SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Sanford International begins in just a week. Three days of events will be closed to the public, as the players prep to play the Minnehaha Country Club. As the course is taking shape, the excitement is continuing to build ahead of next week’s tournament.
Work is nearly complete ahead of this year’s Sanford International.
“This is something that builds all year long, but as it gets closer and closer, like the build of the course, you start to see it come together. You realize that it’s game time, it’s tournament time,” Sanford Sports President Steve Young said. “We’re really excited.”
Much like every year, the tournament will feature another A-List of players from the Senior PGA Tour.
“Hall of Famers all over the place and major winners all over the place. It’s a terrific field and if the community loves seeing good golf, they’re going to see a lot of it,” Tournament Host Andy North said.
“Steve Stricker, the guy that is boat racing the Charles Schwab Cup right now. He’s a couple million dollars ahead, with a massive lead in first. For him to be able to make his return, he wouldn’t have to play the rest of the year if he didn’t want to win the Charles Schawb Cup,” Tournament Director Davis Trosin said. “So that just speaks to how much he enjoys coming out here, playing in Sioux Falls and around the great people in the community.”
The talented list of players coming to the Minnehaha Country Club seems endless, but part of their intrigue comes from the high volume of fans at the course.
“We try to do our best by the player experience standpoint, but it is really all about the fans. They love these hospitality venues filled up, jammed packed and maybe being a little too loud at times, but they’d much rather have that constant buzz and excitement, than to be completely dead,” Trosin said.
The Sanford International signed an extension earlier this year, through 2027, which means at least five more years of top tier golf in Sioux Falls.
“When you’ve worked your way up to be one of the top tournaments on tour and the players see you’ve just extended for another three, four or five years, that’s a big deal,” North said. “They now know they’re going to be coming to Sioux Falls for at least five more years and hopefully more in the future.”
This year’s event will begin with a player’s practice day on Monday, September 11, though that day is closed to the public.
The tournament gets underway on Friday, September 15.
