The 20th Illinois Women’s Open may have seemed like a ho-hum affair. Emily Collins started the final round with a five-stroke lead and won by nine. It wasn’t quite that easy for the University of Oklahoma graduate, however.
Collins, in her second tournament as a professional, started double bogey-bogey and her playing partner, Michigan State graduate Allyssa Ferrell, went birdie-birdie at Mistwood in Romeoville . Collins’ first swing put her in a bad spot, and she three-putted the first hole. Suddenly that big lead was gone, and Collins seemed vulnerable.
“I was a little bit nervous having such a big lead,’’ she said, “but I tried not to think about it.’’
A solid birdie on the third hole and four more after that steadied her nerves, and she had a seven-shot lead at the turn, an eight-stroke advantage after No. 12 and a whopping 10-shot cushion before her last bogey at No. 17.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised,’’ said Collins, “but it was definitely exciting. I played solid all week. I’m happy with the way I played.’’
Other than Ferrell, none of the other 31 finalists put pressure on Collins and her nine-shot edge was an IWO record. Her 54-hole score of 212 was 4-under par and it earned her a $5,000 payday and honorary membership to Mistwood.
Ashley Armstrong, a Notre Dame golfer from Flossmoor, was the top Chicago area player. She finished in a four-way tie for second with Ferrell, who – like Collins — is preparing for LPGA Q-school; and amateurs Lisabeth Brooks, from Waunakee, Wis., and Amber Schuldt, a University of Illinois golfer from Sterling. Brooks matched Collins’ 1-under 71 in the final round. The only score lower than that on Wednesday was a 70 by Naperville high school phenom Bing Singhsumalee.
Collins was runner-up in the Texas Women’s Open, her only other pro start, before winning at Mistwood. She’s in the qualifying round for the LPGA’s new Meijer Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich. When she’s done in that event she’ll focus on net month’s Q-school.
Though she attended college in Oklahoma and lives in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville, Tex., Collins has some Illinois connections. Her mother is from Bloomington and her father from DeKalb. Both attended Illinois State and Collins’ caddie, Tony Costello, is a family friend who lives 20 minutes from Mistwood.
“I looked at other tournaments I could play in, and thought the Illinois Women’s Open would be a good one,’’ said Collins. “It worked out the best. I loved the course and it was cool that my parents were from here.’’
No tournament in golf, amateur or professional, requires as much to win as the Western Amateur. The Western Golf Assn. is conducting its annual golf marathon for the 112th time this week at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club, and Wednesday is an especially big day because it includes the largest cut of the event – from the starting field of 156 to the low 44 and ties.
The Tuesday and Wednesday stroke play rounds involved 156 players, including 21 of the top 37 in the world amateur rankings. Only the low 44 and ties after the first 36 holes resume play on Thursday. They’ll go 36 more holes to determine 16 qualifiers for the match play portion of the tournament.
That’s when the title is really on the line. There’ll be two rounds of match play on Friday, the semifinals are on Saturday morning and the championship match on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s such a tough tournament to win,’’ said Oklahoma State golfer Jordan Niebrugge, who won it last year in Arkansas. “You have two cuts, then four matches after that. It really tests your patience.’’
Niebrugge, from Mequon, Wis., came in with good credentials. Playing as an amateur, he tied for 27th in the John Deere Classic in his first PGA Tour event. The next week, though, he was beaten by Arlington Heights resident Doug Ghim in the last U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
That ended Niebrugge’s hopes of defending that title, and Ghim – with a berth in next year’s Masters tournament on the line – lost a 37-hole duel with San Diego’s Byron Meth in an epic title match. Ghim and Meth, co-medalists in the Publinx, were among the many top stars teeing off in the Western Am.
Ghim, headed to the University of Texas, wasn’t the only Chicago star in the starting field. Naperville’s Ray Knoll qualified for the John Deere Classic and won the Illinois State Amateur the following week at Cantigny in Wheaton. His opponent in the final there was Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, who had been runner-up in the Western Junior at Flossmoor earlier in the summer.
