Has Jay Monahan been a part of another controversy? The 2025 season of the PGA Tour kicked off at the Kalapua Plantation Course in Maui, Hawaii just a few hours ago. Fans have enjoyed watching the first round of action as Tom Hoge dominated the day with a score of 9-under par 64 to ward off the competition.

In the meantime, those who couldn’t make it to the top of the FedEx Cup or OWGR rankings last year are preparing for next week’s event. The 2025 Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii is scheduled for January 9. However, according to a recent revelation by an insider, both, aspiring professional golfers and fans are surprised by the preposterous fees to enter the pre-qualification round for the event.

As shared on X by @acaseofthegolf1, entering the golf club comes at an unreasonable cost for most who have not made it in the sport yet. The tweet was captioned, “Mondays (and pre-Qs) are so back. Tomorrow is the first pre-Q of the season for the Sony. Entry Fee $250. Practice Round $100. And if you would like to take a cart in the pre-q….$75….per person.” It also featured a picture of the fee structure for availing transportation at the venue.

Titled “Transportation,” the section in the picture provides details about how golfers can avail of the cart services. As stated, “Players have the option to ride a cart during the Pre-Qualification round,” confirming that the service is available at the Waialae Country Club. It further mentions, “There is an additional $75.00 cart fee, which must be paid at the Golf Shop before teeing off.”, showcasing the ridiculous fees the players are supposed to pay to use a cart before even entering the qualifier round.

The picture also further stated, “The (There) will be a maximum of two (2) carts per tee time. There will be no extra carts available for single players or players with caddies. If all four (4) players in the group decide to ride they must share the two carts provided for their designated tee time,” limiting the options of use for caddies and putting further strains in the system.

This is not even the first time the PGA Tour & the PGA of America have been under the radar for their ridiculous prices in the last few months. Back in October 2024, they were under the spotlight for the ridiculous ticket prices for the Ryder Cup which was not well received by the fans.

Fans had a lot to say about the absurd regulations set by the Waiʻalae Country Club and they voiced their opinions with their comments on the tweet. Let’s see what they had to say.

Fans think “that’s robbery”

The unbelievable charges of the Waiʻalae Country Club clearly riled up the golf enthusiasts. Hence, @CaddieEver’s “$75, that’s robbery for a cart with the entry fee and practice round fee! 😡🤬,” didn’t come as a surprise as they truly believe the club was looting the aspiring new players. @tinmcgavin pointed out “Damn @PGATOUR is so not even wanting player to chase the dream. 250 to play in PreQ everyone should be in carts. To Charge for a cart is Ludacris,” suggesting that Jay Monahan & co. are becoming elitist and entitled by filtering out players who can’t afford the charges.

@DSolo987 stated that “The world needs *broke ditch diggers too,” indicating that everyone loves a good humbling story of successful athletes who come from poverty. @DickBlandTrackr is perplexed by the situation as they said, “Always trips me out that practice rounds aren’t free,” hinting that the players participating in the pre-qualifier practice rounds shouldn’t be charged a dime. @JeffBruder sarcastically suggested, “That must be a mighty fine golf cart,” questioning why the charges should be equivalent to luxurious services. @dfsupdates finds it “Impressive a multi billion dollar org makes them pay for a practice round,” indicating that an established organization like the PGA Tour shouldn’t be charging for practice.

What is your opinion about the entire debacle? Share it with us in the comments section.