STEVENS POINT, Wis.,
July 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On
the eve of hosting a USGA championship, Sentry Insurance paused a
moment to honor the architect of its public parkland course on the
hole that SentryWorld is most known for, the No. 16 Flower
Hole.
The ceremony took place Friday, July
19, just three days shy of the 71st U.S. Girls'
Junior Championship, being held at SentryWorld from July 22–27. The
architect? None other than world renown golf course designer
Robert Trent Jones Jr., who turns 80
during the event. Coincidentally, Jones Jr.'s also the architect of
the course that hosted last year's U.S. Girls' Junior
Championship—Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach,
California.
Standing below the tee box amidst heat reminiscent of
Georgia, Jones Jr. explained how
he came to think of SentryWorld as not just his "Mona Lisa," but also the "Augusta of the North."
"John Joanis, then (Sentry)
chairman and my client, said, 'Bob, I'd like this to be a parkland
course like Augusta.' I said, 'You
want this to be the Augusta of the
North?' He said, 'Aim high.' And we did."
When SentryWorld opened in Stevens
Point in 1982, it was Wisconsin's first destination course. Four
years later, SentryWorld hosted its first USGA championship. Jones
Jr. returned 30 years later to help reimagine the course from
2012–2014. Golf Digest consistently ranks SentryWorld among the top
five courses in Wisconsin, and top
50 public courses to play in America.
Describing SentryWorld to those who were honoring him, Jones Jr.
said, "Maybe it is the Augusta of
the North. I see the conditioning here actually being equal to
Augusta. Now, that's a big
statement. Augusta may differ with
me, but I went out and the greens are absolutely pure. The fairways
look like greens. The white bunkers look like Augusta. It's not a sandy links course like
you're seeing in the British Open. It's its own self. And it's a
great piece of art. My Mona Lisa,
but your SentryWorld."
Learn more at sentryworld.com, usga.org, and rtj2.com.
For more information, contact:
Carolyn Schamberger
Office: 715-346-7104
Wireless: 715-315-9929
carolyn.schamberger@sentry.com
Rick LaFrombois
Office: 715-346-8239
Wireless: 715-581-9396
rick.lafrombois@sentry.com
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sentry-insurance-honors-robert-trent-jones-jr-on-eve-of-usga-championship-300888332.html
SOURCE Sentry Insurance