Photo Credit: WM Phoenix Open
The WM Phoenix Open has come under fire in recent years, more specifically last year’s messy event. The Thunderbirds seem to have gotten the message and made necessary changes (read our coverage here), but it’s all talk until the event comes. While the changes seem to have minimized some of the most prominent issues, there is one significant change that has had a lot of people talking.
Perhaps the most prominent outcome is indicative of the changes that were made; it has been mostly devoid of bad headlines due to bad behavior (we say “mostly” because there is one significant outlier which we will talk about). There haven’t been reports of significant gate-crashers, of entirely out-of-control folks (more so than normal), and any of the issues that cast a dark cloud on last year’s event.
Regular attendees probably did notice one major change that may also be leading to the relative lack of issues: cost. In short, this year’s event is much, much more expensive than years past. A four-day ticket is now nearly exactly double what it was just five years ago, a rate of inflation that far exceeds inflation.
It’s not just ticket prices though: concessions are extremely expensive, with $14 beers and $15 cocktails that now put their pricing firmly in line with prices at sporting events. Considering the increasing expense of getting absolutely smashed, it is now the purview of either those who are well off or those who are willing to dedicate more of their budget to a day’s worth of drunkenness than they should, which likely helps minimize out-of-control drunkenness.
Not entirely though, and while most of the stories coming out of this year’s event are neutral or positive (such as this year’s stunning hole-in-one on the 16th), there was one significant outlier.
One particular man decided it would be a good idea to make video making threats against Mexicans and as well as obvious neo-Nazi references and put it out on social media. He was fired from his job and later arrested for being on the grounds after the course had closed as well as being under the influence of alcohol at the age of 19.
It’s tough to pin much blame on the tournament for a 19 year old being a drunken, racist idiot, so long as they did not serve him alcohol at the event (something which should be investigated to some degree to ensure). One could hypothetically point fingers at a state and an environment where an idiot would feel comfortable doing that, and changes in what is considered acceptable in the wake of a bombastic new presidential regime, but ultimately, preventing an idiot from being an idiot is difficult.
All in all, the changes seemed to have worked, even if the “People’s Open” is now attainable to fewer and fewer people. Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing.