PGA of America Annual Meeting Shows Off New Home, but Issues Remain
FRISCO, Texas — More than 700 PGA of America professionals from across the U.S. descended on this former barren North Texas prairie this week for the 107th PGA Annual Meeting, visiting a new public golf wonderland, which includes a massive Omni resort and spa, two championship golf courses, restaurants, pools and more, along with the organization’s headquarters.
The 660-acre complex, 45 minutes north of downtown Dallas, is known as Omni PGA Frisco and is the culmination of years of dreams, dollars and devotion to the game and business in what PGA CEO Seth Waugh has called the Silicon Valley of Golf.
“One of the best things we’ve done is bringing golf pros from all over the country to see this in person during the annual meeting,” said Northern Texas PGA CEO Mark Harrison, who was instrumental in getting the complex project off the ground. “They are walking around with their eyes widened and their mouths wide open.”
Indeed, there is plenty to see and be amazed by, including the golf courses: Fields Ranch East designed by Gil Hanse and Fields Ranch West designed by Beau Welling. Already, the PGA has held its Senior PGA Championship here in May (won by Steve Stricker) and has committed to 20 more championships, including two PGA Championships, the first in 2026, and is widely expected to bring the Ryder Cup matches here in their next U.S. open date in 2041.
The PGA of America’s courses at its new headquarters are booked for several championships in the coming years.
Courtesy PGA of America
Also included is a 550-room Omni Resort hotel, with pools, a spa and separate ranch houses. There are a dozen restaurants and shops as part of a separate PGA Village, a 10-hole par-3 known as The Swing and America’s largest sloped putting greens known as the Dance Floor, plus a two-story PGA practice building and range. All are open to the public.
Even more amazing is that the entire complex didn’t cost the PGA of America anything. It was paid for, in advance, by Dallas-based Omni Hotel Company to the tune of $525 million in the midst of the pandemic.
“When people come to the PGA facility, they are simply amazed at the scope and the technology here. I asked somebody involved what was the budget, and he said we really didn’t have one. We were told to build the best,” said Mark Steinbauer, a former PGA of America district director.
“I also have had people ask me how we can be running a deficit and laying off people when we didn’t put a nickel into this project,” he added.
While the future of golf and the PGA of America can be as bright as the North Texas fall sunshine and 83 degree temperatures here, there were some storm clouds floating over the Texas-sized meeting. Mainly in the form of a possible PGA deficit, the layoffs of employees who were asked to move from their longtime Florida headquarters and, most annoying to some, the fact that PGA of America pros are required to pay a greens fee to play the courses that have their name on it.
“It’s a transformation for us as an organization and as a game as a whole,” Waugh said. “We have built the gold standard of golf platforms for members, having a home not just a headquarters.”
“We have great partners, Omni had a checkbook, PGA had a brand and the city of Frisco had the land. It all worked together.”
As part of the deal, the city of Frisco provided the former farmland for the facility to be built, adding additional land from locals to complete the project. The PGA committed to bring 24 of its top professional and amateur events here, including moving its headquarters from West Palm Beach, Fla., after 50-plus years.
Privately owned Omni, namely CEO billionaire Bob Rowling and son and president Blake Rowling, committed the money up front in uncertain economic times. As such, they control almost everything at the facility outside of the PGA of America events, PGA Headquarters and adjacent Northern Texas PGA headquarters.
Almost all of the employees, hotel, golf and shops are considered part of Omni, which sets prices for just about everything including some of the higher hotel rates in the state and the highest-priced public golf in Texas, ranging from $300 to $500 per round.
“You can always nitpick a few little things, but we’re very pleased with the way things have opened up,” Blake Rowling said. “The golf demand (71,000 rounds in six months) has been much stronger than we thought it would be at the outset. We were comfortable with doing hotels, because we had done of a lot of those, but building a separate PGA Village with shops and restaurants was pretty risky.
“If people don’t show up, it’s like half of your complex is empty, but it’s been very well received and packed with locals on most weekends, even in the summer when it was 90 degrees or more every day.”
Not everyone is convinced of the PGA's bold experiment. A pair of Michigan pros who visited this spring came away unimpressed.
“With charging the pros to play golf and what they are charging to stay at the hotel, we didn’t feel very welcome at all," said one who wished to remain anonymous. "I’m not sure how long that is going to last.”
Here are some of the specific issues discussed at the meeting:
PGA deficit
Discussed informally was the possible deficit the PGA of America would incur this operating year. Some pros have said they thought it would be as high as $6 million, but Waugh said that was not accurate.
“It’s not for certain we will have one this year, but if we do run a deficit, it will certainly be very manageable,” Waugh said. “We run our budget to break even over a four-year basis, and that will be the case here.”
The vast majority of the organization’s income is secured from Ryder Cup matches held in America and its massive TV deals. The PGA Championship is a distant second. The last American Ryder Cup was in 2021 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin; the next will be 2025 at Bethpage Black in New York.
PGA Layoffs
The PGA laid off more than 20 members in August, which Waugh said was not a result of the Texas move but part of regular business.
“We all have those from time to time. Maybe we over-hired? Not everybody is going to work out,” he said. “It was less than 5% total workforce, it’s really the normal course of business.”
Most laid-off employees were given a three-month severance package.
PGA pros pay
Most rare of all is the fact PGA pros are being charged about $100 to $125 to play the courses.
“We are in partnership with the PGA of America, and that means they have hundreds of pros here on a regular basis,” Blake Rowling said.
“If we let pros play [for free] then we would be giving away massive amounts of golf. We didn’t build this course for charity.”
Paul Earnest is a longtime Texas PGA pro and now the director of golf operations at the Omni. He said he didn’t feel he had to apologize for charging his fellow pros.
“We had some pros complain, I think that is the right word, but once they see the course, they’re singing a different tune," he said. "It’s a special place. I think it’s a fair proposition for what we charge.”
Jake McCullough has been a golf professional for 15 years in small Odessa, Texas, six hours west of PGA Frisco. Now the president of the Northern Texas PGA section, he said playing a famous course in his section was worth the price.
“Any golfer who gets to play a course they have seen on TV thinks it’s super cool," he said. "You’re playing where majors are held here, and I think the prices deliver on the experience.”
“The PGA of America halo effect is real,” added Omni Frisco vice president and managing director Jeff Smith. “They have one of the greatest brands in golf. We’re the modern home of golf in America and we got here a lot faster than I thought we would.”