PGA Championship 2022 - Southern Hills, Tulsa

[Pete]

We left a little early and went to a friend's house where the TV coverage had comprehensive stats, graphics and real-time coverage of every hole.

I loved going to the event but ended up wishing we had left sooner because I missed so much of what I was there to see.

All that can be provided through their app or just internet access, but that was virtually impossible.

[BoulderSooner]

^

Yes, meant to mention the cell phone reception which was pretty much non-existent.

I didn't care about phone calls or texts, was just trying to navigate the course and follow what was happening and that was virtually impossible.

In this day and age where there is fantastic free TV coverage, you really need to get these things right.

i lean the other way .. i wish more events took their cue from The Masters and had no cell phones on the property ..

[Pete]

i lean the other way .. i wish more events took their cue from The Masters and had no cell phones on the property ..

It needs to be one way or another.

This event was in the middle which was the worst of both worlds.

[BoulderSooner]

It needs to be one way or another.

This event was in the middle which was the worst of both worlds.

i agree with that ..

[Timshel]

Not to say the on-the-ground product couldn't drastically improve across the board in this regard but I've never been to a golf tournament (haven't been to 100s, but have been to more than the average person) in which it was easy to follow what was going on in the larger tournament unless sitting in the grandstands on 18, etc. where they're showing the broadcast (and even then you still rarely get the full context of the situation), so I don't think this weekend was any worse than average. TV will always be better at that. That said, I was surprised they didn't have signal boosters to ease the cell data burden a bit. Funnily enough, I had much better luck sending/receiving voice calls than using data but was still able to send/receive texts from most spots on the course. Getting an app or a website to update was very rough though.

The on course app would have been awesome if it had been able to regularly update (and obviously worked much better earlier in the week than the weekend).

[PhiAlpha]

It’s weird. I just got back from grabbing some half priced merchandise at the PGA shop and reception was still terrible out there even today (and I’m on AT&T). Not sure why it’s such a dead zone over there.

On some of the lines and logistics issues, a friend of mine who’s a member at southern and volunteered out there for the last two weeks told me to expect some issues when we grabbed lunch a few weeks ago and the issues played out exactly like he thought they would. This was the first PGA Championship since 2019 without any fan quantity restrictions and with a full complement of volunteers and there was apparently a ton of turnover at the PGA (especially in the groups dealing specifically with volunteers and fans) so things were pretty discombobulated early on and sounds like that carried over through the rest of the tournament. I figured it wouldn’t be that different from other PGA events since they started allowing crowds again but I guess the volume of fans at the championship was so much higher than at other tour events that it made preparing more difficult. I was only out there Sunday afternoon and the line issues weren’t near as bad while I was there but heard from everyone that it was rough during the week.

Overall Southern Hills and Tulsa did a great job of hosting though. Haven’t heard anything but positive feedback about the city, state and golf course. The Ironman triathlon was also going on up here Saturday along with a BMX event and a Brooks and Dunn concert so it was a pretty massive weekend up here.

[Pete]

Didn't they completely sell out well in advance?

I believe that was the case and if so, they would have known exactly the number of people to expect.

They were very lucky it was so cool over the weekend because the lines trying to get something to drink would have been exponentially higher and there could have even been some health issues as a result. Given how hot it had been in the run-up, it's a miracle it was so chilly (bordering on cold on Saturday).


Also, due to the constant, huge lines, I wonder if we'll start to see a bit of a spike in Covid in the next couple of weeks. There was absolutely no social distancing nor was it possible.

In fact, I waited for my friends while they went into the merchandise tent because it was just wall-to-wall people. I know many were huddling in there just trying to get warm, and it was absolutely packed.

[okatty]

^On Thursday people were packed in there trying to cool down!

[Swake]

I don't know what a sell out would be. I still don't think the crowds were as big as the 2001 US Open. But that's a whole different org.

[Timshel]

Fri-Sunday was sold out. Thursday was almost sold out (and was sold out of the all you can eat tickets).

