Back
FRISCO, Texas – In less than a decade, Dallas' northern suburbs have turned from sleepy cattle ranches to a seemingly endless megalopolis of highways, homes, restaurants, office buildings, distribution centers and a Texas-big, flashy, supremely self-confident aspiring American golf mecca.
A dollar may not be worth what it used to, but it turns out 550 million of them can still go a long way.
That was the price tag to build Omni PGA Frisco, a sparkling brand-new golf resort that complete with a stunning Omni hotel, two beefy championship golf courses, a fun-first short course, an enormous putting course, over-the-top instruction amenities, boutique shopping, dining and entertainment. Oh, and the PGA of America’s imperious new HQ.
This ain’t your grandpappy’s staid golf resort. For even the casual golfer, it’s an all-out shock-and-awe experience that threatens at times to overwhelm the senses but ultimately delivers an engaging experience in a premium-price-tag setting.
Golf at Omni PGA Frisco
It’s not often that a golf course has been awarded a major championship prior to opening. But Gil Hanse’s Fields Ranch East course is purpose-built for big-time golf. It will play host to the PGA Championship in 2027 and 2034, while the KPMG Women's PGA will be played on site in 2025 and 2031. Though nothing is official, an announcement that it will host the Ryder Cup – 2037 and 2041 are the next open years on the calendar – seems inevitable.
Fields Ranch East ($350, plus caddie fee and gratuity) is the consummate contemporary championship golf course. Its largely treeless site is exposed to the trademark Texas winds, which typically buffet golfers out of the southwest. Routed in counterclockwise, then clockwise loops, each nine meanders up to high points before bringing golfers back down into the bustling heart of the PGA Frisco complex. Add up all the possible back tee yardages and it tops 8,000 yards. Vestiges of the property’s quiet former life as ranchland – sporadic old cattle stands, wooden posts and fence sections – sit between holes amid the dry brush and meandering Panther Creek and its dry and running tributaries, which come into play on several full shots.
Getting to Omni PGA Frisco Resort
The city of Frisco is exploding with new residential, commercial and industrial development. The Dallas Cowboys have had their world headquarters and practice facilities there since 2016, and its population has skyrocketed from 33,000 to more than 200,000 in less than 25 years. PGA Frisco brings an in-demand golf destination to the area, while Universal Studios plans to open a new park in the same large development space that includes PGA Frisco in the coming years.
Located about 35 miles north of downtown Dallas, PGA Frisco is about a 30-minute ride from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Dallas-Love Field (DAL) is approximately 10 minutes farther away by car.
Fields Ranch East’s architect, Gil Hanse, has become golf’s go-to championship course architect of record, and the course bears his and associate Jim Wagner’s emerging hallmarks. Flexible and intentionally not-quite-level free-form tee areas, spacious fairways, eclectic and undulating greens and 92 large bunkers that are equal parts strategic hazards and eye candy that seize the golfer’s attention immediately and only barely relinquish it by the 18th hole. Hanse and Wagner also make clear reference to two beloved championship courses; the green of the drivable par-4 7th invokes Augusta National’s 3rd hole, while the par-4 10th calls out the tooth-shaped 3rd and 5th greens at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course.
Fields Ranch East is walking-only for much of the year, and traversing its huge footprint, even in the company of capable caddies, gives us mortal golfers a sense of both the physical and mental endurance test that is elite tournament golf. Pace of play averages about five hours.
The first three holes, which glide uphill and typically play straight into the prevailing wind, include two par fives that can each stretch longer than 600 yards. The opening long march yields a payoff in the form of a panoramic view from the par-3 4th tee, which gives initial visitors a sense both of the vastness of the suburban surrounds and of how many more thousands of homes will be built nearby in the coming years. Sounds of construction echo for miles. At the long par-4 9th, the target off the tee is the enormous TV screen that lords over the putting course and PGA District shopping and dining complex. PGA Frisco never lets you forget you’re in the center of a maelstrom of activity.
Nevertheless, Hanse and Wagner make it easy to focus on the task of hitting quality golf shots on compelling holes, with the stretch from 12 through 17 furnishing the course’s best moments. The long par-3 13th plays into the property’s only truly secluded spot, up a gentle hill enveloped by trees with a Z-shaped bunker snaking down from behind the green to act as a narrow buffer between the putting surface and Panther Creek. Two holes later, the short par-4 15th seems to reach into the sky, its elevated green fronted by epic bunkering.
In just its first few months, the 600-yard par-5 18th hole has polarized players with its angled, hog’s-back fairway guarded by lost-ball country on both sides and an approach over a chunk of Panther Creek. In any kind of crosswind, the tee shot is nightmarish at best. From a forward tee position at about 500 yards, it could make a cracking long par 4 with a more reasonable landing area protected by staggered bunkers.
