Greater Cedar Rapids Open fulfilled its mission

Jim McPartland has a simple message for all of us.

“Get out and play.”

It’s a message he and the late Mark Lemon shared during the 25 years the Greater Cedar Rapids Open golf tournament existed. You read that right. Existed.

If you missed the news last month, last summer’s 25th GCRO will be the last. McPartland and the board announced in April the tournament will not be held in 2025 at Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Marion — it’s home for all 25 previous tournaments.

The board will meet again to consider options beyond 2025, but McPartland said “I’m not privy to anything coming in its place.”

The tournament, it seems, was another victim of the summer of COVID. It once attracted 130 pros willing to pay the entry fee that help bankroll the purse. It was down to 79 pro golfers last summer, meaning less money in that pool.

“We had diminishing demand from” the pros, McPartland said.

But the GCRO had a lot of good players over the years. It was a good run.

“We rode that wave pretty good for 20 years,” McPartland said. “Then COVID came ... I couldn’t see it grow since COVID the way it should.”

The sponsors — namely TrueNorth — were on board to continue, but without growth, it was difficult. Volunteers were harder to find, too.

“We just were in a place where I thought we couldn’t go much further,” McPartland said. “We talked about joining a tour ... financially it was quite feasible.

“It just seemed like a big lift.”

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For 25 years, it was a tournament that helped many young aspiring golfers chase their professional dreams. It attracted players from Florida, Alabama, Illinois, California, Indiana, Wisconsin, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Nebraska, Australia and Iowa.

And those are just the home states (and one country) of the winners.

It wasn’t part of any tour, but once worked closely with the Waterloo Open and the Iowa Open. Many winners found themselves at PGA Tour events. One won the Masters and the British Open and has made more than $49 million in career earnings.

But for every Zach Johnson (the 2001 GCRO winner), there were 20 Seth Fairs. Most came to the Metro as recent college graduates living their dreams, traveling from one town to another, hoping to make enough money to get to the next town, the next state.

Many went on to careers as club pros and still are playing the game to this day. The other Iowa winner, Sean McCarty (2009), has had a fabulous career on the course and as head pro at Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville.

At least one has stayed in the game, but in a different capacity. Rob Bradley, who won the inaugural GCRO in 1999 and captured a second title in 2006, is the golf coach at South Carolina and coached Purdue to four NCAA tournaments in 11 seasons in West Lafayette, Ind.

Great golfers, great careers.

But the mission of the GCRO?

• Provide a showcase for aspiring professional golfers from around the world,

• Promote the game of golf as a “lesson in life” and a “game for a lifetime,”

• Highlight the hospitality and cooperation of the local community,

• Benefit area nonprofit organizations that provide recreational opportunities for local youth and adults.

It did exactly what it wanted as far as showcasing “aspiring professional golfers from around the world.” It was a poster child for “Iowa Nice” as a place golfers felt welcome and wanted to return. It benefited many, to the tune of $250,000 to “local youth and veteran organizations.”

“I’m very humbled about what we were able to do,” McPartland said. “I feel like we did a lot of good.

“It was a lot of fun. I’m going to miss it.”

But it’s that second bullet item — promoting the game — that was just as important to the founders.

“As we turn the page,” the release announcing its demise noted, “we hold close the belief that has guided us from the beginning:

“Golf is a lesson in life and a game for a lifetime.”

So while the tournament may come to an end, the spirit of the GCRO lives on in every round played, every young golfer inspired, and every life touched along the way. Keep playing. Keep giving. Keep growing.

Or, as McPartland said, “get out and play.”

Comments: (319) 398-5861; jr.ogden@thegazette.com