The Philadelphia Cricket Club Wissahickon Course was built more than 100 years ago. To accommodate thousands of fans for the Truist Championship, things look a little different this week.

Jim Smith, COO and director of golf and Flourtown general manager, took CBS News Philadelphia on a tour of the historic golf course.

The course holes were rerouted to accommodate the thousands of people coming to watch the best golfers tee off.

"I look at it and I'm like, this is insane. It's literally insane what they do to get ready for a big event like this," Smith said.

It's a "pinch me moment" for Smith, who's been here for 20 years.

"This is a great place. A lot of people have always given us a lot of love. ... When this materialized in early '24 and we started talking, we're kind of like pinching ourselves, going, 'Is this really going to happen?'" Smith said.

It certainly is happening — and happening quickly. The hospitality build-out, for instance, only started a few months ago.

"One of the things as a spectator that I would be looking for ... would be try to find locations where there's a little bit of elevation so you can see a lot," Smith said.

A good tip from Smith for the 12,000-14,000 fans expected each day during the championship.

"This is going to show the world how Philadelphia treats golf, and how much they love it," Smith said.

Smith said "virtually every player" is coming to the tournament, and none of them, he said, have ever been here. He describes it as a "cozy environment."

"I think people that come to this and have been to others, will tell you that this will be the best viewing opportunity they've ever had at a professional golf event," Smith said.

With that, the tour continues to the tournament front nine, which is the best place, Smith believes, for people to watch.

"First of all, it's a great spot to watch just because there's no buildings," Smith said. "So you're going to have basically a par 5 that the players are going to be salivating to get their paws on because it's probably going to be a birdie hole. It's going to be followed by two par 4s that are both fairly difficult, but could make birdie, and then a brutal par 3."

Smith suggests fans start here, and then take an hour or two to walk the entire course.

"This is just going to be a really cool week, and the world of golf and many other eyes are going to be on us and we'll do our best to do a great job," Smith said.

There's certainly some Philly flair for fans to experience.

"We've been doing golf and this has to be one of the most special venues because Tillinghast design – you get so many golf views," Eric Chaves, director of sales for the Truist Championship, said. "Really we built a little city within Philly Cricket Club. Right across from the fan shop is what we call Independence Square."