I am concerned.
The 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship recently concluded at Fields Ranch East, and congrats to Minjee Lee on winning her third major championship. But why am I concerned?
At the tier below headlines, there has been a seemingly endless barrage of criticisms of the golf course. Angel Yin called the Gil Hanse design a “boring golf course…every hole is the same.” Stacy Lewis compared Fields Ranch to the championship’s recent and upcoming venues of Sahalee, Congressional, Atlanta Athletic Club, and others...in a less-than-positive light.
If it was not the venue, it was the setup. Players like Nelly Korda and Sophia Popov pointed to hole locations. Many locations were near edges, which is normal in professional events, where the smart play was the center of the greens. The problem is that the centers of the greens are sometimes 40 feet away from the hole locations.
It is hard to create an enjoyable experience from a player’s standpoint when birdies are repeatedly unrealistic, for seemingly no reason. Going "around the horn" from 40 feet within the threesome, then marking your ball for another "around the horn" from three to five feet, is not enjoyable for spectators either, unless watching three putts is your thing.
It also takes a lot of extra time, which brings me to pace of play. Six-hour rounds do not do anyone any favors. I wrote more about pace of play here, but players know they were WAY behind the 8-ball in their quest to play in four hours.
For those who haven't been there, the PGA Frisco property as a whole is amazing. Besides the PGA of America headquarters, there is a shopping district, a 10-hole lighted par-3 course, a large driving range, a short game area, an Omni hotel, the North Texas PGA Section Headquarters with its own golf-centric areas, a jumbotron, a gigantic putting green with 72 holes on it, and two regulation courses.
Personally, I think the West course is not only the better course, but also a fun course I would not mind playing often. Moreover, I wish the course were located within my PGA Section’s boundaries so I could play it more. The East course, however, interests me far less.
When I played the 2024 PGA Professional Championship, which was contested on both the East and West Courses, EVERYONE I interacted with asked me what I thought of the golf courses. Yes, everyone, even the person working in the on-property Margaret’s Cones & Cups ice cream shop.
At first, I thought it was the general hospitality of the resort’s staff. As time wore on, though, it seemed as if something underlying was at play, although I am not sure what. When the tournament was over and I had returned home, I was asked to fill out a survey, again asking me my thoughts.
To be fair, and in addition to my appreciation of the West course, the East course does have some enjoyable holes and parts to it. The second hole, for example, is a good, long par-4.
In addition, with the East hosting the men's PGA Championship in 2027, I could generally understand what they are doing, and that's trying to get feedback to ensure a smooth event a little less than two years from now. The 2023 Senior PGA Championship, the 2024 PGA Professional Championship, and this past week's KPMG Women’s PGA Championship were seemingly all test events.
Both courses have some flexibility built in. There really are no tee boxes, as the fairway-cut runoffs of the previous green flow into the next tee, which flow into the fairways and so on. If you look at the Fields Ranch website, there are no true yardages for any of the tees. For example, the par-3 13th on the East course simply has a yardage of 160-271 yards. If the course needs to be shorter or longer or whatever, they can make it happen.
Certain things cannot change easily, though, whether it be bunkering, green shapes, contours, or Panther Creek, which winds its way through the property.
The par-5 18th hole is one of the most awkward holes I have seen in professional tournament golf, and perhaps due to a desire to keep TV cameras off such an awkward closing hole, Nos. 9 and 18 were swapped in the routing.
The announced reason was that the buildout for spectators and hospitality areas needed more space than 18 had. When the PGA of America, Gil Hanse, and other planners started planning out the property, they had 660 acres to work with. There was nowhere else to put their closing hole?
And to go back to the pace of play issue, after finishing the par-3 eighth hole, players and caddies had to walk ~250 yards to the 18th tee to play their ninth hole instead of 50. And after finishing the par-3 17th hole, players and caddies had to walk ~300 yards to the ninth tee to play their closing hole instead of 75.
The credibility of the PGA Championship has, in my opinion, unfairly suffered in recent years. Social media bloggers, influencers, and commenters have been saying The Players Championship should become a major instead. I explained more here, but a swap is extremely unlikely.
The bigger question is if credibility takes too hard of a hit in 2027, will the Saudi-based Public Investment Fund, the financiers of LIV Golf, seek to exploit? The PGA of America has largely remained in the shadows of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf debate, and certainly wants to stay there.
To be honest, I want the PGA Championship and the PGA Frisco campus to do well. Headquarters had been in West Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie, Florida, for many years. Despite living in the Southeast, the former headquarters were entirely too difficult to get to.
Even by air, Orlando is an hour and a half away, and West Palm is an hour away. Dallas is more centrally located, has a warm enough climate, and is easier to access from an airport.
Reading the tea leaves, perhaps PGA HQ is aware of how things stand. Perhaps larger-than-expected adjustments are coming sooner rather than later. Surprisingly, to me at least, the 2026 PGA Professional Championship is NOT being staged at Fields Ranch, instead going to Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
I hope all the information gathered is put to beneficial use, whatever it is. A successful PGA Championship is best for all involved, but the clock is ticking.