The Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa hosted the 2019 Honor the Earth Golf Tournament over the weekend at their newly purchased Big Fish Golf Course. Honor the Earth was a two-day golf tournament with a field of 30 teams. Each team consisted of three golfers who all played in a scramble format. This year, total allotted prize money was $5,200 which ensured that the top four teams in each flight got paid out. First place received $575, second place received $475, third place received $400, and fourth place received $300. Out of the 30 teams that played, 12 teams received cash back, which makes this tournament one of the most desirable tournaments to play in northern Wisconsin. The first day, being Saturday the 20 th was filled with speculations about the weather not holding up. The organizers of the tournament decided to play anyway, and it was a real test for all the teams! Pete Dye would have truly been impressed with the course if he were to see it and everyone playing on Saturday got a taste of how Dye wanted the course to be played; windy, long, and challenging! Sunday was a picture-perfect day at Big Fish and one of the best days to play golf of the year! Participants got a great feeling of what the course is all about and battled through a tough Saturday to get to a perfect Sunday! Teams from the Green Bay area were all impressed with the course and loved the links style on the front and the traditional northern Wisconsin back nine. Considered to be one of the best tournaments of the year at Big Fish, this tournament did not disappoint and there are already teams interested in next year’s tournament. There are not many tournaments that offer a great two-day event along with almost half of the teams being paid back.

In the championship flight, the team of Waylon Denny shot a great 120 to win the flight, taking second was one of the hometown favorites, the team of Chris Rusk who shot a 122, taking third was another hometown favorite, the team of Brent Toft who shot 125, taking fourth was the team of David Bellany who shot 125. In the second flight, the team of Erwin Danforth shot 131 to take first place. Taking second was the team of Lorinda Bird who shot a 134 and won the handicap hole playoff against the team of Jay Blackdeer who also shot 134 to take 3 rd and the team of Dwayne Skenandore who also shot 134. In the third flight, the team of George Taylor Sr. shot a great 138 to win the flight. This score included a final round 65 to seal the victory for them. In second, the team of Willy Greendeer shot a very nice 143. The team of Daryl Wandahsega shot a 145 to take third. Finally, the team of Ed Thompson shot a 146 to round out the event and place 4 th in the third flight.

We would like to thank our awesome sponsors, Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board, Lac Courte Oreilles Health Center, Lac Courte Oreilles Housing Authority, Sevenwinds Casino, Lodge, and Conference Center, all of the extraordinary volunteers, and most importantly, Indy Thompson and the staff of Big Fish Golf Course Lac Courte Oreilles! We are all looking forward to next year’s Honor the Earth Golf Tournament!