Scotland was supposed to be K2K15—our big 40th-birthday pilgrimage. COVID had other plans.
So we pivoted to Wisconsin, and somehow it still felt like destiny.
We arrived and eased into things with a warm-up round at Sand Valley—perfect for shaking off the travel and getting a feel for the sandy, sprawling masterpiece.
The next day we went full throttle: 36 holes walking both Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes. The thick Wisconsin humidity took its toll on our feet—blisters forming, socks soaked, every step a small act of defiance by sunset—but our spirits stayed sky-high amid the vast dunes.
We wrapped up the competitive portion the following morning with the back half of Mammoth Dunes, where Terry Blunt caught fire and closed with a 75 to snatch his seventh K2K Cup, ending Chris Graham’s three-peat bid in style.
Andy Ek had to head home after that, so the final round at Erin Hills became pure bonus golf—just Terry, Chris, and Ben teeing it up for fun at the 2017 U.S. Open site.
The night before, a town-wide power outage had sent us to the Mineshaft Bar in Hartford—Wisconsin’s sprawling, gameroom-packed institution with five bars and zero off-switch. Lights out across the area, but inside it was an absolute blast: stories flowing, laughs echoing, and maybe one (or five) too many rounds poured in the dark. Needless to say, the three of us remaining weren’t exactly running on 100% when we rolled up to Erin Hills the next morning.
Yet the golf gods smiled anyway: the massive, rolling fescue delivered clear skies when torrential rain was forecast, and all three of us—somehow, someway—carded rounds in the 70s. One of those days we’ll never forget for all the right (and slightly blurry) reasons.
Not budget golf, maybe. But pure heaven for the ones who keep showing up—no matter how rough the morning feels, or how battered the feet.
Kahola to Kapalua Tournament of Champions 