Forecaddie: Is the USGA Pinehurst-bound? If so, it makes sense

A recent bill that passed in North Carolina may point to the USGA moving to the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

The Forecaddie loves the Pinehurst area in North Carolina. The golf, the restaurants, the history of the area known as the “Cradle of American Golf.” And don’t forget all the opportunities to make a few bucks with a bag on the shoulder.

The area has everything a golfer could want — and it soon might have even more to love. North Carolina’s state senate passed a bill Thursday that leads the Man Out Front to wonder if the United States Golf Association has its eyes on a new home in the Sandhills.

The USGA is based in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, not far from New York. There the U.S. game’s governing body runs an equipment testing center, a museum, an agronomy center and more.

But how much longer will the full operation be headquartered there?

This week House Bill 807 was unanimously approved in North Carolina for up to $42 million in performance-based state incentives to a “sports championship employer” heading to the Tar Heel State, according to multiple reports from media in North Carolina. The house followed suit Thursday with a 102-12 vote, as reported by the the Winston-Salem Journal. Governor Roy Cooper had 10 days to sign what was titled “Championship NC Act.”

But the bill passed without specifying for whom specifically the state incentives are intended, leaving plenty of room for speculation. State officials remained mum despite passing the multi-million-dollar legislation.

An article on WRAL.com, the website for an NBC-affiliated television station in Raleigh, pointed out an interesting fact that got your friendly Forecaddie thinking: Senator Tom McInnis, who pushed the plan through the state senate, represents the district that’s home to Pinehurst.

Pinehurst No. 4 (Courtesy of Pinehurst)

Would a USGA move to the Pinehurst make sense? In more ways than one. The USGA, which conducts the U.S. Open in two weeks at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, has yet to officially comment.

There are interesting correlations that paint the USGA as a possible candidate for the money. Included are provisions to host lucrative major championships for men and women in North Carolina, open a museum and equipment testing center, employ support staff and run a visitor center. There’s even a provision that whatever sports body turns up must provide a hospitality pavilion for the state’s use.

It might not be the USGA, but all those certainly tick the boxes for the governing body.

Excerpts from the ratified bill include:

  • The business will invest at least $5 million of private funds in the project. The investments required by this sub-subdivision must be completed no later than December 31, 2023, and must be used by the business, along with other funds, to complete facilities consisting of at least two buildings totaling no less than 30,000 square feet, designed and built in a style consistent with the surrounding campus, which will house at a minimum an equipment testing center for research for advancements pertaining to the business and associated support staff, a museum and visitor center, and departments within the business.
  • The project will produce for the state a total economic benefit of at least $800 million dollars over the term of the agreement.
  • The project will employ at least 35 new employees and at least 50 total employees with an average annual salary of not less than $80,000.
  • The business is a national sports nonprofit, event organizer and governing body that is responsible for staging and holding championship events and agrees to hold championship events in the state with an aggregate economic benefit of $500 million over the term of the agreement.
  • The championship events must include (i) at least one men’s major professional championship event every five to seven years having an economic benefit of $90 million per event, (ii) at least one women’s major professional championship event every 10 years, and (iii) at least 13 additional championship events not otherwise required in this subdivision at venues in this State.
  • At each men’s major professional championship event held in this state as required by this subdivision, the business provides at no cost a hospitality pavilion to the department or a nonprofit corporation … that will accommodate at least 40 people.

The USGA wouldn’t be the only golf organization to make a big move. The PGA of America announced in 2018 that it would move from South Florida to Frisco, Texas, in 2022. Two new courses are under construction at the new Dallas-area headquarters.

As far as championship history goes, Pinehurst has it in spades. Donald Ross’ famed Pinehurst No. 2 has hosted three U.S. Opens, a U.S. Women’s Open, a U.S. Senior Open, a PGA Championship, a Ryder Cup and three U.S. Amateurs among many other prestigious competitions. It’s slated to hold the U.S. Open again in 2024.

In 2014, both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open were successfully held at Pinehurst, a feat that could easily be replicated. You can do a lot with nine courses at your disposal, not to mention several other championship-quality courses in the area, as well.

Raleigh-Durham International Airport is a little over an hour away. As far as accommodations are concerned, there are plenty. USGA employees would be able to enjoy a longer golf season than in New Jersey. And the USGA museum would undoubtedly receive more tourist traffic than in Liberty Corner.

