“We expect those to go very quickly,” said Tournament Director Mike Welch. ” We know the market has been longing for events like this.”
Tournament organizers had lobbied the governor’s office in recent weeks to allow as many as 10,000 spectators each day of the event, which was a challenge despite the golf course’s size: 250 acres and two million square feet.
But Welch said last year’s tournament–only the second-ever and played before no fans because of COVID-19–helped his staff learn valuable lessons about how to stage such a large event.
“We have learned how to conduct a tournament differently,” said Welch. “Whether that’s good or bad, we know that’s safer. We’re taking a lot of what we learned last year, putting it into practice this year, working with our sister tournaments in other cities, and feel like we have a really good operational plan in place. I’m not sure we’d be in that spot if COVID had not happened.”
Welch hopes fans know that the tournament is doing all it can to make them feel safe.
“We want to make sure that people just understand that it’s okay to be a fan again,” he said. “You should feel safe to come back and be a fan.”
