Boise Open Media Day presented by Shane René

Ten-under par was good enough to leave the IGA media team thinking long and hard about missed putts and marginal wedges — two shots shy of a modest shopping spree at Hillcrest Country Club.  

Everybody hates fourth place. 

But that sour taste consumed a mere moment. The Albertson’s Boise Open presented by Chevron’s Media Day presented by Coca Cola is as good a way to spend a workday as it is branded. Pretty, pretty, pretty good, if you're counting sponsors. Local vendors and media are treated to a breakfast buffet, snacks and lunch, a press conference featuring a special guest, and an 18-hole scramble on a golf course played by tour professionals for the last 37 years and counting. 

Steve Sands, who you probably know even if you don’t think you do, served as the special guest this year. He’s been a frequent face and voice on NBC and the Golf Channel for the better part of 40 years, fielding player interviews and manning the booth at PGA Tour events and major championships. At one point or another, you’ve likely heard Tiger Woods say “thanks, Sandsie” while you drift away into a Sunday afternoon nap.  

Sandsie sat for an interview with Jeff Sanders, the brains and bravado behind what has become one of the most successful Korn Ferry Tour events in the country. With more than $40 million raised for charity over the years, and an annual slate of sold-out concerts, the Albertson’s Boise Open takes up space on more than just golf calendars. Sandsie — from his perch in the national media — says word of a special event in Boise (“Boy-see,” he notes) circles among tour pros and industry insiders.      

This year, the Albertson’s Boise Open has two sponsors’ exemptions — the right to place any two otherwise non-exempt players into the field. In 2003, the tournament invited then-13-year-old Michelle Wie to play. This year, Sanders announced that Jon Daly II, the son of PGA Tour legend John Daly, would be joined by Boise’s own Tyler Aldridge. Aldridge, a former winner on the Korn Ferry Tour (2015 Greater Dallas Open) with more than 150 PGA Tour-sanctioned starts, currently works as a local real estate agent.  

“This difference in ability between the Korn Ferry guys and the PGA Tour guys is the depth of a dollar bill,” Jeff Sanders said.  

The IGA media team — featuring myself, Director of Marketing and Communications Beaux Yenchik, 2026 Boatwright Intern Kylee Rost — took to Hillcrest Tuesday to represent the IGA, play golf and soak up the atmosphere. And amidst the sponsor-happy and vendor-forward spectacle, I was struck to realize how for granted I take the fact that Boise gets to put on a golf event like this each year.  

Sanders is right when he talks about the difference between the guys who play here and the guys you see on TV each week. The margin can vanish with one good week. And the fact that an IGA Member Club and the city of Boise host a stop on their tour — sponsored by a company that opened its first store no more than 10 minutes from the golf course — is a testament to the richness of the Idaho Golf Community.