Special Places - TPC Scottsdale

TPC Scottsdale is the next stop on the West Coast Swing on the US PGA Tour this week for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Scottsdale is part of the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area in Arizona, the 12th most populated in the United States. One of the fastest-growing metro areas in the USA, this part of the north-eastern corner of the Sonoran Desert is known as The Valley of the Sun and has subtropical arid weather.

TPC Scottsdale is a member of the Tournament Players’ Club network that was created to provide superlative host venues for PGA Tour events, and to give ordinary fans the chance to play golf on the same fairways they’ve seen from behind the ropes or on television. The facility has two layouts, the Stadium Course built in 1986 and the tournament host since 1987, and the Champions Course. The Stadium Course is 6600 metres playing to a par of 71 and was designed by silky-smooth swinging golf legend Tom Weiskopf. With the McDowell Mountains as a backdrop, the round begins with a very birdieable 365m par 4 and finishes with a dramatic and demanding 400m par 4 that has water in play. In between there are reachable par 5’s, pot bunkers, water hazards and a driveable par 4. But the unquestionable highlight of the course is the Coliseum-like setting of the 148m par 3 16th hole. Known as the rowdiest hole in golf, a real carnival atmosphere prevails with 20,000+ raucous fans in the stands that completely encircle this little gem where Tiger famously made a hole-in-one on his second year on tour in 1997.

This is the 76th playing of an event that is one of the five oldest on the PGA Tour schedule. Recently married Hunter Mahan is the defending champion after pipping 2010 Rookie of the Year Rickie Fowler to the title last year. This year’s field will include upcoming President’s Cup and Ryder Cup captains Fred Couples and Davis Love, together with fellow Major champions Vijay Singh, Y.E. Yang, Trevor Immelman and world number 4 Phil Mickelson who attended university at nearby Arizona State.