Check out the photos of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner’s latest course creation.
Much attention has been paid to the design duo of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner in recent years for their work restoring multiple host sites of major championships, and rightfully so. Los Angeles Country Club, The Country Club, Winged Foot, Southern Hills and more have hosted majors after the designers lent their expertise in putting the courses back into the shapes intended by their original architects.
But what about Hanse and Wagner’s original work? They can bring the heat to their own designs, too, and that is on full display with the Fields Ranch East course at Omni PGA Frisco Resort near Dallas, the new home of the PGA of America.
The East recently opened to public play shortly after hosting the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship (won by Steve Stricker), the first of dozens of top-tier events scheduled to be played there.
Playing as long as 7,863 yards with a par of 72, the East is part of a new complex that includes a resort, meeting spaces, dining, shopping, a lit par-3 course, a massive putting green and plenty of ways to practice. It sits alongside the West, a course designed by Beau Welling.
Stricker’s youngest daughter, Izzi, looped for her pops like a pro in her debut.
FRISCO, Texas – Steve Sticker is yet again a major winner on the PGA Tour Champions.
The 2021 Ryder Cup captain took down Padraig Harrington on the first playoff hole of the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship to take home his sixth major on the senior circuit.
The win is also his second major title of the season after claiming the 2023 Regions Tradition earlier this year. With Joe LaCava Jr. on his bag that week, Stricker opted to keep it in the family this week at Fields Ranch East.
Stricker’s youngest daughter, Izzi, looped for her pops like a pro in her debut. Never caddying for her dad before, both Strickers admitted they had some nerves coming down the stretch, but they never let it get in the way of the special moment.
“She did well,” Stricker told reporters. “Both of us, we got a little, we clammed up a little bit coming in. I think we were both – I had my head down grinding and trying to figure out how to get it in the hole at times…But all in all, after it’s all said and done, it was a lot of fun.”
The rising high school senior shared a similar sentiment.
“Yeah, I was pacing,” Izzi told Golfweek. “Like he (Stricker) said, we were kind of clammy, we didn’t really talk much but I knew if I kept my focus, we would give off similar vibes and I needed to keep my head down as much as he did.”
— KitchenAid Senior PGA Champ (@seniorpgachamp) May 28, 2023
So what was the coolest part of the week for Izzi?
“I have always watched him outside the ropes and this is a whole different experience,” she said. “I learned so much about his mental game, too. I see his physical game all the time but I never really get to see him that close in a major championship so I learned a lot on the mental side.”
For Stricker, the win also holds a special place in his heart.
“This means a lot,” he said. “I said it in there when I was toasting the people inside there that I spent a lot of time with the PGA of America during the Ryder Cup. I got to know a lot of people. We spent basically three years, two and a half years because of the COVID issue and I developed a lot of friendships. John Lindert from Wisconsin as well and just special people to me and our family. I mean, they gave me an unbelievable opportunity to captain a Ryder Cup team in my home state.”
For Padraig Harrington, his chance at a wire-to-wire victory came and went a handful of times Sunday.
After losing the lead to after a Stricker birdie on No. 11, the 51-year-old had a day of what-ifs.
“I look back to the two shots I look back on that with a bit of regret is how I played my second shot safe on 14,” he told reporters after losing in the one hole playoff.
Playing it safe proved not to be the move as he hit his approach into the hole through the green and into the rough.
“That’s the one that I’ll look back on and go, you know, I shouldn’t have bailed out. Maybe I shouldn’t have bailed out there. That’s – but I thought I was fine. I thought I would have had a reasonable eagle chance from there.”
Trailing Stricker by a stroke on the par-3 17th, he squandered another opportunity to force the issue. Luckily for him, both he and Stricker made bogey and made their way to the par-5 18th.
Needing a birdie to tie, Harrington used his PGA Tour Champions-leading length to get on the green in two for a 30-foot eagle putt to win. He’d walk away with a birdie, forcing a playoff with Stricker and another chance to seal a wire-to-wire victory.
