GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) -- The Wyndham Championship starts up again in a few days and is welcoming back golf fans with some changes.
This year, tournament officials are letting up to 15,000 people come to watch the best of the best go head-to-head in Greensboro.
Officials told FOX8 they are nearing that 15,000-person capacity limit, but tickets are still on sale.
Because of the delta variant, they're reinstating a mask policy to protect the players and all of the fans who want to enjoy watching golf again.
"[We're] just trying to keep everybody safe," said Tournament Director Mark Brazil.
There are some new rules on the green this year.
"If you're inside, in the indoor portion of the skybox or the luxury suite, you [should] have a mask on at all times unless you're actively eating or drinking," Brazil said. "That also obviously goes for anyone in the clubhouse."
Masks will be worn inside and even outside when people can't socially distance themselves.
"If you have 100 people or if you have 50 people that stand pretty close to one another, watching the number one tee box, or around the 9th green or 8th green or any of the greens or any of the tee boxes...we're just going to ask fans to look around and say 'this is pretty tight. Let's put our masks on,'" Brazil said.
The new restrictions for the 83-year-old tournament came down from PGA officials. It's something Brazil does think is necessary and requires cooperation from everyone.
"You just don't want to get people bunched up. You want people to feel like they have a little bit of room," he added.
If not, officials will take care of it.
"We're going to ask in a polite way. We're going to stay polite...then if somebody just is belligerent and just won't adhere to our rules, we'll probably have someone escort them off the golf course...in a very polite way," Brazil said.
Also starting Aug. 11, fans will have to fill out a quick health questionnaire. They can't shake hands, fist-bump or take pictures with players. Parking and all payments will be cashless, and tickets will all be digital.
"There's some personal responsibility involved in this from a spectator perspective, but we're asking everybody to do this together as a team," Brazil said.
On Tuesday, tournament officials also announced a kickoff party in Downtown Greensboro on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The headliner will be Chayce Beckham, who is a recent American Idol Winner.
Downtown Greensboro Inc. officials told FOX8 there is no mask requirement or social distancing policies in place yet for the free, public event.
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