lenz – Page 108 – Len Ziehm On Golf

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Hazeltine is Ryder Cup-ready already

CHASKA, Minn. – In just a couple years a golf club that is just 52 years old will become only the second in history to host all of the top six championships played on American soil.

Hazeltine’s Walking Man statue may soon become as famous as PInehurst’s Putter Boy.

Hazeltine National, which opened in 1962, has already hosted the U.S. Open (1970, 1991), the U.S. Women’s Open (1966, 1977), the PGA Championship (2002, 2009), the U.S. Senior Open (1983) and the U.S. Amateur (2006).

All that’s missing is the Ryder Cup, and Hazeltine went on the clock to host that epic battle duel between the U.S. and Europe in 2016 after Europe continued its recent domination of the competition at Gleneagles in Scotland earlier this fall. Hazeltine will be the place to be from Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 2016.

The only club to host all those big event is North Carolina’s Pinehurst No. 2, which opened in 1907 – 55 years before Hazeltine. Pinehurst, which became the first course to host both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in back-to-back weeks last June, also hosted the U.S. Senior Open (1994), PGA Championship (1936), U.S. Open (1999, 2005) and Ryder Cup (1951).

Medinah hosted the last domestic Ryder Cup in 2012, when the American side suffered a colossal meltdown in the Sunday singles matches to get saddled with a 14 ½ -13 ½ defeat in the 39th playing of the competition.

Hazeltine’s clubhouse, which opened in 2010, offers plenty of views of its championship course.

Team results aside, the Ryder Cup is the biggest event any club could host in golf. In landing the Ryder Cup a club is assured the global spotlight and an indelible spot in the history of the sport. Medinah was ready when its turn came, and it showed clearly when the world-wide lights were turned on two years ago, but Hazeltine – based on a two-day visit less than a month after the last putt dropped at Gleneagles — may be even better prepared this far in advance.

Medinah endured difficult times getting its No. 3 course ready in 2012. Superintendent Curtis Tyrrell battled major, weather-related conditioning problems right up until the teams arrived. That likely won’t be the case at Hazeltine. Tyrrell’s counterpart, Chris Tritabaugh, is supervising the most important anticipated potential problem a full two years before the matches begin.

“Our bunkers had been an issue for the course for a long time – long before I got here,’’ he said. “They would wash out, and we spent a lot of time fixing them.’’

Hazeltine’s understated entrance gives only a hint of what’s ahead.

So, Hazeltine’s members took on an assessment to cover a nearly $1 million installation of the state-of-the-art Billy Better Bunker system. It was developed by Billy Fuller, a former superintendent at Augusta National, to combat drainage problems. Gleneagles and Valhalla, the Louisville layout that has already hosted a Ryder Cup and two PGA Championships, previously benefitted from the system’s installation.

Having top-notch bunkers is especially important at Hazeltine, since the Robert Trent Jones design has an abundance of them. Hazeltine’s 108 bunkers have the same square footage as the putting surfaces – about three acres for each. That’s an eye-catching statistic, because bunkers typically are about one-third the size of the putting surfaces.

Even before the bunker work started word surfaced of a re-routing of the Hazeltine layout for Ryder Cup purposes. The last four holes of each nine were switched to make for a better spectator experience.

Well before that – immediately after the well-received 2009 PGA Championship – the Hazeltine membership approved the demolition of its old clubhouse and the building of a new one which was opened in the fall of 2010.

And now the controversies surrounding the U.S. team in the aftermath of the latest loss to the Europeans are working towards Hazeltine’s benefit.

“For everything that happened at Gleneagles, I never would have written the script that way, but it will turn out very good for us in a lot of ways,’’ said Hazeltine tournament chairman Patrick Hunt. “For one, it puts us in the best possible position to win and the attention will be bigger than it was.’’

Hazeltine sent member contingents to the last two Ryder Cups, and most who went said they benefitted more from what they saw at Medinah than what transpired at Gleneagles.

“On the big picture side, the best thing (Medinah) did for us was setting a high bar,’’ said Hunt. “We’re competitive. We always want to beat previous records, and they set all the records.’’

Hazeltine is hoping to have 84 corporate chalets, which would be more than Medinah had, and the Minnesota club has plenty of open space to accommodate spectators.

Asked if he anticipated Hazeltine being the best-attended Ryder Cup yet, Hunt responded: “I would.’’

“It has to do with the property we have and what we’ve learned from past events,’’ he said. “We’re very good at running championships. It’s our core mission. Our team has a good blend of experience. We’re very professional in our approach.’’

Like Medinah, Hazeltine hasn’t hosted a PGA Tour event even though it has had opportunities to do so.

“We were offered the BMW Championship,’’ said Hunt, “but it didn’t fit our brand.’’

The bigger annual events, though, do. In addition to its resume of major USGA and PGA championships, Hazeltine also took on the 1994 U.S. Mid-Amateur and 1999 NCAA Championship. The Ryder Cup, though, will be its biggest challenge yet. Part of it will be educating its populace.

“If you’ve attended a Ryder Cup you know what you’re in for,’’ said Hunt. “If you’re a golf fan you think you know what you’re in for – but you don’t really know. The general population of the Twin Cities doesn’t yet understand the bigness of this.’’

Streelman, International Crown create a buzz as Chicago season winds down

Chicago’s golf season may be in its final days as far as 2014 goes, but you wouldn’t know it by developments over the last few days.

On the PGA Tour Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman made a final-round charge in the Shriners Hospital for Children’s Open in Las Vegas on Sunday. Making five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine, Streelman took over the lead before third round leader Ben Martin rallied to overtake him.

Streelman shot 65 in the final round but wound up as the runnerup, two strokes behind Martin, who posted a 20-under-par 266 to claim his first PGA Tour victory.

Before Streelman made his charge the PGA’s Champions Tour announced a change in leadership. Greg McLaughlin took over as president of the 50-and-over circuit, replacing Mike Stevens. McLaughlin was the long-time tournament director of the Western Open before directing the Tiger Woods Foundation for 14 years.

The biggest news, though, was made on Sunday in Korea when the Ladies PGA Tour announced that Underwriters Laboratories will be the sponsor for its International Crown event.

UL, a premier global independent safety science company with a headquarters location in Northbrook, has been in operation since 1894 and has more than 11,000 employees world-wide. UL was an ambassador sponsor when the LPGA introduced its International Crown at Caves Valley in Owings Springs, Md., this season.

Jerry Rich, owner of Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, was a leader in the creation of the global team competition that was won by Spain in its first staging. The second staging will be at Rich Harvest, with the dates of July 18-24, 2016, revealed when UL’s involvement was announced.

Rich had hoped the International Crown would be based at his course, but LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said the third playing in 2018 would be in Korea – a country that has produced a number of top players on the LPGA circuit in recent years.

In making the announcement Whan declared that “Big is coming to Chicago,’’ but said a staging in Korea was appropriate as well.

“The Republic of Korea has clearly demonstrated their support for the LPGA by hosting 18 different tournaments over the years with tremendous fan support,’’ Whan said. “It made perfect sense that the first time we take the International Crown out of the U.S. was to a country with so many dedicated fans who support women’s golf.’’

Rich’s private layout has become Chicago’s best tournament venue in recent years. The biggest event there so far was the 2009 Solheim Cup matches between the LPGA stars of the U.S. and Europe. The Western Amateur and Palmer Cup, a prestigious team competition for collegiate players, will be played at Rich Harvest in 2015 before the International Crown makes its appearance.

In addition to Chicago’s influences on the international golf scene, the Illinois PGA made its awards announcements for 2014. Heading the list was Medinah teaching professional Travis Johns, who was named the section’s player-of-the-year.

Johns earned the honor, based on season-long point standings, for the second time. He took it for the first time in 2010. In winning this season Johns snapped the two-year reign of Curtis Malm, who is completing his first season as head professional at White Eagle in Naperville.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Crown sponsorship climaxes big golf week for Chicago

Chicago’s golf season may be in its final days as far as 2014 goes, but you wouldn’t know it by developments over the last few days.

Streelman shot 65 in the final round but wound up as the runnerup, two strokes behind Martin, who posted a 20-under-par 266 to claim his first PGA Tour victory.

