with the city.”
But perhaps not to the satisfaction of the USGA.
“It was just ridiculous,” said one official who wished to remain nameless. “It’s not like we don’t do this in other jurisdictions around the country, but this was way beyond anything we’ve gone through anywhere else.
“It was the only drawback in an otherwise stellar week. The crowds obviously were great, and the course played exactly how we want. We’d love to come back, but we’d need to know that this wouldn’t happen again.”
Doug Scott, the mayor of Cherry Hills Village, said problems this year would be corrected if the USGA comes back.
“We now have a blueprint for future events that I think is proving in its execution to be ideal,” Scott said. “Could it be easier next time around? Yes, I definitely think it will be. This was a learning process for us, and I think it was for the club as well.”
Scott admits the village “may have been a little strict and firm” in the permit process, but attributed that to societal changes since the previous time Cherry Hills hosted a major championship event, the men’s 1993 U.S. Senior Open.
“The planning process was a little more detailed,” Scott said. “Part of it was that, post 9/11, you have to give some consideration to ‘What are your plans?’ You want to make sure you’ve covered all of the bases relative to getting people in and out.”
Venues for the U.S. Women’s Open have been named for each year through 2010. A site that is favored by the USGA can generally hope to host the Open about every six years.
Such was the case with Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon, which hosted the 1997 and 2003 tournaments, and Pine Needles in North Carolina, which hosted in 1996 and 2001 and will again in 2007.
The next meeting of the USGA executive committee won’t be until October, but officials say that with the tournament already committed for the next five years, there may not be any rush to consider sites beyond that time frame.
But should the organization decide to ask Cherry Hills if it can return for another championship, Riggs said he expects the answer to be an enthusiastic yes.
“We are proud of our traditions of championship held at Cherry Hills and definitely intend to continue them,” he said.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
