Published in the June 22 – July 5, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Kathy Sullivan

Kathy Sullivan

Kathy Sullivan

logoMorgan Hill and the South Valley region rarely get a chance to be seen on an international stage. We are about to be handed such an opportunity when the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship comes to San Martin July 4 to 10. The FOX Sport channel team has started videorecording highlights of our region to be edited into “filler” of local flavor and broadcast during breaks in the television coverage.

While CordeValle Golf Resort’s 72-par course and the world-class professional players will be the stars of the show, there will be plenty of moments where the surrounding areas will be able to showcase their own special points of interest. Morgan Hill Downtown Association has been working along with the Tourism Alliance and the United States Golf Association’s advance team to take advantage of this unique event.

Jeff Dixon, executive director of the Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance, is the point person to work with the FOX Sports team to help determine some of the picturesque places. MHDA thinks many of these can be found in our downtown corridor. Banners announcing the 2016 Women’s Open have been posted on Monterey Street and local businesses have their special USGA decals in the windows to build up excitement. Many downtown merchants realize they can gain a lot of business advantages by joining the celebration and drawing some of the more than 100,000 spectators expected to visit to watch the tournament.

While some of the businesses have yet to jump on the bandwagon, many are now looking at how to best capitalize on this unprecedented chance to tie into a big event taking place in our neighborhood. Huntington Station Sports Pub will be celebrating with staff wearing golf caps to help get into the spirit. Many restaurants will have specials on their menus to welcome the players, fans and people who will want to join in the fun. Special wine dinners at some of the downtown eateries are being planned. Local wineries will have a chance to show off their products. Attendees and volunteers who have never been to Morgan Hill before will be looking for places to go and relax after spending the day on the course, and they’ll no doubt be surprised to discover how fun and friendly our downtown can be to guests.

Our entire city can become ambassadors by welcoming new visitors with our usual good nature and friendly attitudes. We have a chance to help shine a light on the many places that drew us here to make our homes and build our businesses. Even the recent opening of our new Pop- Up Park on the corner of Monterey Road and Second Street can get into the action of promoting our downtown. It looks like a perfect place to put a putting green for the townspeople to join in on the fun. We also have a local player, Christina Kim from San Jose, as one of the 156 players. The enjoyment of this sporting event can be enhanced by our having one of our own professionals to root for and build some local connection.

The increased media attention and tourism has a chance to help both our reputation and the bottom line. Let’s make the most of this opportunity.

Kathy Sullivan is a board member of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. She wrote this column for Morgan Hill Life.