What a Weekend: BMW Championship

What A Weekend

Wilmington basks in spotlight of the BMW Championship

Well, they said it was going to be a big deal. And it was.

All eyes of the golfing world were on Wilmington last month as the top PGA Tour golfers jetted in for the BMW Championship. The weather cooperated, more than 110,000 spectators turned out, and an international TV/steaming audience got a close-up of Wilmington Country Club and our photogenic Brandywine Valley.

“The 2022 BMW Championship was a great success,” said event chairman Tom Humphrey. “Delaware and the Wilmington Country Club hosted a fantastic event for the global golf world to see. Looking down the fairway as the last group putted out all you could see were waves of people lining both sides of the fairway. The comments I have received from the PGA Tour, Western Golf Association and BMW have all been highly complimentary.”

“The tournament was a huge deal for Greater Wilmington,” said Jennifer Boes, executive director of the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We don’t know the full economic impact of the event yet, but I am certain it was significant based on what we’ve seen and heard. What I can tell you now is that we had more than 500 downloads of our mobile discount pass, launched in the weeks leading up to the tournament, and VisitWilmingtonDE.com website traffic during tournament week saw the [BMW Championship] account for nearly 43 percent of all our website traffic during the month of August."

The area will have to wait to perform an encore. The BMW Championship is already booked at locations in other parts of the U.S. through 2026.

— Out & About

Top row (l-r): The photogenic 15th green; Patrick Cantlay made it two BMW titles in a row, a FedEx Cup first.

Second row (l-r): Scottie Sheffler finished tied for third; Scott Stallings finished second and earned his first trip to the FedEx Tour Championship; Crowd favorite Rory Mcllroy turned in another top 10 finish.

Third row (l-r): Youngsters wait for their autograph-op; Walt and Molly Diehl with daugher Kelly (left) during Sundays' final round; WCC member Chris Cobb with Sophie duPhily on the 10th fairway.

Photos by Lindsay Rudney duPhily