Author: lenz

Illini coach Small will try to revive his game at the PGA Championship

Playing in the PGA Championship isn’t anything new to Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach who qualified for this week’s final major championship of 2013 for the ninth time.

Small, who got into the tourney by finishing in a tie for fourth at the Professional Players National Championship in June, has made the cut in three previous PGAs and was low club pro in 2007 and 2011. His chances to do it again don’t look as good when the event tees of on Thursday at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., however.

“It’s weird. The last year and a half I haven’t played well,’’ said Small after finishing in a tie for 19th at the Illinois Open – an event he won four times. “The game’s hard for me now.’’

Small, who will also bid for his 10th win in the Illinois PGA Championship later this month at Olympia Fields, has had a big year away from playing. His Illini won the Big Ten title for the fifth straight year and finished second to Alabama in the NCAA Championship. He also was voted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, the induction to take place on Oct. 25 at The Glen Club in Glenview. At 47 he’ll become the youngest member of the Hall.

He ascribes to the theory that his game has deteriorated as his coaching has improved and insists recent equipment changes have not been a factor in the dropoff in his play.

“I need to start playing the way I coach my guys,’’ he said. “I need to take my own advice, and that’s not easy sometimes. Equipment’s not a problem. It’s me. I have a problem sustaining my concentration.’’

That’s understandable, given what goes with his success on the coaching end.

“I’ve played more social golf and done more clinics than I did before,’’ he said. “And I’ve been using myself as a test-dummy. That’s helped me become a better coach, but it is what it is. I’m not playing bad. I can still compete in PGA stuff.’’

Another revival for the Chicago Open

The last big tournament of the Chicago golf season will be a new/old one. The Illinois Junior Golf Assn. is reviving the Chicago Open, a tournament that includes Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Luke Donald on its list of past champions.

Last held in 2001, the next Chicago Open will be held Oct. 7-9 at Cantigny in Wheaton. It’ll be contested over 54 holes and offer a $50,000 purse. There’ll be five qualifying tournaments – Sept. 3 at Brown Deer in Wisconsin, Sept. 16 at Flossmoor, Sept. 23 at Country Club of Old Vincennes in Indiana and Lake Michigan in Michigan and Sept. 26 at Makray Memorial in Barrington. Players who don’t qualify in the first four events can take a second crack at it at Makray.

“In reviving the Chicago Open our goal is to provide an opportunity for aspiring tour pros and top amateurs to compete at a high level,’’ said Marty Schiene, the IJGA president. “Playing in a competition with such a rich history can make the event that much more meaningful to the contestants.’’

Did you know?

Northwestern recruit Matt Fitzgerald finished second in the English Amateur, losing the final 4 and 3 to Callum Shinkwin. Fitzgerald, who arrives at NU as a freshman in the fall, made the cut in the British Open and has climbed to third in the World Amateur Rankings.

With Michigan-based Kitchenaid extending its sponsorship the Senior PGA Championship will remain based in the Midwest. It was held at Harbor Shores, in Benton Harbor, Mich., in 2012 and Bellerive in St. Louis this year. Harbor Shores hosts again in 2014 and will also get the Champions Tour major in 2016 and 2018. Indiana’s French Lick Resort will host in 2015.

The Illinois PGA will hold its Senior Championship next Monday and Tuesday (AUG 12-13) at Lincolnshire Country Club.

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: Fifth Michigan golfer in six years wins the title

There were possibilities for Chicago golfers to make significant history in Friday’s final round of the 19th Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood in Romeoville.

Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray tried to become the first professional to win event three times. Burr Ridge’s Samantha Postillion hoped to give her family a fourth IWO titles, her mother Kerry having won three times in the 1990s.

Well, Postillion led for most of the final round and Jeray made it to a playoff, but neither could overcome Elise Swartout. She became the fifth Michigan golfer in the last six years to win the premier Illinois event for women golfers.

Swartout, who played collegiately at Western Michigan and splits her residence now between Ann Arbor and Orlando, FL., shot the day’s low round – a 3-under-par 69 – and beat Jeray with a four-foot birdie putt on the second hole of their sudden death playoff. Swartout set up the winning putt with a 58-degree wedge shot from 82 yards.

In her third year as a professional Swartout picked up her first win. She’s in the Ohio Women’s Open next week, then goes to LPGA qualifying school. Swartout had struggled on the LPGA’s satellite Symetra Tour and spent this year playing in state opens and Canadian events.

