“I can’t say enough good things about the people of Chautauqua and the area,” he said.

And the first round of the Cardio Miracle Chautauqua Senior Classic was still in progress.

For the record, Jay Jurceic fired a 65 to hold a one-shot lead over Gibby Gilbert and two shots in front of Pat Patterson, Mark Walker, Omar Uresti, Mikkel Reese and Mike Grob. Four players came in at 68; three recorded 69, including Bob May, who lost the 2000 PGA Championship in a three-hole playoff with Tiger Woods; and six others each carded a 70.

On a picture-perfect day for golf, Sparks was thrilled.

Eric Bogar lines up a putt on the 18th green on the Lake Course at Chautauqua Golf Club in the first round of the Cardio Miracle Chautauqua Senior Classic on Tuesday afternoon. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

“We couldn’t ask for a better staff, a better golf course, the volunteers, everybody has been so gracious,” he said. ” … We’ve just decided we’re going to make it an annual event (at Chautauqua GC).”

The Senior Players Tour, a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing the skills and sportsmanship of senior golfers, was launched this year — its inaugural event was held earlier this summer at Sewailo Golf Club — with plans to hold 12 events in the United Sates and Canada.

Sparks visited Chautauqua earlier this year, played four holes and said, “This is a done deal.”

“One, the golf course was great. (Head golf professional) Troy (Moss) and (director of golf) Kirk (Stauffer) were just so accommodating,” he said. “We’re looking for golf courses in middle America. … We want to help them economically and get people who don’t get to see professional golf out to the golf course to see professional golf.”

Stauffer was thrilled to learn of Sparks’ comments.

“I’ve got a great team around me,” Stauffer said. “It makes it a lot easier when you have a good team you can work with and prepare for an event like this. … We’re proud of the product we have here. We try and treat people nice and, hopefully, we want people to come back. That’s what we want at Chautauqua.”

As for the course setup that the players encountered, Stauffer called it “fair.”

“It’s gettable,” he said, “but there’s a lot of local knowledge here. A lot of these pros came in maybe a little unprepared, because you have to play it more than once… Some of the guys who have shot better scores have been here three or four days. We’re getting a lot of comments like, ‘How did the ball break here? How did the ball bounce here?’ Well, that’s Chautauqua and that’s Donald Ross.”