By Diana Giambona
Medill Reports
Of the more than 7,000 yards of TPC Scottsdale, a course with beautiful landscapes, lakes, mountains and typical Arizona vegetation, the favorite place for fans to take a selfie is the players’ entrance to the 16th hole.
Few fans walk by without stopping and taking a picture in front of the huge sign welcoming golfers to the “loudest hole on Earth.”
“It’s sort of your badge of honor to prove you came to the tournament and you noticed this crazy place even if you didn’t get to go in and watch the golf here,” said Jennifer Fry, 56, who came from San Diego to watch the WM Phoenix Open and take a photo outside of No. 16.
This year was also the first visit to the open for Erin Fettner, 34, from Chicago, who says she is not a golf fan but likes the atmosphere of the tournament.
“I watched a lot of videos about this before we came because I didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into,” Fettner said.
Now that she knows what the 16th hole means to the fans and players, she had to take a selfie at the entrance as a souvenir.
Another spectator who wanted to photograph that striking place was David Copley, 60, from Southern California. He said he traveled to Phoenix to experience the “People’s Open” from the inside after watching it on television.
“It’s just a unique experience in golf, and it’s kind of against the tradition of quiet,” Copley said.
Scott Wallace, 33, from Atlanta, said he took a selfie at the entrance of 16 to show he was there even though he has not seen it from the stands.
“I haven’t been inside of 16 yet because the lines are way too long and we didn’t get up early enough to get in,” Wallace said.
Eli Hall, 48, from Phoenix, said he has been attending the tournament for about 10 years, and although he has walked past the outside of the 16th hole many times, he didn’t hesitate to stop and photograph the entrance one more time.
“This is the best spot I know,” Hall said.
Diana Giambona is a sports media graduate student at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at @DianaGiambona.
