The PGA of America’s move from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida to Frisco, Texas, about 30 miles north of Dallas, was made official on Tuesday following the approval of an incentives package by the Frisco City Council.
The PGA will inhibit a $520 million development that will be made up of a 500-room hotel, a conference center and two semi-public golf courses, a nine-hole short course and extensive practice and teaching facility. The move is planned for 2022.
“Our move to Frisco will be transcendent for the PGA of America,” Seth Waugh, the PGA of America CEO, said in a statement. “Everything great starts with a dream. This is the beginning of a bold, new journey as we bring together world-class partners in a world-class location – to deliver innovative and differentiated experiences for our nearly 29,000 PGA Golf Professionals, golfers of all abilities and our staff.”
While the announcement of the move has been rumored for months, the official announcement accompanied news that major championship golf would be returning to the Lone Star State for the first time since 1969.
The first major slated for one of the new development’s courses is the 2023 Senior PGA Championship with the PGA Championship scheduled to be played in Frisco in 2027 and 2034. Hosting a Ryder Cup is also on the table for the new headquarters.
Over the course of the first decade of its move, the PGA is planning to host two Senior PGAs, two Women’s PGAs and five of its other tournaments, which includes the PGA Professional National Championship, in its backyard.
“Our move to Frisco will be transcendent for the PGA of America."
The PGA of America is heading to Texas.https://t.co/asn3FD2PSL pic.twitter.com/JeanE74d1i
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) December 5, 2018
One championship course is slated to be designed by Gil Hanse while the other, along with the 9-hole short course, is set to be designed by Beau Welling, the chief architect of TGR design.
As for the economics, the PGA of America will invest $30 million into building a 100,000-square-foot HQ, but the lion’s share of the development’s cost will fall to Omni Stillwater Woods, a joint venture by Omni Hotels & Resorts with Stillwater Capital and Woods Capital.
Omni Stillwater Woods will spend $455 million to purchase the land, build the hotel, conference center, retail space, parking and golf courses. The courses will be city-owned and open to more than 300 high school golfers. While the city is allowed to foot up to $35 million in building public facilities, an incentive plan that could be worth up to $74 million has been put in place as well.