Tournament director Vince Pellegerino had players from 30 states, 17 countries and six continents in his starting field. The foreign contingent include Tawian’s Cheng-Tsun Pan, the Western Amateur medalists in 2009 and 2010 and a qualifier for the 2013 U.S. Open and this year’s British Open, and China’s Tianglang Guan, the 14-year old who survived the cut in April’s Masters tournament.
The Western Amateur’s champions list includes Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ben Crenshaw and Curtis Strange. Beverly last hosted the tourney in 1930. It has also hosted four Western Opens, the 1931 U.S. Amateur and Chicago Opens.
Illinois Open moving?
The Illinois Open was played for a record ninth time at The Glen Club in Glenview last week, and Illinois PGA executive director Michael Miller said that a proposed format change could “potentially’’ take the tourney elsewhere.
In an effort to increase the entries the IPGA is considering an expansion of the qualifiers for the finals from 156 to 312. That would mean two courses would be needed for the first two rounds and a 36-hole facility would be ideal.
With the IPGA working with partner Kemper Sports, that suggests the finals might be shifted to Harborside International in Chicago for the first two rounds. Using two 18-holers in close proximity to each other is also under consideration. Miller said the tourney will remain at 54 holes and be limited to Illinois residents.
Here and there
The Illinois PGA Assistants Championship will be decided on Monday in a 36-hole competition at Crystal Lake Country Club.
Matt Pekarek, after 47 years at Village Links of Glen Ellyn, has retired as the 27-hole facility’s general manager. A past president of the Chicago District Golf Assn., he’ll continue to work on CDGA projects. Pekarek’s brother Chris is in his 45th year as superintendent at Village Links.
Justin Fetcho, assistant men’s coach at Illinois the past two years, has been named the head coach at Southern Illinois.
The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct four straight days of qualifying for the U.S. Mid-Amateur starting on Monday. Sites, in order, will be Red Tail in Decatur, Balmoral Woods in Crete, Stone Creek in Urbana and Highland Park Country Club.
The Illinois Amateur Invitational has been scheduled for Aug. 9-10 at Heritage Bluffs in Channahon.
Mistwood’s recently renovated course has proven a tough challenge for the players in the 20th Illinois Women’s Open – with the exception of Emily Collins, that is.
Collins, a recent University of Oklahoma graduate preparing for the LPGA qualifying school, posted a 4-under-par 68 in Tuesday’s second round to open a five-stroke lead entering Wednesday’s final 18 holes. She’s at 3-under-par 141 for the first 36 holes after a seven-birdie performance in the second round.
Alyssia Ferrell, is in the same position career-wise as Collins, is Collins’ closest pursuer. Ferrell, who just finished her collegiate career at Michigan State, is also headed to LPGA Q-school. The IWO is her third pro tournament, and she’s made the cut in all three starts.
Ferrell also has one thing going on Collins. Michigan golfers have won five of the last six IWO titles and two of her former Michigan State teammates, Allison Fouch and Aimee Neff, are past IWO champions. Neff, who won the tournament twice, is now the Spartans’ assistant coach.
Windy conditions hampered the 81 starters on Monday and Tuesday but they didn’t faze Collins, who is from Colleywood, Tex.
“Wind doesn’t bother me a lot,’’ she said. “I think I’ll be OK if I stay in the same mindset.’’
Her college team finished fourth in the NCAA tournament and she finished second in her first pro tournament, the Texas Women’s Open. The IWO is her second as a pro and she’ll try to qualify for next week’s LPGA tournament in Michigan on Monday before focusing on Q-School, which comes at the end of August.
“Emily played wonderful,’’ said Berwyn veteran Nicole Jeray, one of Collins’ playing partners in the first two rounds and the only LPGA player in the field. “She hardly made any mistakes and putted well.’’
