There are two elements of this week’s PGA Championship that have really elevated my experience: the unlimited free food and the PGA Championship map.
I haven’t been to a tournament that has its food and drinks included with a ticket before, and it has made a massive difference this week. Sure, I’m not your typical golf spectator. I have a credential, which means I have access to the food at the media center. At most events, I time my meals around the groups I want to follow. I haven’t quite gotten it down to a perfect science, so I often end up ravenous while I’ve still got six or so holes left to walk. The concessions lines are usually too long for me to take a pit stop during tournament play, so I’ll just stay out on the course until I can’t ignore my growling stomach any more.
Although that is a non-issue this week because there are no lines at concessions. Want a cold beverage? A hamburger? A hot dog? Just walk right in, take what you need and get back to what you were doing. No waiting in line to order or pay. I could get used to this!
The complimentary food and drink is nice, but I understand that it’s not something every golf tournament can do. However, the second element of the tournament we’re about to discuss — the handy PGA Championship Map, powered by T-Mobile — is something I fully believe every tournament should do.
The interactive map allows you to pick a spot on the course — whether it’s a player, a green, a grandstand or any other point of interest — and then offers you specific directions on how to get there. Think of whatever navigation app you use on your phone or in the car, and this is the golf version of it. The map paints the line for you to follow (in T-Mobile magenta) and has a cursor to show you which way you’re facing, then tells you how many yards away your destination is and just how long the walk will take.
I’ve gotten to know the routing of many golf courses over my golf media career, but Aronimink is a new one for me. Another work project earlier in the week meant I didn’t arrive on-site until Thursday morning, so my window for getting a lay of the land during practice rounds had closed. I’m a little ashamed to admit just how many times I’ve used the map to navigate me back to the media center over the last three days, but it’s definitely north of six.
Although the map isn’t the only thing the PGA Championship app got right this week. There’s also a seat finder function that allows you to choose a grandstand and then take a live look at it to see just how many open seats are there. This way you’re not spending your time trekking to a fun watch spot only to find that the grandstand is completely full. There’s also an AI assistant in the app that will answer all of your questions about the tournament.
