16th Hole at The Phoenix Open

Nothing like this in golf. WOW the fans are so much fun. We were right by the whole and if they hit the green lots of cheers, if they missed OUCH. So glad I was finally able to experience this.

Crazy party hole at the Phoenix open! Great time, even if you don’t follow golf at all! Never seen anything like it, where players are booed if they don’t hit the green!

The Thunderbirds put on this event. They wear a ridiculous medallion that says to everyone «I’m king of the world and I can do whatever I want to anyone I want.» I paid $ 3400 for skybox tickets at the 16^th hole. The tickets included food and drinks (alcoholic drinks). The bartender was also the waitress. Because she was busy being the waitress, I went ahead and poured myself a drink (which I paid $ 3400 for). The bartender got mad at me because if she would have served me the drink she would have been paid a tip. She complained to one of the Thunderbirds who puffed out his chest and ordered two security guards to drag me out of the skybox… by my neck. Then they dragged me a half mile out of the whole tournament to humiliate me. The Thunderbirds are a bunch of assholes. They claim to be a «charitable organization» but in reality they are just a bunch of assholes. If you want to donate money to a bunch of assholes… then by all means do so. I’m done with that.

Never thought I would review a golf tournament or a golf hole, for that matter. Oh, where to begin? I know…
I attended the Phoenix Open a couple of weeks ago. My perspective is not that of a person who plays golf or even a spectator! My perspective is that of a reveler. I went to the open with no intentions of seeing a single ball hit or a golfer play. Some guy named Phil Michelson was there, but what did I care. (I know who Phil M is. But what about that Tiger Woods guy?) I had my cocktails, my prime seat and all the drunk revelers to watch. Needless to say, I had fun despite it being rained out this year.
For the sheer size and volume of people, this event is well organized. The event planner did a great job moving a few 100,000 people in and out of the course over the week long tournament.
Tips for the ladies:
1. Wear heels at your own risk.
2. Don’t bring a big arse purse. You can’t take it in the tourney. You will have to leave it in your car. If you have a small clear purse, use that.
3. Wear sunblock
4. Look nice. Dress comfortably cute.
5. Get a pass into somewhere.
My return factor: 100%

Our company gets a skybox every year, and I always turn down the tickets. This year I decided to go, and I will never turn down a ticket again! Amazing food and fun! Never knew golf could be so crazy.

I’ve been to a ton of sporting events, and this is definitely my favorite. I will be back at the 16^th hole this year for sure!

This is one of those things I look forward to every year… and this year was no exception. The people watching and the debauchery alone is worth a few hours of your time. Heaven only knows what you’ll see around each corner!
This year I ventured from our Skyboxes on the 16^th hole and walked up the stairs to locate a posh sitting area chock-​full of fun-​loving people. (So now I’m looking forward to THAT next year too!) It was a *little* chilly this year and I loved it! I didn’t even realize there were so many things going on above us!
As Lindsey said, the 16^th General Admission gives you a totally different perspective of the event, and I would have to say that if you’re going to the Open, you should check out how both halves get down. (Go to the Skybox first though… the unlimited food and drinks will wet your beak so you can go hang with the hooligans.)

I love being at the 16^th hole. Was a great place to watch some golf. It has to one of those famous holes in all of professional golf. It was my favorite part of the day

When I moved here 2 yrs ago, everyone spoke about the legendary 16^th hole at the Phoenix Open. I watched from one of the corporate skyboxes and I have to admit, it was pretty entertaining. However, after 4 days of it, I was over it. It reminds me of my college party days… drinking, shouting, and a bunch of nonsense. Somewhere during the day, there’s some golf played I guess.
The betting on the the Caddie Races is hysterical. I love how the poor PGA guys try to keep it quiet for the golfers hitting the ball… yeah right, no chance. Imagine trying to hit a golf ball at a frat party with 5,000 drunk guys screaming at you… it’s got to be tough for the golfers. Some take it in stride, others seem annoyed at the spectacle of things.
I try to explain it to friends, but there’s nothing like experiencing it for yourself. This year is my 2^nd year, same ol’ nonsense… you just have to be there.
Watching Mickelson dominate this year on this hole was pretty cool. That and all of the ASU chants were cracking me up.
Return Factor — 90%

Meh, it’s just a bunch of obnoxious preppie frat boys. I guess I should have known that going to a golf tournament in Scottsdale. No thanks.

16^th Hole… NASCAR fans at a PGA event! Never had so much fun at a golf event WITH the pros and caddies joining in. I was lucky and had a corporate skybox tic (really the only way to go unless you’ve got a bladder the size of a cactus.) Amazing to see caddies drop their bags and sprint up the fairway with the pro’s pickin them up and actually enjoying themselves!
Every PGA tournament (except for the majors) should have a hole setup like this!

This years trip to the 16^th Tee Skybox Terrace was as usual a whole lot of fun, and the best way to spend a work day. However, this years event, as far as the food and beverage went, really seemed to drop off. With that said, here is the scorecard for the days events:
1 — Atmosphere (5 STARS) — Nothing beats the view behind the te box
2 — Restroom (2 STARS) — Typical event with Port-​o-​lets, they did get an extra
start for the hand sanitizer station
3 — Food (2 STARS) — Cold handmade subs and bagged chips, really at the cost
of these tickets we deserved more than that.
4 — Drinks (3 STARS) — The drinks were a little on the strong side, but waiting for
the waitress was like waiting for the Tiger Woods to
return to the OPEN.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still the place to be at the OPEN, but don’t compare it to events of the past, because this year if fell short and left of the green.

So fun. I sat about 2^nd row on the south side. So fun. Great View, saw everybody. I was near the putting green and the exit ramp so all the players went by there, weather was beautiful. A couple people got thrown out sitting around us, so its not a free for all zone where you can yell, show up drunk in your pajamas at 10am with 12 ASU buddies, well you can, but by 1230, they were gone. Anyway, it was so fun and it was the first time I sat there.

As good as it gets for a golf tournament. Such a fun, rowdy environment. I was lucky to be in one of the VIP tents that surrounds the hole which made the experience absolutely perfect.

The Phoenix open is a really good time, and 75% of it comes down to the 16^th hole.
For those that haven’t been: It’s a short par 3 that is fully enclosed by grandstand seating. It seats a lot of people, and it’s very rowdy and VERY loud. It is the least traditional golf environment you could imagine, and it’s a lot of fun.
Upon teeing off, the players are met with either rousing cheers or loud boos, depending on where their tee shots land. The crowd screams at the caddies, trying to get them to sprint up onto the green. If they ever do, the crowd goes wild. If there’s a great shot, the crowd goes wild. Some golfers throw gear into the crowd, and they go wild. The moral of the story here is that it’s wild.
There are private areas and spaces for corporate sponsors, which would be the way to be here, if you can find a way in. When I come back next year, I’ll likely spend the vast majority of my time at the 16^th hole. It’s so much fun, and also a drunken shit show with all the lushes around you.
Some advice… Get here early, because they’ll start running a line. While it’s worth the wait to get in, you’ll enjoy it more if you don’t have to wait. Also, bring/​wear sunblock, because regardless of where you sit, you’ll be in the sun pretty much all day.

You know the term «party on grass?» This is where that term was derived from. I don’t know if another place on this planet exists like the 16^th hole. Where else can you combine drunken rowdiness with classy golf? Where else has golf legends played on and in turn, decided never to come back again because of this rowdiness? 16^th hole, Now, I’m giving 16^th hold four stars because I’d give GA of the 16^th hole 3 stars but because I’m including Skybox in here, I’m upping it up to four. If you can find your way inside the Skybox on the 16^th hole (sponsorships-​only), then it’s an entirely different experience with complimentary food and alcohol. However, if you want to go to the Open and sit in 16^th GA, be prepared for a spring break style day if you go on Saturday and a rowdy crowd on really any day of the week. How do you think the 16^th hole earned its reputation in the first place? It’s rowdy, it’s loud and most pro golfers hate the hole. So go if you want to party hardy or if you want to be in a setting that’s not a typical golf one, but if you’re going to enjoy a quiet day of watching a PGA tour and you especially if you are coming with children, then avoid the 16^th hole at all costs.
PS — I like how they have bleachers in the 16^th hole. Remember how rowdy it is though. if you want bleachers and a good view, check out the bleachers on the north side at the 15^th hole. That’s more family-​friendly.
And here’s a final reminder/warning…if you have children, avoid the Open on Saturday at all costs. This is not a family-​friendly day.

The TPC’s 16^th Hole is looking good right now for next weeks Waste Management’s Phoenix Open.
I came over here to stake out my spot. Looks like they tournament people have everything ready to go for the start… plenty of bars and porta-​potties!
Having a VIP pass is key to really enjoying this nutty place during the week… not fun seeking out porta-​potties after an afternoon of the caliber of drinking that goes on here.
Hope to see you all here… and lets all be honest… we don’t go to really watch golf being played!

