PGA Tour’s events in Dallas-Fort Worth area proceeding with limited fans
Fort Worth made the type history in 2020 it would rather not repeat, and should the trend hold the 75th anniversary edition of the PGA Tour event at Colonial in Fort Worth will have fans.
That’s the plan. As of right now, Feb. 12, 2021. God willing. Knock on wood.
Sources familiar with the PGA Tour and the Charles Schwab Challenge said that they expect the four-day annual golf event in Fort Worth will be allowed to have about 10,000 fans per day.
That’s 10,000 more per day than they were allowed to have at the event last June.
The AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney is scheduled for May 13-16.. The Charles Schwab Challenge is scheduled for May 27-30.
The tentative plan is to allow fans back in, per the rules and regulations stated by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and the respective county judges.
Tickets are currently unavailable on the Charles Schwab Challenge tournament’s website. Expect tickets to potentially go on sale in April.
The spectator seats for the AT&T Byron Nelson are currently hospitality tickets.
Colonial Country Club has started the process of reaching out to corporate sponsors who normally rent out tents and party areas, but the specifics remain non-specific.
There will be a tournament. There will be at least some fans.
How the PGA Tour events have gone thus far with regards to attendance depends on the location. The Farmer’s Insurance Open Jan. 28-31 in San Diego was held without fans.
The next tournament was the Waste Management Open in Scottsdale, Arizona, Feb. 4-7. Typically this is one of the biggest draws on the PGA Tour. The original plan was to allow 8,000 fans per day at the TPC Scottsdale, but because of COVID concerns, the number was cut to 5,000.
The popular 16th hole, which is encased by suites and fans, and can normally accommodate about 16,000 spectators might have had only about 2,000 during the Waste Management Open.
If the Charles Schwab Challenge has 10,000 fans per day in 2021, call it a great year.
Typically, if the weather cooperates, the Friday and Saturday of the event will have between 20,000 to 30,000 fans per day.
As the event organizers learned last year, any fans are better than no fans.
Fort Worth and Colonial made a little unintentional history last year when the PGA Tour held the Charles Schwab Challenge June 11-14 as its first tournament back after its three-month, COVID-forced break. The AT&T Byron Nelson was one of the many PGA Tour events that was simply canceled last year.
While the field at the Colonial was as good as any in the history of the event, and the tournament was decided on a playoff hole, it left everyone slightly disappointed because it was held without a single spectator.
The whole thing was surreal, and almost eerie.
Event planners and organizers were thrilled to have pulled it off, but no one associated with the tournament wanted to do that again.
The 2021 version of the Charles Schwab Challenge should not be a repeat of the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge.
As to the specifics ... like everything else, make plans but use pencil rather than ink.
