Author: lenz

Billiter survives a week of surprises at IPGA Match Play

Illinois PGA president Jim Opp (left) presents Match Play trophy to champion Jim Billiter on the 18th green at Kemper Lakes.
Jim Billiter, a 10-year assistant pro at the Merit Club in Libertyville, won the 64th Illinois PGA Match Play Championship on Monday, climaxing a week in which nothing went as expected at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.

The first major tournament of the Chicago season figured to be another duel between Curtis Malm, the head pro at White Eagle in Naperville who was bidding for his fourth straight title, and Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns, last year’s IPGA Player of the Year. Both were eliminated on Wednesday, when Billiter beat Johns and Malm was ousted by Scott Baines, an assistant at Chicago’s Bryn Mawr club.

In fact, none of the top seven seeded players qualified for Thursday’s morning semifinals in which Billiter beat Simon Allan, head pro at Prestwick in Frankfort, and Brian Brodell, new teaching pro at Mistwood in Romeoville, survived a 19-hole match with Kyle Bauer, head pro at Glen View Club.

The Billiter-Brodell final also had a surprise ending on the winner’s 29th birthday. The end came on the third hole of a sudden death playoff that began when Billiter put his 8-iron tee shot in the water on a 171-yard par-3.

That put Brodell in a good spot to close out the match, but he couldn’t do it. His 7-iron tee shot bounded over the green and into thick rough.

“When I shanked it in the water I thought it was over,’’ admitted Billiter, “but then when I saw him hit it long I knew I still had a chance because he had a real delicate shot.’’

Billiter put a 90-yard shot from the drop area to six feet of the cup, then watched Brodell chunk his first chip shot and run his second four feet past the cup. Billiter holed his put for bogey, and that was good enough to win the match after Brodell missed.

“A sad way to end it,’’ said Brodell, who came to Mistwood last September to work with the club’s junior programs after serving as assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at Purdue University. “I hit the same club on that hole as I did in the morning match, the wind was the same and I expected a two-putt uphill and the match was mine. Then all of a sudden my shot flew long and I had one bad chip.’’

Billiter won the Illinois PGA Assistants Match Play Championship last year, which had been his biggest win prior to Thursday. He won the first two holes against Brodell but lost the lead six holes later and needed to sink an eight-foot birdie putt on the last hole of regulation to force the playoff.

HERE AND THERE: French Lick dominates in hosting senior majors

Dave Harner, director of golf at the French Lick Resort in southern Indiana, looked for a big event to spotlight the stunning Pete Dye Course when it opened for play in 2009.

He ended up establishing the premier event for the LPGA’s Legends Tour – the only 54-hole event on the circuit for women professionals 45 and over. The first Legends Championship was played in 2013 on the Dye-designed layout built on one of the highest points in the Hoosier state.

That event quickly became something special, as the Legends Hall of Fame opened the same week as the tournament in the historically-rich West Baden Springs Hotel nearby. And that wasn’t all.

French Lick was subsequently awarded the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, which will come to the Dye Course next week. (Tournament rounds are May 21-24).

That means that French Lick will be the only facility to host major championships on both of the senior tours in the same year. The Senior PGA is the first of the five annual majors for the men’s Champions Tour and the third Legends Championship will be played on the same course from Aug. 28-30.

Given French Lick’s recent involvement with the top senior players, it would seem to be a leading contender to host the first U.S. Senior Women’s Open when that event makes its debut on the U.S. Golf Assn. championship schedule in 2018. The site for that event hasn’t been announced yet, but the LPGA Legends know the Dye Course well. Sherri Steinhauer posted a course-record 63 in last year’s Legends Championship.

The men, though, haven’t had a good look at it yet. Kerry Haigh, chief championship officer for the PGA of America, checked the facility out as did Colin Montgomerie, who will defend his Senior PGA Championship next week. They were impressed.

“You can see 40-50 miles around,’’ marveled Haigh. “There are spectacular views and from the back tees it’s over 8,000 yards, so Pete was very protective of the game and made sure technology will not take over that golf course. But we won’t be playing from the back tees.’’

That was never a consideration for the 50-and-over circuit’s stars, but Haigh is certain the Dye Course will provide a “great test…..The greens are generally small, there’s a lot of bunkering and some of the narrowest fairways you could find….It’ll be exciting to watch.’’

“There’s not a weak hole on the course and that’s the sign of a great golf course,’’ said Montgomerie, who won his first major title in the 2014 Senior PGA at Harbor Shores in Michigan. That’ll be the site of the tournament again in 2016.

