Omni PGA breaks ground in Frisco, Texas

(The Center Square) – The Omni PGA Frisco Resort broke ground Tuesday in Frisco, Texas, continuing to fuel Texas’ continued expansion of business creation and jobs.

The groundbreaking comes three years after the PGA of America announced in 2018 that it was leaving Palm Beach, Florida, and relocating to Frisco, pledging to bring big golf tournaments with it. The project includes a $500 million pledged investment in the creation of a 600-acre mix-use development and the creation of hundreds of jobs.

PGA of America hopes to host two PGA Championships by 2027 and 2034 in Frisco, and possibly a future Ryder Cup.

“Our move to Frisco will be transcendent for the PGA of America,” Seth Waugh, CEO of PGA of America, said in 2018, adding that the move would “deliver innovative and differentiated experiences for our nearly 29,000 PGA golf professionals, golfers of all abilities and our staff.”

Gov. Greg Abbott participated in the Tuesday groundbreaking with Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney, PGA of America President Jim Richerson, and Omni Hotels & Resorts President Peter Strebel.

“Despite the challenges of the past year, Texas has remained the economic engine of America – and projects like the Omni PGA Frisco Resort are continuing to fuel Texas’ economic might,” Abbott said.

Omni PGA Frisco Resort is forecast to open in spring 2023. The new resort will include two championship level golf courses and a short course, 501 guest rooms and suites, Golf Villas, multiple dining outlets, a Mokara Spa, meeting and event spaces, in addition to other amenities and facilities. The resort is a partnership between Omni Hotels & Resorts and the PGA of America.

The groundbreaking coincided with a proclamation Abbott issued recognizing May 2-8 as Travel and Tourism Week in Texas. Abbott also released a video highlighting “the power of travel to drive economic recovery in Texas and in celebrating the contributions of the travel and tourism industry in the Lone Star State.”

“In Texas, we know that it is not our challenges that define us, but rather how we overcome them, and the men and women of our travel and tourism industry have set their sights firmly on the future by charting a road to recovery,” the proclamation states.

Prior to the statewide shutdown last year, 1 in 10 Texas jobs were created by the roughly $169.8 billion travel industry.

Last September, the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office said it was working with 196 active relocation or expansion projects with companies moving to or expanding in Texas. The volume of potential corporate relocations and expansions is far more than in previous years, the office notes.

For the 17th year in a row, Texas was named the “Best State for Business” in 2020 by the nation’s leading CEOs in an annual survey conducted by Chief Executive Magazine.

Texas, with no income tax, remains the fastest growing state in the U.S. After the 2020 Census count, Texas gained an additional two congressional seats. Texas also has led the U.S. in total exports for 19 years, and tech exports for eight.

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