“This year has gone really well,’’ she said. “Everything’s clicked. I’ve been playing real solid, and I knew I had it going. Everything was coming together except for winning.’’

She took care of that problem on Friday, putting pressure on the leaders with a starting time an hour earlier than theirs. Postillion led through 11 holes, then made bogey at No. 12 and triple bogey six at the par-3 13th. She faded to a solo fifth-place finish as the low amateur in the field.

Only Jeray, playing with Postillion in the final twosome, was up to Swartouot’s challenge after the start of play was delayed an hour by early morning rains. Her only time at the top of the leaderboard came when she holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force the playoff.

“That was cool,’’ said Jeray, the IWO champion in 1998 and 2003. “Win or lose I was happy to get into the playoff. Of course I wanted to win it, but these young kids are fearless. (Swartout) hit it tight on the first and second holes.’’

Unlike her LPGA Tour events Jeray rode a cart in her rounds with her mother Bridget as only a nominal caddie. The most critical part of her week may have been a three-hour putting session with Dr. Jim Suttie, the swing guru who moved his base to Mistwood earlier in the week.

Jeray, who picked up $3,000 for finishing runner-up to the $5,000 that Swartout earned for winning, returns to the LPGA Tour at Richmond, Va., in two weeks and then has events in Canada and Portland. They’re critical career-wise for the 42-year old Jeray – the only Chicago player to make it to the LPGA circuit in the last two decades.

“I’ve got to get in the top 100 to get into the Evian (Masters),’’ she said. “I’m 111th now, but I can do it if I can putt.’’

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: Another Jeray-Postillion duel — but with a twist

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: Another Jeray-Postillion duel – but with a twist

The story lines couldn’t be more appropriate going into Friday’s final round of the 19th Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood in Romeoville.

Nicole Jeray, the LPGA Tour veteran from Berwyn, is poised to join amateur Kerry Postillion as the only three-time champions of Illinois’ premier women’s event. Jeray, who won in 1998 and 2003, would be the first pro to win three times. She is one stroke out of the lead entering the last 18.

The leader? Postillion’s daughter Samantha, a 21-year old amateur who plays for the University of Illinois. Kerry Postillion ruled the IWO in 1996, 1997 and 1999. She played in the tourney with Samantha several times after that but did not enter this year and won’t be on hand to see how this championship unfolds.

“She’s in Arizona now, but she’s not much of a watcher,’’ said Samantha. “She has it in her head that she might be bad luck.’’

Luck won’t likely be needed if Samantha delivers down the stretch the way she did in the second round. She rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 16, then hit an 8-iron to two feet for the birdie on the par-3 17th. She’s alone atop the leaderboard at 2-under-par 142 after 36 holes.

It won’t be just a Postillion-Jeray duel over the final 18, however. Katie Dick, an assistant pro at Bryn Mawr Country Club; Michigan State player Caroline Powers; and Schaumburg’s Kris Yoo, a senior at Wisconsin, join Jeray at one shot off the lead. Yoo had Thursday’s best round – a 70 that also was highlighted by birdies at Nos. 16 and 17.

Jeray shared the lead after Round 1 and wasn’t happy with the 73 she shot in Round 2. She’s still adjusting to a different atmosphere than what she experiences weekly on the LPGA circuit.

“I’m so out of my routine – using a cart (instead of a caddie) and the laser (electronic measuring device, not allowed on the pro tours),’’ she said. “There’s a lot more things involved for me.’’

The Mistwood course has also been set up much shorter than the ones on the LPGA Tour. It was under 6,100 yards the first two rounds but will play over 6,200 on Friday.

“I should shoot nothing because I have such short shots (approaches),’’ she said.

Jeray didn’t play in the IWO last year, the first on the course after Michigan architect Ray Hearn’s renovation was completed. The layout is much different than it was in Jeray’s last IWO appearance in 2011.

“There’s so much more there now,’’ said Jeray. “I don’t know how many times I switched clubs off the tee, and I wish I knew the greens better.’’

The 104 entries were whittled to the low 34 and ties after Thursday’s round. The survivors will begin play in twosomes at 7:30 a.m. on Friday with the leaders expected to tee off at about 10 a.m.

Opening up the field did wonders for Illinois Women’s Open

The 19th Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open, which tees off Wednesday at Mistwood in Romeoville, has taken a different approach from the men’s 64th Illinois Open, which had one of its most exciting stagings last week at The Glen Club in Glenview.