First to play, Harrington pulled driver, looking to apply pressure on Stricker but left the drive well out to the right. In the penalty area, Harrington tried to advance the ball but caught it on the hosel, keeping him in the hazard and forcing a drop.
Steve Stricker embraces his caddie/daughter, Izzi Strickerr, after winning the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
What followed was one of the best shots of the week. From 272 yards out, his 5-wood never left the flag and nestled behind the hole to about 10 feet.
“If I hole the putt we could say it was one of the best shots I ever hit. The fact that I didn’t hole the putt we’ll forget about it.”
He laughed. “Golf is cruel.”
Low PGA pro
PGA Professional Mark Brown had one goal in mind coming into Sunday’s final round: earn his wife a new kitchen.
As part of the winnings for low PGA Professionals at the Senior PGA Championship is a kitchen suite courtesy of title sponsor, KitchenAid. Having been co-low pro at the 2019 Senior PGA at Oak Hill, Brown reaped the reward but has since moved, now residing in Florida.
The 56-year-old PGA Teaching Professional at the Yacht & Country Club in Stewart, Florida, had the outright lead by three as he stood on the 17th tee. A quick bogey still gave him a two-shot cushion over Tim Weinhart who finished at 6 over and had already left the property.
Disaster very nearly struck Brown as he crawled away with a double-bogey on the par 5 18th.
Mission failed successfully.
The double kept him from having the solo honor but nonetheless, he’ll keep his wife happy with a new kitchen suite making its way to Hobe Sound, Florida.
As for Weinhart, the 53-year-old PGA Director of Instruction at Heritage Golf Links in Tucker, Georgia, was still shocked that he had played himself back into it. He left the course and was halfway through a double-double at In-N-Out when he heard he tied Brown.
Not in the field to start the week, Weinhart was an alternate and a late addition to the field.
“Monday we played a practice round and we’re like, well I hope we get in,” he told reporters. “I got a known call late Monday night or not late, 6:45. 7 o’clock. I was grateful.”
While the pair did not finish high enough for an exemption into the 84th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, the duo put a nice bow on a historic two week stretch for PGA Teaching Professionals that began with Michael Block in Oak Hill.
The 84th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship heads to Michigan in 2024 where Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan, will play host.
Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship.
Padraig Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship. He’s doing his best to not let a prolonged pit stop knock him off track.
A member of the over-50 circuit since last year, Harrington leads the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas, 16 under by a shot over Steve Stricker. Rounds of 64-68-68 at the brand new East Course has Harrington in a solid position and he’s happy with how his week is going so far.
“First day I shot 64 easy. Second day I got everything out of it to shoot 68. Today I left a lot out on the golf course and shoot 68,” he said Saturday after his third round. “Golf’s a crazy game.”
Golf can be crazy indeed.
Turns out during the third round Mother Nature came calling for Harrington and let’s just say he’s wasn’t shy about discussing a very personal incident.
“Probably have had the silliest, maybe the most silliest. … I come up with the silliest excuse ever for making. … I’m glad I broke my par streak. It’s not good not to have made a bogey. That’s not a good thing. I know that sounds strange, so that’s the first thing I’ll say,” Harrington began to explain, slowly working his way up to the, uh, well, the interesting part of the story.
“Sixteen came out of nowhere, which is, I have a. … so, essentially, I went in the toilet. The door was locked. Took me a minute to realize there wasn’t somebody in there, another few, another while to get the door open.
“As we are on the Champions Tour, I had the longest pee ever.”
You gotta go, the door is locked, you’re not sure someone’s in there, your group is waiting on you. We’ve all been there.
“And then I kind of rushed down the fairway and hit my shot. The second shot was kind of innocuous because the pin was so tight I was just playing 15 feet left of it and to be honest, yeah, I just, I wasn’t. … I do that sometimes, I just wasn’t focused, I wasn’t into it and I hit a bad shot in the hazard.”
Harrington ended up with a double bogey on the par-4 16th hole. He carded five birdies on the day before that, and then closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th, keeping his lead intact after 54 holes.
“But, yeah, so when you get over 50 it sometimes takes a long time to have a pee. And that was, yeah, that’s my excuse. That’s got to be original, I would assume.”
FRISCO, Texas – Padraig Harrington was on cruise control through 45 holes of the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Until suddenly, he wasn’t.
Bogey-free through 51 holes, the golf gods finally got a hold of the Irishman’s game on the par-4 16th.
“The second shot was kind of innocuous because the pin was so tight,” Harrington told reporters following his third-round 68. “I was just playing 15 feet left of it and to be honest, yeah, I just, I wasn’t — I do that sometimes, I just wasn’t focused, I wasn’t into it and I hit a bad shot in the hazard.”
The double bogey, while untimely, was somewhat of a sigh of relief for Harrington.
“I’m glad I broke my par streak,” he said. “It’s not good not to have made a bogey. That’s not a good thing. I know that sounds strange.”
Standing over his tee shot on the par-3 17th, Harrington held the same club that caused his trouble on 16. Opting to be aggressive, Harrington nipped the flag stick resulting in an easy par.
On 18, the three-time major winner leaked his tee shot off to the right, playing it off of the lateral hazard line. Needing a par to remain tied with a surging Steve Stricker, Harrington got up and down out of a greenside bunker to birdie the par-5 last and takes a one-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round. The birdie not only gives him the overnight lead, but gives Harrington a boost of confidence despite slipping down the stretch.
“It’s always nice to hole a putt on the last,” he told Golfweek. “Yeah. So you’re dead right, it creates a bit of momentum, for sure.”
Heading into Saturday’s third round, it seemed like it was Harrington’s tournament to lose. But former Ryder Cup captain and 2023 co-captain, Steve Stricker, took it upon himself to close the gap and apply pressure.
Five shots back to begin the day and six back at one point during Saturday’s round, Stricker stormed out of the gates with a 4-under 32 on the front nine.
“I mean, all you can do is continue to keep trying to make birdies,” he told reporters. “I was in a position to try to be aggressive and try to hit good shots, make putts, try to make birdies. That was the mindset. Also not trying to make a bogey. I figured if I could go bogey-free today I needed a good round to get right back in there. We got one more round and a lot of golf left.”
Doubling down on a solid front nine, Stricker followed his gameplan to a tee, posting a bogey-free 64, tying the course record set by Harrington on Thursday and matching the best third-round score in Senior PGA Championship history.
Joining the pair in Sunday’s final-round pairing is PGA Tour Champions rookie Stewart Cink.
Well off the lead and stalling a bit on the front nine, Cink credits his wife, Lisa, with getting him into the mix.
“She (Lisa) told me at the turn, I kind of had a dry spell there where I bogeyed 8, bad decision on 8, made a bogey there,” Cink told reporters.
“I kind of went one direction and Padraig went the other way. And all of a sudden I was like seven back… So Lisa said, ‘You know, you’re playing fine, but the big thing is that you [are] just seven back of Harrington now. He’s kind of like separated himself.’ She said, ‘Let’s just try to like kind of pick our way back into sort of like shouting distance here’… I wouldn’t really say it actually changed my attitude, but it kind of gave me confidence to just instead of getting it all back at once I could just kind of pick away at it. … So I got to give my illustrious caddie some credit for that one.”
The 2009 Open champion was rewarded for sticking to his revised gameplan with an ace on the par-3 13th, the third ace of the week at Fields Ranch.
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 27, 2023
Quickly cutting into Harrington’s lead, Cink closed out his third round with a 5-under 67, three back of the lead.
When it comes to chasing down his first PGA Tour Champions win, Cink is ready to put up a good fight.
“I’m three back, but it’s probably the two players (Sticker and Harrington) you don’t want to be behind in this tournament, to be honest,” Cink said post round. “The two guys who are going to probably — that fit this course the best and have the best experience and confidence over their last handful of seasons out here. I’m the new guy, so I’m, I’ve got the firepower to play with those guys or take over this thing, but it’s going to be a dog fight tomorrow. … So I look forward to it tomorrow. It will feel like a big tournament for sure tomorrow and it’s not every day you get to do that.”
With low scores certainly doable, the new home of the PGA of America should offer a dramatic finish as star power takes center stage Sunday.
Robert Karlsson, Darren Clarke and Y.E. Yang look to make a push tied at 9 under. Defending Senior PGA champion, Steven Alker, sits in solo seventh (8 under) with Katsumasa Miyamoto, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Asilson da Silva rounding out the top 10 at 7 under.
The 51-year-old Brazilian got his start in golf as a caddie after meeting a man buying tobacco.
FRISCO, Texas – Adilson da Silva had never been to the United States.
The statement seems logical for most people but for a man that has played professional golf since 1994, it’s mind boggling that he has never teed it up in the U.S., let alone set foot in the country. It’s even more puzzling that a player in his position would be in the running for a major title, but nonetheless, da Silva is making the most of his inaugural trip.
The 51-year-old Brazilian got his start in golf as a caddie after meeting a man buying tobacco in his hometown. The chance meeting would be the start of a decades-long career spanning more than six continents.
He showed promise as a player by winning the 1990 and 1991 Brazilian Amateur Open Championship. With those wins under his belt, de Silva took a leap of faith thanks to a friend that helped him settle his life in Zimbabwe.
“I met a gentleman called Andy Edmondson and became good friends,” da Silva told reporters following his second round Friday at PGA Frisco. “And after a year or two he invited me to go to Zimbabwe and that’s when golf started. So I was really fortunate to get a break. Brazil those days golf was a very closed society. My parents weren’t able to afford it. So I was really fortunate to start the golf.”
The opportunity to play golf professionally was something he simply could not pass up. Not knowing a single word in English, da Silva learned the language over the course of a couple of years before moving from Zimbabwe to South Africa to begin his life as a touring golf pro.
Once established in South Africa, de Silva began playing on the Sunshine Tour full time on the in 1995 where he racked up 12 wins from 1997 to 2012. In 2018, he ended a six year winless drought, taking home the Mercuries Taiwan Masters by one stroke.
With his best years seemingly behind him and two young children to raise, da Silva came close to calling it a career during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My wife and I, we sat down and we had to almost like make a fresh lens somewhere,” da Silva told Golfweek. “And then we just decided to give it a go at the seniors in Europe and just see how they go. Obviously, I got the invite at my first event at the Legends Tour and finished third and got an exemption into the next event and so I just sort of started getting momentum there.”
His big break came in 2022 at the PGA Seniors Championship.
“I won one at the PGA in Formby and then that gave me the exemption to play all the other ones (tournaments) so that was a big deal for me. So now I can stay on the tour and do what I love doing.”
The win reignited da Silva’s career. He finished second in the 2022 Order of Merit, allowing him to come to earn exemptions into the 2023 Senior PGA Championship and 2023 U.S. Senior Open. Before landing in Dallas this past Sunday, da Silva won his second Legends Tour event, this time in Austria.
Coming into the event in winning form, da Silva’s American welcoming is going about as well as one can expect given the travel and demands that Fields Ranch requires.
“This is top notch,” da Silva said to Golfweek. “It’s (Fields Ranch) is a beautiful golf course but it can also be a monster.”
So far, the East Course has been tamed by the Brazilian. Through two rounds da Silva is 6 under and tied for fifth.
He’s joined by a who’s who of the PGA Tour Champions, all trying to chase down Padraig Harrington.
The three-time major winner has yet to make a bogey all week, using his length to pick apart the new home of the PGA of America. Following an opening round eight under 64 with another bogey-free round of 68, Harrington is clear of the field by three strokes as the championship hits the halfway point.
“You want to be a little bit freer and take a few more chances. But sometimes when you’re leading you just get a little bit cautious,” he said. “That’s why, I suppose it happens all the time in golf, it’s very, very difficult for a leader to move away from the field. It’s easy for the field to chase him down. Because there’s a bit of freedom. They have nothing to lose. So obviously I have another 36 holes of that coming up, so it’s going to be a long weekend for me.”
