TULSA COMFORTABLY COSMOPOLITAN

By KEN MACLEOD

When a PGA Tour golfer checks with his cabbie, his bellhop or his bartender about what there is for his family to do in Tulsa while he’s pursuing the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club, the following is not the correct answer:

“Uh, there’s really nothing to do here.”

That doesn’t do the golfer any good. And it certainly doesn’t help Tulsa or its image.

We may not have San Antonio’s Riverwalk or even (gulp) Oklahoma City’s Bricktown, but there are plenty of activities, both family and for the single set, that would be of interest. Those include world class museums, and gardens, a wonderful mix of golf courses, the Tulsa Zoo and Jenks Aquarium, River Parks and Riverwalk Crossing, a thriving music scene to fit most tastes, horse racing and casinos for the gambling types. And, of course, there are exceptional restaurants, shops, and plenty of movie theaters and books stores.

Or, if one prefers to gawk at mansions, Tulsa has more than just about anywhere else, a testament to how much house you can build for the buck in this part of the country.

No matter what the visitor prefers, we’ll be depending on the “front line” of greeters to our city to effectively convey that message. Training sessions will be held this spring to help those in the travel, hospitality, food and other service industries help brand Tulsa as a place that is “comfortably cosmopolitan.” As many as 225 workers will take the first round of training sessions April 26-27.

The brand was suggested after research by the communications firm Littlefield at the behest of the Tulsa Metro Chamber’s Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. Suzann Stewart, vice president of the CVB, said it is now the CVB’s task to teach the front line hospitality workers about the brand and how it can help fulfill Tulsa’s promise.

And what exactly is that brand? Who are we? According to one paragraph from the training materials:

“A trip to Tulsa provides the visitor an opportunity to enjoy the intimacy, the surprising sophistication and the fusion of a city that was built by oil barons. It is a welcoming city, one that is comfortably cosmopolitan.”

This approach is not going to necessarily increase the projected impact to the city of having the PGA Championship. The impact from the 2001 U.S. Open was $40 million and this could do as well. Hopefully, our visitors this time will leave with a positive impression that they’ll carry into the country at large. Who knows what the benefits could be, but there will be a lot of influential business leaders in town for this event.

“It’s going to be an exciting time to be here,” Stewart said. “We want it to be a memorable experience for our guests. We don’t want them to feel like a tourist, but like a guest in our home. We’re going to pull out all the stops to make sure they leave with that feeling and want to come back for more.”

A traveling exhibit of PGA Championship artifacts and memorabilia will be on display at the Tulsa Historical Society from April 3 through the week of championship Aug. 6-12.

Titled, “A History of the Season’s Final Major”, the exhibit reveals the history and tradition of the PGA Championship and its 88 past champions. “We are pleased to have been selected as the host site for the PGA’s Championship Exhibit. Having previewed the collection, we are certain it will capture the interest of golfers and non-golfers alike,” said Edward C. Lawson, Jr., President Emeritus of the Tulsa Historical Society.

Featuring acclaimed memorabilia such as Jack Nicklaus’ putter after capturing the 1980 PGA Championship, Phil Mickelson’s wedge that clinched his victory on the 18th hole in 2005, a straw hat worn by Sam Snead and the legendary Walter Hagan’s walking stick, the PGA Championship Exhibit traces the history of the event, from the very first Championship in 1916, won by Jim Barnes, to last year’s triumph by Tiger Woods.

The PGA Championship Exhibit - "A History of the Season’s Final Major"debuted in Louisville in 2000, and continues to travel to locations in advance of future PGA Championship sites. The exhibit will be on display at the Tulsa Historical Society, 2445 South Peoria Avenue in Tulsa, from April 3 - Aug. 1. Regular museum hours have been extended for this special exhibit: Tuesdays 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Wednesday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Admission is free to the public.

Once again, Tulsans have responded to the call for the massive amount of volunteers needed to properly execute a major championship, Tournament Director Ryan Jordan said

By late March, more than 3,800 had signed up to work in various capacities at the event. Jordan said they were still looking for a few more to help with transportation and with a few other committees.

Ticket sales were also brisk. For the Wannamaker Tent, there is a limit of 7,500 available and more than 4,000 had been sold. The capacity for the course is 35,000 per day and Jordan said whether availability becomes a problem could depend largely on what happens in the golf world in the next few months.

“If Tiger Woods wins the Masters and U.S. Open and British Open and comes here looking to complete a Grand Slam, it will be completely crazy,” Jordan said.

Otherwise, considering the heat, crowds of more than 20,000 per day would probably be considered about average.

Corporate sales were also moving along, with about 85 percent of capacity sold by late March. That included nearly 50 chalets and 110 corporate tables. Jordan said the vast majority of the corporate sales went to Tulsa or Oklahomabased companies.

“We have a few from out-of-state, but on the corporate side this is one of the biggest things to come to Tulsa. This is the thing to do. You’ve got the biggest star athletes in the world at a time when he’s playing some of his best golf. You just don’t want to miss it.”

For more information on tickets, go to www.2007pga.com.

What: A collection of PGA Championship memorabilia When: Open through Aug. 12; Times are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to

Saturdays Where: Tulsa Historical Society, 2445 South Peoria, Tulsa, OK Admission: Free