“I want to take the trophy back to Harbor Shores,’’ Montgomerie said. He could do it, too, but the field will be strong and the tourney has been kind to lesser-known players in recent years. England’s Roger Chapman won at Harbor Shores in 2012 and Japan’s Khoki Idoki was the champion at Bellerive in St. Louis in 2013.

Spectacular views are the norm at French Lick’s Pete Dye Course.

The Senior PGA, first played in 1937, has never been contested in Indiana but a former French Lick pro, Willie Goggin, was the tourney champion in 1959. French Lick had its share of majors in its early years, too. Walter Hagen won the first of his four straight PGA Championships there in 1924 and Mickey Wright and Betsy Rawls won LPGA Championships there in 1959 and 1960. Hagen, Wright and Rawls, though, won on what is now French Lick’s Donald Ross Course.

A NEW TREND FOR U.S. AMATEUR? The U.S. Amateur will be played at Olympia Fields in the Chicago area from Aug. 17-23 and will visit other tradition-rich private clubs in 2016 (Oakland Hills in Michigan) and 2017 (Riviera in California).

Then things seem to be changing with resort facilities taking precedence. The U.S. Golf Assn. had previously assigned the 2018 U.S. Am to California’s Pebble Beach and then last week announced that Pinehurst in North Carolina would host in 2019 and Bandon Dunes in Oregon would be the site in 2020.

More visitors will have fun at the Payne Stewart statue when the U.S. Amateur returns to Pinehurst in 2019.

Pinehurst has already hosted 10 USGA championships, including both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in 2014, and this will be the resort’s third U.S. Amateur. The famed No. 2 course will be the site of both the stroke and match play portions of the tournament with the No. 8 course the companion layout for stroke play competition.

Things aren’t as set at Bandon, which has hosted six USGA championships since 2006. Bandon has four courses, all of which are already established tournament venues. The two that will be used for the U.S. Amateur will be determined at a later date.

BITS AND PIECES: The PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic will have – according to owner Jim Justice — “unquestionably the best Greenbrier Classic in our tournament’s history.’’ Committed players for the July event in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., already include Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson and Brandt Snedeker and Justice has announced that Keith Urban and the Band Perry will perform at the July 1 pre-tourney concert….Keswick Hall, home of Pete Dye’s latest architectural creation – Full Cry in Charlottesville, Va., has reached an exclusive agreement with Bob Rotella, the noted psychologist and performance coach. Full Cry, which opened to rave reviews last fall, has announced its first stay-and-play packages and Dye has declared the layout “as good as any I’ve done.’’…..Concession Club, the Bradenton, FL., site for the upcoming men’s and women’s NCAA finals, has set the dates for its second Concession Cup – a biennial amateur team match play event for mid-amateur and senior golfers from the U.S. and Great Britain-Ireland. The U.S. won the first Concession Cup 21 ½-14 ½ in 2014. The second is April 20-24, 2016, with Vinny Giles (U.S.) and Garth McGimpsey (GB-I) returning as the team captains…..Forest Dunes, in Roscommon, Mich., has opened its popular Tom Weiskopf-designed course and announced its new golf packages. Those who visit, though, will be sure to check out architect Tom Doak’s reversible design layout that is now under construction.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This the second of a series columns devoted to golf travel. They’ll be posted as news dictates under Travel Destinations at www.lenziehmongolf.com.

NU women take on NCAA, Women’s Open challenges

The long road to the U.S. Open tournaments begins this week, and the prospects couldn’t be brighter for the Northwestern women’s team.

Coach Emily Fletcher’s squad won its second Big Ten title in three years earlier this month and earned the school’s third straight berth in the NCAA finals with a runner-up finish in last week’s regional elimination in Raleigh, N.C.

The NCAA finals are May 22-27 at Concession Club in Bradenton, FL., but the sectional qualifiers for the 70th U.S. Women’s Open come up before that. Eight of the nation-wide 36-hole eliminations are on Monday (MAY 18) and one is at Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmette. Four of Fletcher’s top-six players – Hana Lee, Kacie Komoto, Suchaya Tangkamolprasert and Kaitlin Park – have entered the 80-player field that will send its top finishers to the July 9-12 finals at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.

“We leave it up to our players to sign up for the U.S. Women’s Open,’’ said Fletcher, “but for us it’s a great benefit that they’re playing at Westmoreland. We played our fall event, the Windy City Classic, there so we know that golf course.’’

Westmoreland is one of five Women’s Open sectional sites that have hosted previous USGA championships. Patty Berg won the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westmoreland in 1938. This year’s Women’s Open drew a record 1,873 entrants. They came from 49 states (only Maine was without an entry) and 54 foreign countries.

