The Tour Championship is held every year at East Lake Golf Club in East Atlanta. It marks the end…read moreof the PGA Tour's regular season and is where the FedEx Cup champion is crowned. Apart from being the season finale, the Tour Championship is unlike any other tournament on the PGA Tour because its field is very limited -- only the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup Standings qualify for the tournament field. And because the field is so small, players go off in two-somes and there is no Saturday cut.
Atlanta is lucky to have a golf tournament of this caliber in the PGA Tour's rotation.
Due to the smaller field, tee times start late morning (11:30am-ish) and end early afternoon (2:00pm-ish). Since players go off in pairs, the first two rounds go by especially fast when compared to a standard-sized tournament.
I have attended two Tour Championships at East Lake and had a great time at both. It has a smaller, more intimate, and laid back feel when compared to a major (e.g. Masters, PGA Championship) or one of the bigger tournaments on Tour. It also feels a bit less crowded and the players seem more accessible.
Like any PGA Tour tournament, there are tons of tents and special booths set up by various sponsors. This year, GE had a tent where you could compare your swing to either Jim Furyk or Webb Simpson. They also had a four-point biometric system that could give you a breakdown of your weight (muscle, skeletal, water, etc.), percent body fat, balance, resting metabolic state, etc. Other tents had putting games and other swing analysis systems, and tons of giveaways.
The course itself at East Lake is always in pristine condition. I'll touch more on the course in my review for the club itself. In general, it's a compact course that is easily walkable for spectators, particularly the back nine.
The stands are well positioned and the staff is generally nice. I wish the golf shop was bigger, but I guess this isn't a major. Refreshments consist of hamburgers, hot dogs, and turkey sandwiches/wraps and plenty of Coke (title sponsor). Some stands on the back nine have things like BBQ and catfish, so they're not all the same.
Parking is a breeze since you can park for free at Turner Field and be shuttled to the course. The shuttle system is efficient, so you won't be waiting around for a bus or inside a bus for long. This applies to both arriving and departing the grounds.
While people like to go to actual tournament rounds (Thursday through Sunday), I think the Wednesday practice round is just as fun, if not, more fun. This is because you are allowed to bring cameras onto the course and the players are a lot more engaging with the fans. They sign autographs and take pictures in between holes and before and after rounds. On practice round days, it feels like you're just hanging out with golfers on the course. It's just so happens that these golfers are some of the very best in the world. It's pretty wild.
Overall, I give the Tour Championship 5 stars. It's a fantastic event and one that every Atlantan should experience at least once in their lifetime.