Katsumasa Miyamoto (9 under), Stewart Cink (8 under) and Steve Stricker (7 under) are within striking range of Harrington while Darren Clarke, Y.E. Yang, Alex Cejka are tied with da Silva at 6 under.
For da Silva, the taste of American golf is something he will definitely be back for.
“I had a chance to come and I never did and it was a big mistake. So, but I may come back to the Tour school at the end of the year for the PGA Tour Champions.”
Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.
FRISCO, Texas — The PGA of America welcomed the golf world into its new home as Fields Ranch East Course at PGA Frisco plays host to the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
While the state-of-the-art office space that serves as the new home of the PGA of America has been occupied since 2022, the Senior PGA serves as the christening of the Fields Ranch East course, a Gil Hanse design that has impressed plenty of pros as they have tried to meander their way through his strategic bunkering and subtle but taxing green complexes.
While Fields Ranch isn’t an easy test, two aces were recorded in the first-ever tournament round at the course.
Yet another PGA Professional made history in Thursday’s opening round as Dave McNabb lays claim to the first hole-in-one at Fields Ranch. Similar to Michael Block’s iconic shot at Oak Hill, McNabb never saw it go in the hole.
“I saw one bounce and I sort of picked my tee up,” McNabb told pool reporters. “My caddie, Donny (Wessner), says, ‘It went in!’ Good stuff.”
While McNabb’s ace on the 165-yard 8th will forever be known as the first in course history, former Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin made an ace of his own on No. 4.
Out of his 15 career aces, the one at Fields Ranch ranks up there with the 1 he had at No. 16 in the 1992 Masters. Coincidentally, Pavin’s playing partner, Kenny Perry, was witness to both.
“Kenny is my good luck charm apparently,” Pavin chuckled.
Aside from the two aces, plenty of red numbers dot the leaderboard.
As a second shot golf course, Fields Ranch plays into the hands of ball strikers. As one of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour Champions, Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.
A key part to scoring at Fields Ranch? The wind.
“Because every hole nearly has a hazard down one side of it, the wind direct has a big effect on this course, it really, really does,” Harrington said.
“In some ways the reason it was an easy 64 is because when you’re playing with somebody like Rocco there’s always a bit of chat and there’s always a bit of fun going on, so you’re quite relaxed. And that really does make a difference to how you feel about your shots and things like that. So it’s something as professionals we always need to keep reminding ourselves.”
Rocco Mediate shared the same sentiment.
“Going around here in the pro-am you’re not seeing low, you don’t see ’em because then — but then when the things change, the golf course is perfect. Wind wasn’t that bad today. I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. You give these guys some different irons into some of these greens they’re going to tear the grass off it. That’s how it’s always been.”
With wind typically a factor this time of year in North Texas, Fields Ranch offers a fair test whether the wind is ripping or not. Luckily for the players this week, the winds should stay at or around 10 miles per hour for the rest of the tournament.
With the wind remaining calm, we’ll get a preview of just how low players can go at the home of the PGA of America. With 25 more championships scheduled through 2034, it will be interesting to see the pace set this week.
Fields Ranch has allowed players to take advantage of well executed shots but has also gotten the better of players who weren’t committed to every single shot. PGA Professional, Bob Sowards, was one of a handful of players thrown off of his game plan.
“Oh, it was very frustrating,” Sowards told reporters following his first round 1-under 71.
Three under at the turn, Sowards lost all progress with a double bogey-bogey start on the back nine.
“I got pretty angry out there. I told KB, I got to be the dumbest guy on this whole property. Because if you’re going to make a game plan you might as well follow it. I chose not to and paid the price. So, oh, well. At least I still shot under par and gives me a chance going forward.”
Through round one, over 30 players are in red figures with over a dozen more at even par. Ideal weather and fast and firm playing conditions could result in one of the lowest scoring senior majors in recent history.
