After five inches of rain hit the Sioux Falls, S.D. club on the eve of its hosting the first round of the PGA Tour Champions Sanford International tournament, the tournament sponsor, Sanford Health, called in an off-duty vehicle from its airlift fleet to help the team led by Superintendent David Swift displace and dry up the course to get the competition started on time. Here’s some footage of the copter in action.
After an estimated five inches of rain hit Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, S.D., on September 20th—the eve of the first round of the PGA Tour Champions Sanford International tournament—club officials, including Superintendent David Swift and golf pro Mickey Finn, called in a helicopter that swept the course for 45 minutes, reported the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
The copter provided by Sanford Health, the tournament sponsor, hit spots where it could safely get close enough to the ground to speed up the process, which also included a concerted effort by Swift’s grounds team to displace and dry up all the water, the Argus Leader reported.
Tournament officials issued assurances that the helicopter would have otherwise been idle at the time it was being used to help dry the course, and its use did not jeopardize any emergency service, the Argus Leader reported. “It’s safe to say if they needed it elsewhere, the golf course could wait,” said Paul Heinert, a media relations specialist for Sanford Health.
“We were talking most of the day about the possibility of bringing one in,” Heinert added. “After it cleared up a little bit we thought, let’s do it. We just wanted to make it clear that we were going to do everything possible to make the course as playable as possible.”
Swift told media covering the tournament that the Minnehaha course was well-suited to take on water, the Argus Leader reported, and that the club had dealt with far worse in the past, But he certainly didn’t mind the aerial help as he and his crew made up of volunteers and other golf course superintendents from the area began to put in the hours with squeegees and the like up until the tournament began at 11 a.m. the following day.
“I have a great staff,” Swift said. “They will rise to the occasion.”
The three-day tournament was then completed as scheduled, with over 70,000 people attending, and Swift and his staff were given high marks by the competing pros for providing excellent playing conditions despite all of the rain.
Here’s some footage of the copter in action:
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