Big changes are coming to the TPC Scottsdale to give the famed venue of the Waste Management Phoenix Open teeth to bite back at PGA Tour players who have torn the place up.
The biggest change will move the tee box of No. 18 back and to the left to discourage long hitters from playing left of the water hazard by the corporate hospitality tents.
The change should bring both the water and fairway bunkers back into play and return drama to a finishing hole that is often anticlimactic after the excitement generated on Nos. 15 through 17.
Also on the drawing board for the Weiskopf/Moorish design:
Lengthening the short par 4 second hole by moving the green left and beyond the cart path behind the green. A new green would be cut into a mound just east of No. 9 green.
Eliminating the split fairway on No. 13. The left fairway would be returned to native desert. The massive rock that the gallery famously helped Tiger Woods move in 1999 will remain where it is.
The changes are part of $15 million in renovations to the course and clubhouse scheduled for between May and November 2014, when the course will be temporarily closed. The property is owned by the City of Scottsdale and managed by the PGA Tour.
Fluffier new white beach sand will fill all bunkers. Also planned: renovation of the players’ locker room and enclosing the outdoor patio dining area overlooking the 18th green.
— Dan Vukelich
