Thunderbirds vow to make changes for 2025 WM Phoenix Open after crowd, alcohol issues
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - There's no doubt there was a huge problem at the WM Phoenix Open on Saturday when it came to the number of fans, arrests and alcohol sales.
The Thunderbirds executive director says changes are coming, so this won't happen again.
Alcohol sales were cut off, tickets weren't scanned and some people with tickets weren't allowed in as the front gates were closed temporarily.
Much of it was because of the wet weather made for muddy conditions at TPC Scottsdale, forcing everyone on the already crowded paved pathways.
Anyone who was there knows it was absolute chaos.
Scottsdale Police released numbers from the event. In total, arrests, ejections and trespassing reports were higher than in the last two years.
Dustin Williamson was a bartender in the Fan Zone on Saturday. He says from the minute he was allowed to sell alcohol until they told him to stop, there was a line the entire time.
"Saturday … there was a sea of people. It was packed everywhere. Saturday was insane," Williamson said.
Bartending at the WM Phoenix Open was busy, as expected, until alcohol sales were halted.
"The fine line was really when we felt like we were just at a point on Saturday where our fans could not move around the golf course," said Chance Cozby, executive director of the Thunderbirds.
In an interview with the Golf Channel, Cozby says he knows it was not a good Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open.
Halfway through the day, several attendees couldn't get in and those who did couldn't buy alcohol.
"The decision was made by our security partners and our team to close the front gate, to close the concession stands, to close alcohol sales," Cozby said.
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Williamson recalls that moment when alcohol sales were stopped.
"It was right around 1:30 when our manager overseeing us said Scottsdale Fire Department wanted to put a pause on all alcohol sales. They didn't give us a timetable," he said.
Some bars eventually got the OK to start selling alcohol again, but not everyone.
"We were never given the green light again," Williamson said. "I don't blame their decision at all to stop alcohol sales for the safety of the population. It was definitely the right call."
It was a tough call that upset a lot of people.
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"We don't like what happened on Saturday, the players don't like what happened on Saturday, our fans don't like what happened on Saturday and so nothing is off the table," Cozby told the Golf Channel.
Cozby said in the interview that the Thunderbirds have 365 days to fix this and that he owes it to the fans and players to make changes.
FOX 10 reached out to the Thunderbirds numerous times about their response to this year's event, but they were unavailable for an interview.