Our First Golf Major: Attending The 2025 PGA Championship

      Last month, Ryan and I got to cross off a bucket list item for both of us: attending a major golf championship! Majors are the four most prestigious annual competition events in the golf world. They include The Masters in April, The PGA Championship in May, The US Open in June and The Open in July. This year the PGA Championship was held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC. Ryan and I got to attend on Saturday May 17th, and I'm excited to finally recap our day at the PGA here on the blog!

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      Last year, we didn't luck out in winning the ticket lottery for The Masters for 2025 (along with millions of other golf fans!). We decided to look at other golf tournaments for 2025, and we were thrilled to see that the PGA Championship would be held in North Carolina the following year. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I went to college in Charlotte, and it's one of my favorite cities! I never turn down a chance to visit. Fun fact: I had the chance to volunteer at a couple of charity events held in the ballroom at Quail Hollow Club back in college! While I had never gotten to be out on the golf course before, I knew it would be fun to return back to such a special place 10 years later. 

       The process to get tickets for the PGA Championship does have a few steps, but is not nearly as difficult as The Masters. The PGA Championship also has a lottery, but you are more trying to get selected for the best possible day/time to buy your desired tickets, versus The Masters where it's a one in a million shot if you even get tickets. My ticket buying window was a couple days into when the process started, but I had no problem buying our tickets for Saturday, which was our desired day to attend! There were still tons available. I don't think The PGA Championship actually sold out until pretty close to when the event started. It's very different that way from obtaining Masters tickets! 

     We attended the PGA Championship with our friends Bailey and David! Bailey was a friend of mine when I was in Junior League, but she and her husband moved out of the area in 2024. We were so glad they could meet us in Charlotte and were also able to get Saturday tickets! They've been to more professional golf events then us, so they were a wealth of knowledge for how to maximize enjoyment of a tournament day as a golf fan! Ryan had never been to a professional golf event before, and I had only been to one- the Wyndham Championship in 2023 (not a major like The PGA Championship). 

     We met Bailey and David at one of the parking areas for the tournament. The parking area we chose (you pre-purchase a parking pass online) was bout 20 minutes from Quail Hollow. Shuttles run on a continuous loop all day from parking to the golf club! There were a couple hours of rain delays on Saturday morning, but when we finally got into Quail Hollow we decided to walk the first 9 holes and get a feel for the course. Not only is the Quail Hollow golf course beautiful, but so are the gigantic mansions that line the golf course! It's one of the most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods in Charlotte. 

      At Bailey and David's suggestion, we found a spot that we'd like to camp out at for most of the day. We decided to do near the green on Hole 7! Hole 7 is a Par 5, so it's a longer hole. The mansion across the water from it was also stunning, and the homeowners were hosting a viewing party all-day Saturday! I knew it would be un to not only watch golf from this hole, but also observe the party festivities. Ryan and I are pictured outside of Hole 7 below!

      We still had a bit of time before the rounds started (thanks to the rain delay), so we headed back to the course entrance so that we could check out the merch tent. The shopping tent at Quail Hollow was huge. You know how crazy Black Friday used to get at places like Walmart or Best Buy 10-20 years ago? Think that type of craziness! Thousands of people all eager to shop golf tournament merchandise! It's like sensory overload in there. There's dozens of popular men's and women's apparel brands that do collaborations for tournament merchandise. 

      I made a TikTok video here that has specific details on what Ryan and I bought, plus prices for everything and how much we spent total! You can also see our purchases pictured below. 

     When we were done shopping in the merch tent, we noticed that players in the earlier groups were starting to warm up in the practice areas. We stopped to watch some of the pros practice their putting. We could easily see Keegan Bradley and Tom Kim!

      Next we made our way back to our chosen spot of the day by Hole 7. We stopped along the way first for lunch at one of the food tents. I don't have a picture, but the food distribution system at the PGA Championship this year was really something! All food and non-alcoholic beverages were free for patrons and included with your ticket purchase. You would just walk through guided paths in the food tent, and you could grab one drink, one meal and one snack each time you went through. The ticket prices were higher this year than past years for the event since food was included, but honestly I really liked that. 

       I did also purchase a cocktail and I paid extra to get a souvenir cup, but I'm so glad that I did. Not only was it delicious, but now I have an official golf watching cup for watching it on TV at home! The cocktail was bourbon based and I don't normally like bourbon, but it tasted amazing that day.

      And then it was time to settle into our chosen spot at Hole 7 and enjoy golf! We ended up being in this spot for a few hours. 

My favorite photo that I took of the day! From L to R: Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland's caddy

Scottie Scheffler in his element. The next day on Sunday he became the PGA Championship winner!

My current favorite professional golfer, Bryson DeChambeau!

Bryson's caddy

I made Ryan take this creepy picture of me with Bryson in the background, he is my celebrity crush! Lol.

       We then ended our day with some time at Holes 1 + 2. Bailey and David ended up staying a bit later, but we were getting pretty tired from a long day in the sun, so we started heading back towards the parking shuttles. Along the way we ran into Xander Schauffele and current Masters champion Rory McIlroy playing a hole!! We got to get pretty close to them as they walked by, which was a fun way to end the day.

Rory and Xander

      And that recaps our day at the 2025 PGA Championship! We ended it with a casual dinner at a Chili's near our hotel, and then we headed to bed early. We were up pretty early on Sunday to drive back to Virginia Beach, and then we spent the rest of Sunday on the couch watching the end of the tournament! 

      One final note about the outfit I wore: I was obsessed with my athleisure dress from SSYS Boutique! It was comfortable, flattering and just the right amount of sporty. I loved it! I paired it with golf earrings from Mell's Trinkets (one of my favorite earring shops), and my trusty Hoka sneakers. These definitely are not the cutest sneakers I own, but they kept my feet comfortable and pain-free for the entire day! And I decided to pick comfort over fashion for our first golf Major experience. 

      Here's to hoping we can attend many more golf Majors in the years to come!

      

      God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese