Author: lenz

Mistwood’s new Performance Center is spectacular

Mistwood Golf Club, the long-time Illinois Women’s Open site in Romeoville, closed early the last two years and opened a bit later than most of the other Chicago public courses this spring. Now those hard decisions, made by owner Jim McWethy and his veteran staff, are paying off.

The August closings in 2011 and 2012 enabled architect Ray Hearn to more easily put the finishing touches on his elaborate renovation work. The slightly delayed opening this weather-hampered spring was done for the same reason.

“Some areas held a little more water than we wanted,’’ said director of golf Dan Phillips. “We did some drainage work and some irrigation. We wanted to make sure everything was perfect.’’

Now it is.

Not only is the course – featuring 19 unique sod-wall bunkers – ready for a big season, but the long-awaited 5,000 square-foot Performance Center will soon become the talk of the Chicago golf scene. It is truly spectacular. There may be bigger practice facilities in the area, but there are none better. That’s why Mistwood is Chicagoland Golf’s next Course-of-the-Month.

Golfers managed a look at Hearn’s re-design last year and liked it. The IWO was even played there. This year those same golfers will be able to warm up at the new Performance Center and also stop there between nines or after their rounds, since the facility is also serving as a halfway house.

It’s not your average halfway house, though. It has a full-service bar and snack show along with eight televisions.

“We can put on anything we want,’’ said Phillips. “No one has done this before.’’

What McWethy has done with the entire Mistwood facility since taking over ownership in 2004 is extraordinary – especially considering the tough economic times that saw most courses cutting back rather than expanding. While Mistwood was a long-term project, McWethy also took over the former Ditka Dome in Bolingbrook, upgraded both the indoor range and restaurant and renamed it McQ’s. It lured golfers during the winter.

Work at Mistwood took much longer and isn’t quite done, though the parking lot has been doubled in size to eventually accommodate 240 cars.

Hearn was the course’s original designer before McWethy took over, and that finished project was well received. Golf Digest even gave the par-5 No. 8 hole a two-page spread in 1999. Hearn’s updates, done in the renovation, simply make for a better course.

No. 8 was lengthened from 552 to 590 yards, and the overall course grew from 6,702 to 7,028 yards from the back tees. The “new’’ Mistwood has a slope of 144 (up from 140) and a 74.7 rating (up from 73.0). While some holes (especially No. 3) have been given a new look and the new stone bridges at striking, the unusual sod-wall bunkers have been the most-discussed aspect of the course renovation.

Now the Performance Center is going to surprise its first-time visitors. Some of this year’s first ones thought it was a clubhouse. It’s that big and striking from along the entrance on Renwick Road. A new clubhouse, though, is just the next in McWethy’s plans for Mistwood. The Performance Center was a major project in itself.

“The planning took close to seven years,’’ said Phillips. “A lot of thought has gone into this project, and the architect (Elmhurst-based Dan Wohlfeil) hit a home run. We have a year-around facility now.’’

Not only are 11 climate-controlled hitting stations and two indoor/outdoor teaching bays heated for winter use, so is the cement floor. The hitting mats will always be nice and warm.

Most of the indoor bays won’t become a major factor until late fall. Of more immediate interest will be the expanded outdoor range.

“It’s really contoured now,’’ said Phillips. “It looks a lot like the golf course, with hills and bunkers. When you’re hitting into the practice greens it feels like you’re on the course.’’

While indoor space is available in case of inclement weather (mats in front of the Performance Centre are also an option), the outdoor range is as spacious as it needs to be for big events like the American Junior Golf Association’s Midwest Players Championship, coming June 17-20, and the IWO, which will run July 31-Aug. 2.

“Thirty-two spaces are available all the time,’’ said Phillips, “but we can have as many as we need to. We can get everybody on the range before our outings.’’

Make no mistake, though. The Performance Center is more than a practice range. In addition to the bar, snack shop and TVs the facility is equipped with high-tech teaching aids like Trackman ball flight analysis, SAM Putt Lab and Quintec ball motion putting analysis. There are also separate areas for custom club-fitting and club repair.

Club-fitting options include Fujikawa shafts. Mistwood is one of that company’s few dealers. Fujikawa produces one of the most popular shafts for tour players and doesn’t sell to traditional consumers.

Coinciding with the opening of the Performance Center, Mistwood added John Platt to its teaching staff. The Illinois PGA’s Teacher-of-the-Year, Platt joins Performance Center director Mike Baldwin and Chris Ioriatti as heavy-duty instructors. Phillips and Mistwood head professional Visanu Tongwarin also include teaching as part of their duties.

“As a whole, our goal is to offer a complete performance experience,’’ said Baldwin. “We can work on every aspect of your game. We can make any tweak from the club performance side and the player performance side.’’

While Platt focuses on tournament players and Ioriatti is U.S. Kids-certified, the Mistwood staff can accommodate all types of players.

“We try to create an overall experience that is memorable, makes you better and touches every level of performance there is,’’ said Baldwin. “And we want to have some fun doing it.’’

Johnson’s JDC title defense is almost as captivating as Stricker’s was last year

Clair Peterson, tournament director for the John Deere Classic, has felt blessed – and with good reason.

From 2009-2011 he had a very popular champion whose presence enhanced the interest in the JDC. Steve Stricker, from nearby Madison, Wis., tried to become only the fifth golfer in 140 years to win a major professional tournament four straight times last July. That made the 2012 JDC international news.

Stricker wasn’t successful in his bid for a four-peat, but the interest generated by his attempt led to the JDC raising a record $6.79 million for 493 local and regional charities. That dollar figure was a staggering $1.5 million over the previous high, and the PGA Tour presented the tourney with its Most Engaged Community Award for 2012.

Though Stricker won’t be playing for such a lofty spot in golf history, this year’s JDC – scheduled for July 8-14 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis — wil have a defending champion who is every bit as popular in the Quad Cities.

Zach Johnson dethroned Stricker, and no player is closer to the tournament than Johnson. He’s been a JDC board member since 2003 — his rookie season on the PGA Tour.

“We’ve had great story lines,’’ said Peterson, the tournament director since ’03. “Steve Stricker is a humble, hard-working guy who comes back for every media day. He made a tremendous title defense that wasn’t over until an hour before the finish on Sunday. And now we have Zach, a favorite son who has been with us through good and bad times. We couldn’t have scripted it any better.’’

Johnson’s connection with the tournament began the year before Peterson moved into his present position.

“In 2002 Zach, being from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had a network of investors that lobbied for us to give this kid a chance.’’

Johnson was given a sponsor’s exemption that year, but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut. He asked Johnson for an exemption the following year, when he was starting his career on the Nationwide Tour.

“He called me Mr. Peterson then, and I told him we should be on a first-name basis,’’ said Peterson. The exemption was granted, but Johnson missed the cut again. He did, however, blossom on the Nationwide (now Buy.com Tour) and wound up that circuit’s leading money-winner.

That feat earned Johnson his PGA Tour card, and Johnson invited him to become a JDC board member. Johnson, armed with a business degree from Drake University in DesMoines, Iowa, has retained that role ever since and never missed the tournament even when it might have been to his own detriment.

In 2007 Johnson won the Masters and could have picked up a very significant appearance fee to play in a European tournament the week of that year’s JDC. He chose to return to the Quad Cities instead.

Even before that Johnson went the extra mile to help the event that he regularly refers to as “my fifth major.’’ When Vijay Singh, the champion in 2003, declined to appear at media day for the 2004 tournament Johnson stepped in.

“We didn’t know what to do, so we asked Zach to take on that role. Now, 10 years later, there’s a good bookend to that story,’’ said Peterson. Johnson, as this year’s defending champion, gets the spotlight at the next media day event this month (JUNE).

As a board member Johnson has recruited top players to the Quad Cities, John Huh being one of them for this year. Johnson was also instrumental in Peterson’s wildly successful decision to hire a jet to take players directly from the Quad Cities to the British Open instead of increasing the tournament purse.

Johnson advised the JDC was to hire the jet because “it’d make the players’ life easier.’’ In so doing, it greatly improved the field at the Quad Cities in its traditional dates the week before the year’s third major championship across the pond. In 2011 South African Louis Oosthuizen prepared to defend his British title by playing in the JDC instead of resting or playing in a European event for a substantial appearance fee.

Oosthuizen enjoyed his Quad Cities experience so much in 2011 that he used his prize money to buy a John Deere tractor for his family farm in South Africa. This year he’s returning to the Quad Cities with his father and father-in-law so that they can get the same tour of the John Deere plant that he received.

