2014 DSGO: Dick’s Sporting Goods Open Exemplifies the Champions Tour Fan Experience!

If you want to fully experience the Champions Tour then you may want to consider a trip to the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, contested on the En Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York. Why? Because there are the plaques that say it is so. That the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, now in its eight year, is one of the best events on the Champions Tour. In reality, the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, is older than the Champions Tour itself which began in 1980. The precessor regular tour event, the B.C. Open, was played at En Joie dating back to 1971. With the same precision, progression and persistence that the Charles Schwab Cup points leader Bernard Langer demonstrates on the golf course, Tournament Director John Karedes and his team have taken this smaller-market extravaganza to new heights of "together, everything is possible." Hanging in the En Joie clubhouse are the 2012 and 2013 Champions Tour President's Award plaques, an acknowledgement from those who know that the Dick's Sporting Goods Open is doing some pretty amazing things inside and outside the ropes. It is good to be back in my hometown and yes, maybe I am a little biased. I reminded Joey Sindelar this afternoon that it was here at En Joie that he and Mike Hulbert beat me by many strokes in the Section IV high school golf championship. I let people think it was only a few and maybe that it was even a four-day tournament but that is not so. Those guys were and are good, better than most and certainly way further up any leaderboard than this John Daly-Jim Furyk like swinger with no results other than a club championship or member-guest here and there. It's another great field this year with Bernard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Jay Haas, Jeff Sluman, Gene Sauers,  and Michael Allen present and amongst the contenders for the Charles Schwab Cup. Understandably a guy like Kenny Perry, who competed all four rounds at the PGA Championship at Valhalla and won in Minnesota the week before, is taking a week off. After all if you are from the state of Kentucky you know that some times you have to rest the horse. As for Tom Watson, well, we need the Ryder Cup Captain to focus on his Tiger Woods-less team and his strategy for the competition that is only six weeks away. Fred Funk was presented a key to the Village of Endicott for being the first and only golfer to earn $1 million competing on the En Joie Golf Course. Again the acknowledgement of what the history of the BC Open and Fred's popular win in 1996 means to the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. The presenter of the key was Dave Baker, the Deputy-Mayor of Endicott and longtime head of the volunteers. He complimented Fred two ways as a favorite of the marshals. One, he hits it straight, so the marshals are safe with minimal work moving gallery ropes (probably also why he does so well on the tight fairways of En Joie). Two, he always smiles. Something else caught my attention. Tournament Director John Karedes acknowledged and thanked the tournament sponsors including the spectators. The spectators are sponsors too? What a great perspective to consider the patrons, the paying public, as a sponsor, someone who expects to receive a benefit, and then work feverishly to fulfill that customer expectation. It takes me back to the Valley of Opportunity that the Triple Cities is and was way back when with George F. Johnson running Endicott Johnson Shoe Company and Tom Watson running the International Business Machines Company. It is only Thursday and the 2014 Dick's Sporting Goods Open is already a success. What great fun and entertainment I witnessed today. From Phil Brook getting Scott Hoch's autograph to consuming a tasty Mario's Pizza from Owego meatball sub. I had a spiedie for breakfast. a meatball sub for lunch and have reservations with some good friends for dinner at the hsitoric Oaks Inn on Oak Hill Avenue. The golfing competition starts tomorrow with two-time 2014 major winners Colin Montgomerie and Bernard Langer in the marque group with two-time major champion Mark O'Meara. Plus Friday with the Zac Brown Band is sold out and 27,000 people will be having a good time on the 18th fairway. It doesn't get anybetter than this. There was a loving interchange between Langer and Monty in back-to-back interviews on Thursday. Colin, when asked how he thinks the Schwab Cup race will play out responded: "I think it's going to play out very poorly for me for the rest of the year.  Knowing how well he's (Langer) playing, I think it's going to pan out very poorly.  I think he's playing marvelously well." By the way someone with great intuition asked that question! Langer, when informed of Monty's gesture returned the favor graciously. "Well, he's being very nice but Colin is a great champion himself.  He won two majors this year and he can outplay any of us when he's on.  Depends on who's at the top of the game, who gets the breaks." Besides those two President's Award, two of the many charities supported by the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, Broome County Catholic Charities and Wendy's Walk for Kids, won the Champions Tour 2012 Charity of the Year Award. When Bart Bryant won here in 2013 he became the 1,000 winner on the Champions Tour. Perhaps this year's competition will set a new record somehow as well. Zac Brown Band and their 27,000 fans surely will. So come out and enjoy one of the finest, if not the finest, tournaments on the Champions Tour. You deserve it! Enjoy it at En Joie! There are several other storylines told in the captions of these pictures: