Thousands of people will be headed to Broome County in the coming days for the Dick's Sporting Goods Open Tournament. The tournament week officially began on Monday. The Pro-Am begins on Wednesday and the pro tournament begins on Friday. Our Melissa Kakareka tells us why the annual event is so important to Broome County.

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ENDICOTT, N.Y. -- The golf course is ready. Tents and parking zones are set up. And many players are already participating in practice rounds. It's all part of the excitement and preparations surrounding the start of the Dick's Sporting Good's Open, which is underway this week at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott.

Many local businesses and leaders are getting excited about the economic boom that comes along with it.

"The tournament is very important to our local economy, it attracts people from all over the country, last year we had people coming in from 24 different states and Canada," said Broome County Executive Debbie Preston.

Jim McCoy owns restaurants in both Endicott and Binghamton and says both places do become a little bit busier during the tournament week and coming weekend.

"Number 5 will get most of the pros come in, a lot of them have been coming in since the BC Open so it's familiar faces and we generally do pretty well. And obviously there's a lot more people in town so we expect to see a pretty good increase," said Jim McCoy, who owns Lampy's in Endicott and Number 5 in Binghamton.

Hotels are also impacted by the extra business.

"We expect quite a bit of extra revenue, not only here but I'm hearing all the hotels, nearly every hotel in the area is at occupancy right now," said General Manager of Homewood Suites by Hilton Maury Duffy. The hotel is the official host hotel for players.

County officials say the tournament helps showcase all that the region has to offer.

"After every year, we get reports back about what a great place Broome County is, and it's our people, because we roll out that welcome mat and everybody feels very comfortable in Broome County because we just welcome everyone," said Preston.

Making it more than just a sporting event.