The Man Out Front can even confirm a handful of USGA employees have been riding out the COVID-19 pandemic in Pinehurst.

Sure, there’s some speculation here. But it almost makes too much sense, right? Stay tuned.

LPGA ready to restart in constantly changing environment

What constitutes a win in 2020? Stacy Lewis wondered if the LPGA would get to play at all the rest of this year. She wasn’t alone.

What constitutes a win in 2020? Stacy Lewis wondered if the LPGA would get to play at all the rest of this year. She wasn’t alone.

While the PGA Tour rolled across the United States in June and July, tweaking its protective bubble and providing entertainment for a sports-craved world, LPGA players teed it up in whatever events they could find: The Cactus Tour. Women’s All Pro Tour. Eggland’s Best Tour. Rose Ladies Series. Clutch Pro Tour. Irish Scratch Series.

The paycheck amounts didn’t matter. Just the feel of a scorecard in the back pocket and the rush of adrenaline that comes with tournament golf.

Will the best fly to Scotland next month to tee it up in the LPGA’s first major of 2020, the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Troon?

The Forecaddie wouldn’t be surprised if a few chose to stay home after weighing the risks that come with traveling in the era of COVID-19. Many international players already decided not to come over for the tour’s July 31 restart at the LPGA Drive On Championship in Toledo, Ohio, including Inbee Park, So Yeon Ryu, Charley Hull and Georgia Hall.

A total of 14 LPGA events have been canceled so far in 2020. There are 17 events left on the calendar, including four majors and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

If fans aren’t allowed in certain hot spots around the country, more events might decide to skip this year. The LPGA business model relies more heavily on pro-ams and ticket sales in the absence of a big television rights windfall than does the PGA Tour. But the majors should be able to carry on “behind closed doors,” as the Brits like to say.

With China recently canceling all international events for the remainder of the year, the LPGA lost its fall Shanghai event. There are three Asian tournaments in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan still left on the schedule.

Perhaps the LPGA will look into adding a second event in South Korea for the fall swing, given how successfully the Korean LPGA has carried on since May. In looking ahead to December, the last two events on the LPGA calendar – the U.S. Women’s Open and CME Group Tour Championship – together offer $10.5 million in prize money.

Who cares if anyone is there to see it in person? The Man Out Front is here to tell you that a fan-free zone does nothing to diminish the triumph of winning and hosting big events in the wake of a global pandemic. There will be an asterisk beside these events, but not because it took any less moxie to win them.

The financial hardships of the women’s game have been exposed even more during this turbulent time in the simple fact that not a single woman has been seen on television playing live golf – for charity or otherwise – in this country since last winter.

Mercifully, that’s about to change. Gwk

This article originally appeared in Issue 3 – 2020 of Golfweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.

The Forecaddie: LPGA players can’t tiptoe in once tour resumes from COVID stoppage

After nearly five months off, LPGA players can finally begin to explore what their comeback on tour might look like.

After nearly five months off, LPGA players can finally begin to explore what their comeback on tour might look like, and there’s not much time to ease into things either. The decision to travel overseas for two weeks in Scotland looms large ­– not to mention the possibility of fans in Toledo. To the Forecaddie, in many ways it feels like a straight plunge into the deep end.

One day after two events in Scotland were confirmed for next month, the LPGA hosted two tour-wide conference calls on Wednesday and sent out a couple of surveys.

The Forecaddie certainly didn’t expect the LPGA to offer its players anything remotely close to the $100,000 that PGA Tour players receive after testing positive for COVID-19. It looks like LPGA players will receive a $5,000 stipend if they test positive during a tournament and $2,500 if it happens while at home. Same for caddies.

If a player tests positive after making the cut, she will receive the equivalent of last place money.

The Man Out Front also learned that players who break one of the new rules in place to keep everyone in the bubble safe will be fined $2,500. A second offense will result in a suspension.

Players were asked if they’d be interested in a charter flight from the Marathon Classic to Scotland and then from Glasgow to Rogers, Arkansas. Each one-way flight would be $1,200 for coach and $2,500 for business. They’d only fill 150 seats.

If the Forecaddie had a vote, that would be a no-brainer. Yes, yes, yes.

The second question involved restructuring the LPGA purses to allow those who miss the cut to still earn a small paycheck to cover some expenses. Both the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open and AIG Women’s British Open will be paying out money for missed cuts.

