In a world of upstart professional tours, indoor golf venues and celebrity matches, there’s only one original stadium hole: the 16th at TPC Scottsdale. The Phoenix tournament which falls annually on Super Bowl weekend somehow gets bigger (and louder) every year. Though other tournaments have tried to recreate the formula, the atmosphere on Sunday in the Sonoran Desert can’t be matched.
Last year might have reached a tipping point though. The tournament was plagued by overcrowding, heckling and unruly fans, and with an attendance that already exceeds any other on the PGA TOUR, this time around the organizers have approached things with a fresh outlook. “This is the first year where the focus has been on making the tournament better, not bigger,” says general manager Brad Williams.
The Waste Management Phoenix Open comes and goes in a week, but TPC Scottsdale remains an attraction (mostly) year round. One of the things that makes golf unique is that professionals and everyday people share the game’s iconic stages, and the success of the People’s Open has turned TPC Scottsdale into a destination for enthusiasts, especially during the lead up to the tournament. The PGA TOUR owned and operated property features two golf courses, the Stadium and Champions, as well as the sprawling 750 room Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. Most recently, the TOUR partnered with sports betting app DraftKings to reinforce its hospitality offerings onsite with a flagship Sportsbook. It’s a 2,700 square foot behemoth of a sports bar ready to welcome throngs of fans who spill out of the exits during Phoenix Open week across Hayden Road. Awaiting them are fire pits, an outdoor patio, VIP cabanas and TVs everywhere you look.
We met up with Brad Williams before the start of the tournament to find out how TPC Scottsdale has become one of the most in-demand winter destinations for hardcore and beginner golfers alike.
Can you describe the design of the golf course and what makes it unique?
You know, it’s a really fun golf course. It’s not a golf course that beats you up. It’s not super demanding. It’s harder this time of year because the rough is starting to get longer. But from a layout standpoint I’d say it’s not hard, it’s not too demanding. It’s a desert golf course, but our deserts are all somewhat manufactured, which makes them a lot more playable.
If you were to go somewhere a little further north from here, those deserts are much more rugged. More lost balls, more unplayable lies. For the most part here if you hit it off line you’re probably going to find it unless you go in the water.
What’s the natural setting of the course and how does it affect the playing experience?
We don’t have some of the natural scenery that a Greyhawk or a Troon North has. Those are much more in the desert and have more elevation change. So we fall back on great conditions, good service, really good amenities and the chance to play where tour pros play.
If you’re from a private club in New York and you’re used to a really peaceful, serene golf experience and you come here expecting that, you might be disappointed. We do have some guests that will comment about this in a negative way, but most of our guests love and they understand that there’s probably going to be some disruption and noise.
“16 didn’t get that way in one year. It was a really gradual thing that got to the point where it is.”
Party holes are becoming a lot popular in golf these days. How did the 16th here at TPC Scottsdale take shape?
I think it’s really hard to create that inorganically. 16 didn’t get that way in one year. It was a really gradual thing that got to the point where it is. It’s funny, looking back at old pictures, and I’ve got one from the mid-90s, there’s like a row of tents down the right side of the hole that’s mostly just a little beer garden. And then everything else was seated people.
My first tournament here was in 2001. That was the first year that players walked through a tunnel to get to 16 tee. Now they walk through a tunnel so if you’re walking towards the tee box you kind of had a little horseshoe of bleachers and that was it. And then I came back 12 years later, and the whole thing’s more or less enclosed, and we built the third level all the way around. So there are little additions over the years to make it what it is. I don’t think all of a sudden you can decide “we’re going to have a hole that we put a stadium on” and build it.
“Golfertainment” has become a popular way of modernizing the game. Any improvements planned for the future?
One thing we’re definitely looking at is installing either Toptracer or Trackman on the driving range over on the Champions Course. We’re not there yet, but we’re hoping to have a covered area and to expand the putting green to make it much more of an entertainment space and open at night. We do have some challenges of being open at night with lighting because the Scottsdale Airport is literally right across the street. So height is an issue, as are lights.
We also had the thought, although we haven’t really pursued it, we would love to have lights on the last three holes of the Stadium Course. Playing 16, 17 and 18 under lights would be really, really cool. And honestly, from a business standpoint, a whole new revenue stream.
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