Thousands of golf fans will come to Erin Hills next week to see the greatest players in the world compete in the U.S. Open.
The event is expected to have a $120 million economic impact on the region, according to the United States Golf Association, which hosts the event. Crowds of about 35,000 are expected each day of tournament play from June 15-18. Practice rounds will be held from June 12-14.
There will be about 5,400 volunteers working at the U.S. Open.
Players, staff, media and spectators coming to the U.S. Open will fill Milwaukee area hotel rooms. Travelers staying in Milwaukee hotels during the U.S. Open will pay an average of $208 per night, $92 higher than this week, according to hotel price comparison platform HotelsCombined.
The tournament will put southeastern Wisconsin and Erin Hills, noted for its undulating Kettle Moraine landscape, on an international stage. It will be broadcast to 190 countries. In the United States the U.S. Open will be nationally televised on Fox and Fox Sports 1.
Erin Hills, located in the town of Erin in southwestern Washington County, opened in 2006 and was developed by Robert Lang, former owner of the Lang Companies, which published greeting cards and calendars. Lang sold the golf course to Andrew Ziegler, co-founder of Milwaukee-based Artisan Partners, in 2009.
Erin Hills hosted U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links tournament in 2008 and the U.S. Amateur in 2011. Both of those are also USGA events.
The U.S. Open is just the latest of several major golf championship tournaments that have been held in southeastern Wisconsin in recent years. Whistling Straits, near Sheboygan, hosted the PGA Championship in 2004, 2010 and 2015, the U.S. Senior Open in 2007 and will host the Ryder Cup in 2020. Blackwolf Run in Kohler hosted the U.S. Women’s Open in 1998 and 2012.
