STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin – What do Arnold Palmer, Brett Favre and the Mona Lisa have in common? They each hold a connection to SentryWorld’s golf history.
As tens of thousands of golfers and fans start gathering at SentryWorld for the U.S. Senior Open, they’re about to step into more than 40 years of history and meticulously designed greens.
The Stevens Point Journal took a look back over 41 years of its archives for a deeper look at the history of golf at SentryWorld.
In the beginning, there were trees, rocks and swampland
SentryWorld final round on the 1982 layout, assistant pro John Knoll (left) in a caddie suit from 1982 opening day, head professional Brian Dumler (center) and superintendent Gary Tanko (right) standing at the tee of the “flower hole” with beds removed.
Work on the site started in March 1981, turning a rocky swampland area full of trees into a championship-level golf course. Crews cleared out many trees and turned their rock problem to SentryWorld’s advantage, preserving some in their natural setting, while crushing others to use on cart paths and service roads. Construction took a year and a half – half the time it took to build most courses at the time.
A Stevens Point Journal article from Aug. 19, 1982, said SentryWorld’s new golf course turned a desolate area into a majestic splendor, showing a model of modern technological advances and human resources. Even before its opening, golf experts were predicting the 200-acre par-72 course would rise to levels of other premier courses.
Four self-contained golf courses in one site were built to major U.S. tournament standards, setting up SentryWorld as a challenging course for skilled players, but with three other tee options that would accommodate less-talented players.
Bob Reith, a SentryWorld professional, called the course challenging and elegant, and said SentryWorld’s flower hole, featuring 80,000 flowers, was the only hazard he enjoyed looking at.
The entire project, including an indoor sports center, cost about $10 million and featured 80 acres of an employee park, four lakes, a softball field with lights, six lighted outdoor tennis courts and a practice driving range with practice bunker and practice putting green. The project also included 12,000 feet of fencing, 83 sand bunkers with 5,000 tons of bunker sand, 800 new trees and 5 acres of flower beds.
‘My Mona Lisa’
Emma Zhao as she walks down the 16th hole during the second round of stroke play at the…
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