WM Phoenix Open...fans taking it too far?

[SpaceMan5]

I am a golf fan and have always enjoyed the WM tourney. It gives the golfers and fans a chance to have some fun and interact with each on a level you will not see at any other PGA tour event, especially on the 16th hole. For ppl that don't follow golf just google it and you will see that particular hole is a party. Beer, water, seltzers being sprayed all over the place after someone hits a hole-in-one. Fans even booing if a player hits a bad shot.

After watching it live and videos it seems to me that the crowd is taking it a bit too far behind the ropes and inside the ropes. Even saw two videos where the pros snapped at some fans for making comments. One fan broke the cardinal rule of talking during the backswing. There was even a video of a man urinating himself while seated on a bar stool in a hospitality tent. This could have easily happened in prior years but someone actually catching it on their camera is something else

Trust me, I am not some grumpy, follow all the rules to a T kind of guy, (rules are more like guidelines to me as Capt Barbossa once said).

So what are your thoughts? Do they need to curb this behavior a bit, a lot or not all?

 

[GAN]

Why? It makes money for the PGA -ultimately that’s the bottom line, and they’ve “encouraged” it for years. As far as talking in a backswing, I think that’s overblown -if they’re so focused hit the ball. Every other professional athlete performs under similar conditions. I step away if people I’m playing with STOP talking!

 

[WEDWDW]

I think it has been fun previously but I think it "jumped the shark" this year.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I am a golf fan and have always enjoyed the WM tourney. It gives the golfers and fans a chance to have some fun and interact with each on a level you will not see at any other PGA tour event, especially on the 16th hole. For ppl that don't follow golf just google it and you will see that particular hole is a party. Beer, water, seltzers being sprayed all over the place after someone hits a hole-in-one. Fans even booing if a player hits a bad shot.

After watching it live and videos it seems to me that the crowd is taking it a bit too far behind the ropes and inside the ropes. Even saw two videos where the pros snapped at some fans for making comments. One fan broke the cardinal rule of talking during the backswing. There was even a video of a man urinating himself while seated on a bar stool in a hospitality tent. This could have easily happened in prior years but someone actually catching it on their camera is something else

Trust me, I am not some grumpy, follow all the rules to a T kind of guy, (rules are more like guidelines to me as Capt Barbossa once said).

So what are your thoughts? Do they need to curb this behavior a bit, a lot or not all?

I’m not a golfer but my son is, and I hear about some of the etiquette issues he encounters on the field that annoy him and his golf buddies. I will have to ask him about this when I see him.

 

[jimmymc]

I think it has been fun previously but I think it "jumped the shark" this year.

Exactly. It blew up on social media this year, so people are just trying to outdo each other.

 

[soccerdad72]

I agree with others - it was too much this year, IMO.

 

[_19disnA]

Not surprising to me it could get out of hand. The PGA tour basically wanted to make the place rowdy to encourage followers. They built all of the grandstands that surround the par 3 16th hole (each year it has gotten a bit bigger) and encouraged fans to make lots of noise. Figured it would eventually spill over to other holes. You will notice this is about the only tournament when they seem to encourage rowdy behavior.

Always thought it was a misguided effort to get more fans interested in watching golf.

 

[jdtopgun71]

I agree it's gone too far. Maybe not so much for the crowd noise, booing etc., but they lost control in this one. They said they had so many people at the gate that they just stopped checking tickets at some point and they stopped checking ids for alcohol sales because of the crowds. Definitely a lot of over serving going on.

 

[SpaceMan5]

Not surprising to me it could get out of hand. The PGA tour basically wanted to make the place rowdy to encourage followers. They built all of the grandstands that surround the par 3 16th hole (each year it has gotten a bit bigger) and encouraged fans to make lots of noise. Figured it would eventually spill over to other holes. You will notice this is about the only tournament when they seem to encourage rowdy behavior.

Always thought it was a misguided effort to get more fans interested in watching golf.

I think it all started with good intentions, giving the players and fans a fun atmosphere to interact and to get away from the prim and proper rules for one tourney as you pointed out. I am guessing there will be some new rules in place for next year.

 

[SpaceMan5]

I agree it's gone too far. Maybe not so much for the crowd noise, booing etc., but they lost control in this one. They said they had so many people at the gate that they just stopped checking tickets at some point and they stopped checking ids for alcohol sales because of the crowds. Definitely a lot of over serving going on.

They definitely lost control. I read the Sheriff and Fire Departments got involved because they estimated the crowd reached over 500,000 ppl on the course, with so many not having actual tickets. Then spilling over to the alcohol issue as you pointed out. Mayhem

 

[mikehn]

Never been to a PGA event before. Now I might want to. Im always down for a good party.

 

[GAN]

Never been to a PGA event before. Now I might want to. Im always down for a good party.

Eh... just a bunch of stiffs since Daly has been off tour

 

[cabanafrau]

They definitely lost control. I read the Sheriff and Fire Departments got involved because they estimated the crowd reached over 500,000 ppl on the course, with so many not having actual tickets. Then spilling over to the alcohol issue as you pointed out. Mayhem

Whoa, that's just a disaster waiting to happen based on the sheer volume of people alone. Seems like an unbelievable estimate IMO. I find it hard to believe the stadium and the immediate vicinity of the Super Bowl on Sunday even reached 200k. I wonder if you combined the SB stadium and vicinity with the people spread out up and LV strip itself across the freeway if you'd reach 750k?

 

[SpaceMan5]

Whoa, that's just a disaster waiting to happen based on the sheer volume of people alone. Seems like an unbelievable estimate IMO. I find it hard to believe the stadium and the immediate vicinity of the Super Bowl on Sunday even reached 200k. I wonder if you combined the SB stadium and vicinity with the people spread out up and LV strip itself across the freeway if you'd reach 750k?

True, more likely to be an exaggeration. Can't trust what we see in the media

 

[jdb in AZ]

What would you do to improve the situation? Supposedly mgrs met for 5-6 hrs after the tournament to come up with solutions, tho they haven't released their ideas. I think the 750K was the total for the week, tho they don't keep an official tally -- especially since so many people sneak into the event.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/go...r&cvid=b4e28c7264e04acfb862225fe632808a&ei=50

 

[WEDWDW]

What would you do to improve the situation? Supposedly mgrs met for 5-6 hrs after the tournament to come up with solutions, tho they haven't released their ideas. I think the 750K was the total for the week, tho they don't keep an official tally -- especially since so many people sneak into the event.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/go...r&cvid=b4e28c7264e04acfb862225fe632808a&ei=50

Toothpaste is out of the Tube.

 

[_19disnA]

All golf tournaments know how many tickets they sell, even if some are sold the day of the tournament (only a very few of the highest profile events are sold out ahead of time.) For the past several years the Phoenix Open made it seem like having a rowdy golf tournament was a good thing and would encourage more people to attend. That is part of how they advertised it. Not surprised things got out of hand and it was only a matter of time until it did. People attending to drink beer and yell stupid things at the golfers don't belong at golf tournaments.

Surrounding that par 3 16th hole with large grandstands and encouraging fans to boo when a shot was mishit seem like a dreadful idea no matter how it was implemented. I would get rid of those grandstands and limit attendance to what the golf course can reasonably hold.

The reported attendance figures were for the entire tournament, not just a single day.

 

[sam_gordon]

Anyone else thinking "Happy Gilmore"?

 

[kdonnel]

Anyone else thinking "Happy Gilmore"?

The greatest sports movie ever made, perhaps the greatest movie ever made.