Was the U.S. Senior Open SentryWorld’s formal unveiling to the golf world? Mike Whan thinks so

STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin — The final tee shot has been struck, the last putt has dropped, and the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy has been raised.

Bernhard Langer’s record-setting victory in the 43rd U.S. Senior Open Championship on Sunday at SentryWorld was a fitting end to a week that was by almost every measure a resounding success.

The United States Golf Association doesn’t announce official attendance numbers, but spectators were out in full force, especially on the weekend with Wisconsin favorites Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly in contention.

And the course — which few of the players had seen prior to the first practice round Tuesday — received rave reviews as a challenging but fair test, with only eight players finishing under par.

“SentryWorld, you guys have had a nice secret here in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, we just let the world know about it. This is a true American gem,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said during the trophy presentation.

As the teardown and cleanup commences after a historic week in central Wisconsin and the course gets ready to reopen for public play, what’s next for SentryWorld?

“I would honestly say I don’t know,” Sentry CEO Pete McPartland said. “We don’t have specific ambitions within the game of golf, (but) it’s to maximize every opportunity we have. Anywhere reasonably that this takes us, we’ll go. I know the game of golf’s not going anywhere as far as the role it plays within Sentry. We’re going to keep trying to double down in whatever way we can, but I don’t know what all those things may be.”

Hank Thompson, senior director of the U.S. Senior Open, said Sentry and the golf course checked every box in the two-year lead-up to the tournament and withstood every test during championship week.

“They’re clearly in the hospitality business, but I think that’s part of the DNA in Wisconsin to be quite frank with you,” Thompson said. “At every turn, they’ve wanted to do what’s right for this championship.”

The question is did the USGA, which also brought the U.S. Girls Junior Championship in 2019 and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in 1986 to SentryWorld, see enough to bring back the Senior Open?

If the answer is yes, there are plenty of open dates on the calendar.

Newport Country Club in Rhode Island will host in 2024, followed by The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2025. Sites for 2026 through 2029 have not been announced. Spyglass Hill in Pebble Beach, California, will host in 2030 and Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has been announced as the site for 2032 and 2042.

Thompson said for the USGA to consider coming back, Sentry needs to make the first move.

“If we get invited back, we’re going to have a hard time not at least looking hard at it and potentially coming back,” Thompson said. “That’s the bottom line for any of our championships. We have to be invited, first and foremost. Until we get an invitation, we might come knock on the back door and say, ‘Can we talk?’ But that’s ultimately what we have to have before we can do that.”

Even if the USGA doesn’t come back soon, there may be other options for prominent golf events at SentryWorld.

Mark Rolfing, an NBC golf analyst and longtime supporter of Sentry, said there are limitations to the events SentryWorld could host, but he offered an event he thinks would be a perfect fit.

“Are they going to have the U.S. Open here? No. Are they going to have the Ryder Cup here? No. But, the Midwest is such a great area to have certain kinds of events that I could see SentryWorld, even with this relationship with the USGA, going into another area,” Rolfing said. “An event that I’m looking at — and I haven’t talked to anybody about this — but I’ve been involved in the event before and I was involved in choosing the site for the event back in 2009 — is the Solheim Cup. To me, this would be a phenomenal Solheim Cup site.”

The Solheim Cup is a biennial women’s version of the Ryder Cup, pitting Europe against the United States.

The 2024 Solheim Cup is at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, and the 2026 event is at Bernardus Golf Club in The Netherlands, but no sites have been announced for future dates on American soil.

“Those kind of events do really well in the Midwest,” Rolfing said. “They’ve been in Des Moines, Iowa, and they just knock them dead there. They’ve been in Toledo, Ohio. Solheim Cup doesn’t work in L.A. It doesn’t work in metropolitan New York area. It works in the Midwest and in markets like this and it works at a place where you have sports fans that are knowledgeable and just rabid fans like you do in Wisconsin.

The 16th hole, the “flower hole”, at the SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. on Monday, July 25, 2022. (Copyright USGA/Fred Vuich)

“The USGA relationship is only going to open up more doors and even though they may not have a financial or partnership relationship with let’s say the LPGA, the relationship with the USGA and the PGA Tour is going to open the door for somebody like the LPGA for a site like this. This place would be perfect for a Solheim Cup, it really would.”

McPartland calls Rolfing “our seeing-eye dog in the game of golf,” so if Rolfing thinks SentryWorld would be a good site for the Solheim Cup, McPartland isn’t about to disagree.

“He’s very much aligned with us and he’s always thinking on our behalf. And he’s seldom been wrong,” McPartland said. “So if Mark thinks that, it’s probably a very good idea.”

Rob Labritz, who tied for fourth place Sunday, had praise for the course and the fans for making it a memorable experience.

“Great golf course, great crowds. And then just great play,” he said. “SentryWorld is a heck of a golf course. Then the Wisconsin people out here are just awesome. They just get behind golf. … My hat’s off to everybody out here. It was pretty awesome.”