Amid the heightened new development going on within the golf destination world, there’s nothing quite like the Omni PGA Frisco Resort and Spa, the host site for the 2027 PGA Championship.
This unique Texas property, just under an hour north of downtown Dallas, is a purpose-built campus that opened in 2023 and was designed to serve as the modern home of golf in the U.S.
It can sometimes be confusing because of the nomenclature within the golf world, as it’s often referred to as PGA Frisco, Fields Ranch or simply Frisco. But the official name for the overall property is Omni PGA Frisco, with the golf component known as Fields Ranch. The latter includes the two championship courses – the Gil Hanse-designed East and Beau Welling-designed West – along with a lighted 10-hole par 3 course called ‘The Swing’ and a massive, centrally-located putting green, ‘The Dance Floor,’ that’s open to everyone.
The most unusual aspect of this still-growing destination is that four very different enterprises are partners in the property: the City of Frisco, Texas, the Frisco Independent School District, Omni Hotels & Resorts, and the PGA of America. But Paul Earnest, the director of golf and operations for Fields Ranch, says the partnership has worked well.
“It takes an immense amount of communication and immense amount of organization on who’s going where and when,” said Earnest. “It needs to be that way because you can’t color too far out of the lines and be successful.”
There’s more golf balance needed at Omni PGA Frisco than perhaps any other U.S. resort.
There’s a membership component at Fields Ranch, which has about 180 total club members, with just under half of those being locals. There’s also the local element, including the 12 Frisco high schools that call the property home for practice and competitions, as well as the Northern Texas PGA Foundation, which has 4,000 kids and was the developmental platform for pros like Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris. And then there are the guests who come in from around the country for buddies’ trips, family, group and couples’ getaways, conventions, and corporate and charity events.
Ultimately, just over 60% of tee times must be publicly accessible.
“If I don’t provide (club members) with access, the membership starts to crumble but if we get too overzealous with some of the Frisco things we’re doing it can backfire,” added Earnest, who oversees operations of golf team with about 220 people (including caddies). “And we spent $500-plus million on the total project so it has to work for Omni too.”
Omni PGA Frisco Campus
In addition to the golf courses, there’s a 500-room Omni hotel with 127,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, four pools, a spa and salon, 10 private ranch houses, and 13 food and beverage outlets. The PGA of America Home Office is on site, having relocated from its long-time home in South Florida. Meanwhile, the PGA District is a retail, restaurant and entertainment hub that includes the short course and the putting course overlooked by an outdoor jumbotron screen that shows sporting events and hosts movie nights.
“The campus, even if you’re not a golfer, is an adult playground with all the activities that are here — including Cowboys’ games, fireworks and drone shows,” said Omni PGA Frisco VP and Managing Director Jeff Smith, who helped open the Omni Frisco Hotel at the Star near the Cowboys’ training complex before joining the Omni PGA Frisco project in 2021.
The Cowboys’ facility, less than 10 miles away, is half-owned by the NFL team and half owned by the school district, so 12 Frisco high school teams also play games there. That partnership was the roadmap for the partnership at Omni PGA Frisco, where Omni was the developer of the entirety of the campus, including the golf.
Smith said that Omni, having developed 22 properties from the ground up, learned from the other projects and incorporated the best elements in Frisco.
2027 PGA Championship Site
When the PGA Championship comes to Omni PGA Frisco in 2027, it will be the first men’s major golf championship in North Texas in more than six decades. The last was the 1963 PGA Championship won by Jack Nicklaus at the Dallas Athletic Club.
While Welling’s West course is a more player-friendly resort course – more expansive and forgiving – the East is the championship course at Fields Ranch. The walking-only layout demands a more strategic approach and is already slated to host other major PGA of America championships in the coming years, including the Women’s PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship, and the Ryder Cup.
The infrastructure throughout the entire campus was built with hosting a major in mind, from the clubhouse to the locker rooms, where there are no “double-stacked” lockers because PGA requirements are that golf clubs need to fit in them.
Ultimately, hosting next year’s PGA Championship will help push Omni PGA Frisco’s other efforts forward, most notably welcoming new participants.
“The halo effect… will be immeasurable,” said Smith. “We’re already absolutely on the rotation for golf buddy groups because there’s been so much notoriety with what’s been built and where we’re headed. That will only explode.
“If it’s not been on the radar for a golfer’s interest, after that tournament we think the business will be quite substantial,” Smith added. “It’s not just the leisure travel or golf buddy groups; the majority of the groups that come here have a golf component. To be able to say we have a buyout on the East course that hosted the PGA Championship, that’s the uniqueness of having a major championship at a resort rather than a private club.”
And there may be no resort in the world of destination golf as unique as Omni PGA Frisco.
