Miners’ 9 Father’s Day golf tournament draws strong turnout

Miners’ 9’s annual Father’s Day tournament filled the Iron River course June 20 and 21, with a two-day, 18-hole, three-man scramble that the club said drew a great turnout. A food tent stayed open through the day, and dinner was included for each team member, turning the weekend into a long, social outing as much as a round of golf.

The event has become one of Iron River’s regular summer dates because the course is tied closely to the community it serves. Miners’ 9 sits at 110 Hiawatha Road on the old Hiawatha Mine site, and the property traces its roots back to the Iron River Country Club, which opened in 1930. The course describes itself as a public 9-hole layout, and the UPGA lists it as open to visitors, with tee times required only on holidays.

That sense of continuity was already clear when the course changed hands in 2025. Clubhouse Manager and Hospitality Sari Franzene-Holroyd said staff “did not want to reinvent the wheel or break the tradition,” and that first Father’s Day tournament under the Miners’ 9 name drew 38 teams of three. The winning group that year was the Sabotta team, Rick, Kyle and Todd Sabotta, which edged Team Thomson, Chris, Nathan and Noah Thomson, by one stroke and showed how the tournament works as a family gathering as much as a competition.

Miners’ 9 said the 2026 Father’s Day tournament would go on June 20 and 21 despite positive changes and improvements at the course, keeping the weekend anchored in the same slot Iron County golfers have learned to expect. The course also offers a driving range, putting green, bar and snacks, a pro shop and a banquet facility, along with year-round dining, which helps explain why the tournament can function as both a golf event and a reunion in the middle of Iron River’s summer calendar.