U.S. Women’s Open qualifying dates are set by the U.S. Golf Assn. and college players aren’t always able to compete in the sectional qualifiers. Last year, for instance, the Women’s Open sectionals were held during the NCAA regionals. This year, though, college stars could compete in both the NCAA finals and Women’s Open within a few weeks’ span.

That enticement wasn’t lost on the NU women. Only Fletcher’s two freshmen – Hannah Kim and Sarah Cho – bypassed the sectional. The only drawback to the four players participating in the sectional is that the team will make a later-than-usual departure for the NCAA finals. Instead of leaving for Florida on Monday of tournament week the team will depart on Wednesday.

Fletcher feels the chance for her players to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open outweighs the loss of practice time at Concession, a Jack Nicklaus design that will also host the men’s Division I finals starting on May 29.

“Our players are balancing a lot with the NCAAs, but this is a great opportunity for us,’’ said Fletcher. “We have a really talented group, and we’re real excited for this.’’

Men’s teams compete for NCAA berths at Concession starting on Thursday (MAY 14). Illinois, which has ruled the Big Ten six of the last seven years, is the No. 1 seed at a a three-day regional at Sangamore club in Noblesville, Ind. Twenty-four women’s teams have earned berths at Concession and 30 men’s teams will compete there.

Unlike the women, Chicago has no sectional qualifier for the men’s 115th U.S. Open. It’ll be played at Washington’s Chambers Bay course from June 18-21 with the 156 qualifiers determined after local and sectional eliminations whittle the field from 9,882 entrants nation-wide. That’s second largest in tournament history behind last year’s Open at Pinehurst, N.C., which drew 10,127 entrants.

Chicago has two 90-player 18-hole local eliminations for the men – Wednesday (MAY 13) at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake and Monday (MAY 18) at Flossmoor Country Club. Five players from each will advance to sectionals, the closest of which are in Ohio on May 25.

Here and there

The Illinois PGA Match Play tournament runs through Thursday at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove and Itasca will host a stroke play event on Monday.

Cog Hill, in Lemont, will host the Dubsdread Spring Classic, a four-player team event with an 8 a.m. shotgun start, on Saturday.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. Mid-Amateur Championship runs Monday through Wednesday at Bowes Creek in Elgin.

Former Chicago Wolves’ staffer John Golz is the new membership and marketing director at Kemper Lakes.

Malm goes after a four-peat in IPGA Match Play tourney

Now things get serious on the Chicago golf scene. The Illinois PGA conducts the first of its four major championships beginning on Monday at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove with Curtis Malm again the focal point.

Malm, in his second season as head professional at White Eagle in Naperville, will go after his fourth straight title in the 64th IPGA Match Play Championship. Another win would push him past Bill Ogden, the former pro at North Shore in Glenview who also won three straight times from 1970-72. Only Bob Harris, formerly of Sunset Ridge in Northfield, has the longest streak – six in a row from 1958 to 1963.

“It’d be nice to get one more,’’ said Malm. “Then it’d be `Let’s go get Mr. Harris.’ But obviously a lot of luck is involved.’’

Malm used his first two Match Play wins as a springboard to seasonal Player of the Year honors. That wasn’t the case last year, as Malm surrendered the honor to Medinah teaching professional Travis Johns. Johns, who won the Match Play title in 2010, was Malm’s victim in last year’s final match.

Adjusting to a new job – Malm had been a long-time assistant pro at St. Charles Country Club – probably hampered his bid for the Player of the Year three-peat. A missed cut at the Illinois Open in the immediate aftermath of a major club event at White Eagle derailed him in the Player of the Year point race.

“But I still had a chance going into the last event,’’ said Malm, who is dealing with another adjustment this season. He switched clubs – from TaylorMade to Callaway – in the offseason and settled for a tie for fifth in the IPGA’s first stroke play event of the season at Bloomington Country Club.

“The first competition is under my belt, so I should be ready for next week,’’ said Malm. Matches run Monday through Thursday, May 14, and Malm might have more competition than that.

U.S. Open local qualifying also starts next week with the Chicago District Golf Assn. conducting two eliminations. Malm hoped to play in the May 18 qualifier at Flossmoor Country Club but the field was full by the time he filed his entry. So, his only option was to enter the first of the locals – next Wednesday (May 13) at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake. His match play schedule at Kemper Lakes could prevent him from competing there.

A Patriot Day sellout at Medinah

Once again the sixth annual Patriot Day golf event had no trouble getting players. Event chairman and co-founder Mark Slaby said the May 26 event at Medinah Country Club sold out 50 days in advance and now has a waiting list for playing participants.

Registration, however, is still open for the opening ceremony and brunch and the post-round reception and other sponsorship opportunities are still available.

“We’re very humbled,’’ said Slaby. “Last year we raised about $140,000. This year $200,000 is our goal.’’