Defending champion Steven Alker shot a 2-under 70 and is tied for 18th after 18 holes.
Cameron Doan, the director of golf at Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas since 1999, is making his first start in a major this week at the Senior PGA Championship, which is being played at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in nearby Frisco, Texas, and Doan had the honor of hitting the opening drive on Thursday. He went on to post an opening-round even-par 72.
Doan, the PGA’s 2018 Bill Strausbaugh Award winner, competed in more than 10 PGA Professional National Championships before turning 50 without qualifying for the PGA Championship. He attempted to qualify for the Senior PGA four times in the Senior PGA Professional Championship without finishing in the top 35. Twice he came within just a few strokes of getting to that elusive major.
“You get to be my age at 55, you wonder,” Doan said.
Ahead of the 2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship in October, Doan, who was making his fifth appearance in the championship, told PGA.com, “The goal of playing in a major has been there for 40 years. I have to show my students, staff and kids that you can do it. You can set goals, work hard and achieve them.”
The 2022 qualifying tournament was held at Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Clubs in New Mexico, where Doan grew up. Hailing from Silver City, Doan learned the game at a nine-hole course where his dad was the head pro and the course superintendent.
“During the summers, the course was the babysitter for my younger brother and me,” he said.
Fittingly, he finished the tournament T-3 in his native state to secure a spot in his first major this week.
“I chased this a long time. It’s nice to catch it,” he said.
North Texas PGA CEO Mark Harrison caddied for Doan on the first hole—helping him start the Championship with a par.
“The first call I made, I called him (Harrison) and said, ‘All right, you’re in for the first hole,’” Doan said. “When I was in the hunt in New Mexico last October, he flew out, showed up Sunday morning on the last round and came strolling up on the 8th fairway when it’s blowing 30 and cold.”
“Incredible, better than you could dream, I would say,” said Harrison after handing off the bag to Doan’s son, Tristan, to caddie the rest of the round. “And to have him hit it right on the screws, that was incredible.”
The East course at PGA Frisco is scheduled to host 26 championships through 2034.
There are big plans for the PGA of America’s new home in Frisco, Texas, including the playing of multiple major championships.
The first of those is taking place this week at the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
PGA Frisco officially opened on May 2, with the Beau Welling-designed West course the first to open. The East, designed by the team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, is scheduled already for 26 championships through 2034.
The Fields Ranch courses are part of the Omni PGA Frisco Resort. The property also serves as the new headquarters for the PGA of America, which previously had been located in South Florida.
How will the East course play? Ahead of the Senior PGA, several players discussed the layout, as did Hanse, the mastermind behind the venue.
Check out the photos of the new Fields Ranch West course at PGA Frisco in Texas.
PGA Frisco, the new home of the PGA of America just north of Dallas, officially opens for golf today, with the property’s Fields Ranch West course accepting tee times for play from this point onward. The other course on property, Fields Ranch East, officially opens for public tee times starting May 30.
The West was designed by golf architect Beau Welling and plays along Panther Creek in a prairie setting with oak and mesquite trees. The East, designed by the team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, will play host to 26 championships through 2034, including the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship on May 25-28.
The Fields Ranch courses are part of the Omni PGA Frisco Resort that includes a 500-room hotel, 10 four-bedroom ranch houses, a spa, two ballrooms, 19 meeting rooms, nine outdoor event venues, a pavilion, 13 restaurants and bars, and retail shops. The property also serves as the new headquarters for the PGA of America, which previously had been located in South Florida.
Besides the two main courses, Fields Ranch also is home to a 10-hole lighted short course named The Swing and a lighted 2-acre putting course named The Dance Floor. It also includes the data-driven PGA Coaching Center and the Jerry J. Ransom Northern Texas PGA Golf House.
“No matter what you are looking for in a golf trip, Omni PGA Frisco Resort has all the aspects and amenities to provide a world-class experience for every guest,” Jeff Smith, vice president and managing director of Omni PGA Frisco Resort, said in a media release announcing the opening of Fields Ranch West. “In partnership with the PGA of America, we look forward to being one of the most sought-after golf destinations in the world.”