Johnson, of course, is no longer a resident of Cedar Rapids. He and his family (wife Kim, sons Will and Wyatt and daughter Abby) live in Sea Pines, Ga., where the weather is more conducive to year-around golf. Johnson’s parents, though, still live in Cedar Rapids and he’s been able to maintain his duties with the JDC board despite his PGA Tour commitments.

“Our board has 37 people overall and the executive committee has about eight people,’’ explained Peterson. “We meet once a month before board meetings and Zach calls in. He couldn’t possible be there.’’

But he has learned to play TPC Deere Run over the years. He finished second to Stricker in 2009 tied for third in 2011 before his breakthrough win last year. It came in a two-hole playoff with Troy Matteson, the clinching birdie coming when Johnson hit a 6-iron from 193 yards on the No. 18 hole to within inches of the cup.

That was Johnson’s ninth win on the PGA Tour. Stricker wound up fifth, tied with Luke Guthrie – another University of Illinois golfer who got into the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption. Stricker, though he’s playing a very limited schedule, will be back in the JDC field.

“I wasn’t surprised he wanted a limited schedule,’’ said Peterson. “He is focused first and foremost on his family, and being away from home so much truly bothered him. Financially he has been very successful, and making that decision took the pressure off him. He goes out when he wants, when he’s healthy and refreshed.’’

Even on a limited schedule Stricker has been very competitive in the tournaments he has played in. Maybe a Johnson-Stricker duel at TPC Deere Run will be in the offing. In the Quad Cities there couldn’t be anything better.

Wait to get into U.S. Open begins for Medinah’s Travis Johns

Sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open, aptly dubbed “golf’s longest day,’’ was especially long for the Chicago players hoping to land a berth in the Open proper at Pennsylvania’s Merion course in two weeks.

None made it through Monday’s 11 nation-wide 36-hole sectionals, and newly named Medinah assistant pro Travis Johns is the only one with even a faint chance of cracking the 156-man starting field at Merion.

Johns lost the second — and last — spot available in a sectional at Old Warson in St. Louis in a playoff. His opponent, Mackenzie Hughes – a 22-year old two-time Canadian Amateur champion – made par on the first extra hole to drop John into the first alternate spot. First alternates frequently make it into the field thanks to late withdrawals, so Johns still has a chance.

Hughes and Johns were both at par 142 for 36-holes at Old Warson, three strokes behind medalist Jay Don Blake. Blake, 54, finished second in the Champions Tour’s Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Ia., on Sunday.

Most of the Chicago players who survived the local qualifying rounds competed at Old Warson. Lake Forest mini-tour player Brad Hopfinger, who had the low score in Chicago’s two local qualifiers, was second alternate after posting 143. Reigning Illinois Open champion Max Scodro and Cantigny teaching pro Rich Dukelow were at 155.

Mixed results for the Illini

Illinois men’s coach Mike Small qualified for sectional play but understandably withdrew from the Old Warson elimination, citing fatigue after playing 22 holes. His Illini completed a spectacular season with a runner-up finish in the NCAA finals, which climaxed on Sunday in Atlanta.

The Illini, 4-1 losers to Alabama in the title match, had the best NCAA showing by a northern school since Minnesota won the title in 2002.

Two of Small’s former players now playing on the PGA Tour, Scott Langley and Luke Guthrie, will play at Merion. Langley survived sectional play in Memphis and Guthrie did the same at Columbus, Ohio. Guthrie needed a playoff to do it.

JDC lands 19 recent winners

Early commitments to next month’s John Deere Classic, the annual PGA Tour stop in the Quad Cities, included 19 winners of recent PGA Tour events along with at least 12 British Open qualifiers.

Tournament director Clair Peterson confirmed the entries of defending champion Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker, the winner from 2009-2011. Other recent champions in the field include Boo Weekley (Crowne Plaza Invitational), Kevin Streelman (Tampa Bay), D.A. Points (Houston), Derek Ernst (Wells Fargo) and Sang-Moon Bae (Byron Nelson Classic).

Among the other entrants are Nick Watney, Bo Van Pelt, Charles Howell III, Ben Crane, Mark Wilson. Louis Oosthuizen, Carl Petterson, John Hug and John Senden.

Did you know?

The top players from the Illinois PGA and Chicago District Golf Assn. will battle in the 52nd Radix Cup matches today (WEDNESDAY) at Oak Park Country Club. The six matches begin at 12:30 p.m.

