Little did we know that most of the golf courses in the Des Moines IA area were going to be closed due to severe flooding. Fortunately, in the little town of Panora, IA a hidden gem of a golf course stood up to the abnormal weather conditions and set a great stage for the Central Plains Semi-Final Championship.
The Lake Panorama National Golf Resort (Home of the 2010 Iowa Open) faired better than most, as some of the courses in the area were under water, along with many roads in and around the area. It certainly made some interesting challenges for the competitors to just arrive at the golf course. Parts of the course did suffer from the rainfall, but the greens remained in great shape and for the most part, the course was in good condition.
The event started out hot and muggy. Temperatures were heading up the thermometer into 3 digit range. Coupled with the humidity, it made for a challenging situation just to stay in an upright position out on the course, not to mention the bad hair days. It wasn’t looking well for the Saturday Championship round.
However, as Saturday dawned, we were surrounded by fog, which was a new addition to the weather issues. Fortunately, it did not present a problem for long as it burned off rather quickly. We then had overcast skies, cool temperatures and no rain for Tournament Day. They say timing is everything and it sure was true this time.
The Des Moines Chapter provided goodie bags for all competitors as well as extra water and cool towels out on the course. Many thanks to them for making everyone feel welcome in your neck of the woods.
Wynn Walters rounded up plenty of volunteers to help the tournament run smoothly and make for a successful event. On a sad note, one of the competitors – Robin Toney-Webb, had to withdraw from the tournament due to a tragic loss in the family. Our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.
Although not everyone was able to advance to the Finals in Lake Geneva, everyone there was a winner by advancing from their own Chapter Championships. We look forward to seeing a great showing in October at the Finals.
Click here for complete tournament results.