The event will be one of the last big ones held on Medinah’s No. 2 course. An original Tom Bendelow design from the 1920s, it’s targeted for a restoration that will be supervised by architect Rees Jones. Jones handled the last renovation of Medinah’s No. 3 course, which was done prior to the club hosting the 2012 Ryder Cup matches.

Here and there

Chris Ioriatti, teaching professional at Mistwood, has set the course record at the recently renovated Romeoville layout with a 9-under-par 63.

Lake Forest’s Brad Hopfinger, the reigning Illinois Open champion, made the cut for the fourth time in his last five starts as a rookie on the Web.com Tour. He tied for 26th – his second-best finish in eight starts – in last week’s United Leasing Championship in Indiana.

The University of Illinois men’s team was assigned the No. 1 seed for an NCAA regional tournament at Sangamore Club in Noblesville, Ind., on May 14-16. The Illini won last year’s regional at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove and also captured the Sagamore Preview last fall. The top five teams at Sangamore advance to the NCAA finals at Concession Club in Bradenton, FL

The Northwestern women’s team, which shared the Big Ten title, was named the No. 4 seed in an NCAA regional at the Lonnie Poole course in Raleigh, N.C.

John Daly will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the White Sox game against Cincinnati on Friday.

HERE AND THERE: PGA happy with Harbor Shores’ changes

Golf courses generally get toughened up before they are used for a major professional tournament. That wasn’t the case at Harbor Shores, the Jack Nicklaus design in Benton Harbor, Mich., however.

Harbor Shores has already hosted the Senior PGA Championship twice and has already been awarded that plum for 2016 and 2018. It’ll play differently for the future events.

Bob McFeeter, managing director for the course, unveiled changes to six greens (Nos. 1. 2 and 6 on the front nine and Nos. 12, 14 and 16 on the back). Two fairways, at the sixth and 14th holes, also underwent some tweaking and beach sand at the No. 7 hole was replaced with regular bunker sand.

Champions Tour player Chip Beck drew a big crowd for a swing clinic before Harbor Shores’ course changes were unveiled.

“As good as this course is, there is always room for improvement and one of those areas was in the softening of the greens,’’ said McFeeter. The severe slopes on some of the putting surfaces confounded both the Champions Tour players as well as recreational players. At least some of those slopes were reduced.

McFeeter and the Harbor Shores staff discussed the proposed changes with Nicklaus after last year’s Senior PGA Championship, which was won by Scotland’s Colin Montgomie.

“(Nicklaus) understood,’’ said McFeeter. “He sent his representatives and we came up with a process of enhancing the greens.’’

Interestingly, the green that stirred the most controversy – the extremely undulated No. 10 – was not altered. Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer of the PGA of America, lauded the changes.

“All the changes we’re 100 percent in support of,’’ said Haigh. “They’re very exciting, wonderful changes. The green contours make this course what it is. It’s a great challenge to play these greens and the main thing – from our standpoint – is that now we’ll have additional hole locations that we can use.’’

Nicklaus was the focal point of the course’s grand opening on July 1, 2010, and it landed its first major event just three years later.

“This was already a special golf course,’’ said Haigh. “It will grow in stature and mystique. We enjoy bringing our championships here and look forward to bringing many more.’’

A FLOWERY OPENING: The renovated SentryWorld’s course in Stevens Point, Wis., opens for its first full season on Saturday, May 2. After a 20-month renovation conducted by architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., the course allowed only limited play late in the 2014 season.

Jones constructed two new par-3s (Nos. 3 and 12) on previously unused property but the iconic par-3 sixteenth – well known as The Flower Hole — was not only preserved, but also enhanced. The course now measures 7,237 yards from the back tees, and new director of golf Danny Rainbow has declared “SentryWorld is back and better than ever.’’

Opening day also will include a TaylorMade demo day. In a staffing adjustment long-time head professional Brian Dumler is shifting his focus to instruction and player development.

ANOTHER PGA AT KIAWAH: Kiawah, the five-course resort on the outskirts of Charleston, S.C., has been awarded the 2021 PGA Championship.

That was no big surprise, since Kiawah’s Ocean Course has a rich reputation as a tournament venue. It has previously hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup, 2005 Professional Players National Championship, 2007 Senior PGA Championship and 2012 PGA Championship.