Starting her second round at No. 10, Collins took charge of the tournament by making all birdies on Mistwood’s treacherous Kelpie’s Corner – the three-hole stretch from Nos. 14-16.
Best of the Illinois players are Sterling’s Ember Schuldt and Flossmoor’s Ashley Armstrong. They’re tied for fourth. Schuldt is a University of Illinois golfer as is Burr Ridge’s Samantha Postillion, who is tied for ninth. Postillion lost last year’s title to Michigan-based Elise Swartout in a playoff. Armstrong, also an amateur, plays collegiately at Notre Dame.
Jeray, a two-time IWO winner, goes into the final round in a tie for 19th
Bet you never thought of Iowa as a golf destination, did you? Well, maybe you should.
At least visits to two courses – Spirit Hollow in Burlington and Amana Colonies Golf Club in Middle Amana — during John Deere Classic week suggested that Iowa has plenty to offer golf-wise.
The Amana Colonies layout is the older of the two courses. It was opened in 1989, but the area near Cedar Rapids and the University of Iowa in Iowa City already had a reputation in golf before that. The Amana VIP tournament, which ran from 1967-90, was created by George Foerstner, founder of Amana Refrigeration, and Julius Boros, a long-time PGA Tour player who won the 1952 and 1963 U.S. Opens and the 1968 PGA Championship. The Amana Colonies course was challenging, but a most welcoming, place.
Their long-popular event was a forerunner to the celebrity events put on today. Bob Goalby, the former Masters champion, called it “the Masters of the Pro-Ams’’ and all the top players of that era – from Lee Trevino to Fuzzy Zoeller to Tom Watson – played in it at one time or another. So did celebs like ex-President Gerald Ford, Mike Ditka, Flip Wilson and Joe DiMaggio.
That event wasn’t held at Amana Colonies Golf Club. It opened one year before the last Amana VIP tourney was held at the University of Iowa’s Finkbine course.
Amana Colonies hasn’t had an event that big, but the 6,824-yard par-72 layout designed by William Spear on a 600-acre plot has long been considered one of Iowa’s best public facilities. Some may find the number of blind shots on the hilly layout excessive but the course has some beautiful views and successfully walks the fine line of being both fun and challenging.
Unlike Spirit Hollow, Amana Colonies is a more finished project. It also includes lodging at Colony Oaks condominiums, where stay-and-play packages for one to eight guests are available adjacent to the course. The Colonies – there’s seven of them that date back to 1855 – also are a National Historic Landmark. They attract visitors, golfers and non-golfers alike, all year long.
Spirit Hollow, though, is where exciting new things are happening now. The Amana Colonies clubhouse makes for a nice finishing hole on a course with plenty of elevation changes.
The course, designed by Libertville architect Rick Jacobson, opened in 2000. It’s been a busy place that will soon get busier.
Spirit Hollow hosted the Iowa Amateur in 2000 and 2012 and was the site of the last men’s National Junior College Athletic Assn. Division I championship. It’ll host the GolfWeek Challenge, which draws 15 of the top college teams, in September. Those are big events in a town of 30,000 residents that isn’t close to a bigger city. (The Quad Cities are a 75-minute drive away and Western Illinois University is the closest big college).
Burlington businessman Randy Winegard has done wonderful things with Spirit Hollow and more will become self-evident soon. Eight lodge rooms are under construction, so – possibly as soon as August – Spirit Hollow will be able to offer exclusive stay-and-play packages on the premises.
“It’ll make you feel like you’re staying at your own lodge,’’ said head professional Erin Strieck, who knows her way around the Illinois-Iowa golf scene. She held a similar job at Eagle Ridge in Galena, Ill., for 15 years and then spent two more at Fyre Lake, a Nicklaus Design Group project now operating in Sherrard, Ill.
Lodging isn’t all that’s coming in what will end up as about a $1 million renovation. There’ll also be a new bar and grill in the clubhouse and a stand-alone pavilion will be constructed near the driving range to host outings and other big events. Oh, deer! It’s always interesting to get some unexpected visitors in the middle of a round. This was our onlooker at Amana.