The biggest news, though, was made on Sunday in Korea when the Ladies PGA Tour announced that Underwriters Laboratories will be the sponsor for its International Crown event.

In making the announcement Whan declared that “Big is coming to Chicago,’’ but said a staging in Korea was appropriate as well.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Flower Hole is still golf’s most beautiful

When you visit the SentryWorld course in Stevens Point, WI., there’s always the temptation to get overwhelmed by its world-renowned Flower Hole. I’ve seen lots of beautiful golf holes, but No. 16 at SentryWorld remains my choice as the most beautiful.

The course opened in 1982 and was recently renovated by Robert Trent Jones Jr. in collaboration with Bruce Charlton and Jay Blasi. I’d planned to make the unveiling of the renovated layout, but it was rained out.

SentryWorld_Hole16_Green_Aerialv2 — An aerial view shows just how extensive the flowering of SentryWorld’s No. 16 is.

Still, I can report that the Flower Hole hasn’t lost a thing in the changes. Never the most difficult hole in golf with tee placements ranging from 97 to 176 yards, it now is adorned with over 50,000 flowers. The hole had about 42,000 before the renovation.

Long respected for his architectural work, Robert Trent Jones Jr. has created a mini-controversy with his assessment of new No. 5 hole, a par-5. He calls that hole “one of the most beautiful holes at SentryWorld and, for that matter, in all of golf.’’

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: WWGA honors two of its long-time leaders

Long before there was a Ladies Professional Golf Assn. there was the Women’s Western Golf Assn. This organization has spearheaded golf for girls and women since 1901.

Susan Wagner has represented the WWGA on the public relations and media side.

This week the WWGA honored two of its longstanding leaders. Susan Wagner and Audrey Peterson were presented with Woman of Distinction Awards at the WWGA’s annual meeting at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, IL.

Both are extremely deserving of this recognition. Between the two of them they’ve spent over 70 years volunteering their time, energy and talent to both the WWGA and its Foundation, which has awarded academic scholarships for the past 43 years.

Over the years the program has distributed over $3.35 million to 600 scholars from 45 states.

Wagner, formerly of Flossmoor and now living in Florida, has been a WWGA director since 1977, when the Western Amateur tournament was held at her home club. In recent years she has served as the WWGA’s national public relations and media director. She was the organization’s president in 1997-98.

Peterson, a director since 1980, was the WWGA president in 1991-92. She has also worked in a variety of other areas and has chaired the organization’s Amateur, Junior and Senior championships. Her home club is Blackhawk, in Madison, WI.

Audrey Peterson, a frequent competitor in WWGA competitions, was a past president and tournament chairman for the organization.

The Woman of Distinction awards are a big deal for this organization, which doesn’t get the attention it once did when it conducted the Women’s Western Open – for years the biggest event available for women professional players. Its champions included Helen Hicks, Babe Zaharias, Patty Berg, Betsy Rawls, Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Carol Mann, Susie Maxwell and Kathy Whitworth.

Chicago golf historian Tim Cronin outlined the WWGA’s rich history in its latest annual meeting, and that spotlight the Women’s Western Open. That event ran from 1930 to 1967 and its revival has been a subject of discussion in Chicago golf circles for years – especially since the WWGA’s more recent merger with the Western Golf Assn.

Past winners of the Woman of Distinction awards were Suggs, Nancy Lopez, Peggy Kirk Bell, Betty James, Wiffi Smith, Mann, Whitworth and Wright on the professional level and Carol Semple Thompson, June Beebe Atwood, Alice Dye, Judy Bell, Ann Upchurch and Co McArthur on the amateur side.

Ownership change

Mike Munro, who created one of the nation’s first indoor golf practice facilities in the country, revealed that he’s sold his White Pines Golf Dome in Bensenville, IL., to KemperSports, the widely-respected Northbrook-based golf management firm.

Munro operated the Dome for 23 years and will still be involved in the operation of the facility – a hotspot for Chicago golfers during the chilly winter months.

Not so good

The first event of the PGA Tour’s 2014-15 season wasn’t a good one for Illinois’ players. Kevin Streelman, D.A. Points and Mark Wilson all missed the cut at the Frys.com Open in California.

Sainz, Small come up short in Chicago Open; Ruthkoski wins in playoff

Andy Ruthkoski 3 — Andy Ruthkoski celebrates after his birdie putts wins playoff for Chicago Open title.

Carlos Sainz Jr., the new PGA Tour member from Elgin, was in position to defend his Chicago Open title Tuesday and Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach, had a chance to win, too. He jumped into a tie for the lead after making five birdies in a row in a furious back nine charge at Cantigny in Wheaton.

Sainz and Small could only finish in a five-way for third place in the last major event of the local golf season, however. Andy Ruthkoski of Muskegon, Mich., nabbed the title, beating Lewis University graduate Casey Pyne, of Bloomington, with a 10-foot birdie putt to conclude a two-hole sudden death playoff.

Windy conditions hampered scoring on the final day of the 54-hole test. Ruthkoski and Pyne, who played on the Dakotas Tour this year, were the only players to finish under par. Both posted 2-under 214 totals before going to extra holes. Pyne and Small had the best scores of the final round with 4-under 68s.

Small, who won a record 11th Illinois PGA Championship in August and celebrated his Illini’s climb to the No. 1 national ranking in collegiate golf last week, saw his hopes evaporate with a double bogey at No. 16. Sainz, playing in the last group, shared the lead several times until his drive at No. 18 found water in front of the green.

“A bad shot at the wrong time,’’ said Sainz. “I don’t usually hit driver on that hole. I got a little too aggressive.’’

Dakotas Tour player Casey Pyne battled his way into a playoff for the Chicago Open title.

He was forced to gamble after both Ruthkoski and Pyne posted their 2-under scores. Sainz needed a birdie on the last to get into the playoff.

A 2005 Michigan State graduate, Ruthkoski grabbed the lead with great chip shots that set up birdies at Nos. 11 and 12. He hit a pitching wedge from 103 yards to one foot for the first one and chipped to within inches from 44 yards out for the second, then endured a long wait before he could claim the $10,000 first prize.

The Chicago Open, revived as a fundraiser for the Illinois Junior Golf Assn. last year, was played for the 25th time since its first staging in 1914. Its champions when the event was part of a more loosely organized PGA Tour included Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Ken Venturi. Luke Donald also won it while still an amateur.

“I really like looking at the trophy and seeing the names that have won it,’’ said Ruthkoski. “It’s an honor to have my name with them.’’

Ruthkoski has played in six PGA Tour events and earned money in three of them, but hasn’t cashed a check on that circuit since 2009. He was invited to the Chicago Open by virtue of repeating as winner of the Michigan PGA Tournament of Champions in July.

Golf has endured some tough times lately — so let’s all just enjoy the game

Over the course of the last year or so I’ve been asked my views from a variety of people – inside and outside the Chicagoland Golf community – about the state of the golf industry. They were, of course, triggered by the general state of the economy.

Because golf is an activity requiring the spending of discretionary income, there has been the perception that play is down, that courses will close or at least lapse on their usual conditioning procedures, that potential young golfers are preferring other recreational opportunities.

Granted, I’m an eternal optimist on most everything and — as an avid life-long golfer and member of the industry myself — I want to see the game thrive. Still, I’m not blind and I have, for quite a few years, travelled widely across the United States in pursuit of golf projects of one sort or another. This year I’ve played golf in eight states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina) and witnessed a major championship (the PGA in Kentucky) in another.

That has caused me to wonder what the recent fuss is all about, where all the gloom and doom sentiment is coming from. I don’t see it at all. We may be long removed from golf’s boom times of the 1990s, when it seemed a new course was opening in the Chicago every month, but there’s plenty of evidence – nationally and locally – that the game is healthy and steadily getting stronger.

Let’s check out our Chicago area first. There either has been or will be major course work done at 22 courses, and Chicagoland Golf teammate Rory Spears, who keeps diligent track of such developments, admits he might have even missed a few.