The men’s version, won by Antioch’s Joe Kinney in a three-hole playoff, is much bigger entry-wise with seven state-wide qualifying rounds conducted to determine the finalists. The Illinois PGA limits Illinois Open entries to state residents.

On the women’s side, the field is smaller but much more diverse. In its early years IWO founder Phil Kosin limited the field to state residents, then later expanded it to players from eight neighboring states. Mistwood owner Jim McWethy and his staff took over the IWO after Kosin’s death in 2009 and quietly accepted all players. The move paid off, as tourney entries topped 100 for the first time this year and included 43 professionals.

“That’s almost double the number of professionals we have had in the past,’’ said Dan Phillips, Mistwood’s director of golf. “Even the amateurs are basically scratch players. We’ve got the cream of the crop of amateurs, too. Word is out that this is a quality tournament.’’

Thanks to BMO’s sponsorship first prize last year went up to $5,000, and this year’s purse will be announced during the 54-hole competition that concludes on Friday. Last year’s winner, though, was Michigan amateur Samantha Troyanovich, who will defend her crown.

The new influx of pros include two-time winner Nicole Jeray and Chelsea Harris, both U.S. Women’s Open qualifiers; McKenzie Jackson, who was part of Big Break Mexico, the popular series on The Golf Channel; plus Mari Chun from Hawaii and Sarah Bradley from New Zealand.

“We have players from all across the country and beyond,’’ said Phillips. “Most every (professional) player has some kind of status on either the LPGA or Symetra tours. Opening up the entries has really made our field strong.’’

Suttie moves from Cog Hill to Mistwood

The IWO usually represents the biggest week of the season at Mistwood, but this time there was more going on that that. McWethy announced that Dr. Jim Suttie, one of the country’s best-known instructors, has joined the Mistwood teaching staff.

Suttie was the PGA of America’s national teacher-of-the-year in 2000 and Illinois PGA teacher-of-the-year three times. He ended a longstanding relationship with Cog Hill, in Lemont, to work at the new state-of-the-art Performance Center in Romeoville.

“That was the big overriding factor,’’ said Suttie. “Cog Hill has been really good for me, but I always wanted to have a place like this. I couldn’t pass it up.’’

Suttie, who had previous stints at Medinah and Green Garden, in Franfort, worked at Cog Hill from 1996-2002 and again from 2005 until moving to Mistwood. He’ll continue to work in Naples, FL., in the winter but is planning periodic teaching visits to both Mistwood and McQ’s – the McWethy-owned indoor facility in Bolingbrook.

Did you know?

Doug Ghim, of Arlington Heights, reached the semifinals of last week’s 66th U.S. Junior Championship in Truckee, Calif. He was eliminated by Scottie Scheffler, of Dallas, 6 and 4. Scheffler went on to capture the prestigious title.

Jason Mathus, a Chicago resident who attends high school at Lindbloom, will get a chance to compete at Pebble Beach with Champions Tour players thanks to his efforts with the First Tee of Greater Chicago. He was one of 80 junior players selected by a national panel of judges to participate in September’s Nature Valley First Tee Open.

There’ll be two big local championships on Monday. The Illinois PGA Assistants will determine their champion at River Forest and the Chicago District Super Senior Amateur event will be played at Royal Hawk in St. Charles.

Suttie leaves Cog Hill, will teach at Mistwood

Owner Jim McWethy has made still another enhancement to his Mistwood golf club, in Romeoville, IL.

McWethy has announced that Dr. Jim Suttie has joined the teaching staff that will work out of Mistwood’s Performance Center.

Suttie said that the chance to work in the new state-of-the-art facility led to him ending his long relationship with Cog Hill, in Lemont.

“That was the overriding factor,’’ said McWethy. “I’ve always wanted to have a place like this. I couldn’t pass it up.’’

“We’re delighted to have him,’’ said McWethy. “It fits our goal of bringing absolutely top quality in every aspect of the game.’’

“We have the best equipment, and now we have the best as far as teaching is concerned,’’ said Dan Phillips, Mistwood’s director of golf. “This will set us apart as the place to come out, take lessons and work on your game.’’

Prior to Suttie’s arrival Mistwood added John Platt, the Illinois PGA’s teacher-of-the-year, in 2012 to its staff. The arrival of Suttie and Platt follow two years of facility work at Mistwood. Michigan architect Ray Hearn supervised a course renovation, which was highlighted by the construction of 20 striking sod-wall bunkers, and the indoor-outdoor Performance Center opened this spring to rave reviews. Suttie’s presence will make that busy place even busier now.

