There is a fine line between an entertaining fan experience and debauchery. 

Many in the golf community are talking about where that line should be drawn. 

Organizers of the Waste Management Phoenix Open—easily the most-attended, rowdiest golf tournament in the world—have admitted their tournament crossed that line last week. 

It was Saturday when the horde trying to get through the main gate was so massive that tickets were no longer being checked. The problem was exacerbated by Friday tickets being honored for Saturday due to a lengthy weather delay early in the tournament. 

Too many people flooded the grounds, leading to alcohol sales being stopped. The gates had to be closed. Estimates said there might have been half a million people on property at that time. 

Videos of stumbling, intoxicated patrons were rampant on social media. Multiple contentious fan-player interactions made the rounds, including situations where Billy Horschel and Zach Johnson directly confronted hecklers. 

A woman fell from the grandstands on the 16th hole. Thankfully she wasn’t seriously injured. 

The Scottsdale Police Department responded to 653 calls at the tournament over the course of the week and made 54 arrests. There were more than 200 ejections and 73 instances of trespassing. Just two years ago, there were no arrests, 90 ejections and 14 people caught trespassing. 

“We did not have a good Saturday,” understated Chance Cozby, Executive Director of the Thunderbirds, the tournament’s host organization. “We’re not going to let this happen again.”

Scott Van Pelt discussed the situation in length on SportsCenter, echoing what many golf fans felt. 

“I don’t think anyone is suggesting the fun needs to stop but everyone involved out there needs a reminder that we live in a society. At this rate, and I’m not kidding here, I’m afraid someone is going to die.” 

What happened on Saturday begs broader questions about fans at golf tournaments. 

Is this solely a Phoenix Open issue? Are golf tournaments leaning too hard into the frat party environment? Where should the line be drawn for fans heckling golfers, especially in an age where sports gambling is ubiquitous?

Party On, Wayne

The Phoenix Open is a beloved event that has catered to a party atmosphere for decades but it’s not the only tournament that creates a boisterous environment where golf, to some attendees, is a sideshow. 

There are several stops on the PGA Tour that have copied the concept from the Phoenix Open—albeit on a much smaller scale—giving casual golf fans or those unfamiliar with the game a reason to attend. Dozens of events have pavilions or other concentrated areas where fans go to get drunk and have a good time. The Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches (formerly the Honda Classic) is a prime example where fans pack the 17th hole to drink, socialize and pay passing attention to the golf. 

The PGA Tour has five alcohol-related sponsors, and you can find beer gardens at most every tournament stop now. 

LIV Golf is pushing toward that vibe in a different way, blasting music that can be heard around the course and hosting fans in the Birdie Shack that is described as “a fresh take on golf’s party hole experience.” Last year at the Australia event, there was the “Watering Hole” that took on a life of its own as a mini-me of No. 16 at the Phoenix Open. 

As one of my friends told me, “it’s like golf in a nightclub but with the sun out.” 

It’s become something of an arms race between tournaments to see what creative ideas they can come up with to get casual fans on the premises. This has been going on for a long time—the Byron Nelson event was among the first to create a party pavilion to attract more attendees—but it seems to be more prevalent now. 

Phoenix is a special case in many ways. If you’ve been, you can tell the course was designed to handle a large number of people—often in excess of 700,000 during the week. No other golf tournament comes close to claiming even half of that. The event has raised $124 million for local charities since 2010 when Waste Management took over as the presenting sponsor. It’s looked at as a smashing success in the sports event world. 

There are people flying in from all over the country to experience the event. Only the majors and Ryder Cup can claim that kind of status. 

Fans come in droves because it is undoubtedly one of the most electric atmospheres in golf. Aside from this weekend, the event has mostly done a tremendous job of managing it all. There are breathalyzers as fans leave, structured access to rideshares and as much order as is realistically possible when it comes to reining in fan behavior. 

Very few want to alter the tournament’s DNA completely, but it makes sense that the volume might have to go down a couple of notches. Some suggest it may be getting too popular at this point, breaking the barrier of when fun morphs into dangerous. 

Maybe restoring balance looks like stricter cut-offs around alcohol sales. Baseball, for example, has traditionally ended sales after the seventh inning. Hockey cuts everyone off once the third period starts. 

How about no alcohol sales once the leaders reach the back nine? Or fans get a wristband that limits them to a certain number of drinks throughout the day? Get even stricter with ejections? 

This is a little out there, but what about starting the tournament on Wednesday and ending it on Saturday just to cool off the intensity? 

Just anything to keep things from getting too wild. It would be unpopular with the costume-wearing degenerates who were sliding down muddy hills last week, but it might be necessary at this point. 

For years, it’s been a popular take that the Phoenix Open is a “one-off” that fits appropriately alongside classier tournaments on the calendar. It wouldn’t be feasible or desired on repeat, many fans have pointed out, but the Phoenix Open works for one week. 

That might need to be reevaluated or at least readjusted. 

The issue is not as pressing at other tournaments where not as many fans are attending but there are still concerns for how golf tournaments will function moving forward. 

A Double-Edged Club

Drinking is a large part of golf culture and the economics of hosting a tournament. It’s a big part of sports culture, too. 

But golf tournaments have the added dynamic of fans getting remarkably close to the athletes. 

It’s one of the thrills of going to a tournament. You can be just a few feet away from the action. It takes a certain civility for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of gallery members to be quiet enough for the game to be played. 

As in LIV’s case, some will argue the game should not always be quiet. Playing golf with music is pretty normal now and it can even help performance more than hurting it. Over time, tournaments might skew more toward music playing throughout the competition, which would drown out the heckling and create a more informal atmosphere. 

To others, that last paragraph is blasphemous. Golf tournaments need some order, they plead, and music paired with other fan distractions would detract from the legitimacy and drama of the competition. That alone could take away more interest than it gains. 

It is all connected to the fan question. In a serious tournament with serious golfers playing for serious cash, intoxicated fans could get braver and more distracting over time. We saw that this past weekend and there have been other incidents in the past few years. 

How far away are we from a fan throwing a punch at a player? 

How far away are we from a fan intentionally sabotaging a player because they bet money against him? 

How far away are we from top players skipping the Phoenix event and others like it? 

The access golf fans get is unrivaled. For a lot of us, that is the single best reason to attend an event. 

But it’s a double-edged club when those same fans are out of control. It becomes a safety issue on multiple fronts. 

Parting Thoughts

I’m thinking out loud here—I want to know how everyone else feels. 

It’s a delicate balance. There is nothing wrong with a golf tournament getting a little wild, but there is also a lot of trust being put in the hands of drunk golf fans standing a mere arm’s length away from a player. 

I don’t want to diminish the Phoenix Open, but it could use some guardrails to avoid jumping the shark. 

What are your thoughts? 

Should golf tournaments have tighter protocols around alcohol sales and fan interaction? Are events more or less appealing to you if they cater to those who want to drink and have a good time while not taking the golf seriously? 

Let me know below in the comments.

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