Caddie Geno Bonnalie admits thinking ahead to Sentry Tournament of Champions ’30 seconds’ after Joel Dahmen’s Corales win
By T.J. Auclair · December 31, 2021
For players and caddies on the PGA Tour, you know you’ve done well if your new year begins in Maui.
It means you’re teeing it up at the impossibly beautiful paradise that is Kapalua Resort and competing in the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course – a tournament whose name says it all… the only way to qualify is to have won on the PGA Tour the previous year.
Joel Dahmen – winner of the 2021 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship last March – will be making his maiden voyage to Kapalua with caddie Geno Bonnalie alongside.
That win in the Dominican Republic elicited one of the more emotional player/caddie celebrations you’ll ever see, as Dahmen – a cancer survivor – pulled it off with his childhood friend Bonnalie on the bag.
So, so cool! 👏👏 https://t.co/gyu7UJkIu6
— Caddie Network (@CaddieNetwork) March 28, 2021
Bonnalie admitted to The Caddie Network it wasn’t long after the win that realization of a January trip to Maui set in.
“I started to think about Maui, oh, I don’t know, about 30 seconds after Joel tapped in for the win,” Bonnalie said. “The Sentry Tournament of Champions is one of those events that EVERYONE hopes to play in.”
Spending the first week of 2022 in Hawaii will also be a stark contrast to what Bonnalie would typically experience in Lewiston, Idaho, the place he calls home.
“It’ll be a nice to not have to scrape ice off of the windshield to drive to the golf course,” he laughed. “And, truthfully, I’m really looking forward to a week at a nice hotel with the wife and a guaranteed pay day.”
If you’ve seen the places Bonnalie has stayed over the years, you’ll understand his sentiment.
https://twitter.com/GenoBonnalie/status/1305665551990218753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1305665551990218753%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecaddienetwork.com%2Fcorales-championship-winner-joel-dahmen-caddie-geno-bonnalie-provide-one-of-golfs-great-feel-good-stories%2F
In professional golf, there’s no better way to start the year than visiting Maui for the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
And this time around, Bonnalie gets to find that out for himself.