Rates for Fields Ranch East, a walking-with-caddie experience, start at $277 for public-access play (booked up to seven days in advance), and the fees start at $252 for resort guests (booked up to 120 days in advance). The fees for Fields Ranch West start at $222 for public-access players and $202 for resort guests. City of Frisco residents can schedule rounds 10 days in advance with up to 20 percent in discounts when booking outside of 48 hours and up to 50 percent off when scheduled within 48 hours of the day of play. Additional cart and caddie fees are applicable. Visit www.fieldsranch.com for details.
All combined for the courses and hotel, the property sits on 660 acres and was completed as a public/private partnership between the PGA of America, Omni Hotels & Resorts, the City of Frisco, and the Frisco Independent School District.
Check out the images of Fields Ranch West and several hotel amenities below.
Spoiler alert: It’s yet to be announced, but the course is almost certain to be added as the 2041 Ryder Cup site.
FRISCO, Texas — If the coffee at the soon-to-be-completed Omni PGA Frisco Resort doesn’t give you a sufficient morning jolt, a peek at the scorecard of Gil Hanse’s Fields Ranch East Course certainly will.
The sprawling and spectacular track — part of a 660-acre complex that houses Hanse’s East Course, Beau Welling’s West Course and the PGA of America’s impressive new home — opens with what we can safely refer to as major numbers. Major as in the numerous championships that will be played there, including the 2027 and 2034 PGA Championship and the 2025 and 2031 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
And major in terms of sheer distance — like an opening three-hole stretch that can play to 1,699 yards, including a 633-yard first hole that often plays into a stiff breeze.
Don’t come here half-asleep, the East Course seems to be saying.
But while the complex, which sits on a rare bit of rolling land on the northern tip of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, will best be known for the 26 PGA of America championships scheduled over the next dozen years, there’s an interesting bit of behind-the-scenes symbiosis that’s led to the finished work.
The new PGA of America home at the Frisco complex. (Photo by Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)
Teamwork was the key
Gil Hanse, a golf architect who can’t squeeze enough room into his planner for major course re-designs these days, and self-described project “underdog” Beau Welling formed an interesting and complementary team to make a special piece of property into something that will change the dynamic of golf in the state of Texas.
During a recent media preview, the two sat down for a fireside chat and explained that this was the first time they’d ever worked together, but both sides were excited about the possibility of collaborating again in the future.
Welling not only created the plan for the West Course, a challenging yet playable layout that rolls through the former ranch land, but he also developed the entire site plan, meaning he accounted for details like massive crowds, TV towers and even future concession stands.
It’s all part of a property that’s expected to drive massive tourism and growth in and around the yet-to-be-finished Omni, a resort that will include a two-acre putting course; an entertainment area named The Dance Floor with a massive TV screen to be programmed by PGA of America officials; and a par-3, 10-hole short course called “The Swing.”
But as for the main attraction, Hanse’s East Course, the idea was to make this a track that could challenge the best players in the world.
Spoiler alert: It’s yet to be announced and won’t officially be for years, but the common knowledge among all the key players is that if the course gets satisfactory marks during its run hosting the 2027 PGA Championship, it’s certain to be added as the 2041 Ryder Cup site.
Gil Hanse designed the East Course and Beau Welling designed the West Course at Fields Ranch on the PGA Frisco complex. (Photo by Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)
Prepping for a major (and a Ryder Cup)
All this left Hanse with a massive challenge, but in recent years he and managing partner Jim Wagner have been given plenty of opportunities to tackle big things. The tandem’s original design skills were on full display at the Olympic Course for the 2016 Games in Brazil, and restorations to major-championship courses have included Winged Foot, Los Angeles Country Club, Oakland Hills South, Baltusrol, Southern Hills and beyond.
But instead of reworking an existing course in advance of a major, this job called for sculpting from conception. That allowed Hanse and Wagner to put some of their routing theories into action.
