The world’s best golfers are teeing off at the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline this week, kicking off an event expected to nearly triple the town's population.
The golf extravaganza is the biggest major sporting event in Brookline since the Ryder Cup in 1999. Streets will be choked with traffic and the largely residential town will be overtaken by an estimated 175,000 golfers and guests. And Brookline Chamber of Commerce executive director Debbie Good Miller said she's hoping it will also be a boon to hotels and restaurants hit hard in the pandemic.
"I've heard from hotel people that they're completely filled in, they've been filled for some time, which is such, such great news, because through the pandemic, they were really struggling," she said. "So this could not have be happening at a more opportune time."
Planning for the event has been in the works for at least a year. The USGA built a 24,000–square foot retail shop selling PGA-emblazoned sweatshirts, mugs and mementos with The Country Club’s famous squirrel mascot — redesigned specifically for the U.S. Open. Nearby private schools have offered their parking lots to event guests who will take shuttles to the Country Club. One school, the British International School of Boston, offered remote learning and canceled classes later in the week to accomodate the event.
The Maryland-based catering company Ridgewells will use some local vendors, such as nearby Allendale Farm and Serenade Chocolatier, a Brookline chocolatier that said it is creating customized boxes of candy for the event. Good Miller also expects guests will also flow into the community for meals and shopping outside the country club's environs most evenings.
Nick Mallia hopes they will. The Paris Creperie operations director said he's stocked his Coolidge Corner eatery to capacity. He’s also deployed extra staff for the increased foot traffic he’s anticipating throughout the week.
“I think that the people that would be coming into Brookline for the Open are definitely people that would be eating out, so I would definitely say that U.S. Open people are gonna be foodies,” he said.
The town also launched a “Discover Brookline” website last summer, using funds from a state grant. It lists the community’s attractions and will be posted at parking venues with a QR code to help people know where to go for dining or shopping.
The influx of visitors is also expected to clog up the town’s streets. As many as 40 police traffic details were already in position on Monday morning around Jamaica Plain, South Brookline and Chestnut Hill to keep cars moving. Buses have been rerouted around Hammond Pond Parkway and Route 9 and school buses will take alternate routes to get to schools in South Brookline through an agreement with Brookline Public Schools, which will remain open. (More details traffic and parking information is available here.)
Fifty-three Brookline streets will also be designated as "Resident Only" parking and police will ticket or tow vehicles based on resident reports or officer observation, city officials said. And the MBTA will provide shuttle service to the Country Club from the Forest Hills station in Jamaica Plain and the Cleveland Circle T station in Brighton, from 6 a.m. to late in the evening.
Good Miller said she’s sure that the event will inconvenience some residents. “There's no question that this week is going to be challenging for some people,” she said.
On Monday, she said she had no trouble getting into work. But she typically walks to the office.
Olivia Marble contributed to this story.
