ROSCOMMON, Mich. – The idea is at least intriguing. Tom Doak has designed a golf course that will have 18 greens and fairways but will play in two directions. The No. 18 green will always be the No. 18 green, but one day you play around to that green from a clock-wise direction, and the…
Author: lenz
Michigan’s Homestead could be `Most Beautiful’ for visiting golfers
GLEN ARBOR, Mich. – The Homestead is located in the heart of Michigan’s best golf areas, but it’s difficult to consider it a golf destination. There’s so many more attractions there, most notably Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. In 2011 ABC’s Good Morning America labeled that area “the Most Beautiful Place in America.’’ It’d be…
America’s Golf Capital in Michigan? Why not?
THOMPSONVILLE, Mich. – Crystal Mountain Resort started as a community ski area in 1956. Golf didn’t come until 1977 when one of the owners, Bob Meyer, designed the first nine holes of what is now the Benzie Valley course. That course became an 18-holer a year later, and Bill Newcomb, a well-established Midwest course designer…
Hardy takes momentum from NCAAs into the U.S. Open
Just 10 months ago Northbrook’s Nick Hardy was shaking off a loss in the final of the Illinois State Amateur and getting ready for his freshman year at the University of Illinois. This week, at 19, he’s playing in the 115th U.S. Open at Washington’s Chambers Bay course. Hardy won’t be the youngest player in…
U.S. stays focused, regains Palmer Cup
The U.S. team in the Palmer Cup certainly didn’t want a repeat of the epic collapse the country’s professionals had in the 2012 Ryder Cup matches at Medinah. In that Ryder Cup the U.S. took a 10-6 lead into the final day’s singles matches and blew it. In the Palmer Cup, a similar team event…
Memories of Medinah? U.S. takes big lead into last day of Palmer Cup
Beau Hossler vowed even before the Palmer Cup matches began that he wouldn’t be looking ahead to his title defense in August’s Western Amateur. Both competitions are being played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. The Palmer Cup is a 19-year old team event pitting the college stars of the U.S. against their counterparts…
U.S. gets off to a fast start in Palmer Cup
Just two weeks ago Thomas Detry was on the popular side, a key player in the University of Illinois’ drive to the semifinals of the NCAA golf tournament in Florida. Now, as a member of the European team in the Palmer Cup matches at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, he’s trying to do in…
HERE AND THERE: Players keep coming to Grand Geneva
LAKE GENEVA, Wis. – For the life of me I can’t understand why Grand Geneva Resort hasn’t hosted a big PGA or U.S. Golf Assn. championship. The playing facilities are certainly there to do it. So is the lodging (355 guest rooms and suites), restaurant options (three fine-dining spots on property plus more in this…
Hossler is in Palmer Cup spotlight at Rich Harvest
Jerry Rich has become the most ambitious golf tournament promoter in Chicago, there’s no doubt about that. The owner of Rich Harvest Farms, Rich has provided a steady diet of top-level competition at his sparkling Sugar Grove layout ever since the LPGA’s Solheim Cup was contested there in 2009. This year, though, Rich has outdone…
Kemper Lakes is ready to `Restore the Roar’
A three-year project to renovate its bunkers is over, and Kemper Lakes is ready to “Restore the Roar.’’ The club, based in Chicago’s northwest suburb of Kildeer, wants big tournaments again, and the new looks that Libertyville architect Rick Jacobson created with the bunkers should help. “The renovations are now complete, and it’s been a…