The IPGA Golf Fest will run from noon-6 p.m. on Sunday at White Pines, in Bensenville. Cog Hill, in Lemont, will get a visit from the Ping fitting van from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday and host its Couples Scramble tourney on Sunday over the No. 3 course.

Kris Yoo, a University of Wisconsin junior from Schaumburg, was awarded one of two exemptions to the Island Resort Classic, a June 28-30 stop on the LPGA’s Symetra Tour at Michigan’s Sweetgrass course.

Bob O’Link’s Gary Groh outlasted Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb in a 21-hole final at the IPGA Senior Match Play Championship at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff.

Volunteers and pro-am participants are still needed for the Champions Tour’s new Encompass Championship, coming to North Shore in Glenview June 17-23. Call 847-904-2397 for details. The tourney also announced two more celebrity participants – new Bears’ coach Marc Trestman and Blackhawks’ announcer Pat Foley.

Chicago hopefuls talke U.S. Open dreams to St. Louis’ Old Warson

St. Louis was the site of the Senior PGA Championship, which concluded on Sunday, and it’ll also be the place of choice for the Chicago golfers who survived local qualifying for the 113th U.S. Open, to be played later this month at Merion in Ardmore, Pa.

Old Warson Country Club, in St., Louis, will have a 42-player field for a 36-hole elimination on Monday. It’ll be one of 11 such tournaments held across the U.S. on what’s known as “golf’s longest day’’ to determine the 156 starters at Merion. There were a record 9,865 entries for this U.S. Open and only 52 were exempt from the qualifying rounds.

Chicago has hosted a sectional every year for at least four decades, but not this time. That meant the 10 survivors of Chicago’s two local qualifying tournaments had to travel and Old Warson got the bulk of them. Newly-named Medinah teaching professional Travis Johns will be the first player to tee off there.

Also completing at Old Warson, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that opened in 1955 , will be Lake Forest’s Brad Hopfinger, the 2011 Illinois Amateur champion who was low man in the Chicago locals with a 66 at Northmoor in Highland Park on May 6; Illinois Open titlist Max Scodro; Cantigny teaching pro Rich Dukelow; 2008 Illinois Am winner Zach Barlow; and amateur Kenneth Li of Westmont.

They’ll have tough competition at Old Warson. Champions Tour members Mark O’Meara, Jay Haas and Jay Don Blake have also entered there. The number of qualifiers at each sectional hasn’t been announced, but those with the strongest fields will get the most.

Old Warson has hosted three previous U.S. Open sectionals, the last in 2004, but the biggest event held there was the 1971 Ryder Cup matches.

Double duty for Small

Last week University of Illinois men’s coach Mike Small was selected for the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, but the excitement of that career achievement didn’t end there. His Illini won an NCAA regional at Fayetteville, Ark., and began play in the NCAA Championship at Capital City Club near Atlanta on Tuesday.

It’s Illinois’ sixth straight appearance in the NCAA finals, but the first time the Illini got there by winning a regional. The NCAA final extends to Sunday (JUNE 2) and if the Illini are still in the competition by then Small could have a travel dilemma.

He also survived local qualifying for the U.S. Open, having advanced through an 18-hole elimination in Noblesville, Ind. Small is entered in the Old Warson sectional. Getting an overnight flight from Atlanta to St. Louis might be possible but arriving fresh enough for a tense 36-hole day might not be.

Did you know?

The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic has given a sponsor’s exemption to a college player – Iowa junior Steven Ihm. He’s also among the U.S. Open hopefuls competing at Old Warson.

Cantigny, in Wheaton, has added Monica Coleman to its teaching staff. She’ll be the staff’s performance coach.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct two qualifiers today (MAY 29). U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links berths will be on the line at Wilmette Golf Club and spots in the CDGA Amateur will be available at River Forest, in Elmhurst.

The Illinois PGA’s Senior Match Play Championship concludes Thursday (MAY 30) at Shoreacres, in Lake Bluff.

Shiloh Park, a nine-holer in Zion, will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Thursday (MAY 30) by charging $1 for a round of golf and another 10 cents assessment to offset the cost of installing a fence to enclose the course.

SENIOR PGA: Kohki Idoki overcomes three Champions Tour superstars

ST. LOUIS – Who would have expected this?

Three of the top stars in American golf were in position to win the 74th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on Sunday. None did.

The first major title of the year on the Champions Tour instead went to Kohki Idoki, a 5-foot 5-inch 136-pound Japanese golfer whose professional record was as unimpressive as England’s Roger Chapman, who came out of similar oblivion to win both the Senior PGA and U.S. Senior Open last year.