Spirit Hollow already has other entertainment options available. Winegard owns the Catfish Bend Inn, which is four miles away. It has a casino, water park and two restaurants and is a good place for adult get-aways, business gatherings and family vacations. And now the golf alternative – already quite good – is getting a boost.
“We’re lucky to have an owner who wants to take Spirit Hollow to the next level in achieving excellence,’’ said Strieck. “Our ultimate goal is Top 100 (in the various course ratings) and No. 1 in Iowa. With the addition of the lodging rooms, and as the place matures, that’s definitely without our reach.’’
More about the course facilities. Spirit Hollow may be the best buy in the Midwest now — $35 for seniors with cart included seven days a week. The clubhouse has an indoor hitting facility that allows for winter practice, and having music playing on a big practice range offers a nice, somewhat unusual twist.
Jacobson, who got his start in golf architecture working for Jack Nicklaus, formed his own company in 1991. He’s done a lot of work in China lately, but his creations in the Chicago area include two real good ones – Strawberry Creek in Kenosha and Bowes Creek in Elgin. Spirit Hollow ranks at least on par with those. He’s also done renovation work at such quality places as Kemper Lakes, North Shore, Bob O’Link, Oak Park, Cantigny and Sunset Ridge. That should speak volumes about what you can expect if you visit Spirit Hollow.
The staff there is also notable. In addition to Strieck, the superintendent is Jim Wyffels. He was superintendent at The General at Eagle Ridge before moving on to Fyre Lake and then Spirit Hollow.
There are lots of good holes at Spirit Hollow. You don’t forget No. 6, a 445-yard par-4 where some extremely realistic-looking “wolves’’ serve as decoys to keep geese off the green and away from the pond that fronts the putting surface.
None of the holes, however, are more memorable than No. 9 – a short dogleg right par-4. A stream runs in front of the long, elevated green and a waterfall – though not really in play – provides an added attraction. Play the hole from the right tee – 266 yards from the front one, or longer tests from 321, 365 or 410 yards — and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a challenge as much fun as this one.
The first International Crown concludes Sunday at Caves Valley, in Owings Mills, Md., but a Saturday gathering that wasn’t held anywhere near the course will have a more direct bearing on how the event plays out at Rich Harvest Farms in 2016.
Jerry Rich, in the forefront during the Crown’s creation, hosted a Watch Party for nearly 200 members of Chicago’s Asian community at The Stonegate in Hoffman Estates. Big-screen televisions flanked both sides of the speakers’ podium, ethnic food and beverages were offered and Crown memorabilia was available.
Rich and his staff hosted smaller gatherings for other ethnic groups in the days leading up to the inaugural staging of the global team competition, but Saturday’s was the big event that Rich most wanted.
Among those attending were Chunho Park, senior reporter for The Korea Daily of Chicago, and Kay Kihwa Rho, president of IOTRIO, an Asian education group. Chunho Park and I found out that we live just a few blocks from each other. What a small world we live in, and just one aspect of the International Crown is that it will bring people from different parts of the world together for a positive experience. Chunho Park (left) and Kay Kihwa Rho were among the key members of Chicago’s Asian community in attendance at the International Crown Watch Party.
Another factor is the economic impact it is certain to have in Chicago. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has told Rich that the International Crown “is the Olympics we didn’t get.’’
The International Crown at Rich Harvest will be played a month before golf is restored to the Olympic Games in Brazil. It will be a big deal, especially if Rich’s efforts to stir interest in Chicago’s various ethnic communities is successful.
“The people we have here at this Watch Party will really make that event successful,’’ Rich predicted. “We need the various (ethnicities) on the golf course cheering for their countries. That’ll create excitement and let this tournament grow for the next 50 or 60 years.’’
