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The PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open is a phenomenon unlike any other.
The annual tournament, based at the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course, draws a rowdy crowd and the legendary Par 3, 16th hole is perhaps the most unique environment in all of golf.
But things got a bit too out of hand on Saturday, forcing the tournament to stop admitting fans and halt all alcohol sales. Now, a bartender at the event has revealed just what caused the drastic decisions.
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Bartender Explains Move To Stop Alcohol Sales At PGA Waste Management
Dustin Williamson claims that he is a bartender at the event and took to TikTok on Saturday night to explain just how and why things broke down.
“As somebody that was bartending today when they told us to stop serving alcohol, let me tell you what we heard,” he began. “So around 1:30, when we were extremely busy, we were told by our boss to stop serving alcohol. (The) reason being was because the Scottsdale Police Department and the Scottsdale Fire Marshall told us to stop and they stopped letting people in because there was almost half a million people on the course at that one time.
“And the security that were supposed to be checking tickets at the gate just said ‘f— this’ and started letting everybody in without checking tickets. So people were getting in for free. People were getting into VIP boxes for free, where it’s all you can drink. And everntually everybody in the VIP boxes were like ‘ah, f— it. We’ll just serve everybody no matter what.'”
Williamson said that the behavior of fans became “too out of control” for bartenders and security to stop serving.
He states that about two hours after the ban on alcohol sales, fans began to leave because they couldn’t purchase alcohol, food, or non-alcoholic beverages.
“Because who cares about golf, right,” he then asks mockingly.
Fair enough.
It appears officials made the right decision as well. One fan was thrown out for running on the court and diving in a bunker. Others were chanting “we want beer” throughout play at the 16th hole. Fans were visibly well past the point of intoxication.
The Waste Management is always a giant party. But there is a PGA Tour tournament being played and lot of money on the line.