BITS AND PIECES: The 84-room Lodge at Old Kinderhook in Camdenton, Mo., is now open….Erin Hills, the Wisconsin course that will host the 2017 U.S. Open, will open for the season on May 11. Matthew Flaherty, who had club pro stints at Chicago area private clubs Stonebridge and Butterfield, is now the head professional at Point O Woods, in Benton Harbor, Mich….French Lick Resort, in Indiana, is bracing for the Senior PGA Championship on May 21-24. It’s been 91 years since the resort hosted a men’s major. Walter Hagen won the 1924 PGA Championship on French Lick’s Donald Ross Course. The Senior PGA will be played on the six-year old Pete Dye Course. Both courses have hosted women’s majors, the Ross for the LPGA Championships of 1959 and 1960 and the Dye for the LPGA Legends Championships of 2013 and 2014. It’ll host that event for the third straight year in August.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This marks the debut of a golf notebook designed to spotlight news developments at clubs, resorts and courses beyond the Chicago area. We’ll be producing more of these columns as news developments dictate.They’ll be published first under Travel Destinations of this website. – Len Ziehm

After four years Affrunti is still a PGA Tour rookie

Joe Affrunti’s rookie season on the PGA Tour started in 2011. A year earlier the 2004 Illinois Open champion from Crystal Lake had earned his PGA Tour playing privileges off his performance on the satellite Web.com Tour.

Now, four years later, Affrunti’s rookie PGA season remains a work in progress. It all has to do with Affrunti’s bad luck and the PGA’s medical exemption policies.

Since hitting his first shot as a PGA Tour member Affrunti played in 11 tournaments, earned $49,615, endured two major surgeries, changed residences from Florida to Arizona, got married and became the father of an 8-month old son and – most recently – grew a beard in support of his passion for hockey’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

And, his rookie season still isn’t over.

Affrunti, 33, made two cuts in his first six PGA starts in 2011 before suffering a torn labrum that required major surgery. He didn’t play in 2012 but made three cuts in five PGA starts in 2013. Then he was sidelined for hip surgery. The PGA allows its injured members to compete on the Web.com circuit for rehabilitation purposes and Affrunti made his five allotted starts there this year.

They didn’t go well – Affrunti missed the cut in all five – but he returned to the PGA Tour with an encouraging showing at last week’s Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Covering the first 36 holes in 4-under-par, he came up one shot short of qualifying for weekend play.

He isn’t qualified for the next two PGA Tour stops but expects to play in the Wells Fargo Championship, Byron Nelson Classic, St. Jude Classic, Travelers Championship, John Deere Classic, Canadian Open and Wyndham Classic. Affrunti will have to perform in those to keep his playing privileges.

“I’ll need to make about $500,000 to keep full status,’’ said Affrunti, “but that could be done in one tournament.’’

No question the injuries, and subsequent surgeries, took a toll on his game but Affrunti has found a physical therapist in Scottsdale that has helped him.

“I was working on a new swing change and my muscles didn’t work,’’ he said. “It’s been a long rehab, but I’m feeling fine. My game feels great, but I’ve struggled with scoring.’’

He’s not the only one. Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr. is in his rookie PGA Tour season as well and has missed eight straight cuts after a $100,000 payday for a tie for ninth in his second start back in November. Like Affrunti, Sainz missed the cut at New Orleans and will drop down to the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing Championship in Indiana this week before returning to the PGA at the Wells-Fargo event.

Illini, NU dominate Big Ten

Illinois captured the men’s title for the sixth time in seven years and Northwestern was co-champion in the women’s tournament at last week’s Big Ten championships in Indiana.

Both schools also had individual champions. Northbrook freshman Nick Hardy of Illinois shared the men’s title after posting a 4-under-par 284 score for 72 holes. Northwestern’s Sarah Cho was the women’s titlist with a 3-under-par 213 total for 54 holes. Thomas Detry of Illinois also won the Les Bolstad Award for posting the lowest stroke average (70.44) over the course of the season.

Here and there

Rarely do qualified players skip World Golf Championship events, but Luke Donald isn’t playing in this week’s WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship in San Francisco because it conflicts with his brother’s wedding.

Mistwood’s state-of-the-art Performance Center in Romeoville has earned more national recognition. Golf Digest included it among its Best 100 Club Fitters in America. Over 700 facilities were nominated. Last year Mistwood gained national honors for both its course renovation and practice range.

David Perkins of East Peoria was the champion at last week’s American Junior Golf Assn. Preseason Junior at Cantigny, in Wheaton, while Glenview’s Charlie Nikitas was top local player in fifth place. Megan Furtney, of South Elgin, was runner-up in the AJGA’s Junior All-Star event in Ohio.

Elmhurst’s Dan Gibbons is looking for players to participate in The Fighting Hunger Games, a 100-hole marathon to be played at Maple Meadows in Wood Dale on June 19 to fight hunger in DuPage County. The anticipated 36 entrants, who are expected to raise $2,500 apiece in pledges, will play in twosomes.

