Like many area businesses, restaurants and hotels in Oakmont and Harmar have suffered during the pandemic.

It’s going to take time to make up the losses they’ve incurred, but weeks such as this one definitely are helping their economic recovery.

The 121st U.S. Amateur golf championship is being held this week at Oakmont Country Club and Longue Vue Club, and local businesses are benefiting from the presence of 312 players in the field. And many have brought their supporters and families along.

One of them is Ty Stites, 23, of Sallisaw, Okla., who didn’t make the cut in the qualifying rounds of stroke play and was therefore unable to advance to the match play rounds. But Stites, who is staying at the Hampton Inn in Harmar, decided to stick around for an extra evening to have dinner and maybe do some shopping.

“It’s my first time in Pittsburgh. I love the area,” Stites said. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen, with the older architecture in the area — a lot different from a small town in Oklahoma, where I’m from. It’s awesome.

“It was a business trip with the golf for the first few days, but now it’s time for a little vacation.”

The way Stites was describing his experience was music to the ears of Harmar Supervisors Chairman Bob Exler. Exler remembers the enormous economic impact of the 2016 U.S. Open, one of professional golf’s major tournaments. While the U.S. Amateur isn’t on the scale of the U.S. Open, there is a significant cash influx coming from this week’s events.

“We love it. It’s a financial boon for Harmar. I wish we had it every year,” Exler said. “Anything like this is going to have a spill off onto Harmar, because we have the restaurants and hotels and motels for the people who come in for this, and we have places like Target where they can shop. It’s not the U.S. Open, obviously, but it’s a great shot in the arm for our businesses.”

A couple of those businesses are the Quality Inn and Days Inn, both managed by Heidi Brenneman. Brenneman said both hotels have been busier this week with a significant number of golfers and volunteers booking rooms.

“It’s very helpful,” Brenneman said. “It’s always good to bring new people in, and we get return business (from past tournaments at Oakmont). Whoever makes the arrangements, they always bring them back here.”

Brenneman said the golfers are always well-behaved.

“There’s never any issues with them,” she said. “They let us know when they need something; otherwise, you barely know they’re here.”

Oakmont eateries are benefiting, too.

“The influx of business has been very positive, very helpful in terms of traffic flow,” said Hoffstots Restaurant manager Don Kalpakis. “The whole week is looking like it’s going to be a big one.”

Kalpakis said while this week won’t make up for the loss of business during the pandemic, it’s helpful.

“We’re seeing more new faces and a lot of young golfers who are involved in the tournament. I’m extremely happy.”

Somma’s Pizza in Plum is directly across the street from the golf course. Owner Susan Somma said she’s seen a roughly 15% uptick in business since Friday.

“We get a lot of the caddies and groundspeople and, of course, the golfers with their Lexuses and loaner cars out in the parking lot.”

Somma said the economic benefit will be limited, however, because the business has had to cut back its hours because of the pandemic. She expects to do well this weekend, because the restaurant is open for more hours. The championship match is Sunday.

“We have a lot of regulars from the country club — golfers who come here all the time — and they say, ‘We’re bringing people over,’” Somma said.

When it comes to the big tournaments at Oakmont, Somma acknowledges being in a perfect location — something Bob Exler can relate to.

“Harmar is in a perfect location for this stuff. God’s blessed us with that. So, we’re very happy.”

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