TPC Scottsdale golf guide: the Stadium Course & the 16th
The public-access home of the WM Phoenix Open in the Sonoran Desert. How to play the Weiskopf/Morrish Stadium Course, the story of the par-3 16th 'Coliseum', when to go, and how to build a Scottsdale golf trip around it.
TPC Scottsdale is the rare tournament venue you can actually play — a public, resort-access facility in the Sonoran Desert that happens to host the loudest week in professional golf. Its Stadium Course, a Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish design opened in 1986, has staged the PGA Tour's WM Phoenix Open since 1987, the tournament nicknamed 'The People's Open' for the enormous, beer-fuelled galleries that swarm it every February.
For 51 weeks of the year, though, it's a green-fee course anyone can book, run alongside the neighbouring Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort. This guide covers how to play the Stadium Course (and its quieter sibling, the Champions Course), the truth about the par-3 16th, when to go in a climate that swings from perfect to punishing, and how Scottsdale works as a golf-trip base.
Where
North Scottsdale, Arizona — the Sonoran Desert, north-east of Phoenix
Courses
The Stadium Course (par 71, ~7,261 yds) + the Champions Course (par 71, ~7,115 yds)
Public / resort — book tee times direct or through the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
The event
WM Phoenix Open, early February — the PGA Tour's biggest crowds
The courses
The Stadium Course
Tom Weiskopf & Jay Morrish · 1986 · 18 holes · Desert parkland · par 71 · ~7,261 yds
Host of the WM Phoenix Open since 1987; regularly ranked among Arizona's top public courses
Weiskopf and Morrish built the Stadium Course specifically to hold big crowds — the earthworks and mounding that frame the holes double as natural grandstands, which is why it took the 'Stadium' name a few years before the concept became commonplace. It's a fair, playable desert layout for a resort golfer off the forward tees, with generous landing areas, but the closing stretch has real teeth: water guards the drivable par-4 17th and the par-4 18th, and the greens firm up fast in the dry heat.
The strategy is all about the desert: miss the turf and you're in decomposed granite, cactus and native scrub, so this is target golf where knowing your carry numbers matters more than raw distance. Play it once for the tournament holes alone — standing on the 16th tee where 20,000 people scream every February is a genuine bucket-list moment even in silence.
The Champions Course
Tom Weiskopf & Jay Morrish (redesigned by Randy Heckenkemper) · 1986 (redesigned 2007) · 18 holes · Desert parkland · par 71 · ~7,115 yds
The Stadium's less-famous sibling is a genuinely good desert course in its own right, usually a little cheaper and a lot quieter. It's the smart play for a second round — the same firm desert conditions and mountain views without the tournament price tag, and an easier tee time to get.
How visitors play TPC Scottsdale
Both courses are open to the public and can be booked directly or as part of a stay at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, the resort next door, which offers golf packages. Tee times on the Stadium Course get more expensive and harder to find in the peak winter season (roughly January–April) and around the WM Phoenix Open, so book well ahead for those windows. Rates drop sharply in the summer heat.
Carts are the norm here rather than the exception — the desert heat, the distances between some tees and greens, and the resort setup all point that way, though you can walk. Bring more water than you think you need and sun protection you'd trust in a desert; even a mild winter round is bright and dry.
The 16th hole — the 'Coliseum'
The par-3 16th is the most famous hole in American tournament golf, and for one week a year it's unrecognisable: the entire hole is enclosed by temporary grandstands seating tens of thousands, turning a short iron shot into a gladiatorial arena where a hole-in-one triggers a beer-throwing eruption and a miss gets booed. It's the signature scene of the WM Phoenix Open and the reason the whole event feels more like a sporting cauldron than a golf tournament.
The rest of the year it's a straightforward mid-iron par 3 — but playing it, empty and quiet, with the ghosts of that noise in your head, is a large part of why people book here. Tommy 'Two Gloves' Gainey, Francesco Molinari's 2015 ace and Sam Ryder's 2022 hole-in-one are all part of the lore.
When to go
November to April is the season: warm, dry, blue-sky desert golf with daytime temperatures that are comfortable rather than dangerous. Peak conditions (and peak prices) land in the winter, and the WM Phoenix Open in early February turns the whole area into a party — great to attend, a tricky and pricey week to play.
Avoid the deep summer unless you're chasing a bargain and can tee off at dawn — June to September routinely tops 40°C/105°F, and midday desert golf in that heat is genuinely unpleasant and a real health risk. Early-morning summer rounds at rock-bottom rates are the local's play.
How to build the trip
Scottsdale is one of the great winter golf-trip towns in America, with dozens of high-end desert courses within a short drive and a resort-and-restaurant scene built around golf. TPC Scottsdale makes an obvious anchor, and you can easily fill three or four days with other desert layouts nearby. It's a very different flavour of American golf from the coastal drama of Pebble Beach or the links-in-the-sand of Bandon Dunes — this is sunshine, target golf and desert scenery, best enjoyed on a cart with cold water in the holder.
What to pack
The kit this trip demands
Desert golf is hot, bright, dry and firm, with trouble everywhere off the short grass — the kit that matters here is about heat, sun and knowing your yardages:
Yes. Unlike most famous tournament venues, TPC Scottsdale is a public, resort-access facility open roughly 51 weeks a year. You can book the Stadium and Champions courses directly or through the neighbouring Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, which offers golf packages.
What is the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale?
It's the par-3 16th, the most famous hole in American tournament golf. During the WM Phoenix Open it's completely enclosed by grandstands seating tens of thousands, creating a raucous 'Coliseum' atmosphere. The rest of the year it plays as a normal mid-iron par 3 you can book and play.
When is the best time to play TPC Scottsdale?
November to April, when the desert is warm, dry and comfortable. Winter is peak season and peak price. Avoid deep summer (June–September), when daytime temperatures routinely exceed 40°C/105°F and midday golf is genuinely dangerous — dawn summer rounds are the bargain play.
Which course is better, the Stadium or the Champions?
The Stadium Course is the bucket-list play — it hosts the WM Phoenix Open and includes the famous 16th. The Champions Course is a genuinely good desert layout that's usually cheaper, quieter and easier to book, making it the smart choice for a second round.
How do you get to TPC Scottsdale?
Fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), roughly 30–40 minutes away by car. Scottsdale is an easy, well-connected winter golf-trip base with a huge concentration of desert courses nearby.
