Stephanie Hartung, normally an avid pilot, didn’t want to fly her Sunriver-based plane this week.

“If I move my plane, I probably wouldn’t get my parking space back when I landed,” said Hartung, who has been flying out of Sunriver Airport for 10 years. “I would have to park on the grass.”

Hartung wouldn’t be alone.

The Jeld-Wen Tradition, the Champions Tour tournament that started at Sunriver’s Crosswater Golf Club Thursday and runs through Sunday, has brought a glut of corporate and private aircraft to the resort town, Sunriver officials said Friday. It’s the first time The Tradition has been held in Central Oregon.

The logjam of planes forced some incoming jets to be parked on grass fields adjacent to the tarmac, said ShanRae Hawkins, Sunriver Resort’s marketing director.

“Our small aircraft lot was completely filled at times,” Hawkins said of the 70-spot space. “We had to be creative in finding solutions.”

According to Sunriver officials, the airport saw 45 corporate and private plane landings last weekend, which is when The Tradition traffic started to trickle in. During the same time last year, only six similar aircraft landed.

No figures were available for Wednesday, the day before tournament competition, or Thursday.

“Some of these planes are owned by golfers,” Hawkins said. “But most are corporate and other event participants.”

One of those officials flying into Sunriver Friday was Ray Davis, president and CEO of Roseburg-based Umpqua Bank, a major sponsor of the golf tournament.

Davis, who flew into Central Oregon from Portland, said the mass of planes at Sunriver Airport reflects The Tradition’s impact on the local economy.

“When you have a tournament like this, the impact on Central Oregon businesses is great,” he said. “And it isn’t just the airport. People coming into Sunriver to watch golf will want to play golf, and they’re going to visit other places here like Bend and Redmond.”

Besides ferrying Davis, Umpqua has used its jet — shared with other companies, Davis said — to transport a few guests from California to the tournament, the bank executive said.

Sunriver’s Hawkins said the airport had advance notice of each incoming flight, so operations went smoothly this week despite the parking shortage.

“We staffed appropriately for the event,” she said. “It’s fairly unique to see this high level of volume, and it’s an incredible amount of exposure for us.”

Bend Municipal Airport also has seen more traffic this week, but not to the extent seen at Sunriver, one official said.

“We’re getting quite a bit of traffic in and out,” said Brandon Wilcox, general manager of Professional Air, which operates fuel sales and maintenance services at the Bend airport. “… A lot of those aircraft are flying into Sunriver. We’re pretty much the second option, just logistically.”

Hartung said not being able to fly this week did not bother her.

“It’s really fun and exciting,” she said. “We have all kinds of airplanes out at the airport every day of this week, and there’s a whirlwind of activities. This airport’s ideal for a lot of people, They can fly right in, and the shops and the resort (are) right there. Maybe someday, it’ll be spoiled because everyone wants to come, but right now, it’s great.”