These projects span private clubs (Kemper Lakes, Midlothian, Conway Farms, Medinah, Old Elm, Olympia Fields, Skokie, Wynstone, Glen Oak and Bob O’Link) to various types of public facilities (Arlington Lakes, Oak Meadows, Fox Run, Arrowhead, Mt. Prospect, Glenview Park District, Wilmette, Wedgewood, Settler’s Hill, Mistwood, Pine Meadow and Prairie Bluffs).

The biggest, of course, was done at Mistwood where owner Jim McWethy – in the deepest of dark times – ordered a renovation of a course that was already pretty good, the building of an elaborate Performance Center and construction of a new clubhouse (to be ready by next June) and threw in some significant upgrades to a nearby dome that caters to winter golfers.

Last month McWethy admitted to me that “the economy is not good, and golf is an activity that is being challenged.’’

Still, he committed big dollars to make his end of the golf industry better.

“It goes back to my fundamental belief that, if you do a good job with every aspect of it, there’s still enough business out there,’’ said McWethy. “There’s still a lot of people playing golf.’’

For every course closing (Plum Tree National, Rolling Knolls), there are many more course operators telling me about play at their facilities picking up as the season progressed.

Kemper Sports, the Northbrook-based course management company, is making regular announcement of facilities now under its direction. The Illinois PGA is in the process of expanding its biggest championship, the Illinois Open. The Western Golf Assn. has taken on the operation of a fourth big tournament (the Web.com Tour’s Hotel Fitness Championship) to raise more money for its Evans Scholars Foundation and the Chicago District Golf Assn. is celebrating its centennial in style.

More positive developments are happening throughout the Midwest. In Wisconsin the SentryWorld course has re-opened after an extensive renovation and Chicago’s Mike Keiser has begun construction of Sand Valley, which is projected to be as much a smash hit as his Oregon complex, Bandon Dunes. Lawsonia, one of Wisconsin’s oldest but most respected layouts, opened a new pub after changing management companies.

In Michigan, where over 800 public courses have made it a golfers’ mecca, one of the top layouts – Forest Dunes – will be getting a companion course designed by Tom Doak, who just completed the makeover of Medinah’s No. 1 layout. Treetops created a fancy-sounding new event – the National Par-3 Championship — and the sprawling Boyne Resorts just polished off a three-hole upgrade of its Crooked Tree and a bunker renovation of The Moor, and both big projects were done concurrently.

And big things aren’t happening in just the Midwest. Roger Warren, the former president of the PGA of America who heads South Carolina’s Kiawah Resort, hasn’t been deflated by economic issues – though he knows they exist.

“We had the best year in the history of the resort last year,’’ Warren told me in March, and we’ve experienced four years of double digit growth from 2009 on. I know it flies in the face of what’s happened in the rest of the game, but there’s a segment in this country that’s doing just fine – and that’s my customer.’’

Kiawah has five courses, the most prominent being its Ocean Course. But the Osprey Point layout got a makeover this year, Cougar Point will get one in 2015 and Oak Point in 2016.

And then, of course, there’s Pinehurst. The North Carolina resort expanded to a nine-course complex, adding its first Jack Nicklaus design, in the same year it hosted both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open. Then the greens on the famed No. 2 course were re-grassed immediately after the two back-to-back national championships. The results were overwhelmingly successful.

“We’ve been packed. There’s very few tee times through the second week of November,’’ Pinehurst vice president Jack Bickert reported. “We’re looking at the biggest September-October-November in our history and our advanced bookings have been tremendous through next spring.’’

OK, what else do you need to know? Work is being done and money being spent to make golf a better game. Young players may not be taking up golf in big enough numbers, but the PGA of America’s new Junior League is addressing that problem. Women’s golf received a big boost with the creation of the International Crown, a global event that was founded in part by the visionary efforts of Rich Harvest’s Jerry Rich.

Let’s sum things up. A struggling economy, an injury to Tiger Woods that may have hurt TV ratings and a big tournament shortage in the Chicago area didn’t help matters but the golf world – here and nation-wide – survived. We should all just get on with our enjoyment of this great game.

Will new PGA Tour member Sainz defend his Chicago Open title?

