Omni PGA Frisco Resort now open, Fields Ranch West gets first public rounds

By Art Stricklin

FRISCO, Texas – The massive Omni PGA Frisco Resort officially opened for business Tuesday bringing 550 rooms, 13 restaurants, two public golf courses, practices area and short course within 50 miles of the Oklahoma border, the largest public resort expansion locally in more than a decade.

“We’re are opening the Omni PGA Frisco Resort today as a top 10 resort in the country or anywhere in North America,” said Jeff Smith, executive vice president and general manager of the $525 million dollar resort

The first guest made it through the doors at noon on Tuesday after a lavish opening ceremony which included Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Bob and Blake Rowling, the father and son Omni combo which provided the money for the complex in advance.

“We’ve done a lot of deals, but nothing this complicated,” said Blake Rowling of the three-way deal with included the City of Frisco, the PGA of America ,which moved its headquarters here last year, and the Omni Hotels Corporation which provided the vast majority of the funding.

The 2023 Kitchenaid Senior PGA Championship featuring former Oklahoma State star Scott Verplank along with major championship winners Justin Leonard, John Daly, Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer, will play on the Gil Hanse-designed Fields Ranch East May 25-28. The Beau Welling designed Fields Ranch West is now open to the public with no restrictions on public play on either course.

At 7:28 a.m., Celina, Texas golfer Garrett Barr was the first public golfer to tee off on Fields Ranch West with photos, videos and PGA Fields Ranch gift items.

“We had been watching it being built and jumped at the chance to get out here and play it. It was great and a great addition to public golf in the area,” he said

Welling was on site for the grand opening and said het was thrilled to see the course he had built over three years finally come to life with golfers.

“You never know for sure when you’re doing a golf course how it will turn out, but I think we hit it out of the park with this one. It’s fantastic with wide fairways for public golfers, but strategy and great greens for the best players,” said Welling.

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Fields Ranch West will be used as the championship venue for the PGA Junior League golf as PGA of America officials seek to make it a permanent championship site much like Little League baseball.

Fields Ranch East, designed by Hanse, will be the championship site for 26 PGA of America championships include the Senior PGA, the KPMG Ladies PGA and two PGA Championships and most likely the 2041 Ryder Cup. The par 72 course, which features Panther Creek coming into play on more than half the holes, will open for public play after the Senior PGA in late May.

“It’s open to all and ready for all and it will think it will be a huge success for golfers and non-golfers alike. We feel like we have something for everybody now,” Smith said.

“Forget about golf, pretend it doesn’t even exist here, this will be one of the finest resorts in the country,” Rowling said.

For more information and golf tee times at Omni PGA Frisco go to https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/pga-frisco