WM Phoenix Open fans take to social media over pause on entry and stoppage of alcohol sales

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Entry into the WM Phoenix Open was paused on Saturday afternoon due to "larger than usual crowds," Scottsdale Police said.

The Thunderbirds blamed wet weather for creating wet and soggy conditions leading to the crowds, saying, "This pushed patrons who would normally congregate in those areas into high-foot-traffic areas causing severe congestion at key points on event grounds including the entrance and exit."

Nevertheless, fans chose to air their grievances on social media.

Organizers announced entrance closures and a stoppage of the shuttle service to the event at 2:05 p.m. Alcohol sales in some locations were also put on pause, Scottsdale Police said.

"Due to the larger than usual crowds, alcohol sales were stopped at certain locations by SPD to encourage people to move to open areas on the course," Scottsdale PD explained.

Scottsdale Police say by not allowing more fans into the event, people will begin to move around or exit to make room for others.

"This has been done in previous years when there are larger than usual crowds," police said.

The shuttle service back to the parking lots is still operating.

‘We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience’

The Thunderbirds released a statement on what happened Saturday, saying in full:

"As an organization, our fans and their safety is our top priority.

Due to steady rainfall in Scottsdale this week that created deteriorating course conditions, we unfortunately had to close the gates at the tournament entrance and stop allowing fans to enter the golf course on Saturday afternoon.

The stadium-style course layout at TPC Scottsdale which features large banks for crowds to stand and sit, were soggy and unusable. This pushed patrons who would normally congregate in those areas into high-foot-traffic areas causing severe congestion at key points on event grounds including the entrance and exit.

After consulting with event partners and officials, we made the decision to temporarily close the tournament entrance to alleviate crowding in those areas in the interest of public safety.  

We know that fans with Saturday tickets were turned away. The Thunderbirds as an organization are gathering more details and discussing options on how to remedy their concerns.

To the greatest fans in golf, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused as we always strive to create the best event possible."

Fans react

Fans, however, are taking to social media to air grievances over the management of the event.

Some say alcohol sales are stopped entirely, that tickets are not being scanned at entry and that water and food aren't being sold.

"It was sold out, they knew how many people were coming. Guess what? It didn't happen. Too many people came in ... no more beer. That's it. So now we're just going to have fun without any beer the rest of the day," a fan said.

Another fan said, "There are people that came out of town specifically to come on Saturday."

"I think it was difficult for them because it was raining. There were a lot of paths people would take. It would get super muddy, so they would have to take different routes," a third fan said.

Saturday's event was sold out as of Feb. 4, WM Phoenix Open spokesperson Ryan Woodcock said, adding "as the tournament has put a cap on tickets for the two biggest days of tournament week."