Whether the U.S. Senior Open was a success depends on who’s doing the talking and what’s being talked about.

We’ll never realize the full impact of the tournament, which was played at The Broadmoor’s East Course, because there’s no telling how many people will visit the city 5, 10, 15 years from now because of the glimpses they’ve seen on television.

But, given the weekend crowds, the almost perfect weather and the challenge of a U.S. Golf Association modified course, call this tournament a success.

The gallery at the 17th tee box formed a horseshoe around Eduardo Romero and Fred Funk. Fans were seven and eight deep, everybody looking to get a clear shot of the final pairing.

Back at the clubhouse, children and adults clamored to get autographed hats, gloves, golf balls, programs and towels.

“Look at the people here,” Mitchell High School graduate R.W. Eaks said. “I mean they’re just starving for something like this. And you guys got the ladies’ tournament here in three years. It’ll probably be bigger than this.”

Eaks, a regular on the Champions Tour, said the crowds surpassed those at other tour stops, where he said turnouts between 16,000 and 18,000 are good. The Broadmoor was getting close to that during practice rounds.

“We measure it from the buzz in the community,” championship director Doug Habgood said. “Obviously that’s not an easy thing to monitor, but you can sense it out here. You can sense the pride in the community. You can sense the excitement in the event. I think we’ve been extremely successful in getting that vibe and the buzz.”

On the positive side, the event served as a week-long promotional campaign for The Broadmoor – and thereby the Colorado Springs area. Every intro on ESPN and NBC showed views of why this area is such a popular vacation destination and a popular place to live.

That attention turned exponential during and after Friday’s second round. The bear that traipsed throughout the course brought the event and the area attention it couldn’t buy. It’d be a surprise if there was a television station in the country that failed to carry footage of the bear and his friends – the fox and deer.

For multiple SportsCenter shows, footage from The Broadmoor led the opening segment. ESPNNEWS and CNN ran video clips for 24 hours. Political radio shows talked about it. Hip-hop, country, rock and top 40 radio stations had brief segments on it.

“The first guy I called when that happened was the director of sales and marketing for the hotel,” Habgood said. “I told him, ‘Just brace yourself.'”

Habgood said he knew The Broadmoor name and Colorado Springs would be all over the country.

“It was a phenomenal thing and, luckily, everybody was safe,” he said. “But you couldn’t have written that script.”

Many of the folks talking about the bear were poking fun. But the thing to remember is they were talking about Colorado Springs.

They were smiling and laughing. It was much different from the last time this city got that much national attention – remember Pastor Ted?

On the negative side, 128,706 spectators attended the event, falling well short of the goal of 150,000.

The trickle-down effect of that is other goals, such as the potential economic impact on the city, might fall short, too.

An estimated total of $30 million in hotels, food, rentals and entertainment was supposed to be generated in the past week. Because of the attendance, that number had to drop.

“I’m not disappointed at all,” Habgood said. “We worked to put together a quality golf tournament. We’ve gotten a lot of people through these gates and it’s looked great on television.”

Yeah, it has looked like a success.

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Columnist Milo Bryant can be reached at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazettedev.gazette.com

Silvia Clarke with daughters, Caroline, 6, center, and Sarah, 14, at their home in Miami shores, Fla., in July. Silvia runs as a way to reduce stress and clear her head. Photo by