This past Labor Day weekend, I got to go with my dad to the Deutsche Bank Championship, one of the stops on the FedEx Cup tour of the PGA Tour of golf. The coolest part of all of this was that it was located a few towns over from where we live, in Norton, MA, which is also where I went to college.
We started our morning just after breakfast and parked at the Xfinity Center which is where they had general and VIP parking. General parking is $20 for the day while VIP is $40. VIP Parking gets you dropped off closer to the action, but we were all set with the general parking and a nice walk. I was curious about how many steps we would take (I wore the Withings Pulse along with a Fitbit Charge HR to compare them). When you drive in to the Xfinity Center you can go to the Will Call window to pick up tickets that were left for you or else you can also purchase tickets. Then you park your car and go through a ticket and bag check and then board shuttle buses.
After you get off of the bus, you walk quite a bit on paved and unpaved paths until you arrive at the 9th fairway which is the first green you see. There are a few sponsor booths located on the 9th green which we were able to get some snacks from the Nature Valley granola bars to munch on.
We walked into the main sponsor area and had passed the merchandise tent which we also found some great items on clearance! They also had a huge assortment of hats, t-shirts, polo shirts, long-sleeved wicking shirts, jackets, pretty much anything you could think of! One of the most popular items for the kids was a replica hole flag that they could have the players sign in autograph alley (a space where the players go after they are done golfing).
We stopped at a few of the sponsor booths and then also checked out the Kids Village where they had some fun things for kids to do with bouncy houses, corn hole and mini-golf of course! It was really nice because it was located in a really shady spot right near the clubhouse.
We tried some of the scrumptious food, but we really liked the plain hamburgers that we ate in the Champions Club. For an additional $40 to your ticket you could gain access to the Champions Club which is located on the 17th fairway and is air conditioned and has some nice upscale food choices (panini, etc.) and a bar. There is also a private air conditioned bathroom just for Champions Club guests which is great if you’re not a fan of port-a-potties.
We walked around more of the course and I just couldn’t get over how great the grass looked - such attention to detail! I even had the chance to chat with John Boeddeker, who is a cameraman for NBC Golf Channel and is perched high above a 120 foot tall crane to get those amazing photographs! He started a few years back taking pictures with his cell phone and posting them online and people urged him to make a book of it, which he finally did. He gave me a copy to check out and giveaway to one of my lucky readers! You can enter through the rafflecopter below.
We checked out a few more of the sponsor booths and then followed some of the players from hole to hole. On Saturday we watched Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy as well. Sunday we saw Kevin Kisner and even watched him up close as one of his balls landed near some spectators. One of the highlights was also waiting in autograph alley and finally getting Rickie Fowler (last year’s winner) to sign my ticket.
The final round of the championship ended today and after two days of checking out the grounds, I decided to just watch it on TV. It was pretty cool that what I was watching on TV was happening a few towns over.
if you guys are looking for a great family experience, I strongly recommend checking out the Deutche Bank Championship next year, just be sure to plan ahead as it’s a lot of walking with the kiddos!
NOTE: We were provided with tickets and parking in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided. All opinions, as always, are our own.
