FRISCO, Texas — The PGA of America’s grand experiment of creating a central, elaborate facility to host many of its championships is on to its second major moment this week: the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA at the Omni PGA Frisco complex.
The $50 million facility, which includes a championship course by Gil Hanse, a secondary track by Beau Welling, a 500-room Omni Resort, a short course and large putting green, known as the Dance Floor with a wide variety of shops and restaurants, hosted the 2023 Senior PGA Championship just weeks after it opened. This is the second major here, with the men’s PGA coming in 2027.
The PGA, which moved its national headquarters here after 50 years in South Florida, will use the same public course—Fields Ranch East— for a variety of championships like this week, and also for amateurs just happy to break 100 on the par-72 Hanse course that can play 7,700 yards from the back tees
“Gil Hanse's design of Fields Ranch East has provided us with tremendous flexibility in how we set up the golf course," said Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America's chief championships officer. "The expansive tee areas that fit well into the grand landscape, rough lines and green complexes were all created in a way that gives us a multitude of setup options during our major and member championships on the East Course."
Haigh is responsible for the 24 PGA Championships which will eventually be held here on this once-barren farmland 45 minutes north of downtown Dallas and just 50 minutes south of the Oklahoma border.
It's rare, if not unheard of, for a sports organization to pre-announce so many championship at a single spot. The plan has been meet with pleasure, surprise and anticipation of the future.
“To be honest, I had heard mixed reviews about this place before I came here, but my understanding is Gil Hanse and the team, they designed this course to host championships. It's designed with a purpose, and obviously the more frequently you go to these kind of sites, you kind of get more familiar with it,” said LPGA Star Lydia Ko.
To key to this 660-acre facility is the flexibility for all type of players, from best in the world to those who count their score by the number of balls they lose.
“We have 24 championships on the docket, 12 in the first 12 years and the idea is that you could host one on a moment's notice," said Paul Earnest, Field Ranch's director of golf. "Those things were planned out and you see alignments you can use like keeping carts from the interior of the golf course, and so those are all real part of our success.
“We're going to have more foot traffic here than normal, and we're still learning. And these players are good which is expected for the PGA and LPGA.”
This week the course is playing 6,604 yards with a small variance of from day-to-day. It played 7,055 yards for the Senior PGA Championship in 2023, won by Steve Stricker at 19 under par.
At the 2024 PGA Club Pro Championship, it played 7,218 yards and club pro Ben Pollard won it at 2 under par. All three times the par was 72.
“To win here at 19-under-par was surprising to everyone, at least to me,” Earnest said. “To have two 64s shot here was stunning. They caught it on a week with very little wind. There will be more wind this week and I think probably 3 or 4 under could win. But this course is getable for good players.”
Hanse, who is here this week, said it was a unique challenge to build a course that would mostly be played by amateurs but could still host top championships.
“So, you just have to be patient. I know for the seniors you could still see dirt through the natives (grasses) when you look down. From a distance they look great, but when you look from the top it wasn’t,” Hanse said. “Now all of that is gone and we're starting to see the growth underneath take shape. I would think by '27 we'll be in a better place. Probably '29 really see this place in full bloom.”
Hanse installed unique ribbon tee boxes, with some as long a 100 yards, to give Earnest and his team maximum flexility with the setup.
Hanse also wanted to build drama into the course for one special event that has not yet been announced but is contractually guaranteed if PGA Frisco meets its financial benchmarks: a Ryder Cup, most likely in 2041.
“I went back on studied the Ryder Cup for the last 30 years and the majority of the matches end on holes 15-17. Relatively few matches make it to 18. So I wanted to design the course here with some fireworks on the back nine,” Hanse said.
But the promise of future tournaments is a long way off for the world’s best female players who are sweating it out this week in the traditional Texas summertime sweltering temperatures. In the end, flexibility is the PGA's key.
“I took my kids (ages) 3-5-8 out here to play last week and all they wanted was ice cream,” said former PGA of America COO Criag Kessler who was recently named LPGA Commissioner. “I played with Nelly Korda in the pro-am and she wanted something more, but everyone had a good time.
“This is a big place and a big stage. The saying 'everything is bigger in Texas' is true. The LPGA wants to play on the best championship venues and that’s what we’re doing this week.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as KPMG Women's PGA Is the Latest Major at a Texas Course Built for a Big Future.