LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Crowds flocked to Valhalla Monday ahead of the PGA Championships which is being held in Louisville for the first time since 2014.
Which means Louisville is booming with tourists, a sentiment felt across the city throughout the month of May.
From Oaks and Derby 150, to college graduations, to the PGA Championship, Louisville businesses are feeling the impact from the influx of tourists.
"We're expecting a nice crowd in here," said Molly Malone's co-owner Tadgh O'Callaghan, who knows what the PGA Championship coming to town means for business, and is bringing in extra employees to help for the week.
"I actually recall the last time it was here; it was really good for us," he said.
O'Callaghan, who is from Southern Ireland, has his sights sight on an Irish PGA Champion.
"I want my countryman Shane Lowry to do well, plus Rory McIlroy, but we're all Irish!" he said. "I know there will be a lot of fans here, at Molly Malone's, some that come from all over the United States but some that come from Ireland, too. We're really looking forward to welcoming them."
Hotels and Airbnb's across the city are fully booked, including Chateau Bourbon B&B in Norton Commons.
"We booked up our rooms pretty much the day the PGA tickets went on sale months ago. So, we knew it was going to be a booming time for us because we filled up really quickly for the event," said Chateau Bourbon B&B Owner Missy Hillock. "It will definitely be our largest month of the year, in terms of our overall revenue, and it may potentially be our overall month since we've been in business in 8.5 years."
Louisville Tourism tells WHAS11 the PGA Championship is expected to bring in about 200,000 people for the week and generate $80 million in estimated economic impact.
An impact felt at Parlay Sports Bar in downtown Louisville, which has drink specials planned throughout the week and a putting green in the bar for PGA enthusiasts.
"We've got six major hotels within two or three blocks from us, so whenever the hotels are full we get a ton of traffic," said Parlay Co-Owner Adam Gardenhire. "We have a lot of locals that live downtown still that come in all the time, but the influx of people always helps us."
WHAS11 also spoke with The Grady Hotel and Hotel Genevieve, who said they are also fully booked for the entire week as people from all over the world flock to Louisville for the PGA Championship.
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