The gladiatorial arena around the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale takes months to install and quite a long time to take down.
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The crowds will be gone, the craziness subsided. But the grandstands will remain for another month or more.
By late Sunday afternoon, after the final putts have dropped at the outdoor party known as the 2025 WM Phoenix Open, the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale will begin reverting to what it is the other 51 weeks of the year: a high-end resort course in the high desert.
The transformation, though, happens gradually.
On Monday, for instance, the course will be closed, as work gets underway dismantling food stands, pavilions and other tournament infrastructure. No public play that day. And not on Tuesday either, when the course has been reserved for a corporate outing.
Only on Wednesday will business as usual resume, with tee times available to the general public.
Part of the appeal, as advertised on TPC Scottsdale’s official website, is “play where the pros play” immediately after they’ve finished playing it — to take on a course in slick condition, with the rough still up and the greens running close to tournament speed.
And while there’s no way to replicate the wild atmosphere of the tournament week, one other feature will feel true to the event: the tournament grandstands will still be standing, including (most famously) around the 16th hole.
Built to accommodate an estimated 16,000 to 20,000 fans — tournament officials do not publicize an exact number — the seating surrounding this short par-3 makes for a setting unlike any in the game. It takes months to install and a month or so to take it down.
Until it is removed — most likely by mid April, by which point all of the tournament seating should be gone — anyone playing the Stadium Course will get a chance to peg it in what amounts to a gladiatorial arena, minus the boisterous throngs.
The cost of this experience can vary, as the Stadium Course employs dynamic pricing with rates that fluctuate according to the time of day and year. Winter is peak season, and demand is always high before and after the tournament. But slots are available, even this coming week.
As of this writing, the tee sheet still had openings for singles on Wednesday morning, at $579 per player, and multiple players in the afternoon, at $339 per player. The same was true for Thursday and Friday.
A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.