Tulsa Police Prepared For Extra Traffic For 2022 PGA Championship At Southern Hills

We are now six weeks away from the 2022 PGA Championship in Tulsa at Southern Hills, but the planning started long ago.

Tulsa Police say they are ready to handle all the extra traffic and people that will be in that area. Police say there will be 15 to 75 officers working around Southern Hills, every day of the tournament. They say their number one goal is safety, even if it means slowdowns for drivers.

Police say they have an extensive operation plan to handle the thousands of people who will flood into the Tulsa area for the PGA Championship in May. They say they are teaming up with Tulsa Fire, EMSA, and dozens of other entities to prepare.

"There's going to be some traffic control issues, some slowdowns. We expect there to be traffic delays from 51st street to 81st street. 61st Street will be closed the entire week of the PGA,” said Tulsa Police Traffic Safety Coordinator Lieutenant Paul Madden.

Officers say 61st Street will be closed from Harvard to Lewis starting the Sunday before the tournament. They say this is to keep people safe who are going to or from Southern Hills. Police say they want drivers to be aware of the closures now, to have time to prepare.

"You are going to have to deal with some delays, but if you don't have to be there, don't be there. It is very frustrating to have traffic delays of any type, but the PGA is coming, and there will be traffic delays,” said Madden.

Lieutenant Madden says these events require a lot of resources, manpower and can be hectic, but it is great for Tulsa.

"This is a great honor for Tulsa. It is a lot of revenue for our city and to spotlight Tulsa in this manner and have the PGA here is a real feather in our cap and we should be proud of that,” said Madden.

Police want to remind people that you aren’t allowed to park on the grass in the city of Tulsa. They say the best parking option is to park at Oral Roberts and take the shuttle to Southern Hills.