Registration is now open for the 28th annual Midwest Celebrity Pro-Am, benefitting Special Olympics Illinois Area 2. It’ll be held June 22 at Royal Fox in St. Charles.

Brunswick gets into golf with its new indoor putting green

Lake Forest-based Brunswick Corporation has had a rich history in producing sports equipment, starting with billiards tables back in 1845. Prominent in the bowling industry from 1890 until its exit last year, the company remains a leader in boating and fitness equipment as well as billiards and table tennis.

Brunswick’s latest venture is into golf, with an indoor putting green that was introduced to the Chicago market last week at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Indoor putting greens aren’t unusual, but the version that Brunswick is marketing as “The ONLY Green’’ has more features than its predecessors. It also has the backing of noted short game teaching guru Stan Utley, who has long worked with touring players Jay Haas and Sergio Garcia.

Utley says the green’s “surface and adjustability will flat out make you a better putter’’ and the company says that PGA Tour players Kevin Streelman, Matt Jones and Graham DeLaet have worked with it.

The green comes as a handcrafted piece of furniture that is available in six hardwood finishes. While there are six standard sizes, the smallest being two feet by eight feet, greens can customized to fit specific spatial needs. The largest custom-built version is now in Portland, Ore. – 12 feet by 24 feet. Prices range from $3,400 to $11,000.

Iowa resident Rockland Duffy developed the original version of the green in 1992. Utley purchased one from Duffy in 1998 and Tim Ummel of Scottsdale, Ariz., purchased the company in 2012 and hooked up exclusively with Brunwick for product development world-wide.

“I saw it. I played on it, and I had to have it,’’ said Chris Clawson, president of Life Fitness and Brunswick Billiards. “It’s not just a great way to improve your game. It’s also a great, fun way to unwind with your family and friends.’’

Green speeds can be adjusted from 12.5 on the stimp meter down to 10. Contours can be adjusted as well, making a variety of uphill, downhill and breaking putts part of the experience. A putting course is marked on the surface to facilitate competitive as training efforts and a putter rack and scorecards are also available.

IJGA drops Chicago Open

The Illinois Junior Golf Assn. started its season in the usual manner, drawing 105 players last week at Sanctuary in New Lenox. The IJGA will conduct over 100 more events and expect over 2,000 boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 18 to compete this season, but the campaign will have a different ending.

Two years ago the IJGA revived the Chicago Open as a season-ending October fundraiser after its youth competitions were over. The 54-hole event, which included a pro-am, was played at Cantigny, in Wheaton, as a way to help young pros prepare for the Web.com Tour qualifying school. The event, however, didn’t generate sufficient charitable donations and the IJGA board dropped it from the schedule.

The Chicago Open, once part of a more informal PGA Tour, has had a rocky history. Last year marked the 25th staging, the first of which was in 1914. Its winners include Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Ken Venturi and Luke Donald. Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr., now in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, and Michigan mini-tour player Andy Ruthkoski were the champions at Cantigny.

Detry, Hossler in Palmer Cup

Illinois’ Thomas Detry and Beau Hossler, who won last year’s Western Amateur at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club, were among the selections for the Palmer Cup, a team event pitting the best collegiate players from the U.S. and Europe. The 19th version of the competition will be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove from June 12-14.

Hossler heads the U.S. team that includes Lee McCoy of Georgia, Ollie Schniederjans and Ander Albertson of Georgia Tech, Kyle Jones of Baylor, Maverick McNealy of Stanford, Hunter Stewart of Vanderbilt, Robbie Shelton of Alabama, Jack Maguire of Florida State and Carr Vernon of California State-Monterey Bay.

Detry, from Belgium, will make his second Palmer Cup appearance for the European side. Europe won last year’s competition but the U.S. holes a 9-8-1 edge in the series.

Here and there

The American Junior Golf Assn. Preaseason Junior will be played at Cantigny Friday through Sunday. It’ll involve 84 of the top junior players in the nation.

Northwestern has signed its third men’s recruit, Luke Miller of Venetia, Pa. He was a qualifier for last year’s U.S. Amateur.

The 39th annual Pine Hollow Open is on tap for Saturday at Downers Grove and Bloomington Country Club will be the site of the Illinois PGA’s first stroke play event of the season on Monday.

Conway Farms isn’t quite ready to unveil its major facelift

Consider the Chicago golf season in full swing – almost.

Of the area’s primary tournament venues only Conway Farms, the private facility in Lake Forest that will host the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship in September, isn’t taking golfers yet. It’s not expected to open until mid-May

The finishing touches are being put on a major facelift at Conway with the tournament’s return after a year’s absence presenting a cause for caption.

“They’re taking steps every year to make it better for the players as well as the spectators,’’ said Vince Pellegrino, tournament director for the Western Golf Assn.

The practice range has been expanded by 60 percent, all the greens have been re-grassed, and the cart paths widened, the parking lot has been expanded and the pro shop and caddie facilities upgraded as well. A second ticket gate has also been added at the No. 9 tee, all designed to make the site better when the PGA Tour returns.

Apparently the word is out. BMW ticket sales were up significantly even before Jordan Spieth’s dramatic victory in the Masters tournament on Sunday. Early ticket sales for the BMW Championship, which brings together the top 70 players for the third event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, are up 47 percent from the same time in 2013 – the last time the PGA Tour visited Chicago – and the sale of weekly badges to the Trophy Club hospitality tent have more than doubled.

Spieth is expected to compete in both of the PGA Tour’s Illinois stops this season. The other is July’s John Deere Classic in downstate Silvis. Spieth won his first PGA tournament at the JDC in 2013.

The BMW’s previous home base, Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in Lemont, welcomed players for the first time last weekend. There’s a new look on the staff side at Cog, as David Impastato is now director of golf, Randy Heinrich is manager of the Learning Center and Jim Hartnett is on board as Master Clubfitter. A new team event, the Dubsdread Spring Classic, has also been scheduled for May 16.

Mistwood, the Romeoville layout that annually hosts the Illinois Women’s Open, had its spiffy Performance Center open last week. The course is to open on Thursday but the new clubhouse, under construction since last August, isn’t expected to be ready for another four months.

Wisconsin’s two major tournament courses, Whistling Straits (this August’s PGA Championship site) and Erin Hills (2017 U.S. Open) aren’t open yet. Whistling opens April 24 and Erin Hills on May 11.

Illini expand facilities

The University of Illinois dedicated its Lauritzen/Wohlers Outdoor Practice Facility, which is adjacent to the J.G. Demirjian Indoor facility in Urbana. The combination of the two provides the men’s and women’s teams at the school with a model for collegiate programs nation-wide.

The outdoor version, inspired by the practice range at Augusta National, was a $6 million project — over $2 million going toward facilities plus a $3.5 million endowment to support the annual operations.

Here and there

Chicago’s longest-standing golf radio show, Golfers on Golf, will make its season debut at 9 a.m. on Sunday (APRIL 19) over WSBC (1240-AM) and WCFJ (1470-AM). The show, featuring Rory Spears, Mike Munro, Ed Stevenson and Bill Berger, is entering its 20th season.

Mistwood’s Andy Mickelson and Chris Ioriatti carded a 7-under-par 65 to win the Illinois PGA’s season opening Pro-Assistant Championship on Monday at Naperville Country Club. The IPGA will hold another team event next Monday, the Pro-Pro Scramble at Chicago’s Harborside International.

Pheasant Run Resort, in St. Charles, will host its Spring Scramble on Saturday and will also host a qualifier for the World Golf Scramble on May 30. Meanwhile, Cog Hill will hold its Tee It Forward Scramble on Course 3 on Sunday.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will open its tournament season with three April qualifiers for its Mid-Amateur Championship. They’ll be held April 23 at Coyote Creek in Bartonville, April 27 at Village Greens of Woodridge and April 30 at Bridges of Poplar Creek in Hoffman Estates.

Winning Masters’ Par-3 contest was a just reward for Streelman

Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman won the traditional Par-3 Contest that precedes the Masters tournament on Wednesday. That’s not necessarily a good thing, because players consider winning the Par-3 a bad omen. No Par-3 winner has ever gone on to win the Masters.

In Streelman’s case, though, things might turn out differently. He didn’t take his participation in the Par-3 lightly.

His thought process started in December of 2013. That’s when Streelman and wife Courtney were expecting their first child. Daughter Sophia was born more than a month early after Courtney underwent a difficult, worrisome pregnancy.

“That changed a lot of the ways I see children,’’ Streelman told ESPN.com. “I have an entirely new appreciation for what parents with children having tough times are going through.’’

The Par-3 is a fun event, and players frequently use family members or friends as their caddies. Streelman’s father was on his bag in in his first Par-3 experience in 2012. His mother got the call in 2013 and his father-in-law last year.

Still moved by Sophia’s struggles at birth Streelman contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation after securing another Masters berth by virtue of his win in the PGA Tour’s tournament in Hartford, Ct., last year. He asked if any of its patients wanted to attend the Masters and Ethan Couch, the 13-year-old son of a former golf professional in Canada, was anxious to have the opportunity.

Couch was diagnosed with a brain tumor that’s benign, but inoperable, two years ago. How it will affect the rest of his life is uncertain. He’ll undergo an MRI next week.

With Ethan carrying his bag Streelman went around the nine-hole short course at Augusta National in 5-under-par, which left him in a tie with Camilo Villegas for the top spot. They went to a sudden death playoff, which Streelman won on the third extra hole to make Couch’s day all the more special.

“I just wanted to open the door to someone, and hopefully give him a great day after going through some rough times,’’ said Streelman. “This isn’t about me. It’s about giving back. It’s about using that opportunity that I have to make someone’s wish come true.’’

Streelman, 36, was born in Winfield, developed his golf skills primarily at Cantigny in Wheaton, graduated from Wheaton-Warrenville South High School in 1997 and Duke University 2001. He has two wins since earning his PGA Tour card in 2008.

Though he lost to Streelman in the playoff, the day was special for Villegas as well. He made two holes-in-one in his first eight holes of the Par-3 competition. Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus, now 75, also made a hole-in-one. He’s been playing at Augusta National since the 1960s but never had an ace there until Wednesday, and he somewhat predicted it in a television interview before his round.

Streelman, Donald get ready for another Masters

The golf season must really be upon us now. The Masters tournament – a sure sign of spring – is just a week away and two of Illinois’ PGA Tour players are assured spots in the field.

Kevin Streelman got in by virtue of his dramatic win – a record seven straight birdies to finish his final round — at the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Ct., last June. Luke Donald is in because he was in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings at the end of 2014. The world’s No. 1 player for 56 weeks in 2011 and 2012, however, has some work ahead if he’s to remain among the invitees for 2016.

Donald finished 2014 as No. 34 in the rankings and has steadily dropped. Augusta National’s membership also extends invitations to players who are in the top 50 a week before that year’s Masters and – after four players were added to the field on Monday – Donald’s ranking was down to No. 50. The former Northwestern star tied for third in the 2005 Masters but was one shot off the cut line after 36 holes last year.

Streelman, who made the cut last year but settled for a tie for 42nd place after struggling in with a 79 in the final round, is in the field for this week’s Shell Houston Open – the last event to determine Masters qualifiers. It tees off on Thursday with Donald sitting out.

Other local Masters hopefuls D.A. Points and Mark Wilson will also be competing. Both former Masters contestants need to win to get into this year’s field, and Points proved it could be done. He got into the 2013 Masters by winning at Houston.

Assuming Tiger Woods enters and the Houston winner isn’t already among the qualifiers this Masters could have 101 players – the biggest field since 1966. That isn’t likely, though.

The qualifiers include four injured players – Kevin Stadler (wrist), Graham McDowell (ankle), Brooks Koepka (ribs) and Steve Stricker (back). Stricker underwent back surgery after his last tournament appearance in December. Stadler has been idle since January and McDowell and Koepka withdrew from the last two tournaments because of their injuries. They could bypass the Masters as well.

Woods is still trying to regain form after recovering from back problems. He won’t play at Houston but could join the Masters field as late as his April 9 tee time. The Masters has no entry deadline for its qualifiers.

Miller leaving Illinois PGA

The Illinois PGA is looking for a new executive director. Michael Miller, who has held that post the past 20 years, will leave on May 1 to become executive director of the PGA of America’s Southwest Section. New IPGA president Jim Opp said the section is in no hurry to find a replacement for Miller.

Miller, 52, is only the third executive director in Illinois PGA history. The first, Ken Boyce, served from 1976-88. Vance Redfern took over until 1995 when Miller, his assistant, replaced him. Miller, who started with the IPGA as tournament director, has been with the section for 27 years.

“Leaving was a difficult decision because this has pretty much been my whole career,’’ said Miller. “But this will be the next stage of my career – a bigger section with a little different culture. And the climate change doesn’t hurt, either.’’

The Southwest Section, which encompasses all of Arizona and part of Nevada including Las Vegas, has more members and covers a bigger geographical area than the Illinois Section. Its membership is much heavier on the resort side than Illinois and junior golf is a huge priority. The Southwest conducts over 60 youth events.

They’re Augusta-bound

Masters week officially starts on Monday with practice rounds, but the club will again host the finals of the Drive, Putt and Chip competition on Sunday. The nation-wide competition for youngsters in the 7-15 age category was a big hit in its debut last year, and this year’s 80 finalists include three from the Chicago area.

Effie Perakis of Glenview is among the 10 finalists in the Girls 7-9 division. Inverness’ Caroline Smith made it in the Girls 12-13 division and Sugar Grove’s Jimmy Morton will compete in the Boys 14-15 competition.

Masters week also triggers golf promotions at Chicago locations. One of the biggest will be at Libertyville Sports Complex, which will hold its fourth annual Green Jacket Week of special offers and events beginning on Monday.