Suttie’s teaching career was highlighted by his selection at national teacher of the year by the PGA of America in 2000, but he was a recognized and respected instructor in the Chicago area long before that. He grew up in DeKalb, IL., and learned the game at Kishwaukee Country Club, where he once covered its 18 holes in a record 63.

A Northern Illinois University graduate in 1970, Suttie moved on to Middle Tennessee University to earn his doctorate degree in biomechanics. As part of his studies there he did his thesis on “A Biomechanical Comparison between Conventional Golf Swing Technique and a Unique Kinesthetic Feed Back Technique.’’

Prior to teaching full-time Suttie was a successful college coach, directing teams at Northwestern, Florida Gulf Coast and Eastern Kentucky. He was also in charge at Brevard, in Florida, where his prize pupil was former PGA champion and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger. The many PGA and LPGA players Suttie has worked with include Chicago tourists Kevin Streelman, Mark Wilson and Chip Beck.

Suttie’s Chicago area teaching stops include Medinah (1988-96), Cog Hill (1996-2002 and 2005-2013) and Green Garden, in Frankfort (2003-04).

He has also taken his teaching program on the road, with stints at Pine Needles and Southern Pines in North Carolina, Tamarisk in California and TwinEagles in Florida. He’ll continue to work at TwinEagles in the winter, but – in a departure from previous years – he’ll leave that facility in Naples to make periodic teaching visits to both Mistwood’s Performance Center and McQ’s, the McWethy-owned indoor facility in Bolingbrook.

The move won’t change his teaching clientele much, Suttie said.

“They’ve got serious technology here (at Mistwood),’’ said Suttie, “and the people who see me are real serious. They will come from everywhere. It doesn’t matter where I go, they will find me.’’

ILLINOIS OPEN: Kinney dominates playoff for first pro victory

There were lots of doubts about who would win the 64th Illinois Open during Wednesday’s final round at The Glen Club in Glenview. In fact, no one did.

Antioch’s Joe Kinney, who’s been laboring on golf’s mini-tours, clearly showed who was best in the three-man three-hole cumulative score playoff that determined the champion, however.

Kinney, 26, started the playoff with a two-putt birdie on 566-yard par-5 No. 1. He hit the green with a 251-yard hybrid second shot and lagged his first putt from 70 feet to set up a two-foot tap-in. That was the only birdie by any player in the playoff.

The par-3 17th, the second playoff hole, offered Kinney a chance for another. He put his 5-iron tee shot five feet from the cup. Though he missed his birdie putt, neither of his rivals — Dustin Korte, an amateur from downstate Metropolis, and Carlos Sainz Jr., of Elgin — could even par the hole so Kinney’s lead grew.

He was two strokes in front heading to No. 18, a 582-yard par-5. Kinney didn’t let up on the last playoff hole, keeping his first two shots on the fairway and his approach from 110 yards on the green. Two putts later he was the champion and winner of $17,500.

“Hats off to Joe,’’ said Sainz, a winner on the Canadian PGA Tour on Sunday before hurrying to Chicago. “He played the three holes in the playoff flawless. We didn’t give him much of an obstacle.’’

The trio in the playoff finished the regulation 54 holes in 5-under-par 211. In the three playoff holes Kinney used 12 strokes, Korte, 14 and Sainz 17.

“Getting the early advantage in the playoff was pretty clutch. I did the work I needed to do on the first two holes, then I could cruise in,’’ said Kinney, who returns to competition at a National Golf Assn. tournament in Hickory, N.C., next week.

Actually the three playoff participants were lucky to be playing off for the premier title for Illinois golfers. Michael Davan, of Hoopeston, blew a two-stroke lead with two holes to go. His bogey-double bogey finish kept him out of the playoff.

The double came after Davan, not knowing where he stood on the leaderboard, put his second shot in a pond at No. 18, then he three-putted. Davan insisted that going for the green over water from 256 yards with a 3-wood second shot was the right decision even though he needed just a par to win.

“That was the right play call,’’ he said. “I felt I needed to hit that shot, I just didn’t hit it solid. I’m proud that I had the guts to do it.’’

