The Flower Hole at SentryWorld

Golf Course Overview: SentryWorld

Insights From An Insider With Danny Rainbow, Director of Golf

By Brian Weis

Local and traveling golfers love to research courses before playing them, whether it is to gain some local knowledge or to set an expectation before their upcoming round. Below is an interview with Danny Rainbow who shares some valuable insight about the property, its most talked about holes and the signature dish/drink to consume at the 19th hole.

How Does Your Course Differ From The Others In The Area?
SentryWorld's course style and conditioning differentiate it from the other premier golf courses in Wisconsin. As a parkland style course, SentryWorld offers something much different than other top courses in the state. The towering trees, bright white sand bunkers, and sparkling blue waters make it feel like a beautiful walk in the park.

SentryWorld's guests regularly comment that it's among the best-kept golf courses they've ever played, if not the best. From keeping lower tree limbs trimmed, to maintaining top-notch green speeds and turf quality, to the immaculate fairways and fallout areas, the golf course conditioning is an absolute treat to experience.

For someone who has not played the course in awhile, has there been any new changes/renovations to the course or property?
From 2012 to 2014, SentryWorld underwent a full-scale renovation of its golf course and clubhouse. The original course architect, Robert Trent Jones Jr., worked with Jay Blasi and Bruce Charlton to reinvent every aspect of the course. In addition to all new greens, fairways, bunkers, and irrigation, they designed several new holes and re-routed others. Hundreds of trees were removed. Our goal was to make the golf course more friendly and enjoyable for the average golfer, while also preparing it to challenge the game's most accomplished players.

In addition to the golf course renovation, we recreated the clubhouse. The improved facility provides a world-class pro shop experience, a state-of-the-art fieldhouse for tennis and other sports, several spectacular new meeting and event spaces, and the new local favorite, PJ's restaurant.

What is your course's answer to Amen Corner? (Describe your best/hardest 3 back/back/back holes)
Like Augusta's Amen Corner, SentryWorld's answer also lies in holes 11-13. Hole 11 is a short par 4, which may appear quite simple when looking at the scorecard or even standing on the tee. Drivable for long hitters, this hole has plenty of ways to jump up and bite you. From the water that lurks just beyond the back edge of the green, to the tiered green complex that proves challenging for even short approach shots and pitches, it's a hole that golfers certainly will remember.

Hole 12 is a beautiful new par 3, where players must carry a lake all the way from the tee box to the peninsula green. The green resides on land that was not previously part of the golf course, and is one of the great creations of Robert Trent Jones Jr. and his design team.

Hole 13 is a modified version of the previous 13th hole. What used to be a sharp dogleg right with a blind tee shot is now a straight par 4, with water to carry off the tee and water all the way down the left side of the hole. This, plus a stunning approach view.

What is your course's claim to fame, or is there a little known fact that golfers should know about the property?
One fact golfers may be unaware of is that SentryWorld's parent company, Sentry Insurance, now sponsors a PGA TOUR event. The Sentry Tournament of Champions takes place in early January at the Kapalua Plantation Course on Maui, Hawaii. The tournament features the best golfers in the world, as it's open only to players who won a PGA TOUR event the previous calendar year. Of course, the thing SentryWorld is most known for is the iconic Flower Hole. This par three 16th hole features more than 33,000 flowers surrounding its green. It's as challenging as it is beautiful.

What tournaments/events have you (recently) hosted or will be hosting?
The USGA recently chose SentryWorld as the host site for the 2019 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. The event will take place in July 2019 and will feature 156 of the best junior girls golfers in the world. The format is an outstanding test of golf and includes 36 holes of stroke play, after which the field is cut to 64 golfers, who then compete in match play until the bracket of 64 is narrowed to two girls for the 36-hole final match.

SentryWorld is incredibly proud to host this prestigious championship and welcomes such a wonderful golf championship to the state of Wisconsin.

Besides golf, what other amenities do you offer if a golfer wants to spend most of the day at your facility?
SentryWorld offers two excellent restaurants: PJ's and Muse at Sentry. The facility also offers tennis, pickleball, table tennis, bean bag toss, volleyball, an indoor driving range, and a golf simulator on which you can play legendary courses from around the world. Beyond SentryWorld, the Stevens Point area is home to multiple breweries, distilleries, nature trails, and great fishing.

Signature sandwich or drink?
The Cheese Curds at PJ's are the best you will ever taste, so make sure not to pass them up! For the finest dry-aged steaks and handmade pastas, visit Muse at Sentry.

PJ's offers its own PJ's White Ale, brewed by the local Stevens Point Brewery. Muse has a fantastic lineup of craft cocktails that would rival some of the best big cities have to offer.

Contact Course
SentryWorld
601 N Michigan Ave
Stevens Point, WI, 54481
715-345-1600
www.sentryworld.com

Revised: 03/23/2018 - Article Viewed 23,972 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.