Bucket List!
Known as the: Waste Management, Phoenix Open, TPC Scottsdale. One of the most fun PGA golf course tournaments played on the PGA Tour.
The rumor has it screams from the 16 stadium-style hole can travel all the way into downtown Phoenix, especially when any player hits a hole-in-one. Check out how we got into the 16th hole with less than a 5-minute wait here!
Many people come from all over the country for this spectacular golf tournament. On average before covid, the tournament would have over 700,000 attendees.
As with most things in this world, if you ever get the chance to do something on your bucket list, do it! No one has ever looked back and regretted the things they did, it’s the things they didn’t do they regret!
With a last-minute, crazy fast plans, we are going! A group of us are flying in from Georgia and Tennessee. Thursday morning, playing a round of golf Thursday afternoon, going to the tournament all day Friday, playing a round of golf Saturday morning, flying home Saturday afternoon.
Play golf?
Phoenix this time of year is known to have one of the best weather seasons of the year. The golf courses are all in pristine condition, and the temperature average highs are in the mid 70s.
If you play golf, you need to plan accordingly. Not only are people visiting to watch a day or two of the golf tournament, many people are wanting to play golf because of the weather. Don’t forget to grab your golf bucket hat here!
For the non-golfers, you ought to try and pick it up! Everyone is doing it, why not! Check out our 6 best golf putting tips for beginners or our Golf terms explained to get started!
Book Early
You can book your tee times at most of the golf courses in Phoenix well in advance. We recommend you do this the minute that you book the plane tickets or decide you are going. If you wait until the last minute, you will not have time to finish a full 18-hole round or may not be able to get an early enough tee time.
But sometimes, 9 holes is all you need!
Phoenix has around 200 golf courses in and around the metro area. Be prepared to pay a premium, the golf course prices average from $100-$200 per round during the tournament time.
We spent hours looking around for golf courses to play that fit our plane schedule, and will be cutting it close for each round we are playing.
General Admission or Upgraded Tickets?
One of the most common things asked on the internet for this tournament. Here are the average prices this year:
- General Admission: $80
- Members Club: $350
- Greenskeeper: $600
- Skybox for hole 16, 17, and 18: $850+
Each has its own perks for access to special beer tents, special areas of the course, and complimentary beer/wine/soda.
They do allow several general admission tickets into the stadium on holes 16 and 17, however, they are very limited, and you will wait a long time if you are not there early in the day. (Sometimes the lines have known to be over 3 hours long)
After talking to a few sources who have been to the tournament before, we went with the General Admission tickets for this tournament. I will update this more once we attend the tournament on Friday.
Course Location
If you are flying into the Phoenix airport, TPC Scottsdale is only 25 minutes from the airport. You can pretty much stay anywhere in Phoenix and have a relative short drive to the airport and the course.
Stay
Hotels around Phoenix are on average $250 a night. You can find the cheaper hotels around the area, but again you must book super early to get any good rates. The hotels fill up fast and their rates increase substantially with the demand.
If you want to stay super close to the TPC Scottsdale course, the hotels average $600-$800 a night.
Make a full week trip out of it!
If you have more time than a few days to go, make full weeks trip out of it.
They now have a concert in the stadium on the 16th hole the weekend prior to the tournament. This year, it consisted of stars like Old Dominion and Thomas Rhett. The stage is placed between the tee box and the green.
The practice round days are free to the public. During these days, the players are typically more relaxed and are more likely to interact with the fans than the days during the tournament.
You can get a chance to play the actual TPC Scottsdale course the days after the tournament. You will need to book these well in advance and greens fees are upward of $550.
Long Bombs Golf Final Say:
All in all, if you ever get the chance to go. Do it. Here is the roundabout cost to plan a trip out:
- Travel/Plane flight ($50-$1000 depending on location and airline)
- Hotel/Air BnB ($250/night – split if multiple guests)
- General Admission Tickets for the Tournament ($75/day)
- Golf ($100-$200/round)
- Uber ($100-$200 – split if multiple guests)
If you love golf and are traveling to the Outer Banks, North Carolina anytime soon, check out our best outer banks golf courses here!