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The organisation had to close the doors of the field to ensure safety

Excesses, viral videos and total chaos at the TPC Scottsdale

Ten Golf
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The public at the Phoenix Open increases every year and it feels like it’s on the verge of getting out of hand… If it hasn’t already. What initially is a spectacular and unique atmosphere on a golf course is on the way to becoming a problem and there is fear that it could lead to something that will eventually be regretted.

Saturdays are the liveliest days of the tournament and therefore the most dangerous in terms of crowd control. Even more so in this edition, as with the various suspensions today there has been almost twelve hours of golf at the TPC Scottsdale. Before six in the morning there were already a lot of people queuing up waiting for the doors to open and the game ended after six in the evening. A lot of time to see incredible shots and also, of course, to overdo it with alcohol consumption.

There was a moment of absolute chaos on the Arizona course, to the point where the organisation had to close the venue’s doors to ensure safety. More or less what happened is that the capacity was exceeded. Obviously, more fans could fit on the golf courses, but not enough to ensure that there would be no incidents and, above all, to guarantee the free and peaceful movement of staff. There was fear of causing a crowd collapse.

In addition to the closure of the doors, which left people with tickets outside (they will have to decide how to compensate these fans), the circulation of buggies was limited and the sale of alcohol was banned for several hours. There was a moment, especially between the end of the second day and the start of the third, where the chaos was absolute.

The best evidence of what was happening, and that it really is about to get out of hand (the security staff were overwhelmed), are the various viral videos that have circulated on social networks:

https://twitter.com/NUCLRGOLF/status/1756118337052913695?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1756118337052913695%7Ctwgr%5E3be1e9eaabd79751af9c7d0bb36aff5d977db4f2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgolfweek.usatoday.com%2Flists%2F2024-wm-phoenix-open-fans-drunk-16-hole%2F

The attendance of fans this Saturday at TPC Scottsdale has been massive. No official figures have been offered since 2019, but it is not ruled out that it may have exceeded a quarter of a million attendees. An enormity. A beautiful and priceless atmosphere, but one that runs the risk of crossing that thin line that causes just the opposite effect, that is, that there are fans who stop going because they do not find such an over-the-top atmosphere.