In the afterglow of another wildly successful United States Golf Association national championship played in our neighborhood, it’s fair to ask:
Is Vero Beach now on the USGA’s radar for more such events in the future?
“I don’t know if I’d call it ‘on the radar,’ because it’s more than that,” said Tracy Parsons, tournament director of last week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club. “You’re a member of the USGA family.
“We’re always looking for great sites for our national championships, and we’ve played two of them in the Vero Beach area,” she added. “I don’t see why there wouldn’t be more, if there were clubs that formally requested to host them.”
At least one already has.
Kevin Given, Quail Valley’s co-owner and general manager, said his club submitted such a request “a while ago,” and that the USGA has made inquiries regarding some of its national championships.
“They know we’re interested and they’ve reached out to us, but the dates didn’t work out,” Given said, adding that the club, which has hosted U.S. Open qualifying tournaments and Florida State Golf Association events, isn’t seeking any particular championship.
“For us, because of the heat and rain and the agronomy in Florida, we really couldn’t do anything during the summer months,” he explained. “And we wouldn’t want to do it when we’d inconvenience our members. So if we’re going to do anything like that, we’re probably talking May or October.”
If the USGA offered an October date, however, the club would need to suspend for a year the annual Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, a men’s tournament that for the past six years has brought some of the nation’s top college teams to Vero Beach.
“We’d have to take a year off, and we’d need to have plenty of notice so these teams could fill that date on their fall schedules, but we could do it,” Given said. “May works well for us, too.”
It was just three years ago that Vero Beach’s first USGA national championship – the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur – was held at John’s Island, which received rave reviews from players, caddies and tournament officials for its organization, hospitality and challenging West Course.
The event also drew praise from local merchants who welcomed the offseason boost in business.
Orchid Island and its picturesque, Arnold Palmer-designed course enjoyed similar applause last week as the host site for the Senior Women’s Amateur, which provided a spectacular stage for a USGA major as well as the perfect venue to promote both the club and community nationally.
“Our mission statement was to provide an exceptional and memorable experience for everyone involved,” said Ted Hutton, chairman of the club’s host committee. “We also wanted to use this tournament to showcase Orchid Island and Vero Beach. We accomplished our mission.
“We have one of the best golf courses in Florida, but, because we’re such a small club, people don’t know about it,” he continued. “Hosting a USGA national championship here certainly raises a club’s stature, and we received so many favorable comments throughout the week.
“I can’t tell you how many people – players, caddies, USGA officials – told me they never knew about Vero Beach and couldn’t believe how nice it is here,” he added. “These people are going to go back home and talk about Vero Beach and Orchid Island and their experiences here.
“Will some of these people eventually find their way back to Vero Beach or Orchid Island? Time will tell. But we’ve given them something to think about.”
Or as Mary Shepperd, chairwoman of the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur committee, told Hutton: “Orchid Island knocked it out of the park.”
Orchid Island’s first-rate hospitality included a cocktail reception and banquet for the players, and a massage table on the practice range – perhaps the most talked-about perk of the week.
“The players were excited about what they’ve seen here,” Parsons said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them talk about retiring here.”
Without question, the Senior Women’s Amateur was the right fit for Orchid Island, which sought that particular championship because it brought together competitors and members who shared the 50-and-over age demographic.
Several players, in fact, commented about the friendly embrace they received at Orchid Island, where they said they were treated as members.
“It has been something special,” said Australia’s Sue Wooster, a veteran of USGA championship events and the tournament’s runner-up. “You’ve got a beautiful oasis here . . . I can’t say enough about the atmosphere, members, volunteers.
“What a wonderful week.”
The highest praise, though, came from Oregon’s Lara Tennant, the 57th Annual Senior Women’s Amateur champion, who uttered words sure to appear in Orchid Island’s marketing brochures: “I’d join here if I lived in Florida.”
That alone justified Hutton’s $250,000 budget.
“She nailed it,” Hutton said.
So did Orchid Island, which, like John’s Island three years earlier, gave USGA officials every reason to remember Vero Beach fondly. Even the weather cooperated – as Hutton promised it would.
When the USGA awarded the early October tournament to Orchid Island five years ago, Hutton boldly guaranteed the event would not fall victim to a hurricane. And it didn’t.
Instead, Hurricane Michael devastated the eastern half of the Florida Panhandle, and only its outermost winds were felt here.
“I’d say we dodged a bullet, but I feel terrible for the people of the Panhandle,” Hutton said. “We were watching the storm, but we had the USGA’s meteorology experts tell us it was too far from us, so we were never really worried.”
Nor was the USGA, which, for the second time in three years, entrusted a national championship to the Vero Beach area at the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season and was thrilled with how the tournament was supported by the community.
“The hurricane stirred up some wind, but we adjusted,” Parsons said. “As for everything else – the golf course, the site, the people – I couldn’t imagine this tournament going any better than it did.”
Orchid Island’s longtime general manager, Rob Tench, attributed the tournament’s success to the hard work done by his staff and Hutton’s committee. He said he’d welcome the opportunity to play host to a future USGA national championship, if the members choose to do so.
Next up, though, could be Quail Valley.
“If we do it, it’s simply because we want to support the USGA and it’s a great thing for our community,” Given said. “That’s why we’ve been supportive of the tournaments at John’s Island and Orchid Island. There’s no financial incentive for us, because we don’t have real estate to sell, but we’d love to do it if we can make the dates work.”
In the afterglow of another wildly successful championship played in our neighborhood, you can be sure the USGA will be checking its calendar.
Remember: We’re family.
