Fields Ranch (East)

Fields Ranch, named for the prior headquarters of Bert Fields’ Ranch is a part of the larger Omni PGA Frisco campus which includes a hotel, ranch houses, shops, restaurants, offices, event spaces and most importantly 46 holes of golf from Gil Hanse and Beau Welling.

Welling and his team were responsible for the master planning of the overall site and worked with Hanse’s team to determine which sections of the property each course would utilize. The courses were constructed at the same time and opened within a month of each other.

The East is the “championship course” and will be the host of 26 events in the first 12 years for the PGA of America which relocated here in 2022. The big events being the PGA Championship (2027, 2034), KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (2025, 2031), Senior PGA Championship (2023, 2029) and is a potential future Ryder Cup site.

Opened in 2023 and designed by Gil Hanse, the East course uses the broad expanses of the rugged ranch terrain to build a natural course in harmony with the rolling land, winding creeks, and deep gullies. Wider fairways and tumultuous green surrounds place a priority on the approach into the smaller, gently sloping greens.

Bunkering is varied and dramatic but proportionate to the vast landscape and visually frame or blind landing areas. There was some land movement needed during construction; Hanse stated that “we had to figure out how to get the golf course above the 100-year floodplain level.” He continued that “it was 8 holes we found, and the other 10 are the ones we had to create. But from that standpoint, those holes have a great natural flow and feel to them.” That natural flow culminates in an exciting 5-hole finish where a lot of ground can be made up or given away with 2 reachable par 5s, a short par 3 and drivable par 4.

The East is a strong test but is admirably built for all ages and skill levels with 2,800 yards of teeing ground variance (5,012-7,863 yards) that you can tell was not an afterthought. The back and front tees fit seamlessly together and do not weaken the architectural intent of the holes. This also provides the PGA of America with many fun and exciting options on each hole that should be fun to watch professionals try to navigate.