Kinney notched his first professional win with Greg Kunkle on the bag. Kunkle is the longtime caddie master at Sunset Ridge in Northfield and frequent bag-toter in the Illinois Open. Kinney’s brother Andrew works as an assistant professional at Sunset, and Kunkle has given Joe some choice caddie assignments to supplement his tournament earnings.

The Glen Club has been a friendly place for Kinney. In the rain-shortened 2007 Illinois Open Kinney played in the final group on the last day while still in college. He played in the 2011 tournament, finishing tied for 12th at Hawthorn Woods, and he tied for ninth when the event returned to The Glen last year. He opened this year’s tourney with a 65 – the best round of the tournament.

A 72 in the second round left Kinney four strokes back entering the final round, but the seven players in front of him struggled in breezy conditions.

“I had been swinging well all week,’’ said Kinney. “I felt I had a good chance after I birdied 10. I saw all the cameras (photographers) arriving, so I thought I must be close to the lead, and I didn’t miss a green the rest of the day.’’

LPGA veteran Jeray returns, hopes to win third IWO title

The men’s Illinois Open concludes its 64th staging on Wednesday. Now it’s the women’s turn.

Mistwood, in Romeoville, will again host the 19th Illinois Women’s Open next week. There’ll be a pro-am on Tuesday and the first of three tournament rounds is Wednesday. That’ll put the spotlight on Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray, who will bid to become the second player to win the tournament three times.

Amateur Kerry Postillion took the titles in 1996, 1997 and 1999. She didn’t enter this year’s IWO, but her daughter Samantha – a member of the University of Illinois’ team – heads the amateur contingent.

Jeray, who triumphed in 1998 and 2003, hasn’t always competed in the premier state championship for women because of her commitments on the Ladies PGA Tour. The IWO is opposite the Women’s British Open this year. Not qualified for that event, Jeray opted to return to the IWO.

Three other players have won the IWO twice – amateurs Emily Gilley in 2000-01 and Aimee Neff in 2008-09. Jenna Pearson, who will be in next week’s field, won as an amateur in 2006, lost the title in a 10-hole playoff in 2007 and won another title as a professional in 2011.

Jeray and Pearson, who plays on the LPGA’s Symetra Tour, are among 40 pros among the 104 starters. So is the tourney’s first champion, former Southern Illinois University coach Diane Daugherty.

Among the other pros in the field are defending champion and Michigan resident Samantha Troyanovich and Chelsea Harris, a former University of Iowa golfer from Normal who qualified for this year’s U.S.Women’s Open. Harris’ swing instructor is John Platt, who is based at Mistwood’s new Performance Center and caddied for her at the Open.

Last year’s IWO was played on a course in the late stages of a renovation being directed by Michigan architect Ray Hearn. Now the renovation, which featured 20 sod-wall bunkers, is complete.

“We’re very proud of the reputation we’ve developed for the IWO,’’ said Dan Phillips, Mistwood’s director of golf. “This year’s event will be very exciting, as the women will experience several new challenges on the course. The new bunkers will be more in play and closer to the greens than they were in the past.’’

A big week for NU

In incoming freshman at Northwestern were big winners.

Matt Fitzpatrick of Sheffield, England, was low amateur at the British Open, shooting 10-over-par 294 at Muirfield in Scotland. Fitzgerald took home the Silver Medal, an award first presented in 1949. Previous winners were Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Hal Sutton and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Kacie Komoto, who will join the NU women’s team, captured the Hawaiian State Women’s Match Play title. Both Fitzpatrick and Komoto will compete in their respective U.S. Amateurs next month.

Did you know?

Barrington’s Heather Ciskowski won last week’s Women’s Western Golf Assn. Junior title in Dubuque, Iowa. She defeated Naperville’s Bing Singhsumalee, the Illinois Women’s Amateur champion, 2 and 1 in the semifinals and then defeated Kelsey Murphy of Plymouth, Mich., in a title match that went 20 holes.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct qualifiers for the U.S. Amateur at both Ivanhoe and LaGrange on Monday.

The Western Amateur will take a break from its Chicago rotation next week with a week-long staging at The Alotian Club in Arkansas beginning on Monday. It’ll return to Chicago in 2014, at Beverly Country Club.

ILLINOIS OPEN: India takes lead despite double bogey finish

Deerfield’s Vince India played his college golf at Iowa and started his professional career this spring on the PGA Latino-American circuit, where his tournaments were in Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

India was right at home on Tuesday in the 64th Illinois Open, however. Opening with a 20-foot putt for eagle at The Glen Club, India was 9-under-par on his round through 17 holes before a double bogey finish left him with a 7-under 65.

