FRISCO, Texas — The Omni PGA Frisco Resort opens in spring 2023 as part of an overall 660-acre golf-centered campus that aims to appeal to folks who love the game, are learning it, or those who prefer partying to putting, shopping to chipping and dining to driving that little white ball.
The hotel and resort, as well as golf courses, restaurants, shopping and entertainment venues, will open a few weeks before the Senior PGA Championship, scheduled to be played on the campus on Memorial Day.
The resort will have two 18-hole championship golf courses — one designed by Gil Hanse and the other by Beau Welling. It will have a lighted 10-hole pitch-and-putt course, golf performance/coaching center, golf-themed retail stores and restaurants, a driving range, a clubhouse and the largest putting green in the country.
Jeff Smith, vice president and managing director at Omni PGA Frisco Resort, talks about the roll-out of the resort, bookings, differentiators and related matters in the interview that follows.
What is the cost and scope of the project?
It’s a $520 million project. Omni Hotels and Resorts developed the golf courses, the main resort, and the PGA Entertainment District. The resort itself is 500 guest rooms with 49 suites. Two of those are presidential suites. We also have 10 ranch homes.
When will the resort open?
The Senior PGA Championship is committed to the resort. That's Memorial Day weekend next year. We want to be open a few weeks before that as a ramp-up to that first major tournament committed to the resort in 2023 and beyond.
What will differentiate the Omni PGA Frisco Resort from others in North Texas and across the nation?
Everybody has their own unique dynamic to their offering. Ours is golf. So you could come here, have dinner, you could be with your young child, grab a putter, and go on the largest putting green in the United States. We'll have two 18-hole setups on the putting green, and for a nominal fee of $10, you'll get your putter and your golf ball, you'll be able to putt, and then you get to keep the golf ball.
In addition to the resort itself, what are some of the biggest draws for DFW?
The airlift into Dallas is outstanding. You can fly nonstop from virtually anywhere in the United States and pretty much the world as well.
Who are the ranch homes tailored for?
Think buddy or guys or girls golf groups, C-suites for corporate groups, families may rent several of the ranch homes and have a family reunion type of leisure stay. That's the purpose or intent of the ranch homes.
Are the golf courses open to the public?
These are public courses, and they are also the home courses for the 12 high schools in the Frisco Independent School District. They are the partners on the project.
What will a round of golf cost?
We’re still working on our retail pricing. We haven’t gotten that detail yet. We’re close.
How have your advance bookings been?
Wildly successful. We have tremendous advanced bookings for the eight months that will be open next year for 2024 and 2025 and beyond. So I'm really happy with our revenue production at this point in time.
Who are some of the bigger groups?
Without specifically mentioning company names because it would be proprietary information for them, corporate groups have been really strong. We have some national brands and international brands that have already booked the resort. National associations are another real strength of ours as well.
Can you quantify your bookings?
We've got tens of thousands of rooms already booked for 2023. We have several months that are already at full capacity in terms of group bookings. The more advanced bookings you have, the more that's a leading indicator of how you're going to do financially. The leading indications are extremely strong. For 2024, we have several thousand advanced bookings, which is also very strong.
What types of events are being booked here?
In some cases, it's incentive business, so this is their way to thank their team members for doing a great job by coming here and having meetings but also golfing and enjoying the spa and things of that nature. It could be a national sales meeting. It could be a national management meeting as an example as well.
By the numbers:
- 660 — Acreage of the campus
- $520,000,000 — Project cost
- 500 — Guest rooms
- 49 — Suites
- 10 — Ranch homes
- 13 — Food and beverage venues
- 4 — Pools
- 31 — Cabanas
- 22,500 — Size, in square feet, of the grand ballroom