OUT OF BOUNDS


By Gary Van Sickle


Phoenix Open’s modern-day mantra: When in Rome…!


Phoenix Open. Wait, you ask, what could these


W


places half a world apart and separated by 20-some centuries possibly have in common? Ancient Rome had the Colosseum,


also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. The TPC Scottsdale has the world- famous par-3 16th hole, surrounded by grandstands and luxury skyboxes that make it golf’s loudest and arguably most exciting hole. It’s also known to local media as The Colosseum. Rome had gladiators. The Phoenix


Open has the PGA Tour’s finest golfers, famed warriors who wield swords of a different kind. Many of the 275 skyboxes that


surround the 16th have fabulous buffets. At Rome’s Colosseum, three out of four lions gave two claws up to the food service although there was grumbling about the menu. What, Christians again? No spectacle in the Old World, other


than an all-out war or your Mongol invasion, compared to Rome’s Colosseum and its chariot races and bloody battles for survival. It truly was the Greatest Show on Earth. The WMPO has long been known the Greatest Show on Grass. Aqueducts were a famed feature of


Ancient Rome. Modern Scottsdale has 1,265 miles of canals, controlled by the Salt River Project, to store and deliver water.


And yes, fashion has changed over


the millennia, but over the years, we have seen a gaggle of Phoenix Open spectators (college-age, of course) walking the TPC Scottsdale grounds in togas — and fashionable shades, naturally. My point is, there is no golf


atmosphere quite like this. In 25 years at the WMPO, we’ve seen everything from the annual sunrise balloon flotilla


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elcome to ancient Rome. Or as it’s called in the Valley of the Sun, the Waste Management


to caddie races, Bubba Watson pulling up in the General Lee, Herculean fans heroically moving a boulder (for Tiger Woods) and the Modern Day Shot Heard ‘Round the World, aka Tiger’s dramatic ace. You have to see it to believe it. Last


year, more than 618,000 fans attended — over 200,000 on Saturday alone. The tournament puts up 400 structures, including skyboxes, tents and cabanas. The tour event with the second-most skyboxes is The Players. It has, ahem, 65.


growing. This year, more skyboxes were carved


out at the 16th hole and every suite will have its own charging station. How’s that for a perk?


You also have to hear it to believe it,


especially Saturday afternoon when the crowd is at its peak of well-lubricated- ness, as players emerge from the tunnel beneath the stands and stride to the tee — the Arena — and hear it from 20,000- plus fans. As Gary Player used to say about the World Golf Hall of Fame in commercials, “You’ve gotta go!” In Scottsdale, they do. Tournament


director Andy Markham, a realtor in his other life, knows about a phenomenon he calls Real Estate Thursday. “Every person in my industry —


an owner, broker, tenant or whatever — comes to the course on Thursday,” Markham pointed out. “They love having an area where they can sit and chill, open a file and maybe negotiate a sale. Phoenix becomes a bit of a ghost town. If you want to find somebody on Thursday, you have to call them at the Open.”


The event just keeps The event just keeps growing. This


year, more skyboxes were carved out at the 16th hole and every suite will have its own charging station. How’s that for a perk? Another 500 general admission seats were added by the 16th green, but be prepared. Long lines form Saturday morning before the gates open. Once they do, it’s the Calgary Stampede meets the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona in a sprint to the 16th hole to reserve spots. At least now there will be 500 more lucky winners. New PGA Tour Commissioner Jay


Monahan suggested several years ago that a flying drone could shoot amazing video of this unique spectacle. (At the Masters, for instance, fans are prohibited from running.) “It was a great idea,” Markham noted, “but we’d have problems with the FAA getting involved since we’re so close to the Scottsdale Airport.” So no overhead video except at the


Birds Nest, which doesn’t even factor into the overall attendance but easily could considering the thousands who flow in and out of the PGA Tour’s most infamous nightclub. “The Nest,” yet another WMPO distinction that no one else can claim. Seriously, the sponsoring


Thunderbirds seem to never run out of great ideas. The Bay Club debuted in 2016, consisting of 22 — well, you could only call them luxury super-suites. Buyers get 40 Bay Club tickets (for $65,000), amenities galore (free buffet and bar, valet parking) plus killer views of the 10th and 17th greens. The Bay Club’s footprint doubled in size for this year but still quickly sold out. “We’re well down the second page of the waiting list now,” Markham says. Nobody wants to miss a great show.


So when in Rome. . . n


Gary Van Sickle was the senior golf writer for Sports Illustrated for 20 years. He continues to “write on” from his home in Pittsburgh.


www.azgolf.org


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