3M Open: With new party deck and ‘Waterball Wall,’ golf fans may actually applaud some bad shots
Can you cheer for a bad golf shot? At a Ryder Cup, sure. But during a regular PGA Tour event? We’re about to find out.
Walk along the 18th hole at TPC Twin Cities this week and you’ll see a new structure on the opposite side of the large lake that fronts the final hole.
This is where the party is set to take place.
The 3M Open is introducing a Stilly party deck for this year’s tournament. The structure, which fits a capacity of 350 people, features lakefront views of the closing par-5. Those who pay for the upgraded tickets for access to the deck will have access to canned cocktails, the music blasted by IHeart Radio, and the athletes, celebrities and influencers slated to make appearances on the deck throughout the tournament.
Welch noted spots on the party deck are still available for each day, and fans can upgrade their general tickets at the gate if they so choose.
That’s all fine and good. But perhaps more noteworthy is the structure sitting just off to the side of the deck — the waterball wall. There were 303 balls hit into the water at the 2022 3M Open, the most wet balls of any tournament across the entire PGA Tour schedule.
Sixty-seven of those water balls were logged at the 18th hole, where the lake is in play off the tee, as well as for anyone attempting to hit the green with their second shot.
This year, for every ball that finds the water on No. 18, a “W” will be hung on waterball wall. For every W that’s hung throughout the tournament, 12 golf balls will be donated to First Tee Minnesota.
“Our goal is to get 325, 350 people there per day that have a few Stillys and Pepsi products, and maybe go wander the course for a little bit and come back and enjoy it, and when the ball gets dumped into the water, maybe have a little bit of fun with that with the waterball wall that’s there,” 3M Open tournament director Mike Welch said. “So I think that was the spirit of it, to create a little bit of an atmosphere that is, I think, becoming more and more important in the game of golf.”
Atmosphere is an element to building a successful tournament.
Spectators of any sport like to feel as though they are a part of the action. And they need something to do in the five minutes that can take place between golf shots.
“We already get the core golf fan with the top 156 players in the world, but (the question has) always been, ‘How do you get the event seeker?’ I think we call them ‘golf curious’ — that term,” Welch said. “The folks that maybe play once a month, and enjoy the game, but maybe enjoy the social aspect of the game. … For us, it was about, ‘How do you get these 25- to 30-year-old, younger demo (who are) interested in golf but not really sure about it, but just want to come enjoy a wonderful Minnesota day and have great drink, have great food and bring your friends. And that’s really the spirit of it.”
The 3M Open certainly isn’t the first tournament to take on the challenge. The Waste Management Phoenix Open is known for its fan involvement. The par-3 16th at TPC Scottsdale is a stadium hole where fans cheer shots that hit the green, boo balls that fall off the surface and spray adult beverages all over the course if there’s a hole in one.
Other stadium par-3s have since followed. The AT&T Byron Nelson in the Dallas area recently added one. The RBC Canadian added “the rink” — an ode to the host nation’s love of hockey. It is a stadium par-3 hole in which the tees are completely surrounded by fans.
Players are generally fans of those types of holes. They enjoy getting a taste of the atmosphere that mimics what is consistently experienced in the other pro sports.
It’s cool to receive the large ovations when you hit a good shot, and if you hit a bad one, the boos feel deserved. It’s easy to play along. And the music bumping provides a fun vibe.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler told reporters the stadium hole at the Byron Nelson was “A lot o fun.”
“It was awesome. It’s a great setup,” he said. “It’s a really fun place to have the fans out there, and yeah, it was a good environment.
But this 3M Open setup will be different. First, it’s a par 5 instead of a par 3.
Also, bad shots aren’t expected to be booed but rather cheered. It’s not that spectators — who are enjoying complimentary alcohol throughout the afternoon — will want golfers to fail, but the act of “hanging a W” figures to be a fun one fans will want to do again and again. And, hey, it’s for charity.
“It’s Minnesota. It’s a conservative state by nature, but we like to have a lot of fun, especially in summer when we only have three months to have fun, if you will,” Welch said. “I do anticipate some polite cheering when the ball goes into the water. Obviously, everyone is going to want to hang a ‘W’, and I think that’s going to be a lot of fun, too. But I also do think that decorum will be showed. It’s Minnesota, right?”
Welch noted players know the risks and potential rewards for being aggressive on No. 18. And he expects fan reactions to be situational on what is the tournament’s closing hole with a potential title and a lot of money on the line.
“If it’s Friday afternoon, you might hear some cheering,” he said. “If it’s Sunday afternoon and one of the last groups, I can’t imagine that people would be cheering that. They may be more sad for that individual player. I think it depends on what you’re looking at.”
What Welch is sure of is the enjoyment fans will have watching the tournament’s most iconic hole to date. Yes, fans on the party deck are likely to get into the waterball action. It will be interesting to see if fans enjoying the shade on the other side of the fairway decide to join in on the fun.
“If you’re a general fan, (No.) 18 is absolutely where it’s at,” Welch said. “(It) will be the most fun hole to watch.”