Rich has no doubt that’ll happen (neither do I, for that matter). He has called the Crown “my legacy’’ and likens it to Bobby Jones’ creation of the men’s Masters tournament 50 years ago. Jerry Rich, flanked by communications manager Samantha Rubin, addressed the Watch Party gathering while the International Crown telecast was in progress.
“We look at the International Crown as being as successful for women as the Masters was for the men,’’ said Rich.
The very successful Solheim Cup, staged at Rich Harvest in 2009, was barely over when Rich welcomed LPGA commissioner Mike Whan to his Sugar Grove headquarters. Rich told Whan: “You have the greatest product in the world, and you’re not marketing it properly.’’ (No argument from me on that one, either).
Women’s golf is more global than the men’s game, and the best women players aren’t Americans or Europeans. They needed a unique event like the International Crown.
“Of the top 100 players 60 percent are from Asia,’’ said Rich. “The best players in women’s golf are from Asia. We’ve found, in working with these ethnic groups, that they love golf but don’t know who the best players are. The Japan people, for instance, didn’t know the best players from Taiwan or Korea. This will really be something different for them.’’ The well-decorated bar added to the festive atmosphere at the International Crown Watch Party.
Rich left Caves Valley at the midway point of the first International Crown because of the importance he felt Saturday’s Watch Party merited. He described what he saw at Caves Valley as “absolutely terrific,’’ though there were some understandable snags in a first-time event. Attendance – he estimated it at about 15,000 per day – didn’t approach the 120,000 who showed up for Rich Harvest’s Solheim Cup.
While Caves Valley looked great on television, it wasn’t as fan-friendly as Rich Harvest will be. The steep hills at Caves Valley made spectator traffic difficult but, again, the first staging of the Crown was deemed an overall success.
“If I was disappointed about anything, it was that they didn’t energize the youth at all,’’ said Rich. “We are really going to do that (at Rich Harvest). High school girls will bring energy to the tournament.’’
Only seven players have won titles in both the Illinois State Amateur, which has been played for 84 years, and the Illinois Open, which just completed its 65th staging.
Brad Hopfinger, a Lake Forest resident who attended the University of Iowa before turning pro, was the latest and he joined a selected group – David Ogrin, Gary Hallberg, Bill Hoffer, Gary Pinns, Mark Hensby and Roy Biancalana.
Of those only Hoffer played at least briefly on the PGA Tour, and Ogrin, Hallberg and Hensby were champions on golf’s premier circuit. Three birdies in the first five holes helped Brad Hopfinger join some select company in Illinois golf. (Photo courtesy of Mike Schoaf, Illinois PGA.
Hopfinger, 25, hopes to get there eventually, but for now he’s just happy to be carrying on the extraordinary success by players from his school in Illinois’ biggest tournaments. The 2011 Illinois State Amateur winner at Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn, Hopfinger entered the final round of the Illinois Open as only an after-thought among the Hawkeyes.
Brian Bullington, an Iowa senior from Frankfort, was the 36-hole leader in the 54-hole competition and Iowa freshman-to-be Ray Knoll, from Naperville, was coming off a rousing two weeks in which he qualified for the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic and won the Illinois State Amateur at Cantigny in Wheaton.
Hopfinger held off Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns to win the biggest tournament of the year for Illinois residents. Finishing the 54-hole competition with a 71 in winds that gusted up to 28 miles per hour, Hopfinger posted a 6-under-par 210 to claim a $13,500 first prize. He’s competed primarily on the new PGA Latinoamerica Tour this year but took a break to play in his state Open after tying for fourth in the tournament in 2013.
Iowa teammate Vince India preceded Hopfinger as champion of the 2010 Illinois State Amateur and is now on the Web.com Tour. Knoll and Bullington were both finalists in the latest Illinois Open but wilted in the final 18.
Hopfinger, who graduated from Lake Forest High School, started his collegiate career at Kansas before heading to Iowa. Now 25, he had only one serious challenger after a fast start in which he made three birdies in the first five holes.
Johns, who began the day one stroke behind Bullington, was in the last threesome and Hopfinger was in one group in front.
