Attendance for this year’s Phoenix Open shattered records
Feb 6, 2018, 5:05 AM | Updated: 5:26 am
(Facebook/WM Phoenix Open)
(Facebook/WM Phoenix Open)
PHOENIX — If you attended this year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, you were part of a crowd that shattered records from years past.
According to event organizers, more than 719,000 people in total attended the week-long golf tournament, blowing last year’s record of 655,434 attendees out of the water.
The Waste Management Phoenix Open was held at TPC Scottsdale from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4.
In a day-by-day breakdown, attendance on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday also broke daily records.
Official numbers are in on the record-breaking crowds this week at TPC Scottsdale. pic.twitter.com/lrNJIEb80U
— Will Gray (@WillGrayGC) February 4, 2018
Carlos Sugich, the chairman for the Waste Management Phoenix Open, told KTAR News 92.3 FM that Saturday’s crowd was the biggest in golf history.
“We had a great week,” Sugich said, contributing the high amount of turnout in part to the weather and the new amenities for fans to enjoy.
But Sugich said there is one attraction that people from across the country (and the globe) travel to the Valley for — and it’s not the golf.
Related: Man pleads guilty for streaking during Phoenix Open event in Scottsdale
“The 16th Hole is a bucket list [item] for people all over the world,” he said. “We saw people from pretty much everywhere.”
Sugich said the event has grown immensely over the past decade and organizers are already working on new ideas for next year.
“It’s truly the people’s open,” he said. “We’re proud to receive the support we get. At the end of the day, it’s the local charities that benefit the most.”
But with its “zero-waste” policies, event organizers are looking to leave a bigger impact outside of attendance records.
Janette Micelli with Waste Management said for the sixth year in a row, all of the trash from the tournament will be recovered through recycling, composting, donation, reuse and waste to energy.
“All of [the waste] will go to its next best use,” she said.
The cleanup is expected to last through the beginning of April.
KTAR News’ Jeremy Foster and Nailea Leon contributed to this report.
