On This Date in Local Sports History: July 6, 2006

It was a sad day for Endicott, Broome and surrounding counties and local/regional golf fans.

As result of damage done to En-Joie Golf Course by catastrophic flooding, the decision was revealed to relocate the final B.C. Open to Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort. The tournament had been scheduled to be played July 20-23 in Endicott.

“This was our last year on the PGA Tour and I was so excited,” said tournament founder Alex Alexander. “The course was in great shape and then this happened.”

The B.C. Open debuted in 1971, graduated to the PGA Tour in 1973 and maintained its status through scattered natural disasters and devoid of title sponsorship. But in the summer of 2006, it became The B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone Resort.

The B.C. Open at En-Joie celebrated champions such as Hubert Green, Tom Kite, Fred Couples, John Daly, Hal Sutton, Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler – major champions, one and all.

That displaced B.C. Open was won by John Rollins, who rolled in a five-footer for birdie at the last on Sunday to complete a bogey-free round of 8-under 64 and single-shot win over Bob May. The victory was worth $540,000.

Of course, Dick’s Sporting Goods subsequently stepped up as title sponsor of a PGA Tour Champions event, the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, which has thrived at En-Joie since 2007.