PGA Phoenix: 10 drinks, 7 once-​overs (male), 5 once-​overs (friendly female), 2 once-​overs (bitchy female), one «NICE TITTIES» (male, notice it’s «-ies» and not «its»), and one squat and pee in trees… Great Success!
oh btw… if you’re not VIP, the shitters are few and far between, ya fuckin’ general admission peons.

Friday at the Waste (d) Management Phoenix Open…
16^th Hole Terrace Skybox
74 degrees and sunny
Tasty food provided by M Catering by Michael — especially liked the roast beef sandwiches
Bar stations practically every 20 feet*
Great people watching — you really never know just what you will see at these things! That could have a lot to do with the bar stations…
* For maximum enjoyment of the event, bring a friend skilled at chatting up the female bartenders — he consistently returned with generously poured beverages…
See you next year!

You know those tacky «Point of Pride» signs that you see spread out around the Valley, the ones with the hokey Arizona flag emblazoned on an oversized oval marker denoting a place that we, as locals, should take an extra moment to admire, lest we have a reference for culture when (if) that point itself ever arises when in the company of our non-​local friends, be they friends, family, vacationers, snow-​birds, banditos, and the occasional Sheriff Joe pop-​quizzes, where failure would bring you 8-​to-​10?
Yeah those.
City officials need to walk out into the Oval Tree forest and chop down the biggest one for the 16^th Hole at the TPC, home of the FBR open and drunkest, rowdiest, and most exceedingly absurd Point of Pride in the Valley.
There is no other place or event that exists like this one does on the face of the planet. Isn’t that what we Phoenicians are always searching for? Something completely Phoenix-​centric? We lay claim to the only event of this kind, and as ridiculous as it is, unequivocally OURS.
So, the 16^th hole can be reviewed as an event … however … those who go to the FBR are drawn to this 162 yards of fun … and since it has a definitive boundary, it should be reviewed as a bar/​lounge/​dive.
Okay, so the best part are the people. Fifteen thousand of them, sitting perched on either $ 5K suites [for the highbrow drunks] or on the hill above the green [for the lowbrow drunks, aka, you and I]
These are people who bring dates to a golf event. They wear Plus-​fours, and Tam O’Shanters, and knickerbockers … layered pastel polos, firecracker shorts, and stilletos. Heck, even the people who put on the event brazenly wear head-​to-​toe midnight blue velour track suits. Its fabulously odious!
These are the people who are tailgating for a ‘gentleman’s game’, and to take it a step further, post-​game celebrate in a tent hosted by all of the valley’s big nightclubs. Right there in the golfclub’s parkinglot.
This is almost like the scene in Dazed and Confused where Mike opines to Tony in the school parking lot: «Not only are they allowing this, they are selling concessions!» Whatever man, everyone here is just L-​I-​V-​I-​N.
So, you park your crew on the side of the hill, because remember, we’re saving our change for beer money and not corporate suites, and the big deal is, IT’S ACCEPTABLE TO HECKLE! Craziness.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Most of it is your typical, uncreative monkey-​flinging shit-​talk from Chad and Brent (who’s friend call «Cheddar» and «Muledick», respectively), but every now and then, it gets good, particularly when someone says something creative without cussing. After all, its just kinda cheesedick to curse at a 1,000 decibel banshee yell in front of families and shit.
The cheers are really cool too, when someone deserves it, and the boos still make me chuckle when a golfer takes too many practice swings. Hell, Justin Leonard flipped off the gallery one year to much applause. Hook ‘em, Justin!
Then, there’s Cheddar’s date Bryce, puking into her Salvatore Ferragamo bag and a little on her girl’s Marc Jacob spool heels. They are the role players to their Superstar boyfriends, perfect game time teammates like Nash and Amare. Last year, I saw one particular glory girl clothesline herself on a fairway boundary rope. Just absolutely priceless moment. I cheers’ed my $ 7 Mich Ultra Amber to her in a salute to performance comedy.
So, anyway, this piece of the Valley is quite the unique gem. Its ours. No one has one just like it. Not even close. And you know what? We treat it like we fucking own it. For once Valley residents don’t have to explain the cool-​factor or the uniqueness of something here to those uninformed. It speaks for itself. And boy, does it.