Tied for 31st after a 72 in Round 1, India hit the 36-hole stop in the 54-hole competition at 7-under 137. Four players are tied for second, two shots back, including Brad Hopfinger – another Iowa alum. India won the Illinois State Amateur in 2010 and Hopfinger in 2011.

Lincolnshire amateur Jack Watson, a junior at Wisconsin; Canadian PGA Tour player Carlos Sainz Jr. of Elgin; and 2012 Chicago District Amateur titlist Michael Davan, a mini-tour player from Hoopeston, round out the group tied for second.

The Glen Club record of 10-under-par 62, set by D.A. Points when the Nationwide Tour made annual stops at the Glenview course, was in India’s sights when he reached the tee at the par-5 18th. Things unraveled then, however, as his tee shot would up a foot into fescue left of the fairway. He hacked out from there, but his approach to the green from 225 yards sailed left too and wound up in deep rough, forcing India to struggle in with a seven.

Still, the 65 – matching the low round of the tournament posted by first-round leader Joe Kinney – enabled India to make a big climb up the leaderboard. Only one of his birdie putts – a 15-footer at No. 9 – was longer than 10 feet.

“I didn’t think I could fight my way all the way back, but I’ll take it and I like my odds tomorrow,’’ said India. “The eagle got my mood in a nice place. It was like a kick in the butt to do something special.’’

India finished seventh when the Illinois Open returned to The Glen Club last year after a four-year absence. It’s his biggest summer event, coming while the PGA Latino-American Tour is on a break. The 15-event circuit resumes in October, and the top five players get spots on the web.com Tour in 2014. Thanks to three top-15 finishes in six starts, India ranked 35th after the spring session.

First-round leader Kinney slipped to a 76 in the second round, when winds gusted to 28 miles per hour and made scoring more difficult. He’s four off the lead entering the final 18. Illinois coach Mike Small, seeking a record-tying fifth title, shot 73 and is eight strokes back and defending champion Max Scodro is 10 off the pace after shooting 76.

Fifty players made the cut for the final round, 17 of them amateurs. They’ll begin play Wednesday off the No. 1 tee at 7 a.m.

ILLINOIS STATE AMATEUR: Tee-K Kelly is halfway to a sweep

ROCKFORD – Tee-K Kelly had an inkling this would be his week at the 83rd Illinois State Amateur golf championship at Aldeen Golf Club.

“I told my Dad on the first day that this was the most nervous I’ve been in a long time, because I knew I had a shot to win,’’ he said. “And a couple weeks ago I made it my goal to win the State Am and the State Open back-to-back as an amateur.’’

Now Kelly is halfway there. He won the three-day Amateur on Thursday and can complete the sweep next week in the 64th Illinois Open, which tees off on Monday at The Glen Club in Glenview. The only player to win both titles in the same year was David Ogrin in 1980.

On Thursday Kelly overcame two rivals who owned two-stroke leads during final round before posting his 7-under-par 281 total for the tourney’s 72 holes. Kelly had a three-stroke edge on Springfield’s Jake Erickson, a recent Southern Illinois University graduate, and Lincolnshire’s Jack Watson, who will enter his junior season at Wisconsin in the fall..

Erickson was up two after seven holes, but put his tee shot in the water at No. 8 and made double bogey. Watson, Kelly’s playing partner, was two ahead with six to play when he splashed his tee shot at the par-3 13th and made triple bogey.

Kelly hit a 7-iron tee shot from 179 yards to eight feet at the same hole and made the birdie putt, creating a four-shot swing that put Kelly at the top of the leaderboard.

“I could tell things got a little more edgy at that point,’’ said Kelly, who completed a less-than-satisfactory freshman season at Ohio State in the spring after being named Co-Player of the Year in the DuPage Valley Conference as a high school senior at Wheaton-Warrenville South.

“I got off to a hot start (at Ohio State) in the fall,’’ said Kelly, “but I struggled with my swing in the spring. It put a lot of doubt in my mind.’’

He was able to work through those doubts at his home club, Medinah, and won his biggest title yet on Thursday. His mother, Blue Kinander Kelly, also grew up at the club that hosted last September’s Ryder Cup matches. She helped Tulsa to an NCAA title in 1988 before winning the Chicago Women’s District Golf Assn. championship seven times.

