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Better visibility, more space, more fun – the WM Phoenix Open’s sponsoring Thunderbirds decided to start from scratch when constructing the “Coliseum” grandstands that enclose the TPC Scottsdale’s par-3 16th hole at this year’s tournament.
Play starts Thursday and will feature changes in its lineup, too, with Brooks Koepka playing in his second PGA tournament after a stint with LIV Golf.
The 16th hole has evolved into one of the most famous – and infamous – holes in professional golf, one that will be a focal point of tournament coverage by Golf Channel and CBS Sports.
It emerged organically. In the early years of the tournament, students from Arizona State University began gathering on the mounds surrounding the hole to watch Sun Devil alumnus Phil Mickelson, then an emerging star.
To accommodate the growing crowds there over the years, organizers added bleachers, then luxury boxes, then stacks of luxury boxes and even more bleachers until it was completely enclosed.
Now, the Thunderbirds have revamped the design to make it more fan-friendly.
“We took the old structure and threw it away,” says tournament chairman Jason Eisenberg. “We got rid of half the (support) columns and added glass railings, higher ceilings and better visibility corridors.”
The changes at the 16th hole are only a piece of the larger-scale overhaul the Thunderbirds undertook as they prepared TPC Scottsdale for the best-attended golf tournament in the world.
Changes around the course include a new entrance, wider pathways and a new family center.
But the biggest changes, as has often been the case, were made at No. 16. The new and improved “Coliseum” is 100% reusable and has wider corridors with more food and beverage opportunities for guests.
The 16th hole also debuts a fourth story under the main grandstands, where the new “Pin-Hi” Club is located this year. A separate daily ticket gives patrons access to a lounge situated at the same level as the putting surface, where they can get an up-close view of the world’s best golfers in action.
Eisenberg described this lounge as a high-end “venue within a venue.”
Construction of the grandstands began in September and the final touches will be in place when TPC Scottsdale welcomes hundreds of thousands of guests to the course over tournament week.
However, the Thunderbirds didn’t just add to the party. They have also added features aimed at making the event more comfortable and accessible, including a new indoor space to provide a respite from the raucous atmosphere that is located right off the pathway behind the 16th green.
“We added a family care center, so we have a place right on the other side of …16 where families, seniors and nursing mothers can go to get out of the sun and kick their feet up,” Eisenberg says.
Matthew Pearce/Cronkite News
The plan for changes began immediately after Canada’s Nick Taylor held off Charlie Hoffman in a playoff to win a chaotic 2024 event in which overflow crowds and unusually wet weather made navigating the course – and controlling fans around the closing holes – difficult.
Over the last two years, Eisenberg has been hands-on in working to change “The People’s Open” for the better.
“Some of the new procedures we put in place really made a noticeable difference around the course,” Eisenberg says, referring to changes made before the 2025 tournament that improved the experience for patrons. “Having those things in place allowed us to have the success we had.”
The “greenest and greatest show on grass” officially tees off on Thursday as the Thunderbirds hope for another successful week.
For a full day-by-day schedule of events, visit the WM Open website.
For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.
