'Stadium' par-3 16th at TPC Scottsdale - good or bad？

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

They can't say the didn't see this coming; surely last year's behaviour was a sign of things to come.

[Rob Marshall]

My son was there with his buddies. They traveled from Charleston. He said it was a cluster F. The didn't check tickets. You just walked in. Rumor was that there was 500.000 people at one point. He said you couldn't move around the course every well. There were so many people they shut off beer sales at 2:00 to try and get people to leave. Instead of being lauded the PGA tour should be ashamed of what this tournament has become. They did find a spot on a hill to sit on 10 where then could watch some golf. I guess they also shut the gates down an some point and stopped allowing ticket holders in when they earlier didn't even check for tickets.


What does the guy do with a 10 year old getting into golf? I wouldn't take a kid to this event. Is it even safe for a kid?

[Jim Hoak]

Like so many good things, people have taken it too far.  It has gone from being refreshing to being silly.

[Craig Sweet]

#12 at Augusta would be a perfect place for this...

[Matt Schoolfield]

Ehh... I think the kids are all right. It's obviously a shit show, and I wouldn't be caught dead there, but so long there is no concern about serious injury, and the golf is able to continue at reasonable pace, I say let them run amok in peace.
It's gauche, sure, and it could be managed better, at the door and behind the bar, but I think having one event for the folks in the tuxedo tshirts is good for the game. Let's not take ourselves too seriously. It's obviously very popular.

[Bruce Katona]

Gee whiz, with all the fun, all-be-it-a-bit-over-the-top; you'd think The Tour was channeling LIV or Bethpage for the next Ryder Cup at Bethpage for a week.  Imagine fun, noise, cheering & booing at a golf event?

[Matthew Rose]

They will need to change the name of the event to the Wasted Management Open.

[Jim Hoak]

Many articles this morning, saying that the tournament in general went too far in its "freedom" this past week.  Fights, encounters between players and fans, drunken behavior, etc. take away from the quality of the experience.
I don't think I am being stuffy or old-fashioned--but maybe I am?  I love the cheering, booing, good-natured attitude of the tournament.  But I do think it crossed the line this past week.

[Kalen Braley]

There were mitigating circumstances this year, not that its a surprise to anyone or that I'm justifying the shenanigans at this tournament.

But with the crap weather, many of the viewing mounds became effectively unusable as they were covered in mud.  As a result most of the large crowd stayed around the 10, 16, 17, 18 area and it became unwieldy as they jammed in. Then they cut off the booze and closed the gates to ticket holders at 2 PM on Saturday to try to mitigate, which caused people to get riled up even more and sort of downward spiral from there.

[Jim Hoak]

Kalen, I hope you're right that these were one-shot problems.  There is much to admire about golf opening up and having fun.  But the "fun" seems to build on itself every year, until it crosses the line--which it may have done.

[Richard Hetzel]

When they get sued, and they will, they'll tighten things up a bit. (see article below)


https://sports.yahoo.com/fan-hospitalized-with-non-life-threatening-injuries-after-fall-at-wm-phoenix-open-151245236.html


I rarely watch professional golf on TV any longer. Maybe the Masters with it's fake course, the Open and the US Open and amateur events if they are televised. I skip the PGA as well unless I like the course they are playing.


Might as well watch LIV instead of the Waste Management Open.

[Jim Hoak]

 
Changes coming.









https://golf.com/news/wm-phoenix-open-changes-coming/?utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly

[Steve_ Shaffer]

"Nothing is off the table": WM Phoenix Open promises changes.

[Ben Hollerbach]

• Increase gate security & raise drink prices.
• Sell less alcohol, with a higher profit margin. Reduce the potential for people to sneak it in too.

Or

• Limit alcohol sales to areas only around 16. That would cover the 10th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th holes.

[Jeff Evagues]

How about sell no alcohol.

[Jeff Schley]

With over a million beers sold in a day at probably $10 or more each that is alot of cash to leave on the table. The Thunderbirds pride themselves on setting charity donation records each year with this tournament. They have done a fabulous job in making the tournament one of a kind. It needs to be reeled in and will be no doubt.

[Kalen Braley]

This happened at the LIV event this week but could have easily occurred at 16.

"Herbert had just made birdie on the 12th and was celebrating with boisterous fans when his caddie, Nick Pugh, was hit in the back of the head by a water bottle thrown by a patron while replacing the flag in the cup.
Pugh was knocked to his knees but managed to avoid serious injury. He eventually made his way back to the clubhouse at The Grange's Golf Club."

Curious what its gonna take before event organizers get serious about this?

https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/40036990/caddie-hit-head-water-bottle-party-hole-liv-adelaide