This past week Skip and Mark from KIWA attended the first ever Sanford International golf tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The inaugural event took place at the Minnehaha Country Club September 17-23rd. Practice rounds were played early in the week along with some Pro Am play where those of you that wanted to be a part could play with a Pro and challenge the rest of the field of players. However in-climate weather hampered things just a bit and they even called off the play on Thursday so the helicopters could low level cruise the fairways and blow dry them for play the next day. Saturday had a very special 2 man best ball challenge between 4 legends of the game Jack Nicholas, Andy North, Dave Stockton, and Graham Marsh where Graham sank a 30 footer to win the challenge by 1 stroke at 4 under par for the 9 hole challenge!
It turned out to be an awesome experience and we were amazed by the wonderful hospitality of Sanford International staff, Cambria staff and the many other hospitality oulets there to serve the golf loving public. We hung out on the last day directly above the 10th tee as the many professionals striped the fairway and moved on to the green. When then walked about a 150 feet to catch the leaders teeing off on Hole Number 1 for their final round play. Steady play by many great names was very impressive on the well groomed course. Everyday players of the game fired through on a beautiful sunlit breezy day to see Steve Stricker a Wisconsin name to take home the Cambria Marble trophy and his fair share of the 1.8 million dollar purse. Players such as Larry Mize celebrating his 60th birthday , Mark O’Meara, Colin Montgomerie, Jay Haas, Jesper Parnavik, Rocco Mediate, Kirk Triplett, Corey Pavin, Steve Pate, Mark Calcavecchia, Vijay Sigh, Darren Clarke and many more in the field of 78 graced the tees and greens in Sioux Falls South Dakota.
It was a great experience enjoyed by these 2 KIWA golf enthusiasts. Hard to believe just how many tournament victories if added up were present at the Minnehaha Country Club. These guys are a true pleasure to watch follow and enjoy as we got a chance to see US and International players compete so close to home. The greatest thing is it is the first of 5 years they will host this event. Thank you to those great hosts for this awesome event and we look forward to its return.