Thursday, I saw a fair number of tents had lines with people waiting for specific food items (hamburgers having the most shortages). Could get other food items, but they didn’t really have a good way of communicating to people in line but outside the tents that you could get something if you didn’t want a hamburger. I did see a few checkout folks on Thursday going down the line to tell people but not much after that. Gotta imagine it was expected on some level, but was definitely the worst part of the experience/weekend. Sunday was the only day I couldn’t find a line short enough to get in (there were some tents in more out of the way places that had more reasonable lines at off times through Saturday) so just loaded up on granola bars, bananas, and chips from the volunteer HQ and then scarfed some food on the way home.

The all you can eat seems like a good idea, and with a few more tweaks/logistical improvements and better communication it probably could be, but definitely some things to iron out. It was interesting that the PGA was very nervous about the wristband procedure at the main gate slowing things down too much. That was where I volunteered, though Thursday was the only tournament morning I worked it seemed to go very smoothly. Even the morning rush seemed reasonable from where I was standing but curious if anyone who showed up first thing fri-Sun disagrees.

That said, I wonder if there would ever be enough grill space to feasibly keep up with that crowd at the busiest parts of the day.

[Pete]

Would have been very nice if they would have separated things out.

Drinks are pretty essential (I didn't care about burgers and hot dogs) and not many people can go 4-10 hours completely outside without anything to drink at all. As far as I could tell, there weren't any water fountains. Literally, no way to get fluids.

I don't even know how it was working because every line had hundreds of people and you couldn't get anywhere close to seeing the actual operation.

One of my friends stood in line forever and the only thing they had was a half-frozen bagel, some small bags of chips and canned soda.

[Urbanized]

I don't know what a sell out would be. I still don't think the crowds were as big as the 2001 US Open. But that's a whole different org.

I’d never really thought of it that way; that each org is populated with completely different personnel, and that they could have completely different approaches based on what it is they do.

Namely, you’d think the PGA would be really great at running ANY tournament (setting aside the aforementioned pandemic-driven personnel churn and and the fact that this was the first in a couple of years without crowd restrictions), but if all of your other tournaments are significantly smaller, adjusting for the “big one” could be tougher to pull off with present labor economy factors in play.

Whereas the U.S.G.A. doesn’t run nearly so many tournaments, but EVERY ONE of them is “the big one.” Less of a hill to climb. The playbook never changes. Obviously The Masters goes off without a hitch because that’s all Augusta National does, other than running the club, and they don’t change ANYTHING for ANYBODY. And the R&A has been doing theirs for like, 150 years. Honestly makes sense from an operations perspective that the PGA might struggle the most with suddenly adapting to excessively giant crowds.

[Timshel]

I’d never really thought of it that way; that each org is populated with completely different personnel, and that they could have completely different approaches based on what it is they do.

Namely, you’d think the PGA would be really great at running ANY tournament (setting aside the aforementioned pandemic-driven personnel churn and and the fact that this was the first in a couple of years without crowd restrictions), but if all of your other tournaments are significantly smaller, adjusting for the “big one” could be tougher to pull off with present labor economy factors in play.

Important to note that this tournament is run by the Professional Golfers Association of America, not the PGA Tour, a big distinction. The split and creation of the PGA tour from the PGA of America is an interesting history, especially in light of the current situation with LIV golf. Though they have different missions, the PGA of America is much more similar to the USGA than it is the PGA Tour (which doesn’t run any of the majors) in that their primary “mission” isn't to run professional golf tournaments (or at least “professional” in the sense of putting on tournaments for touring golfers making a living from said tournaments WRT the PGAA), though to be sure, both the PGAA and USGA have a substantial number of personnel dedicated to running their national tournaments.

[Urbanized]

Ah, I’d missed that distinction…I just THOUGHT I knew, apparently. Not the first time for that hahaha…

[Timshel]

Haha The names of the organizations don’t make it easy to know the distinction! Self-described golf-sicko here!