Sure, there’s plenty of golf to be played in the Chicago area for a few more weeks but the Chicago Open will be it as far as big-time competition goes. It begins with a pro-am on Oct. 3 and the three-day, 54-hole tournament proper tees off on Oct. 5, with everything again going on at Cantigny, in Wheaton.

The Chicago Open has had a checkered past. Marty Schiene, the men’s coach at Chicago State University and a former PGA Tour player, triggered the creation of the present version when he was the Illinois Junior Golf Assn. president in 2013. He envisioned the event as both a fundraiser for the Illinois Junior Golf Assn. and a tuneup for players preparing for the Web.com Tour qualifying school, which offers playing privileges on the PGA Tour’s satellite circuit for the 2014-15 season.

That wasn’t always the scenario for the Chicago Open, a tournament which has a history dating to 1914 – the year the Chicago District Golf Assn. was founded.

The first tournament called the Chicago Open was held at Chicago Golf Club and was won by Bob Gardner, a Hinsdale Golf Club member who beat a field of 18 others – all members of CDGA clubs. At times the Chicago Open was considered a stop on what we know now as the PGA Tour, with its champions including Macdonald Smith (1926), Johnny Farrell (1927), Abe Espinosa (1928), Gene Sarazen (1937), Sam Snead (1938), Ben Hogan (1941, 1942 and 1947), Byron Nelson (1945 and 1946), Bobby Locke (1948) and Ken Venturi (1958 and 1959).

During those years the tourney participants also included such notables as Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour, Johnny Revolta, Billy Casper, Gary Player and even the legendary Bobby Jones.

The names of the champions weren’t so lustrous in the other years, though Luke Donald – still a college boy at Northwestern – was the winner in 2000.

In all there have been 24 tournaments called the Chicago Open, so this year’s version represents the tourney’s 25th anniversary and it’ll be played at Cantigny, which is also celebrating its 25th season. There’s some symmetry there.

The IJGA, formed in 1967, conducts over 100 events annually for golfers between the ages of 8 and 18. The organization revived the tournament last year after an 18-year absence during Schiene’s presidency, and it blossomed into the primary fundraiser for the IJGA. The revival event, also held at Cantigny, offered a $50,000 purse. This year’s Chicago Open will be similar to that one, when players from 18 states and three foreign countries were among the entrants.

Given the change in stature, the last Chicago Open had a fitting champion. Carlos Sainz Jr., from Elgin, was an alumnus of IJGA events. He has hopes of playing on the PGA, and last year’s event helped him progress towards that goal. Sainz, who is scheduled to defend his title, comes in as a much more seasoned player this time.

His game blossomed at the right time in 2013, when he won an event on the Canadian PGA Tour and lost the Illinois Open title in a playoff before winning the Chicago Open. He did it by making five birdies in the first seven holes of the final round en route to posting a 68. That gave him a 6-under-par 210 for the 54 holes and a two-stroke advantage on runner-up Matt Thompson of Marshall, Mich. That provided a springboard to the good things that happened shortly after that.

Sainz went on to earn playing privileges on the Web.com Tour in the aftermath of his Chicago Open victory and, after struggling for most of his rookie season, came on strong at the end earn a place in the Web.com Tour Finals, which offered 25 berths on the PGA Tour for the 2015 season. The Finals concluded on Sept. 21.

In addition to Sainz this year’s early entrants included Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach who won the Illinois PGA Championship for a record 11th time in August, and Australia-born Mark Hensby, who has already scored an Illinois slam of sorts. Hensby won the Illinois State Amateur in 1994, the Illinois Open in 1996 and the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic at downstate Silvis in 2004.

Small tied for eighth in last year’s Chicago Open and will squeeze a tournament appearance in between his coaching duties with the nationally-ranked Illini. The only other Chicago are player in the top 10 last year was Libertyville’s Michael Schachner, who tied for fourth. That’s an indicative of the widespread quality in the field that can be expected again at Cantigny.

The IJGA scheduled five qualifying rounds to supplement the field of invitees and exempted players. First was held at Milwaukee’s Brown Deer course, former site of the PGA Tour’s Greater Milwaukee Open.

Others were at Metamora Fields, the central Illinois course that hosts the Illinois PGA Players Championship, and Village Links of Glen Ellyn, long-time site of Western Open Monday qualifiers. The final two were played at Lake Michigan Hills, in Benton Harbor, Mich., and Makray Memorial, in Barrington.

The pro-am is Friday, Oct. 3. The following day a free junior walking clinic will be conducted amidst afternoon practice rounds. The 54-hole tourney will be conducted over the next three days.

As was the case last year, many of the Chicago Open participants will try to do what Sainz did in 2013 – use the event as a springboard to a good showing at the Web.com Tour Q-School. The first stage of the Q-School begins on Oct.7, the second stage on Nov. 11 and the finals are Dec. 11-16 at Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Dancing Rabbit, Tunica National are Mississippi’s hot spots

CHOCTAW, MS. – Determining the best golf options in your first visit to an area isn’t easy. We faced that situation in our first-ever visit to the state of Mississippi, and I don’t think we could have made any better selections. The state has less than 200 courses, but the ones we found were all top of the line.

Dancing Rabbit’s clubhouse has everything, including eight rooms for lodging.

The seven-day stay started with a few days at Old Waverly, generally considered the state’s best private club, then continued with rounds at two of the premier public facilities – Dancing Rabbit and Tunica National.

Old Waverly, which hosted a premier event on the LPGA Legends Tour while we were there, was in pristine condition. It was one of the best private facilities I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve had the good fortune to visit plenty of good ones over the years.

We were every bit as much taken by Dancing Rabbit and Tunica National, however.

Dancing Rabbit, a 36-hole club at Pearl River Resort near the town of Philadelphia in the central part of the state, may be the most decorated club in Mississippi. Its Azaleas and Oaks courses were both designed by well-respected architect Tom Fazio and Jerry Pate, a former U.S. Open champion. Fazio also includes Chicago favorites The Glen Club and Conway Farms in his design portfolio. That reflects the quality of the courses at Dancing Rabbit.

While I’m not one to take the various course rating systems as gospel it is interesting to note that one of the longest standing ones, published by Golf Magazine, rated the Azaleas course ahead of Chicago favorites Cantigny, The General at Eagle Ridge and Kemper Lakes in one of Its Top 100 You Can Play lists.

The Azaleas was Dancing Rabbit’s first course, built in 1997. It’s also been listed in ratings by Golf Digest, Golf & Travel, Golfweek and Mississippi Magazine. It’s a tighter and tougher course than The Oaks, which opened in 1999, but I’m not convinced that it’s any better. Both are par-72s that measure over 7,000 yards from the tips, have five sets of tees per hole and offer rounds that wind through the woods with plenty of rolling hills and streams.

You get a cheerful-looking welcome when you arrive at Dancing Rabbit.

Dancing Rabbit is a great selection for a golf getaway because it has plenty of lodging options. On the property is the Dancing Rabbit Inn, and there’s also eight rooms available in the clubhouse. That’s in addition to the Pearl River Resort and the Golden Moon and Silver Star casinos, which offer alternate forms of entertainment. All told, the area has over 1,000 hotel rooms and 11 restaurants.

If you’re worried about the heat and humidity that Mississippi is known for, it wasn’t oppressive at either of the courses because there’s plenty of shade around the tree-lined cart paths.

Tunica National, on the outskirts of Memphis near Robinsonville, MS., is entirely different. This course, designed by former PGA Tour star Mark McCumber, features generous fairways and is all about fun. Though user-friendly, there are plenty of challenges created by strategically placed water hazards and bunkers.

Like the Dancing Rabbit courses, Tunica National features five sets of tees per hole but – at 7,402 yards – it plays longer from the back tees than either The Azaleas or The Oaks. Tunica also features an outstanding, spacious practice area.

Tunica National, managed by Chicago-based KemperSports, is also in a casino-rich area. There are nine of them nearby, and over 40 hotels are also in close proximity. The Tunica clubhouse is also unusual in that it includes four indoor clay tennis courts.

This rabbit isn’t dancing, but it makes for a striking tee marker.

As for Old Waverly, it’s rich in tradition as the site of the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open and it’s also been dubbed as The Country Club of Mississippi. Pate was also involved in its design, working with architect Bob Cupp prior to the course’s opening in 1988.

While not a public venue in the style of Dancing Rabbit or Tunica National, Old Waverly does offer lodging in the form of cottages, villas and condos for members and guests in the small town of West Point in the northeast part of the state. Beautiful homes are in evidence around the course and the layout has also been recognized by both Golfweek and Golf Digest.

In addition to its attractive golf setting, the club has also been a popular site for corporate meetings, weddings and other special events.

All three facilities are different and have their own special features. There was one common threat, however. Mississippi has promoted itself as “the hospitality state,’’ and that was clearly evident at all three locations.

Medinah reflects on its Ryder Cup, looks to the future

This week the world golf spotlight in on Gleneagles in Scotland, where the 40th Ryder Cup matches begin on Friday. Don Larson, who was chairman of the 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah, headed overseas to witness how things unfold this time, but he’ll never forget that epic week at Medinah in September of 2012.

“Now it’s like going to someone else’s wedding,’’ said Larson, who was also the chairman of the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah and a leader in that tournament’s staging there in 2006.

All those big events were exciting, but none more so than the Ryder Cup.

“I can’t believe ours was two years ago,’’ said Larson. “It was a lifetime event for a lot of people. One thing is for certain: that tournament will be remembered for a long time.’’

Medinah has changed a bit since the European team’s gigantic rally in the singles matches on the final day deflated a U.S. team in dramatic fashion. Renovation work began on Medinah’s No. 1 course 13 hours after the last putt dropped on the No. 3 layout to conclude the Ryder Cup.

The next day director of golf Mike Scully resigned from Medinah to take a similar job at Desert Mountain in Arizona. Medinah’s membership has undergone minimal changes since the Ryder Cup, and the club has a few openings for new ones. Since the Ryder Cup is the biggest event in golf, it’s highly unlikely Medinah will ever host a bigger event and it figures to be quite awhile before any major event comes there.

“We’ve talked with both the USGA (U.S. Golf Assn.) and PGA (of America),’’ said Larson, “but they’re locked up way in advance now. A lot of clubs want to host tournaments, and the USGA and PGA can have their pick of locations now. We’ll have to see what’s offered us.’’

Medinah is one of only five clubs that have hosted a U.S. Open, a PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup. The U.S. Open came three times (1949, 1975, 1990) and the PGA twice (1999, 2006). The club is still attractive for select events and would probably be willing.

“They’re a big undertaking,’’ said Larson. “What sets us apart is our championship golf course, our location, a willing membership and our facility.’’

Not many clubs anywhere have the space and clubhouse that Medinah has, and those are necessities for golf’s biggest events. So, Medinah could well host a big one again.

“We’re definitely not an every year place (which would rule out a PGA Tour stop),’’ said Larson, “but an event every six-eight years years would work out.’’

In the meantime, the club members and their guests aren’t playing their famed No. 3 course as much as they once did. Tee times were hard to come by leading up to the Ryder Cup. To correct that the club hired Michigan architect Tom Doak to elevate the stature of its No. 1 layout, and he did a good job.

“People can walk out to play No. 3 now,’’ said Larson, “and the demand to play No. 1 is extreme. The newness will come off eventually, but its fun to play. It’s a great golf course, and people are really excited about it.’’

IPGA showdown

The Illinois PGA Player of the Year will likely be decided at the last of the second’s four major championships. The IPGA Players Championship will run Monday and Tuesday (SEPT 29-30) at Metamora Fields.

Curtis Malm, head professional at White Eagle in Naperville, owns a 14-point lead on Medinah assistant Travis Johns going in the Players event. Malm is seeking his third straight Player of the Year award.

Here and there

Matt Swan, formerly an assistant t Westmoreland in Wilmette, has been named the new head professional at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.

The Illinois Super Senior Open concludes its two-day run on Wednesday at Pine Meadow in Mundelein.

Ed Whitaker, of downstate Tremont, won the Illinois State Senior Amateur last week at Royal Country Club of Long Grove. He had a four-stroke edge on Skoie’s Paul Hindsley.

Author: lenz