This week, PGA Frisco is hosting its first championship. The KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship tees off on May 25, 2023. "I'm very excited," Jason Mengel, championship director, tells Local Profile. "This is the fun part for us at the PGA."
"Months, and years, in fact, of spreadsheets and budgets and PowerPoints, and now we get to actually see it constructed and now the gates are open so we can see the general public come in as well as our corporate clients and the best players in the world," added Mengel.
As Local Profile previously reported, the search for a new home began with a need for more office space. But what ended up happening was so much more: a partnership between the PGA of America and the city of Frisco.
The KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship will be held from May 25 to May 28, 2023, and played on the Gil Hanse-designed Fields Ranch East course. Today, May 24, was open to the public — a good opportunity to see the PGA pros practicing. First held in 1937, this championship is the oldest of the five majors for the men's PGA. It's fitting that such a historic tournament would make history right here in Frisco, Texas.
"While you have a chance to take in a major championship," says Mengel, "if you want to take a break, check out some of the celebrity chef demonstrations at the KitchenAid Fairway Club if you're a foodie or if you want to do some shopping, you can go into PGA District — there's a little something for everyone, but at its core, it's a major championship."
This tournament is the first of six major championships that PGA Frisco will host over the next 12 years, including the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in 2025 and the PGA Championship in 2027.
"It's such a unique position to be in where we have these regularly occurring events," says Mengel. "Typically, a return-to-host site would be a five-to-ten-year gap. We almost have a real-time opportunity to note some things that we did well or that we may look to improve upon next time."
Local Profile was on the course earlier today — and so far, everything looks great.
Cameron Doan, the PGA director of golf at Preston Trail Golf Club, will hit the first tee when the championship gets underway on May 25.
