Location: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Vendor: InProduction
Client: WM Phoenix Open and its organizers, The Thunderbirds
Cost: N/A
The issue: Create an enclosed stadium-type environment that defies the quiet politeness that often characterizes golf.
Gist of the structure: InProduction and the WM Phoenix Open PGA Tour stop have worked together for more than two decades, all the while growing this outsized structure into one of golf’s most recognizable sights.
The 16th hole is one of the largest temporary stadiums built each year in the U.S., requiring 12 million pounds of material delivered by roughly 160 trucks. Work on this year’s event began last September, concluding early this year. It’s a roughly 150-day build, leaning on a peak crew of 120 to 140 workers for six to eight weeks.
The structure wraps around the 16th hole and measures a quarter of a million square feet. The completely reusable kit of parts includes modular hospitality structures, grandstand seating, premium suites and frameless glass railings.
The structure was redesigned for the 2026 tournament, including the debut of the Pin Hi Club, which grew one portion of the coliseum to four stories.
Total capacity at the 16th hole is roughly 14,000, about 3,700 of which are general admission. It’s a major revenue driver for the event, delivered by one of the pro golf world’s leading providers of temporary structures.
Noteworthy: This year’s new 16th hole design cut the number of vertical supports in half, improving sightlines. Restrooms also doubled from previous years, thanks to new mezzanine levels.
