“The rope lines are definitely closer than they are at FBR, and we are able to do that because we don’t have to control a hundred thousand people on a daily basis,” Reid says. “We are controlling around 12,000 people on a daily basis, so it’s definitely a condensed version, which in reality benefits the fans.”

The course preparations leading up to the tournament also make this fall series event an exciting one to watch either on TV or as one of the 50,000 fans expected to visit during the tournament week.

After being aerated in June and overseeded in September, the fairways and greens are in optimal tournament condition and will appear especially emerald on the Golf Channel’s broadcast of the event. In addition to mature rough and the 7, 125-yard course length, the Raptor’s seventh and eighteenth holes (typically par 5’s) will be played as par 4’s, making the scorecard a total par 70.

The course’s locale also helps to attract some of the biggest names in the game, many of whom reside locally.

“There are approximately 25 to 30 PGA Tour professionals that live in Scottsdale,” Reid says. “That gives us an advantage over some other fall series events because they are here and they’ll play because they are at home. We by far have the strongest field of the fall series and are fully anticipating having the strongest field again.”