They were tied through 16 holes and Hopfinger had a 5-footer for birdie at the par-3 17th to take the lead. He missed, but Johns made bogey playing in the group behind him. Then Johns’ errant drive on the par-5 18th turned into a lost ball.
Hopfinger caught a plugged lie in a green-side bunker at No. 18 and didn’t know about Johns’ dilemma until after he two-putted from 35 feet for bogey. Johns wound up making bogey, too, so Hopfinger still came out on top.
“I knew I was in a tough spot,’’ said Hopfinger, “but those last two holes were into the wind and they were just hard holes.’’
Johns, who finished one stroke back, lost his hat on his wild drive at the 18th and almost holed his chip shot for the par that would have forced a playoff.
“I was hitting it everywhere on the back nine, and it was entertaining – just like Phil Mickelson,’’ said Johns. “I went down in style, though.’’
Roselle’s Dan Stringfellow shared low amateur honors with Flossmoor’s Brian Payne. Payne, a former Illinois Open winner, is a reinstated amateur. He had turned pro after completing his collegiate career at Northwestern.
University of Iowa golfers have won three of the last five Illinois State Amateur golf titles. Now another Hawkeye is poised to claim the Illinois Open crown.
Brian Bullington, a Frankfort resident who will be a senior at Iowa in the fall, coped with windy conditions at The Glen Club in Glenview on Tuesday to claim the 36-hole lead. His second-round 67 gave Bullington a 7-under-par 137 total for the first two rounds. He’s one stroke ahead of Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns. Brian Bullington would like to follow Iowa teammate Ray Knoll in winning a big Illinois tournament. (Photos courtesy of Mike Schoaf, Illinois PGA)
Johns and Illinois men’s coach Mike Small shot 66s, the low round of the day, but Small – seeking a record-tying fifth Illinois Open title – is six strokes off the pace entering Wednesday’s final round.
Both Bullington and Johns made eagle on the downwind 578-yard par-5 18th hole to get their spots atop the leaderboard. Bullington used a 7-iron for his second shot, then holed a tricky eight-foot downhill putt. Johns connected from 20 feet, his third putt from that distance in his last six holes.
“Every day I set a number and hit it,’’ said Bullington. “The number for tomorrow? Just one that’s good enough.’’ Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns matched Brian Bullington’s eagle on the last hole of the second round.
Bullington, who got his round going with a 35-footer at No. 11, is in the final round of the Illinois Open for the third time in as many tries. He finished back in the pack the first two times, but Bullington could find that three’s a charm.
He’s had a decent summer, having qualified for the final U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and reaching the match play portion of the Chicago District Amateur. Getting the big win, however, has eluded him.
His Iowa teammate, incoming freshman Ray Knoll of Naperville, has had better luck. He qualified for the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic and won the Illinois State Amateur last week at Cantigny in Wheaton. Iowa golfers Vince India and Brad Hopfinger won that title in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Hopfinger and Knoll are also in the hunt in this Illinois Open, standing in a tie for third and a tie for ninth, respectively.
Johns could make a big climb in the Illinois PGA Player-of-the-Year race with a good showing on Wednesday. He was the runner-up in the section’s first major tourney of the year, the IPGA Match Play Championship, after losing the final to two-time player-of-the-year Curtis Malm, the head pro at White Eagle in Naperville.
Malm has led the standings throughout this season but had a disappointing Illinois Open, shooting 79-76 to miss the cut.
The 65th Illinois Open ends on Wednesday. Then it’s the women’s turn. The 20th anniversary staging of the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open will tee off on Monday at Mistwood in Romeoville.
Like the men’s tournament, the IWO is a 54-hole competition that concludes on a Wednesday, July 20. The men’s had state-wide qualifying rounds and 156 finalists at The Glen Club. Mistwood director of golf Dan Phillips expects about 80 players to compete for a $25,000 purse in the IWO. Unlike the men’s Open, the IWO has a Sunday pro-am. Phillips reported that it’s already sold out.
