Viewing spots at TPC Boston

The FM Global Championship is going to be held at TPC Boston from August 28-August 31.

The field is far stronger this year, mainly because the Solheim Cup is not being held this year, so the likes of Nelly Korda will tee it up instead of resting up for the team event which usually happens in early September.

Bay Staters Megan Khang and Alexa Pano are both in the field, too.

I attended the Dell Technologies/Northern Trust at TPC Boston a few times. I was also lucky enough to play the course in May of 2023 to check it off my list (thanks, Dean!).

The course is rather spread out. If you’re a walker and want to see the whole property, I’d recommend it.

However, it’s not a great course to follow a specific group. There are some long walks, and players hop on a golf cart to reach the next tee. You can walk the course, just know you might be hustling to keep up with a group.

The event is kid-friendly. Players are accessible; they sign autographs after the round and there’s a kid section for those young ones who might need to get some energy out. Last year, it was behind the 16th green.

Golf tournaments can be tough to attend because there are so many choices. You don’t have a seat, so you can wander the course, and it can feel overwhelming. Toss in making decisions with friends, and it can be downright exhausting.

Here are a few spots that you could visit to see a variety of shots. Park yourself in one spot for an hour, watch groups come through, and then hop over to another spot.

Driving Range

Just go soak up the rhythm of the best players in the world. Bathe yourself in their tempo. I always love sitting on the range and watching players settle into their day and get ready for a round of golf. The consistency is mesmerizing, too. Wander over to the chipping green while you’re at it.

Second green/third tee

The second hole should provide some interesting shots. It’s a par 5 with water in play on the approach. The green offers some safe haven long, so there might be some cool chip and pitch shots. The third hole is a long, uphill par 3 that should offer a lot of variation as far as the types of shots players will hit.

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Fourth Green

A short par 4 with a wild, small green. It was drivable for the men when they played TPC Boston. It’s a fun spot to sit and watch players hit wedges from some tricky spots and navigate the skinny green. It’s the type of hole that made Justin Rose tomahawk his wedge and MF his caddie after chipping in for birdie. There’s nothing better than hearing Paul Burke tell that story.

Fifth green/sixth tee

This is a cool spot to watch players as the green and tee are in close proximity. The sixth hole is one of my favorites on the course. A tough par 4, so players should be ripping driver. The par-5 7th hole also runs parallel to the 6th hole, so if there is a player you’d like to see a couple of times, you could watch her play the 7th hole, too.

Ninth green

There’s something about this spot that I really liked when watching the PGA Tour. The green looks mundane, but then after watching groups come through it’s subtleties show. Players can roll the ball onto the green, as it sits in the ground. The slope from back to front can leave some tricky putts.

Fifteenth green/Sixteenth tee

The back nine is kind of tough to navigate. It’s spread out without a lot of spots to see a variation of shots. The fifteenth hole is a hard par 4, and the 16th is probably the course’s signature hole. It’s a short par-3 over water. I’m not sure it’s going to offer much challenge to the players, though.

Eighteenth Green

This green site is something else. The cavernous runoff area left of the green is far deeper in person. Trying to get up and down from that area is no picnic and someone might have to do it to win the tournament on Sunday. The hole will likely be a three-shotter for the women. It’s a forced carry to reach the green, but here’s hoping they set it up to tempt players into trying to reach it on their second shot.