As it turns out, the PGA of America isn’t only pricing out fans from next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
They’re also pricing out volunteers.
In September 2025, the PGA of America will charge its free labor a $350 “volunteer package” fee to participate in the proceedings from Bethpage, according to multiple volunteers who spoke to GOLF.com on the condition of anonymity. The $350 package is believed to be the heftiest price ever charged for a volunteer at any of golf’s major events, an increase of more than two times the cost of the last PGA of America event held at Bethpage Black, the 2019 PGA Championship.
The news marks the latest development in a contentious week for the Ryder Cup — and the governing body behind its U.S.-based iterations — after the decision to dramatically increase prices for Ryder Cup fan tickets drew ire from golf fans. At $750 per ticket, the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black will have the most expensive get-in price for a golf tournament in recorded history, a 581 percent price increase over the 2019 PGA Championship.
In recent years, the practice of tournament organizers charging volunteers for the tournament gear and facility costs during competition weeks has become commonplace, reversing a longstanding trend of free-gear-for-free-labor. But is generally understood that so-called “volunteer fees” are not subject to the same price sensitivities.
The Ryder Cup’s volunteer package, though, prices the Cup at $80 more than next April’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, and $100 more than the volunteer fees at the next priciest golf event, the U.S. Open. According to a letter sent to volunteers and obtained by GOLF.com, the $350 package will not provide volunteers with any additional goods or services: just a volunteer uniform, a drawstring bag, a commemorative pin, food (during shifts only) and a tournament credential. After taxes and a credit card processing fee, the total for the volunteer package rings in at $392, more than two times the price of the volunteer fee at that ’19 PGA Championship ($175).
“It’s basically the same package that volunteers received at the 2019 PGA,” one volunteer said.
“It’s absolutely tone-deaf,” said another.
The PGA defended its pricing decisions to GOLF.com earlier this week as the product of several converging market forces, including the cost of organizing an event in the New York City metro area, the expected interest in tickets to the Ryder Cup, and rising ticket costs across the pro sports landscapes for marquee events.
“The general price is indicative of A) this market, B) where we position ourselves, where we feel like we are [in the greater sports landscape], and then C) the demand,” Ryder Cup director Bryan Karns told GOLF.com. “I think when you get into a situation where the demand is so high, you want to do your best to price it so you don’t create this massively inflated secondary market.”
Karns didn’t indicate whether the volunteer program was subject to the same calculus.
Volunteers are an unusual — and vital — piece of the golf business, helping to keep security and organization costs low during the traveling circus of major men’s pro golf. Asking someone to pay you to work for free can be a slippery slope, particularly when so many events on the golf calendar rely on a workforce of local club members, golf devotees and retirees to keep the trains running on time at events that would otherwise be too expensive to operate.
Some volunteers told GOLF.com they considered turning down the PGA of America’s volunteer offer for the 2025 Ryder Cup, indicating they only paid the fee because the elevated price offered full-week course access. Another said he forked over the money as a show of good faith during a particularly turbulent time in pro golf.
Most were stunned by the news that the PGA of America would charge $750 for one day to regular fans attending the event. Some even mocked relief.
“I’ve never felt so good about paying nearly $400 to volunteer.”