The first and last champions in the IWO, and several in between, will compete at Mistwood. Diane Daugherty, the former women’s coach at Southern Illinois, won the first IWO at Odyssey in Tinley Park. The event moved to Mistwood after four staging’s there.
Elise Swartout, who plays on the LPGA’s satellite Symetra Tour, will defend her title next week. She became the fifth Michigan golfer in the last six years to win the IWO when she survived a two-hole playoff, One of the players she beat in the extra session, Berwyn veteran Nicole Jeray, will return in search of a third IWO title. The LPGA Tour member won in 1998 and 2003.
Only Burr Ridge amateur Kerry Postillion has won the tournament three times. She got her wins between 1996-99.
Another past champion will also be closely-watched. Michigan native Samantha Troyanovich was an amateur out of Tulane University when she took the 2012 title. Now she’s hoping to become the first Mistwood member to win the IWO.
“The first time I played in the Illinois Women’s Open was a shot in the dark,’’ Troyanovich said. “I didn’t known what to expect..’’
After winning she took a year off from golf to get her Master’s degree in accounting. In January she turned professional. Though she’s had trouble getting into tournaments, she has worked daily with Mike Baldwin, director of Mistwood’s upscale Performance Center.
“I needed to work with Mike,’’ said Troyanovich. “He’s my coach. I’m a full member and it’s my job 9:30 to 5. It’s a perfect setup.’’
Mistwood completed a massive renovation, supervised by Michigan architect Ray Hearn, just prior to last year’s IWO and Golf magazine named it the “Best U.S. Renovation You Can Play ‘’ in 2013. The new Performance Center also opened in time for that tournament and work on a new clubhouse is expected to begin shortly after this year’s IWO is completed.
International Crown tees off
The LPGA’s new International Crown event begins Thursday at Caves Valley in Baltimore. The inaugural four-day event, featuring four-player teams from eight countries, will set the stage for its second staging at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove in 2016.
Rich Harvest’s staff will have a booth at the Sugar Grove Corn Boil from Friday through Sunday to trigger promotional efforts for the second staging. It’ll feature live Golf Channel jumbotron updates from 3-3:15, 4:40-4:55 and 6:10-6:25 p.m. on Saturday and 2:30-2:55 p.m. on Sunday. The booth will be in operation from 4-9 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday.
Here and there
John Schickling, the head professional at Rolling Green in Arlington Heights, and Kevin Marion, who holds the same position at Old Elm in Highland Park, will be the honorees at Monday’s Illinois PGA Senior Masters event at Onwentsia in Lake Forest.
The Illinois PGA will conduct its Assistants Championship on Monday. It’ll be a one-day 36-hole event at Crystal Lake Country Club. Australian Nick Smith, who directs the Twin Lakes facility in Palatine, will defend his title.
The Chicago District Golf Assn. Centennial Team Championship is scheduled for Midlothian Country Club on Monday.
Knollwood Country Club, in Granger, Ind., will host the Chicago-based Women’s Western Golf Assn. Junior Championship next week. It’ll run Monday through Friday, Aug. 1.
The Lake Park High School Educational Foundation will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an Aug. 4 outing and reception at Medinah.
Monday’s first round of the 65th Illinois Open was full of surprises, the most notable of which was provided by Michael Davan.
Davan, from downstate Hoopeston turned pro after playing collegiately at Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis. Starting late in the day he shot a 6-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead into Tuesday’s second round at The Glen Club in Glenview. Starting his round at No. 10, Davan made five birdies in a six-hole stretch at the end of his first nine. First-round leader Michael Davan had no trouble in his return to the Illinois Open after a tough finish in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Mike Schoaf, Illinois PGA)
That was an indication he put last year’s Illinois Open nightmare behind him. Davan took a one-stroke lead into the final hole before a water ball led to a double bogey.
