WISCONSIN TO BASK IN ITS ‘SENIOR MOMENTS’ THIS SUMMER

BY GARY D’AMATO

all it the Wisconsin Senior Slam.

The best golfers in the world ages 50 and older will visit America’s Birdieland not once but twice in a three-week span in 2023.

First, the PGA Tour Champions will make its seventh stop in Madison for the American Family Championship, June 9-11. Eighteen days after the final putt drops at University Ridge, and just 125 miles up Interstate 39, many of the golfers in the AmFam field will tee it up at SentryWorld in Stevens Point in the first round of the 43rd U.S. Senior Open.

In short order, the AmFam Championship has become one of the most popular stops on the Champions tour and has raised more than $14.8 million for charity. The 54-hole, no-cut tournament has an 81-player field; the purse in 2022 was $2.4 million.

The U.S. Senior Open, scheduled for June 29 through July 2, is conducted by the United States Golf Association and is a 72-hole championship with a purse of $4 million, the biggest on the Champions tour. After 36 holes, the field of 156 is cut to the low 60 scorers and ties.

Unlike the AmFam, which is open only to professionals, amateurs whose Handicap Index does not exceed 3.4 are eligible to qualify for the Senior Open.

In other locales, two events for senior golfers just weeks apart might result in “tournament fatigue” and a dilution of ticket sales and corporate support. But Nate Pokrass, tournament director of the AmFam Championship, has no doubt that Wisconsin fans will support both events.

“We look at the Senior Open just like the U.S. Open when it was at Erin Hills (in 2017), and the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup up at Whistling Straits,” he said. “We view it as great for the game of golf and great for the state of Wisconsin. The state, all the fans, obviously love golf in Wisconsin and having the two events, I believe we lift each other.

“We feel it just lifts the game of golf and we’re glad to be a part of it.”

Of course, it helps that two of the best players on the Champions tour call Madison home and have outstanding track records in both events.

Jerry Kelly is a two-time AmFam champion and finished tied for third last year. He has been a fixture on the U.S. Senior Open leaderboard, with four top-10 finishes, including back-to- back years (2018-’19) in which he tied for second place.

Steve Stricker is the AmFam tournament host, and although he hasn’t won at University Ridge, he has never finished worse than 11th and in 2019 lost in a three-way playoff — with Kelly emerging victorious.

The very next week, Stricker repaid the favor, pulling away to a six-stroke

WE LOOK AT THE SENIOR OPEN JUST LIKE THE U.S. OPEN WHEN IT WAS AT ERIN HILLS (IN 2017), AND THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AND RYDER CUP UP AT WHISTLING STRAITS. WE VIEW IT AS GREAT FOR THE GAME OF GOLF AND GREAT FOR THE STATE OF WISCONSIN. THE STATE, ALL THE FANS, OBVIOUSLY LOVE GOLF IN WISCONSIN AND HAVING THE TWO EVENTS, I BELIEVE WE LIFT EACH OTHER.” – NATE POKRASS victory over Kelly and David Toms in the U.S. Senior Open on the Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.

In Stricker’s only other Senior Open appearance, he finished second last year to Padraig Harrington, just one stroke back after a closing 65.

In addition, Stricker has a history at SentryWorld, having won the WIAA title there in 1984, when he was a junior at Edgerton High School.

“That’s sweet!” Stricker wrote in a text when he learned that SentryWorld would host the 2023 U.S. Senior Open. “To be a former champion and to be here in my home state where I won the state high school championship is really cool. Wow, it’s come full circle!”

Among those who are likely to attempt to qualify for the Senior Open are Madison native Mario Tiziani, who on the Champions tour, and Fox Point native Skip Kendall, who has made more than 725 starts in PGA Tour-sanctioned events. Qualifying will take place over 18 holes at sites to be determined between May 10 and June 8.

“The history of Wisconsin golfers is tremendous,” Pokrass said. “Obviously, Steve and Jerry and Mario and Skip all compete in the AmFam Championship and of course we have Andy North and his legacy and impact on the game of golf. We’re certainly proud of all of them.

“We love having Skip every year and Mario and of course Steve and Jerry.

It’s great for our tournament. And we hope a couple of weeks later they go up to Stevens Point and all of them are competing at the top of the leaderboard.”

The U.S. Senior Open was held once previously in Wisconsin. In 2007, Brad Bryant won at Whistling Straits, with Ben Crenshaw finishing runner-up.

Sentry Insurance has built strong relationships with both the PGA Tour and the USGA. The mutual insurance company has been title sponsor of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui since 2018 and last August announced an extension through 2035. Sentry is the USGA’s official insurance partner, and SentryWorld played host to a wildly successful U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2019.

Sentry has gone to extraordinary lengths to prepare SentryWorld for the U.S. Senior Open. The course was closed for all of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and remained closed for all of 2021 as it underwent modifications for the Senior Open.

Among the changes were the narrowing of fairways on most of the par-4 and par-5 holes, moving some fairway bunkers, modifying three greens (on Nos. 4, 5 and 18) and adding some new back tees. The course will measure more than 7,200 yards for the U.S. Senior Open.

In 2020, SentryWorld installed a sub-air system under all 18 greens and the practice green. The sub-air system allows the greens to dry faster after rain events; also, cool air can be blown through the system on hot summer days, when the grass would otherwise be stressed.

And last year, the company opened the Inn at SentryWorld, a 64-room boutique hotel built adjacent to the 18th hole.

SentryWorld will not open to the public in 2023 until after the U.S. Senior Open.

“From an agronomic standpoint, we put our course to bed (in the fall) as we normally do and if there are any issues that arise in the spring — snow mold or anything like that — we’ll have plenty of time to address it because nobody will be on the golf course until the championship starts,” said general manager Mike James. “That just shows the commitment and dedication we have to this championship. I’m sure it’s going to pay huge dividends for the players when they step on the tee.”

There are no plans for cross-promotion between the two events, but Pokrass and James are excited about the prospect of a very special month of June.

“I would expect the Senior Open to have great success up in the Stevens Point market,” Pokrass said. ‘From our standpoint, we’re happy that another major is coming to Wisconsin. Just like in the past, as we look back at the U.S. Open and the PGA and the Ryder Cup, all those events when they’ve been in the same years that we’ve had our tournament, our ticket sales have been strong, our corporate sponsorship has been strong and our volunteer support has been strong. So, we feel good about it.”

Said James, “How do we both capitalize on two fantastic senior golf tournaments in the state of Wisconsin in one year, a couple weeks apart? It can be a great thing for both of us, and for the state.”