While one veteran player told The Man Out Front that she voted ‘No,’ another said this year should be the one year it happens. Having a guaranteed paycheck would help relieve the burden so many players feel from months and months of no work.

“Hopefully more caddies will be hired because they’re doing that,” one player told TMOF. Earlier during the COVID-19 break, the LPGA informed players that caddies would be optional when the tour restarted.

No coaches or family will be allowed at the LPGA Drive On Championship. No dining either. Players will be given debit cards to get food around town. There will be no loitering in a locker room or clubhouse. It’s basically get out of your car, play golf and leave.

Officials are still planning to put on the Marathon Classic, though the issue of fans and pro-ams are still being decided. Right now it sounds like 2,000 fans or less a day is one option on the table.

The two events in Scotland will be closed to spectators, including family. The bubble will be even tighter overseas, with everyone staying in the same hotels. No sharing of rooms or cars, except between a player and her caddie.

At a time when there’s risk in simply going to the grocery store, crossing an ocean for work presents a boatload of challenges. Players get that. It’s rather remarkable that international events are happening at all.

[lawrence-related id=778052897,778051878,778051548]

Forecaddie: PGA Tour commish aces famed island green at TPC Sawgrass

The Man Out Front is properly inspired to get his name on the board at TPC Sawgrass next as soon as the 17th re-opens.

On March 13, when the golf world last saw PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addressing the media after canceling the Players Championship, he looked like a man who had been through the ringer.

He looked like he hadn’t slept in days while weighing all the various scenarios of how to deal with a global pandemic that was on the verge of shutting down all of sports, let alone the economy. But after he answered the final question, he felt the need to add a parting shot.

“Can I say one more thing?” he asked as if someone might actually stop him. “Golf is the greatest game on the planet. There are a lot of golf courses in this country. There are a lot of people that are in this business, in this industry that make their living through this game, and I hope that everybody as they go through this uncertain time gets an opportunity to get out, play golf, be outside, support their PGA of America professional, support this game, be inspired by this game.”

The Forecaddie loved the sentiment then, and loves it even more now. Well, it turns out that The Commish walked the walk over at TPC Sawgrass, at least he did on April 26.

TPC Sawgrass hole-in-one
A plaque at TPC Sawgrass commemorates all the holes-in-one made there, with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s ace as the most recent on April 26, 2020.

That was the last day that the famed island green at 17 was open before it was closed for some drainage work and Monahan made the most of his shot at glory – acing the par 3 hole. Other than perhaps the 7th at Pebble Beach, the 12th at Augusta National or the 16th at Cypress Point – can you think of a more memorable place for a hole-in-one?

TMOF knows of The Commish’s heroics because he went to drown his sorrows at the 19th hole at TPC Sawgrass after another forgettable round at TPC’s sister course, Dye’s Valley. On the way, TMOF stopped off to wash his hands – never washed hands so much, but we digress – and paused to look at the plaques commemorating all the aces at the eight par 3s on the two resort courses. There it was, the last person to walk off the 17th green feeling like a god, none other than Jay Monahan.

TMOF wishes he could tell you whether Monahan faded an easy 8 into the wind to a back pin or thinned a wedge and got lucky that it one-hopped into the hole or even if he celebrated with the official beer of the PGA Tour, Michelob Ultra. That’s because he’s as tight lipped about his game as he is about Conduct Unbecoming.

Let’s just say it’s a safe bet that Gary Koch would have described the shot as better than most. Better. Than. Most! And consider Monahan reminded yet again why golf is the greatest game on the planet and TMOF properly inspired to get his name on the board next as soon as the 17th re-opens later this summer.

[lawrence-related id=778046064,778045376,778044954,778043414]

Forecaddie: With NCAAs on hold, Grayhawk must wait for its chance to shine

The Forecaddie writes instead of preparing to host the first of three NCAA championships, Grayhawk Golf Club sits while coronavirus rages.

Welcome to the college golf twilight zone.

Instead of spending the spring doubling down in preparation for conference championships, college golfers were packing boxes and headed home. The Forecaddie wasn’t surprised to hear many players say they hadn’t touched a golf club in days, the general consensus being that with no tournaments on the horizon, what is there to prepare for?

After tournaments began toppling like dominoes, it wasn’t long until the biggest fell. The NCAA announced March 12 that it would cancel all its winter and spring championships.

