Safeway golf tournament leaves $21M

Golf lovers who showed up for the 2007 Safeway International, the most attended stop on the LPGA Tour, left the East Valley and the state nearly $21 million richer. The popular tourney returns March 24 to Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Gold Canyon.

The W.P. Carey Sports Business MBA program at Arizona State University analyzed the economics of last year's Safeway International and found that of the 151,000 attendees, nearly 13.9 percent were visitors, who stayed an average four nights in the Valley during the event.

The economic impact of those visitors was $18.2 million, according to the study. An additional $2.6 million was spent in staging, organizing and promoting the tourney, for a combined $20.8 million economic impact.

And that tells only part of the story, said Mark Kizziar, president of Superstition Mountain Properties, an East Valley residential community.

Besides the measurable economic boon, four days of televised coverage on the Golf Channel resulted in "lots of e-mails, phone calls, and a great deal of excitement for our marketing efforts," Kizziar said.

"This has a huge impact. It promotes Superstition Mountain, the East Valley, the whole state of Arizona. It shows off the beauty of the East Valley and the quality of the golf courses."

Before the LPGA first teed off from Superstition Mountain in 2004, the East Valley desert retreat's image as a posh golf destination was "a well-kept secret," he said.

And while it isn't reaching Super Bowl proportions, the event's recognition seems to be mimicking that of another popular Valley golf event.

The 2007 Safeway International was "the largest spectator event in the history of the LPGA Tour," said Tom Maletis, president of Tournament Golf Foundation, which runs the East Valley tournament and another LPGA Tour stop in Oregon.

Maletis decided to move the Safeway International from Moon Valley to Superstition Mountain in 2004 despite concerns about whether visitors and volunteers would make the trek, too, and worries about whether the players would like the new venue.

He's never looked back.

Tournament facts
What: 2008 Safeway International LPGA tournament
When: March 24-30 at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, Gold Canyon
Tickets: Two-for-one single-day passes $20 at Safeway stores in the Valley
Information: (602) 495-4653 or www.safewaygolf.com