“When the stage is set, we’d rather see positive outcomes determine champions as opposed to negative outcomes. We really enjoy watching golfers making birdies and eagles to win, as opposed to some guy double bogeys, another guy bogeys and barely hangs on,” Hanse said. “And so the way we’ve set up the finish is we’ve got, you know, a pretty tough stretch of holes on the back nine — the drivable 15th, 16 is a hard four, but then 17 is the shortest par-3 on the golf course and 18 is a reachable five for all those guys.
“So they’re going to have to make decisions and, hopefully, they’ll have positive outcomes determine the way that it all falls out.”
Of course, Hanse didn’t create everything from scratch. He’s openly admitted to “borrowing” design concepts from some of the biggest names before him, a practice that worked well on this project. When asked if greats like Donald Ross, Perry Maxwell and Alister MacKenzie influence his work, Hanse didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Every day. Every day they do,” he said. “We’re fortunate that we are very active in that side of the business as well. And so we’re constantly trying to explore and figure out what they did at their particular projects. And Jim and I are both very open in that we steal ideas from them. If we see something that we really like, we’ll certainly borrow literally from that, but it’s also really nice because we can talk about situational things — that we don’t want to necessarily build that green that Ross built. But that green site feels a lot like (one) at Oakland Hills. And so, then there’s a context and we can talk about those things that way as opposed to — we’re going to build exactly a replica of that.
“But we were always influenced by them, because it’s the highest art form in our profession is, is created during those times. And so we’re always inspired and certainly informed by what they did.”
Moderator Stephen Reynolds, left, Gil Hanse, and Beau Welling, during a recent event in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
Moving earth from west to east
While Hanse was working on his East behemoth, Welling was whittling away at some of the higher pieces of property on the ranch. The two realized early on that they had something the other needed.
The result was a massive movement of earth from the West Course to the East, largely to help the latter deal with Panther Creek, a tributary that winds through the region before dumping into Lewisville Lake.
Although the area is often dry, Hanse and Welling had to be ready for the occasional floods that plague the region. That led to loads of dirt being repurposed, although Welling wasn’t sure of the exact quantity.
“I’m terrible at numbers. I have no idea how much I don’t remember exactly. There was a big export of material from the west to the east,” Welling said. “So there were awesome parts of topography, like where the halfway house is, but then there’s all the stuff that was dead flat along Panther Creek and all that had to be amended in order to protect it from the floodwaters.
“And so we had to move the earth, not so much necessarily to create topography that we might have done along the way, but it really was just to elevate everything such that when the flood event does happen, it’s not inundating the investments been made in the golf courses.”
Although the area around the complex is still largely empty, a number of condominiums and mixed-use projects are either in the works or under construction. And Welling thinks that will make Fields Ranch even more important in years to come.
“I think what’s going to be really neat, long-term, is as the town and city now develops around them, this is going to be this oasis in the middle of the built-up environment that’s going to have flora and fauna and wildlife and whatnot,” he said.
Beau Welling, left, shows Gil Hanse a photo on his phone during a recent event in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
More to come?
Although they’re very different creatures — for example, when Welling mentioned at dinner that he’d had someone dress up as Sasquatch to walk outside the window at his recent wedding, Hanse laughed in disbelief and asked to see pictures — the combination created magic in this bucolic Texas pasture.
“I knew innately from the original phone call, this was gonna be such a massive, special thing and we just wanted to be a part of it and to get to be able to work alongside Gil. His guys, as you know, are special. I certainly consider him friends of ours now, and we really had a great time with all this,” Welling said. “We talked about collaborating and it’s not some marketing thing we’re talking about. I think the two firms really got to appreciate each other and I think part of that is that we’re real people.
“Like we don’t just sit around and talk about golf all the time. So I remember great dinners or we talked about music, we talked about football and we talked about whatever, so it was just really a wonderful great experience.”
That’s when the question came of whether this was the first time the two had worked together.
“Yes,” Hanse said, looking over at Welling. “And hopefully not the last.”
