By: Fred Altvater
The PGA of America’s main headquarters have been located in Palm Beach, Florida, since 1965. When they moved to Palm Beach, it was a sleepy community with few paved roads or golf courses. Today Palm Beach is one of the most prestigious zip codes in the country with tall high rises, hundreds of golf courses and traffic at rush hour resembles a parking lot.
During the 53 years the PGA has been located in Florida, it has grown exponentially. The organization now serves nearly 29,000 golf professionals, operates a major championship, as well as, the Ryder Cup and along with The R&A, USGA, PGA Tour, LPGA and the Masters, is one of golf’s ruling bodies.
Looking into the future, the former CEO of the PGA, Pete Bevacqua, along with his staff, decided it was time to seek out a new home for the PGA. They found it in Frisco, Texas, a high-end suburb of Dallas.
Bevacqua recently moved on to a more lucrative position with NBC Sports, but the groundwork he laid, while at the PGA, will be realized over the next few years. Seth Waugh was hired to replace Bevacqua and will now oversee the move to the new 600-acre, $500 million facility in Texas. 
To say Dallas is excited to have the PGA located there is an understatement. The move is estimated to have an economic impact of more than $2.5 billion over the next 20 years, based on a city commissioned tourism feasibility study.
The PGA of America has teamed with Omni Stillwater Woods, a joint venture led by Omni Hotels & Resorts with Stillwater Capital and Woods Capital; the City of Frisco, as well as, its Economic and Community Development Corporations, plus the Frisco Independent School District.
“Our move to Frisco will be transcendent for the PGA of America,” said Seth Waugh, CEO, PGA of America. “Everything great starts with a dream. This is the beginning of a bold, new journey as we bring together world-class partners in a world-class location – to deliver innovative and differentiated experiences for our nearly 29,000 PGA Golf Professionals, golfers of all abilities and our staff.”
The new facility will include, two championship golf courses, a short course, and practice areas totaling 45 holes, a clubhouse, office space; a 500-room Omni resort, as well as, a 127,000-square-foot conference center, a retail village, along with parks and several miles of trails to complement development.
The entire project will have an initial, estimated public-private investment totaling more than $520 million. The PGA of America will invest $30 million to build its 100,000-square-foot global headquarters and education facility. OSW will invest $455 million to purchase the land, construct the hotel, conference center, retail space, parking facilities, and golf courses. The golf courses, clubhouse, practice areas and associated public facilities will be owned by the city. More than 300 FISD high school golfers will practice at the facility on a weekly basis.
The golf courses are expected to open in summer 2022. The hotel, convention center, and other facilities are expected to open within six months of that date. The development is scheduled to host the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2023. Look for future PGA Championships to be added soon after.
