PGA Championship tournament officials defend prices of concessions at Southern Hills

TULSA, Okla. — There has been severe sticker shock at the prices on concessions this week at the 2022 PGA Championship, with the prices on the cans of beer reaching almost $20 a pop.

Michelob Ultra is going for $18, Stella Artois $19. A glass of wine is $13. Souvenir and signature cocktails are $19. Some of the food prices: $16 for the chicken Caesar salad, $14 for the Butcher’s Grind Cheeseburger is $14, $8 for a hot dog.

Justin Thomas saw the news and reacted on Twitter to the high prices.

“Gotta treat the fans better than that,” he said.

$18(!!!!!!) for a beer… uhhhh what. Gotta treat the fans better than that! 🤦🏽‍♂️ https://t.co/7DeyC7WTJE

— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) May 17, 2022

Brooks Koepka, who counts Michelob Ultra among his many sponsors, defended the prices.

“Yeah. Michelob Ultra is 18 bucks, but it’s a tall boy,” he said, referring to the fact that the cans of beer at Southern Hills are of the 25 oz. variety. “It’s bigger than the normal 12 ounces, 16 ounces. It’s bigger than the normal ones, so you’ll be all right. You drink enough, you’ll be fine.”

Tournament officials were asked about the prices as well Tuesday.

“We do have a new concession area, but we also have a new ticketing pricing offering for all the spectators this year, which includes basically as much food and non-alcoholic beverage as they want included in the price of the ticket,” Kerry Haigh, Chief Championships Officer of the PGA of America, said. “Starting Thursday, spectators will be able to drink non-alcoholic beverages and as much food as they want for the price of their ticket. For those on the practice days, all spectators can bring in bottled water, and starting Thursday we’ll have refills on water.

“The pricing of the product is sort of comparable to stadium events. We’re comfortable with where we are, and we hope spectators will come out and have a great time and a great experience.”

Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, admitted things may need tweaking.

“It’s a new model for us, right, so at the end of it we’ll go back and, like we always do, try to figure out if it worked or didn’t work and what we can do better and raise the bar.”