STEVENS POINT, Wis. — One of the best parts of Danny Rainbow’s job is watching golfers react to the environment at SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point.
“I get to see these people come through here every day and see that moment that the jaw drops and they’re like, ‘Wow, this place is stunning. It’s beautiful,’” he said. “The experience is different than what I’m used to having when I go to other golf courses.”
Rainbow is the director of golf at the course.
SentryWorld isn’t anticipating a surge in business for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The course — owned by Sentry Insurance — is roughly two-and-half hours northwest of the convention’s host city.
“We certainly hope everyone who is coming to visit Wisconsin takes a look a little bit outside of that Milwaukee area as well,” Rainbow said. “Milwaukee is a fabulous city. Love it down there. Hopefully, they take a look around and see what else the state has to offer. You get up this way towards central Wisconsin and we’ve got some of the best golf in the entire state, in the entire country, really.”
While there may be very little, if any, spillover business from the convention into north central Wisconsin, hosting the convention is still seen as a win for the entire state by Megan Vruwink.
Vruwink is with of the Stevens Point Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“I do see it as an awesome way to gain visibility for our state as a whole,” she said. “We do find that once people have a good experience, no matter where they are in the state, they’re more likely to open up their eyes to the other awesome things to see and do here.”
Attractions around Stevens Point range from the Wisconsin River to trail systems beer, wine and spirits makers and golf.
“Overall, having the U.S. Senior Open here at SentryWorld opened people’s eyes to how great of a course SentryWorld has to offer.”
A year after hosting the U.S. Senior Open, SentryWorld is still reaping the benefits of that domestic and international exposure.
“Our bookings are off the charts compared to what they were before. We saw it immediately during the championship, bookings were happening at an insane pace compared to what they were,” Rainbow said. “This year, we’re 176% over where we were at the same time last year in terms of bookings”