In Scottsdale, Arizona, where Grayhawk Golf Club was set to start a three-year hosting commitment for the NCAA championships, organizers were on pins and needles. Preparations – logistics, personnel, infrastructure – had been rolling for months. The cancellation was met with disappointment but understanding.

Del Cochran, captain of the club at Grayhawk, says college golf fans are in for a treat whenever the NCAA championships do arrive. Over the past several months, Cochran and a planning crew of at least 25 to 30 people have worked to iron out the nuances of hosting a major event – one that has its own unique stamp.

“If you do your job correctly, the enthusiasm grows, your event gains in stature and the excitement around it continues to increase so that by year three, you’ve got a different event than you started out with, just because you have a system in place with the marketing presence and with a community that is now beginning to support it,” Cochran said.

That said, Cochran hopes Grayhawk will still get its three-year hosting opportunity. The local commitment is there despite the fact that the two-week NCAA hosting block falls at the end of Scottsdale’s high season. Cochran expects Grayhawk will get some play back now that the tee sheet is empty at the end of May.

The college golf world will see Grayhawk again, but the seniors? There’s a much larger asterisk there.

The Man Out Front gives kudos to the NCAA for answering a most pressing question relatively quickly. Less than 24 hours after the NCAA postseason was canceled, the organization clarified that athletes competing in spring sports would get additional eligibility. It’s just that things have yet to get much clearer than that.

The Forecaddie’s head was spinning after scanning a memo sent to NCAA member schools acknowledging the extraordinary situation that left college seniors’ golf careers abruptly kaput. It would be appropriate, the NCAA wrote, to grant additional eligibility while it also recognized that several issues still need to be addressed, financial aid implications among them.

TMOF couldn’t agree more. For college seniors, it presents both a beacon of hope and an agonizing decision. At the very least, it’s an opportunity for closure. Gwk

This story originally appeared in Issue 2 – 2020 of Golfweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Forecaddie: With altered LPGA schedule, UL International Crown could see changes

Full-field opportunities will be a priority for LPGA commissioner Mike Whan so the UL Crown, scheduled for August, could have some changes.

The Man Out Front can only imagine what it’s like inside the head of LPGA commissioner Mike Whan these days. Thank goodness there’s no shortage of caffeinated diet drinks.

Anyone who knows Whan knows that the membership is top of mind in the midst of these uncertain days. On March 24, Whan sent out a video message to players that included information on a cash advancement program on future earnings for anyone who needs help. The PGA Tour has announced something similar. Details are forthcoming.

Whan encouraged players to reach out, but he also created a call list for his staff. In the coming days, every player on tour will receive a check-up call from a staff member.

The LPGA always has been a family atmosphere.

[jwplayer Zm5sws9e-vgFm21H3]

To that point, there will need to be playing opportunities for all, which means that full-field events must be a priority for Whan and his staff. In addition to combining title sponsors, the Forecaddie hears that one possibility on the table is moving the UL International Crown to the U.S. and making it a full-field event. The Crown, of course, is a biennial event that pits the top eight countries against each other. Teams are made up of four players. This year’s event is scheduled for Aug. 27-30 at Centurion Club in London.

It’s difficult, of course, to have a qualifying system for individuals and countries with the potential of so few tournaments on the spring and summer calendar. And the Crown field is made up of a total of 32 players. What if it changed to 144?

The scenarios are endless. And any company that not only sticks with the tour, but steps up to fill a need would be lauded.

The LPGA’s current schedule has the next event, the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship, taking place May 14-17. With President Trump extending social distancing guidelines through April, that restart dates seems unlikely.

Imagine a U.S. Women’s Open in December? Q-School might have to move back toward Christmas to account for the largest purse in women’s golf.

Who needs a winter offseason? Right now it’s all about finding opportunities to play.

[lawrence-related id=778033742,778033707,778033697]

Forecaddie: Tom Watson’s caddie finally sees replay of the 72nd hole of 2009 Open at Turnberry

Neil Oxman had never seen a replay of Tom Watson’s 72nd-hole approach at the 2009 British Open until Golf Channel re-aired Tom at Turnberry.

[jwplayer hTRJDb4x-9JtFt04J]

Eleven years. That’s about how long Tiger Woods went between winning majors before claiming the Masters in 2019. It’s also approximately how long Neil Oxman, who has caddied for Tom Watson in 150 events since 1999, had gone without seeing a replay of the 2009 British Open at Turnberry in Scotland.