I’d be surprised if there were more tickets sold in 2001, but as they say…Tiger doesn’t move the needle, he is the needle. Guessing there was an appreciable number of people that came to see Tiger this year and no one else, and didn’t show up on Sunday or stay as long as they would have after he WD’ed - though it was definitely still busy!

[BoulderSooner]

It’s weird. I just got back from grabbing some half priced merchandise at the PGA shop and reception was still terrible out there even today (and I’m on AT&T). Not sure why it’s such a dead zone over there.

On some of the lines and logistics issues, a friend of mine who’s a member at southern and volunteered out there for the last two weeks told me to expect some issues when we grabbed lunch a few weeks ago and the issues played out exactly like he thought they would. This was the first PGA Championship since 2019 without any fan quantity restrictions and with a full complement of volunteers and there was apparently a ton of turnover at the PGA (especially in the groups dealing specifically with volunteers and fans) so things were pretty discombobulated early on and sounds like that carried over through the rest of the tournament. I figured it wouldn’t be that different from other PGA events since they started allowing crowds again but I guess the volume of fans at the championship was so much higher than at other tour events that it made preparing more difficult. I was only out there Sunday afternoon and the line issues weren’t near as bad while I was there but heard from everyone that it was rough during the week.

Overall Southern Hills and Tulsa did a great job of hosting though. Haven’t heard anything but positive feedback about the city, state and golf course. The Ironman triathlon was also going on up here Saturday along with a BMX event and a Brooks and Dunn concert so it was a pretty massive weekend up here.

Keep in mind that the pga tour has nothing to do with last weekends event or running it. It is 100% the pga of America a fully different org.

[BoulderSooner]

Didn't they completely sell out well in advance?

I believe that was the case and if so, they would have known exactly the number of people to expect.

They were very lucky it was so cool over the weekend because the lines trying to get something to drink would have been exponentially higher and there could have even been some health issues as a result. Given how hot it had been in the run-up, it's a miracle it was so chilly (bordering on cold on Saturday).


Also, due to the constant, huge lines, I wonder if we'll start to see a bit of a spike in Covid in the next couple of weeks. There was absolutely no social distancing nor was it possible.

In fact, I waited for my friends while they went into the merchandise tent because it was just wall-to-wall people. I know many were huddling in there just trying to get warm, and it was absolutely packed.

Every day was sold out.

[PhiAlpha]

Didn't they completely sell out well in advance?

I believe that was the case and if so, they would have known exactly the number of people to expect.

They were very lucky it was so cool over the weekend because the lines trying to get something to drink would have been exponentially higher and there could have even been some health issues as a result. Given how hot it had been in the run-up, it's a miracle it was so chilly (bordering on cold on Saturday).


Also, due to the constant, huge lines, I wonder if we'll start to see a bit of a spike in Covid in the next couple of weeks. There was absolutely no social distancing nor was it possible.

In fact, I waited for my friends while they went into the merchandise tent because it was just wall-to-wall people. I know many were huddling in there just trying to get warm, and it was absolutely packed.

Definitely knew how many people to expect. My friend more or less said that the PGA had so much turnover internally, between the beginning of the pandemic and now, that most of the staff that was previously in place to handle volunteers and a lot of fan facing parts of the tournament were no longer there, leaving a bunch of inexperienced staff who hadn't ever worked such a large tournament. It sounded like a combination of inexperienced staff, pandemic related staffing and supply chain issues that many industries are experiencing and the lack of lead time between the tournament being moved to Southern Hills and the date of the tournament. Generally the PGA Championship locations are announced 5-10 years in advance (Bedminister was announced in 2014, 8 years in advance), the decision to move it to Southern Hills was only made a year and 5 months ago and apparently it was a mad scramble to get the course ready as well as all the logistics surrounding the tournament. You would think an organization like the PGA would be able to overcome all of that but apparently not completely. The only other major tournament I've been to was the PGA Championship at Southern in 2007 (which actually set the record for the hottest tournament in the history of professional golf majors) and I don't remember there being as many logistical/crowd type issues.

[PhiAlpha]

Keep in mind that the pga tour has nothing to do with last weekends event or running it. It is 100% the pga of America a fully different org.

Actually didn't know that (had no idea they were two different orgs) though the point of my friend's comments still stands.

[Timshel]

To further the point about the Tiger Effect (who didn't play last year due to his leg injury), this from ESPN on Friday's TV coverage:

"The second round telecast, which aired from 2- 8 p.m. ET, averaged 2.1 million viewers, peaking at 2.6 million at 7:15 p.m. The average viewership was up 47 percent from the second round of last year’s tournament from Kiawah Island, S.C., which averaged 1.4 million viewers. It marked the largest second-round audience for the PGA Championship since 2.4 million watched on TNT in 2009."

[gopokes88]

To further the point about the Tiger Effect (who didn't play last year due to his leg injury), this from ESPN on Friday's TV coverage:

"The second round telecast, which aired from 2- 8 p.m. ET, averaged 2.1 million viewers, peaking at 2.6 million at 7:15 p.m. The average viewership was up 47 percent from the second round of last year’s tournament from Kiawah Island, S.C., which averaged 1.4 million viewers. It marked the largest second-round audience for the PGA Championship since 2.4 million watched on TNT in 2009."

Impressive given that doesn't include streaming. Tiger is the needle for sure.

Golf is a weird sport given how broken up everything is.

[soonergolfer]

To further the point about the Tiger Effect (who didn't play last year due to his leg injury), this from ESPN on Friday's TV coverage:

"The second round telecast, which aired from 2- 8 p.m. ET, averaged 2.1 million viewers, peaking at 2.6 million at 7:15 p.m. The average viewership was up 47 percent from the second round of last year’s tournament from Kiawah Island, S.C., which averaged 1.4 million viewers. It marked the largest second-round audience for the PGA Championship since 2.4 million watched on TNT in 2009."

Tiger is the needle and it isn't even close. Last year was the PGA's inaugural Player Impact Program, which is essentially a $40M bonus pool given to the top 10 players based on social media impact (i.e. twitter mentions, google searches, mentions, etc.). Tiger did not play a single shot in a PGA event in 2021 and still won the $10M to 1st place. He wasn't seen between February's car crash until around November when he posted a video of him swinging a golf club. Of course he played in the father/son tournament in December, which was all over social media. It is incredible how no one has really come close to him in 25 years. I would have to say Phil would be the closest and that is a super distant second.

[Pete]

^

And Phil is currently in hiding and didn't even bother to defend his title.

With a non-competitive Tiger (and only showing up to majors anyway) and an aging and somewhat disgraced Phil, there isn't much star power in golf today.

Tons of great young players though, and they all just crush the ball off the tee.

[gopokes88]

Tiger is the needle and it isn't even close. Last year was the PGA's inaugural Player Impact Program, which is essentially a $40M bonus pool given to the top 10 players based on social media impact (i.e. twitter mentions, google searches, mentions, etc.). Tiger did not play a single shot in a PGA event in 2021 and still won the $10M to 1st place. He wasn't seen between February's car crash until around November when he posted a video of him swinging a golf club. Of course he played in the father/son tournament in December, which was all over social media. It is incredible how no one has really come close to him in 25 years. I would have to say Phil would be the closest and that is a super distant second.

The only other figure this close in sports, not just golf, sports in general is Michael Jordan.

Super Bowl and the NBA Finals still get huge ratings without Tom Brady or Lebron.

[PhiAlpha]

^

And Phil is currently in hiding and didn't even bother to defend his title.

With a non-competitive Tiger (and only showing up to majors anyway) and an aging and somewhat disgraced Phil, there isn't much star power in golf today.

Tons of great young players though, and they all just crush the ball off the tee.

Unfortunately that doesn’t bode well for the future of golf since those guys are likely entering the twilight of their professional careers (at least outside of the senior tour). Hopefully some of the younger guys start really emerging and develop fanbases that will keep people engaged after tiger and Phil depart for the senior tour.