Blind Shot
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The Unseen Game
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SANCTUARY
Sanctuary at 25
A quarter century on, the exclusive Sedalia gem continues to generate greater returns for the greater good.
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anctuary took the golf world by storm when it debuted in 1997. Commissioned by RE/MAX Co-Founders Dave and Gail Liniger, a littleknown Castle Rock architect named Jim Engh transformed 224 acres of pine, brush and sandstone between Daniels Park and Cherokee Castle into a painterly masterwork of plunging holes, superb shot values and endless eye candy. Sanctuary garnered Golf Digest’s coveted Best New Private Course of the Year, launching Engh’s career. Adding to Sanctuary’s cachet was its membership of two (the Linigers), its lack of real estate (a “sanctuary” for the area’s abundant wildlife and vegetation) and its mission of hosting tournaments held by community-minded charities to raise as much money as possible. “We are guided by a commitment to stewardship that focuses not just on habitat protection,” Dave Liniger says, “but also on good citizenship.” The first year, Liniger challenged the charities to net $100,000 in one day at Sanctuary. “When I first heard that my eyes lit up,” remembers Rudy Zupetz, Sanctuary’s first and only head PGA Professional. “Some of the groups did, and then we put in the ap-
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COLORADO AVIDGOLFER
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JUNE 2022
plication process. I thought novelty of the place might wear off in five or six years, and we’d have a drop-off. It never happened.” Two of those original charities—Anchor Center for Blind Children and Children’s Hospital—are holding their 26th tournaments at Sanctuary this summer. Others are right behind them. “This will be our 21st year,” Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain President/ CEO Robin Wise says. “Sanctuary never gets old.” Twenty-seven tournaments fill Sanctuary’s 2022 calendar. “And for organizations that don’t have the horsepower to get to that $100,000 threshold,” Zupetz explains, “Mr. Liniger personally approves 60 applications for foursomes to be auctioned at a minimum of $1,600 apiece.” Over the course of 25 years, 538 Sanctuary tournaments and roughly 1,300 foursomes have combined to generate more than $117 million net—all of which directly benefits the many constituents these organizations serve. This August, Jim Engh will go into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, and, he says, “I can think of 117 million reasons why the Linigers should be in there too.” sanctuarygolfcourse.com —JON RIZZI
PROUD MOMENT: From left, Sanctuary PGA Professional Rudy Zupetz, Superintendent David Hare, Co-founders Gail and Dave Liniger, Architect Jim Engh and Golf Digest’s Ron Whitten pose on the 18th green with the 1997 Best New Private Course of the Year Award.