If Fields Ranch East is a bull, Fields Ranch West ($250) is a coyote – less intimidating-looking but plenty dangerous if you’re not careful. Architect Beau Welling’s layout is a bit kinder to golfers around the greens; there are generous short-grass chipping areas that afford more straightforward recoveries than their East counterparts. The routing uses the high points of the property more liberally than the East, approaching the hilltop Outlook, a handsome halfway house, three times. As a result, golf carts are common; forecaddie services are optional.
FIELDS RANCH WEST
— Tim Gavrich (@TimGavrich) October 12, 2023
(PGA) Frisco, Texas
Beau Welling, 2023
$250
Course #594
With clever and sometimes eccentric greens that provide room to miss and play a fun recovery shot, it’s an enjoyable though still challenging companion to the brawnier East. You may well prefer it. pic.twitter.com/yeREOtYxlV
Five very different-looking par 3s propel the West. The first, the 3rd hole, is the course’s longest, stretching to 240 yards, with a sharp ridge bisecting the putting surface. Getting on the wrong side of this feature can make for tricky putting or pitching. Two holes later comes the shortest hole on the course, the 5th, whose 50-yard-wide green measures barely 10 yards from front to back at any point. It calls for tremendous touch with a wedge.
Another showpiece hole is the downhill par-4 13th, where Welling adapted the Biarritz green template – traditionally used on par 3s – for a two-shotter. The angled trench across the middle of the green is clearly visible from the tee and sticks in the player’s mind immediately.
Fields Ranch East and West are just part of the golf story at PGA Frisco. In perhaps the most fully-realized version of the vertically-integrated approach to golf for players of all skills and abilities, it includes a fun 10-hole par-3 course called The Swing, and a two-acre, 200-yard-long putting course called The Dance Floor. Both of these golf options are lighted for night play. The Swing takes tee times until 10 p.m., with a Casamigos tequila truck serving as its halfway house. Designed jointly by Hanse, Wagner and Welling, it reminds of a slightly mellower version of Pinehurst’s Cradle short course. As one might imagine, these areas are especially family- and casual-golfer friendly, with dedicated setups for kids on The Dance Floor, whose enormous TV screen plays movies on select nights and sporting events on others.
PGA Frisco is also home to the PGA of America's headquarters, which sit off the right side of the expansive driving range, where visitors have their pick of Titleist, TaylorMade or Callaway practice balls. Next door is the brand-new PGA Coaching Center, one of the golf world's most comprehensive instruction hubs. A top floor lined with indoor/outdoor Full Swing Golf simulators for corporate retreats and a ground floor with TrackMan-infused instruction bays, plus PuttView suites and a SAM PuttLab. A clubfitting studio will debut in 2024, making it one of the most magnificent facilities of its kind. It's easy to see why PGA Tour players like Will Zalatoris, Sung Kang and more like to spend time at PGA Frisco.
Omni PGA Frisco: Lodging, dining and more
The resort component of PGA Frisco showcases Omni’s experience running dozens of hotels across North America, including 11 connected to golf. The 500-room hotel is superb, with a midcentury-modern vibe that extends from the common spaces to the private lodgings. Already a popular spot for corporate business events, it serves both these and smaller-group travel well, with plenty of cozy spots to relax – including several fire pits on a sloping outdoor terrace that overlooks Fields Ranch East’s 10th hole. Buddy groups can also reserve one of the resort's 10 4-bedroom Ranch House villas. A cluster of them overlook The Dance Floor while a more secluded group of them sits beside the 10th green at Fields Ranch East.
Omni has excellent food and beverage operations across its properties, and PGA Frisco is no exception. There’s a well-balanced range of options, from casual spots like The Apron, an airy three-squares workhorse restaurant in the hotel’s ground floor, to Trick Rider, an all-out steakhouse experience. Also on property are two quality casual spots: the Ryder Cup Grille in the golf clubhouse, and the Ice House, a barbecue joint situated between The Swing, The Dance Floor and the driving range. It even has a couple of wide hitting bays where groups can send golf balls downrange between bites.
There’s also a decadent standalone ice cream shop within the PGA District complex that rings The Dance Floor, as well as a Topgolf Lounge. As busy as it can be during the day, the property really roars to life every night on the strength of these hangout options.
Shopping is also part of PGA District, with a PGA of America-branded boutique, a Vineyard Vines Store and other shopping opportunities.
Will all these flashy, modern amenities elevate PGA Frisco among America's other iconic golf resorts like Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes and Pinehurst, or will it need a few memorable championship moments to get there? It's an interesting question that will eventually be answered in time.
Comments (0)