In Monday’s round he lost a playing partner when Wheaton’s Tee-k Kelly, winner of the 2013 Illinois State Amateur, was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital after complaining of dehydration. Kelly returned to the course late in the day after undergoing treatment.
While Davan was the first-round’s hottest player two of the more established professionals struggled mightily. Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach, shot 77 and Curtis Malm, the Illinois PGA Player-of-the-Year the last two seasons and now head at White Eagle in Naperville, shot 79. Both will have to improve to survive the cut after today’s round. The low 50 and ties advance to Wednesday’s final 18.
Small, a four-time champion in the event, had some consolation in that one of his Illini players was just one shot off the first-round lead. Alex Burge, a senior from Bloomington, made four birdies in his first five holes en route to posting a 5-under-par 67. Burge is one of a record 81 amateurs in the 156-player field.
Shot of the day was Steve Orrick’s 7-iron on the 193-yard 17th hole. It dropped for a hole-in-one, but Orrick, the head pro at Country Club of Decatur, settled for a 3-over 75.
Defending champion Joe Kinney, of Antioch, opened with a 71 and is one stroke better than two other recent winners, Wilmette’s Eric Meierdireks (2011) and Chicago’s Max Scodro (2012).
Naperville’s Ray Knoll, soon to be a freshman at the University of Iowa, followed his victory in last week’s Illinois State Amateur at Cantigny in Wheaton with a 74.
GREEN LAKE, Wis. — Shame on me. This golf writer of nearly 50 years didn’t know nearly enough about the work of William Langford until playing in last week’s Langford Shield outing at The Links of Lawsonia.
The course got its name from the legendary newspaperman Victor Lawson. He was the publisher of the Chicago Daily News prior to his death in 1925, and The Links of Lawsonia was built on a three-hour drive from Chicago near the small college town of Ripon. There’s reportedly a boxcar under the No. 7 green at The Links of Lawsonia. The elevation it created makes for a most interesting par-3.
Langford was a Chicago golf architect and very prominent in his profession. He and partner Theodore Moreau were the course designers. The Links of Lawsonia course didn’t open until 1930, and it has had a partner course, Woodlands, since 1985. It was designed by Rocky Roquemore, who participated in the design of Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in Lemont.
The Langford Shield outing was created by newly-named management company Oliphant Golf to celebrate the opening of the new Langford Pub and underscore the work that Langford did as a course architect. He worked on over 200 courses nation-wide.
Big-Three golf website partner Rory Spears and I were only middle-of-the-pack in the inaugural playing of the Langford Shield, a two-man team event that is expected by be held annually, but the experience was first-rate. Lawsonia had been long-recommended, but last weekend was my first visit there.
Gary D’Amato, long-time friend and well-respected golf writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, calls it “one of the top five courses in Wisconsin.’’ That’s saying a lot, given all the positive developments going on in Wisconsin in recent years.
Lawsonia isn’t one of those new developments, but it has had a most interesting history. It was eventually purchased by the American Baptist Assembly and was closed in the 1940s so the property could be used to house German war prisoners. Langford Shield partner Rory Spears (left) and I got a look at the original course design when Langford’s Pub opened.
From the golf side, though, this course is a real treat. I learned that most of the holes were built as replicas of holes in Scotland and the par-3 seventh apparently has a boxcar buried underneath it to create its extraordinary elevation. There may also be a boxcar under the practice range.
At any rate, Langford’s reputation alone merits a visit to Lawsonia. He was long based in Chicago and his works there include Barrington Hills, Bryn Mawr, Butterfield, Glen Oak, Park Ridge, Ruth Lake, Westmoreland and Skokie. At the outing, though, I learned that he had a special fondness for public golf and many believe The Links at Lawsonia is his best work in an extraordinary career.
Oliphant Golf, formed in 1996 and based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has done over 150 construction and renovation projects, but hasn’t been all that active in the Midwest. Ten of its projects, none in Wisconsin or Illinois, were honored in Golf Digest’s rating categories.