For Watson the letdown on the final nine produced a feeling of déjà vu. In last year’s State Am he played in the final group in the last round and shot 78 as Glenview’s Quinn Prchal took the title a few weeks before entering his freshman year at Princeton University. Prchal tied for seventh in his title defense.

“Unfortunately a bitter taste again,’’ said Watson, who sat out last year’s college season after making his third transfer. He started at Kansas State, then went to Kent State. He’ll have two seasons of eligibility with the Badgers.

DOWNSTATE ILLINOIS: Rock River is steeped in history

ROCK FALLS, IL. — I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for golf history. That explains why it seemed a good idea to stop by what had been Rock River Country Club en route to the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, about 40 miles further west.

Officially known now as Rock River Golf & Pool, the facility is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013.

How many courses in downstate Illinois are still around after 100 years?

Several clubs in the Chicago suburbs have long past their year No. 100. The Downers Grove golf course was America’s first 18-hole course when it opened in 1892. It was reduced to a nine-holer long ago and is now owned by the Downers Grove Park District.

That course was originally called Chicago Golf Club, and its members soon wanted a better facility so they built another 18-holer in Wheaton in 1893 and that layout is now considered America’s first 18-hole layout. Private clubs Onwentsia, Midlothian and Glen View also opened before 1900 as did Jackson Park, which became the first public course in the Midwest in 1899.

The Rock River visit, though, showed that golf clubs thrived in downstate Illinois a century ago, too. Probably the best example of that is in Rock Island, where the Arsenal Golf Club has a course dating to 1897. It was a private club serving military personnel until 2010. Now the sporty layout on the Mississippi River is open to the public.

Rock River, however, is something different and we got a bigger dose of its history purely by accident. A day after our visit the course hosted the Ladies Lincoln Highway tournament. It’s almost as rich in history as the course it was played on this year. The 36-hole Ladies Lincoln Highway event is the longest-running ladies tournament of its kind in the United States and many of this year’s players were preparing for it when we played our round on the course.

First held in 1923 at Dixon Country Club, the tourney came to Rock River in 1925 and it had a notable caddie – Ronald Reagan – in its early years. He spent his childhood growing up in Dixon and the surrounding communities. Sandi Ivey, co-chairman of the Ladies Lincoln Highway event, provided pictorial evidence of the future U.S. President’s involvement as a bag-toter for the women golfers.

Some women have played in the Ladies Lincoln Highway tournament for more than 40 years, and some who can’t play anymore still turn out to watch.

This year’s Ladies Lincoln Highway tourney had some history made as well. Ember Schuldt, a 21-year old University of Illinois senior from Sterling’s Emerald Hill course, shot 68-67 to win the tournament for the eighth straight year. Her father Don was her caddie in the first round and her brother Frank was on the bag for the second.

Schuldt, who has played in the event every year since she was 13, won by six shots over Connie Ellett of Kishwaukee, in DeKalb. Schuldt’s latest win served as a springboard. Two days later she finished second in a qualifying event for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, so she’ll be playing in the finals of that national championship at Charleston, S.C., from Aug. 5-11.

The designer of may be a mystery, but he knew how to incorporate some beautiful views of the Rock River into his course.

A stop at Rock River is well worth it if you’re cruising down Rt. 88. The course is just off the Rock Falls exit and has a Supper Club that serves tasty, fairly-priced cuisine and offers a friendly atmosphere. The course is a bargain, too; these two seniors paid $30 total for an 18-hole walking round that included pull carts. Rock River doesn’t have any steep hills and the greens and tees are close together (except for the area between nines), so it’s a fun walking course. You don’t find many better courses for walkers.

Unlike most of the old Chicago clubs, Rock River’s history is sketchy. The course was built on farmland. It was limited to seven holes initially but quickly was expanded to nine for its opening in September, 1913. Those holes comprise the present front nine, which measures 2,707 yards from the tips.

Most memorable hole on either nine is No. 7, an uphill par-3 with water left and trees right, but the most striking features of the course are the views of the Rock River.

There’s one par-5 on each nine, the longer one being No. 11, at 485 yards. The back side, built in the 1960s, is notably longer than the front at 3,213 yards but the whole course is still under 6,000 (official yardage is 5,920).

A private club for most of its existence, Rock River is now open to the public. While the owners have plenty of photographic memorabilia to chronicle the course’s past, no one could name the course architects.