The Dakotas Tour 2017 Kicks off in Vermillion, SD

Back to the States & Ready for the Dakotas Tour 2017

Since I was coming off PGA Canada qualifiers, the journey to The Dakotas Tour began in Banff, Alberta. My wife, Mary, and I stopped a few places along the way. One of the nights we stayed near Waterton National Park in Waterton, Alberta. (Pictured below.) Absolutely gorgeous there.

Once in the states, we stopped and saw Mount Rushmore. Then, we had two big travel days to get to the Dakotas as soon as possible and on the golf course right away. We spent two nights alongside fellow RVers at Cabela’s, which is a great option for a quick stop-and-sleep.

Then, after driving 20 hours and 1,316 miles over 3 days from Banff, Alberta to South Dakota… We had made it!

We were so glad to be in South Dakota. It was our first time here and first impression? Everyone is super friendly. We felt right at home. Our plan was to stay in Yankton, SD for a few nights and then head to a boondocker location just north of Centerville, SD. (Shout out to Candace and Darrell for having us on their beautiful farm! See a pic from the door of the travel trailer below.)

Practice Round: Fox Run Golf Course, Yankton, South Dakota

Since we are down in Yankton, I figured I would practice at a location that we would be playing in a few weeks: Fox Run Golf Course. I headed out around 3 p.m.

The course reminded me of where I grew up in Canandaigua, NY: similar grasses, layouts and length. Fox Run was fairly open off the tee, with the exception of a few holes number 9 and 18 – both of which were guarded by water.

Practice Rounds: The Bluffs Golf Course, Vermillion, South Dakota

Dates: June 21 and 22

The Dakotas Tour would be officially kicking off for the 2017 season at The Bluffs Golf Course in Vermillion, South Dakota. I did practice rounds on Wednesday and Thursday. I played nine holes with a friend of mine on Wednesday afternoon. The front 9 was playing fairly easy with calm conditions. The wind was not blowing much.

Thursday was my official practice round. I teed off at 1 p.m.

The practice round went well. Course was not overly challenging, but the wind was blowing about 25 mph out of the south. This was supposed to switch the next day, making the course play completely different. One hole that stood out in particular was hole number 13. It’s kind of goofy down the hill and you can barely see where the ball lands. Other than that the course was in good shape and fun to play.

Afterward the practice round, there were kick-off events, like an amazing pork dinner and putting contest. It was a great opportunity to meet the community, local golfers and other professionals from around the country. It was clear that everyone was excited to have The Dakotas Tour 2017 starting up again! I had always heard that it was one of the most well-run tours in the country, and the first day was a really great sign of things to come.

Putting Contest Finals: And speaking of the putting contest, I made it to the putting contest finals. There were a total of 20 guys in putting finals. I unfortunately had two balls and missed both shots.