Welcome to WM Phoenix Open week, where the weather is warm, the drinks are cold and the field is stacked. There’s a lot to love about the PGA Tour’s second designated event of the season, which starts today at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course, but let’s add one more reason to that list: you can play the host course.
Only a handful of courses on the PGA Tour schedule are public, and this is one of them.
Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish designed the Stadium Course in 1986, and it started hosting the Phoenix Open in 1987. The tournament has been there since, and through the help of The Thunderbirds — the community organization responsible for founding the tournament — it’s turned into one of the most popular regular stops on the PGA Tour.
Due to the famous tournament it hosts — and its raucous 16th hole among an exciting closing stretch — TPC Scottsdale is one of the most popular public tee times in the Phoenix area. But it’s going to cost you.
Peak season in the Scottsdale area is either November to April or December to March (depending on whom you ask), but the most expensive time to play, due to weather and demand, is almost always March and April. Tee times are currently available all the way through mid-May, and prices fluctuate via dynamic pricing that’s based on seasonal weather, time of day and demand. You can also save a few bucks by pre-paying for your tee time.
As of this writing, TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course has tee times available for the Thursday after the WM Phoenix Open, but if you catch this article a day or two late those times will almost certainly be gone.
You can browse tee times for yourself, but through April you’ll find times for as low as $329 and as high as $525 per player. There are a bunch more that fall somewhere in the middle at prices like $370, $389, $429 and $499. The high end of that price makes it one of the most expensive public tee times in the U.S., but it’s still not near the hefty price tag you’ll pay to play TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course, home of the Players Championship.
The prices drop down in the afternoon, but then you’ll be challenged to finish before dark. May also has some times showing for $299. Your prices can dip even lower in the summer months, but then you’ll have to deal with excessive heat.
There’s also different pricing for stay-and-play packages, which you can learn more about here.
Lastly, for those of you dreaming to play the par-3 16th hole with the massive stadium seating surrounding you, we have bad news for you. Crews start removing the infrastructure the week after the WM Phoenix Open, and it takes about two months for the entire structure to be removed.