But that was before the coronavirus shut down the sports world and left Oxman housebound. In trying to fill the gaps in its TV schedule, Golf Channel recently aired a replay of its documentary “Tom at Turnberry,” and Oxman tuned in.

“Someone texted me beforehand and asked me if I was going to watch it. My text back was, ‘Do you think the result will be any different?'” Oxman tells The Forecaddie. “At least 500 people have said to me, ‘Have you seen it?’ and I kept saying, ‘No.’ Nor had I ever looked at a replay of the last shot. Ever.”

That would be Watson’s downwind, 8-iron approach from 189 yards as he chased winning his ninth major and first in 26 years. All he needed was a par to become at age 59 the oldest winner of a major, by more than 11 years.

Neil Oxman caddied for Tom Watson in the Masters 15 times. They said farewell in 2016.

“I couldn’t quite see where the ball landed on the green,” Oxman says of the second shot at the 72nd hole when Watson was nursing a one-stroke lead over Stewart Cink, who was in the clubhouse at 2-under 278. “I’ll have to go in the TV truck and watch it in slow motion and have them blow it up and see where it was.”

Watson flushed his second and it landed on the front-half of the baked green and rolled over, leaving Watson with an option to chip or putt. With the ball against the collar, he chose putter and rapped it 10 feet past. The par putt never had a chance. Playoff. Cink, one of the kindest and nicest men in golf, became the equivalent of a James Bond villain for capturing his lone major and ruining one of the great stories in golf.

In October, spur of the moment, Oxman hopped on a plane and did a 10-day Scottish golf pilgrimage with a stop at what is now known as Trump Turnberry Resort.

“I ended up being the only person on the golf course,” said Oxman, who had returned there once before for the 2012 Senior British Open. “I spent about 15 minutes on the 18th green walking around it. I still think he hit the right shot.”

[opinary poll=”do-you-feel-comfortable-playing-golf-ami-HcK9NO” customer=”golfweek”]

[lawrence-related id=777993782,777989372,777924581,777920522]

Forecaddie: With $17 million payday, are Tony Romo’s Safeway days behind him?

Romo opened with a 70 at last year’s Safeway in Napa, leading some to speculate about CBS’ backup plan for his Sunday game assignment.

Tony Romo has signed a record $17 million deal to stay put at CBS, leading The Forecaddie to wonder if we’ll see him tee it up again next fall on a sponsor invite at the Safeway Open.

At $850K per game, will the bosses at CBS take a chance their man won’t make a scheduled game?

Last year at the Safeway, Romo opened with a 2-under 70. If he had made the cut in Napa, the former Cowboys QB would have missed his day job calling a Bears-Vikings game on Sunday. Unfortunately he made nine bogeys in the second round, ending any speculation about what CBS had as a backup plan should Romo make the weekend.

According to the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, Romo’s new deal makes him the highest-paid sports analyst in history, surpassing the $8 million per year John Madden pulled down. Romo was poised to become a free agent, with ESPN aggressively pursuing him, the Post reported.

Since 2017, Romo has worked alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz. TMOF would love to be a fly on the wall when the two discuss the state of Romo’s game.

With $17 million a year, it’s no stretch to think that Romo had all the leverage in the world behind him in these contract negotiations. So here’s guessing we’ll see him back out at Silverado next September.

In the meantime, Romo is slated to make his next appearance alongside professional golfers in April at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Veritex Bank Championship, to be played at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas. Fittingly, his Korn Ferry debut will come in front of a home crowd.

Forecaddie: PGA Tour commish Jay Monahan and dad to play AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is expected to play in the pro-am at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am alongside his dad, Joe.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will compete in next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Forecaddie has learned. Monahan will be paired with PGA Tour rookie Harry Higgs.

“Well, he better bring some game,” Higgs said of The Commish, a single-digit handicap who reportedly has been taking lessons for his second appearance in the Tour’s flagship pro-am.

Last year, Monahan had his dad, Joe, on the bag and partnered with rookie Keith Mitchell.

“I’m certainly far more nervous out here trying to make a 10-foot putt than anything else I do professionally,” Monahan said after his opening round at Monterey Peninsula Country Club last year. “My hands were heavier than they’ve ever been before.”

The father-son dynamic remains intact, but with a twist. Monahan’s dad, a 76-year-old lawyer out of Boston, is scheduled to play with Mitchell, which led Monahan to ask his former partner who should be their fourth?

