‘It’s time for the building to have a fresh look’
Cedar Lake Speedway: Home of ‘old-fashioned fun’
December 8, 2025
STEVENS POINT – The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America recently honored 12 golf professionals at its national awards ceremony – including Danny Rainbow, SentryWorld’s director of golf, who earned the PGA Merchandiser of the Year Award in the Resort category.
Rainbow said he/SentryWorld had won the award before at the PGA Section level – with the State of Wisconsin being one of 41 regional or state-bound sections across the country.
This, however, he said, is their first time earning national recognition.
“To win it on a national level is a whole other conversation,” he said. “We really never expected to be held in that regard.”
Acknowledging Stevens Point may “fly a little bit under the radar” nationally, Rainbow said he’s grateful for the PGA awards committee’s diligence and willingness to give SentryWorld a fair(way) shot.
“This isn’t just quickly picking a few professionals – there is a great amount of work that goes into identifying the best candidates…,” he said. “I’m thankful to the PGA for the process they have set up, for all the work that goes into it and for how much they shine the spotlight on us as winners. I feel pretty spoiled… It makes it one of those real ‘pinch me,’ career highlight moments.”
However, Rainbow said the recognition reflects not just his work but the collective effort that has transformed SentryWorld from “what was considered a public golf course into a resort golf course” – complete with lodging, restaurants and retail – over the last several years.
“I’m proud of the way our team at SentryWorld has continued to elevate the entire property and build it to a must-play golf destination in Wisconsin,” he said.
Par for the course, resort
Earning a national PGA honor, Rainbow said, was never the goal – his priority has simply been on steadily enhancing the course and its offerings.
“We really want every guest to walk away from here feeling like, ‘Wow, that was something truly unique – it was a special experience that I just had,’” he said.
According to sentryworld.com, the golf course was the brainchild of past Sentry Insurance CEO John Joanis in the 1980s.
In 2013, per the site, current Sentry Chairman of the Board, President and CEO Pete McPartland, spearheaded a major renovation of the course.
Rainbow said he joined as director of golf in 2015, ahead of the 2021 addition of The Inn at SentryWorld – the 64-room boutique hotel positioned along the fairway of the course’s 18th hole.
Per the website, with the ongoing upgrades, SentryWorld also now has three dining options:
- Muse for fine dining
- PJ’s for more casual fare
- Library Café – offering specialty coffees, baked goods and grab-and-go items
In his role, Rainbow said he oversees the entire golf operations team, with the pro shop, outside services, caddies, the superintendent, grounds team, merchandising, retail and more falling under his purview.
“There’s a big focus on leading a team to provide not only an outstanding and world-class product in the golf course, but also outstanding and world-class service and experience,” he said, adding that refreshment stations are also available throughout the course.
Part of enhancing the experience for golfers, Rainbow said, was the decision to implement tee-time intervals of 20 minutes.
This feature, he said, is “virtually unheard of” at other public courses, but SentryWorld has opted to forgo a higher volume of guests in order to allow golfers a more refreshing and social pace of play.
Rainbow said the impeccably maintained parkland-style grounds offer another strong reason for guests to swing through.
“The course conditions are great because we’re playing fewer rounds on them,” he said. “We’ve got a short season – we’re only open for about four months, June through September – and we only open in those months because that’s when we know we can deliver that pinnacle of golf experience from a golf course condition standpoint and a service standpoint.”
Beyond its amenities, Rainbow said SentryWorld is “aesthetically pleasing,” boasting “big, towering trees…, beautiful blue water features on the golf course [and] white sand bunkers that pop in contrast to the lush green turf.”
Links to the past
For a course/resort that’s undergone significant renovations through the decades, Rainbow said the most “striking imagery” is a feature implemented at SentryWorld at its origin: the 16th hole – better known as “The Flower Hole” – with “50,000 flowers planted around it.”
“It’s something very, very unique, and it’s always been part of the identity here at SentryWorld,” he said. “Ever since the golf course originally opened, all the way back in 1982, The Flower Hole has been a core component for us.”
Likewise rooted in decades of history, Rainbow said, is his own road through golf, also leading back decades.
“Golf has run in my family for the last couple of generations,” he said.
Rainbow said it was his maternal grandfather who initially picked up the sport and eventually taught it to his son/Rainbow’s father, who then introduced it to him.
“I got an interest in the game from a very young age,” he said. “Then, my first job ever was caddying at a country club in Madison – where I grew up – at the age of 12, and I have never left the business since. Just couldn’t ever get out of it – I’ve enjoyed being around the game and working in the business of the game that I love.”
Future rounds
Though the national PGA award suggests he’s got his operation down to a “tee,” Rainbow said he’s always looking for ways to improve SentryWorld.
The recent award ceremony, he said, highlighted the talent and creativity of his peers across the industry.
“To hear the stories of all those award winners, it’s a pretty inspiring and oftentimes emotional night,” he said. “Just to see the journeys people have taken to get to where they are at this point in their careers, and the impact they’ve had on other golf professionals, family members, players, teachers, people who are developing youth golfers as part of this and people who have specialized in mentoring other golf professionals, [is inspiring].”
Though the awards are framed as a competition, Rainbow said the good-natured event is not intended to drive a (sand) wedge between golf professionals, but rather to foster the broader community.
He said he’s heartened having experienced the ceremony alongside others who share his passion for golf and its culture.
“I’m probably biased because I work in it, but I love it – I think it’s the greatest game there is,” he said. “It’s something you can play throughout just about your entire life. It’s a game that instills values of honor, etiquette and discipline.”
Rainbow said the award ceremony served as a microcosm of one of golf’s greatest traits: “it’s a game that brings people together.”
“Some of the greatest people you’ll ever meet are people you randomly get paired up with or bump into on the golf course,” he said. “It’s a wonderful way to connect people.”
With his deep reverence for the game, Rainbow said it’s rewarding to uphold its traditions at SentryWorld, and he hopes the award will help foster even more connections as the course gains recognition.
The course/resort, he said, has already hosted several premier events – including the 2023 Men’s U.S. Senior Open and the 2025 Rolex Girls Junior Championship – and the attention from the new award may attract additional events and visitors.
Still energized by the recognition, Rainbow said he’s bringing renewed enthusiasm to an offseason of planning, budgeting and procurement for 2026.
However, he said he has no plans for any “major overhaul” of SentryWorld’s operations.
“I think all of us – as golf professionals who were at the [ceremony] and heard what others did in their operations – we’re all stealing a couple ideas here and there…,” he said. “[There are] some tweaks we’re looking at, but nothing to speak of that would be seen as a significant change by our guests or anything.”
Offering the public an “upscale but comfortable destination” with an array of restaurants, extended tee times, on-site lodging and a parkland-style course, Rainbow said SentryWorld is on par, leaving no need for mulligans.
Having a career propagating the sport he loves, punctuated by the PGA Merchandiser of the Year Award, Rainbow said, is a “tremendous honor” – one he owes to the entire staff.
“While I’m the lucky one who gets my name on the award, it’s really a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team here at the facility,” he said. “What makes it such a big honor is that, in the Resort category, on a national scale, we’re competing against some of the great golf resorts across America. To be recognized among those as one of the leaders in that category is very humbling and a pretty huge feather in our cap. We feel very proud of it.”