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan at the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Photo by Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

“By some miracle, my name came up,” Higgs tells The Forecaddie.

Higgs said he met The Commish at a Korn Ferry Tour players advisory committee meeting last year and during the rookie dinner at the RSM Classic, but he’s never played any of the three Pebble Beach courses in the tournament rotation. (The only course he’s played on the Monterey Peninsula is Cypress Point — #jealous — prior to The Western Intercollegiate.)

Higgs cracked that his celebrity pairing would mean the TV cameras might give him some love. But the rookie is off to a promising start, including a runner-up finish at the Bermuda Championship and T-9 last week at the Farmers Insurance Open.

“I’m going to have fun regardless,” Hicks said. “By the end of the week I’m going to be Commissioner, myself. Jay’s going to be so tired of dealing with us he’s going to quit.”

[lawrence-related id=777999128,777999104]

Forecaddie: Is the PGA Merchandise Show’s days numbered in Orlando?

The PGA Merchandise Show has been in Florida for 67 years, but could it be headed to Frisco, Texas, when the PGA moves its headquarters?

[jwplayer Jo6gOkSL-9JtFt04J]

ORLANDO – Ever since the PGA of America announced it was moving its headquarters to Frisco, Texas, rumors have swirled that the PGA Merchandise Show wouldn’t be far behind in packing its bag for the suburb of ‘Big D.’

Not so fast my friends – at least that’s what leadership at the PGA and Reed Exhibitions, the operator of the Show, will have you believe.

A spokesperson for Reed Exhibitions tells The Forecaddie that the PGA contract with the Orlando County Convention Center runs through 2028, and dates are reserved until 2050, said Marc Simon, Reed Exhibitions event vice president.

“It’s not on the radar for us,” said Jeff Price, PGA’s chief commercial officer. “Frisco doesn’t have the space (for the 10 miles of exhibit aisles), not sure if Dallas does, but it has a future plan for expansion.”

Price added, “We think of the PGA Show as the global golf gathering. We’re open to everything but Orlando has been a really good partner.”

The SiriusXM Town Hall at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

This year marked the 67th annual PGA Show in the Sunshine State and it has set up shop in Orlando since 1985.

The reasons for the “major of golf business” to stay put are plentiful: the Orlando County Convention Center provides 1 million square feet of meeting, floor and special event space, and also hosts the National Golf Course Owners Association and the Racquet & Paddle Sports Show. Orange County National Golf Club is ideal for handling more than 7,000 participants at PGA Demo Day with more than 200 hitting bays. The warm climate, direct flights, nearby attractions and ability to store exhibit booths also make Orlando a perfect fit.

The PGA Merchandise Show, which began in the trunks of cars at a winter golf tournament in 1954, has grown into the world’s largest annual gathering of the golf industry and is organized in partnership by PGA Golf Exhibitions and the PGA of America.

If the PGA Show is to move to Frisco, it is more likely that it will be for the PGA Fall Expo, which has been held in Las Vegas (Sept. 18-19) for years. That contract, Simon said, is on a year-to-year basis and offers more flexibility. The Fall Expo also receives only about 3,000 attendees compared to 40,000 that participate in the three-day January affair to discover the newest trends and technology from some 1,000 exhibiting golf companies and brands.

PGA CEO Seth Waugh provided an update on the development in Frisco, calling the city a Texas miracle.

“They built a highway, they built a practice football field and now it’s the fastest growing city in the country,” he said. “Every time out there the dream gets bigger.”

Waugh detailed how the PGA is targeting to open its new headquarters there in June 2022, which would include the resort hotel, golf operations at the two championship courses and a convention center.

He also addressed the possibility of the AT&T Byron Nelson moving to Frisco after the PGA Tour event ends its run at Trinity Forest later this year, saying everyone is kicking the tires around.

“Are we happy to talk to them about it? We are,” Waugh said. “We’re not pursuing it but if it makes the most sense for the city and for us and our partners and golf we’ll be happy to entertain it and see if it is possible.”

The PGA already has 23 championships, including the PGA and Ryder Cup, scheduled in Frisco in the first 12 years. Waugh confirmed he met with the Salesmanship Club and had discussions with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.

So just kicking the tires?

“Well, we don’t have any tires (yet),” Waugh said. “There is no car.”

But soon there will be and whether the PGA Show or the Byron Nelson end up there, Frisco is destined to be on the golf map soon.

[lawrence-related id=778022044,778021739,778021814]