Idoki, 51, won two Japan PGA Tour events, in 1990 and 1993, and took his first win on his country’s Senior Tour last year. Those credentials barely got him into the Senior PGA field for the first time, and his play was too good for perennial contenders Kenny Perry, Jay Haas and Mark O’Meara. All had shortcomings of one sort or another.

O’Meara simply started too far back. His closing 65 on Sunday matched Idoki for low round of the tournament, but he came up three strokes short of Idoki’s 11-under-par 273 total for 72 holes and finished solo fourth.

Battle-hardened veterans Perry and Haas just couldn’t cope with back nine pressure. Haas, playing on a course he knew better than any player in the field, made three bogeys in a six-hole stretch on the back nine. That killed his hopes to win the title a third time, but 54-hole leader Perry had an even bigger collapse.

He started the final round with a two-shot lead on playing partner Haas and was up three on the field with six holes to go. That margin disappeared in a hurry. When Perry made double bogey at the par-3 13th and Idoki made birdie at the 14th they were tied at the top of the leaderboard.

“Kenny and I got wrapped up in each other for awhile,’’ said Haas, “but after the 13th hole we realized it wasn’t just the two of us.’’

Idoki’s 15-foot birdie putt at No. 17 gave him the lead for good and Perry’s hopes of catching him ended when he made bogey at the par-3 16th and then put his tee shot deep in the woods at the par-5 17th. Both Perry and Haas made birdies at No. 18 to edge O’Meara out of a share of second but those birds were too little, too late.

The story was Idoki who won $378,000 in his first trip to the United States but couldn’t talk about it much. Neither he nor his translator could barely speak English. Playing in the U.S. was as big a mystery to the constantly smiling Idoki as he was to the American players.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hit a shot,’’ said Haas. `I don’t know anything about him.’’

Through his translator Idoki said he took up golf when he was 9 years old at a course in Osaka. Another Japan golfer in the Bellerive field, Joe Ozaki, has been his mentor in recent years.

“I prefer to just stay in Japan,’’ said Idoki, through his translator. “It’s one of the greatest things to become a PGA champion. I cannot think of anything more. I was surprised with the huge galleries on the course. I was very excited.’’

Idoki’s participation is uncertain, but most of the Senior PGA field is expected to compete in the Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glenview from June 17-23. It’ll mark the circuit’s first Chicago visit since 2002.

SENIOR PGA: Perry-Cochran scenario makes for a neat story

ST. LOUIS – It’s not unusual for the PGA to pair friends in the first two rounds of its tournaments. That’s why Kenny Perry and Russ Cochran played together in the first two rounds of the 74th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club.

The results, though, don’t always come out they did on Thursday and Friday. Perry and Cochran both shot 69 on Thursday and 66 Friday. They stand at 7-under-par 135 at the top of the leaderboard heading into today’s third round of the season’s first major on the Champions Tour, so they’ll be playing together again.

Cochran and Perry went to high school together in Paducah, Ky., They played the PGA Tour together, and now – in their fifties – they remain friendly competitors.

“It’s near when childhood friends pick up again on the Champions Tour,’’ said Perry. “We’re very comfortable together. We’ve had a lot of laughs and good times.’

“A great couple days,’’ chimed in Cochran. “Plus, my son (Ryan) was my caddie and one of my best friends, Freddie Sanders, caddied for Kenny.’’

Both players won on the PGA Tour in Illinois. Cochran, winner of the 1991 Western Open at Cog Hill, is 54 and two years older than Perry, winner of the 2008 John Deere Classic.

Perry plays right-handed and has had a slightly better professional career. He shifts between the PGA and Champions, and was in the field at the premier circuit’s Byron Nelson Classic last week. Cochran plays left-handed. Together they put on an annual outing for the course they grew up on, Paxton Park in Paducah.

Paducah is a three-hour drive from Bellerive, and Perry and Cochran had considerable friends and family members in their gallery as they opened a two-stroke lead on third place Kiyoshi Murota of Japan. First-round co-leaders Jay Haas, who grew up in nearby Belleville, IL., and Duffy Waldorf are three back along with Loren Roberts.

Haas, selected for induction into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame earlier this week, has played Bellerive more than any of the 156 starters. His first-round 66 was a career best on the layout, which was the site of the 1992 PGA Championship and 2004 U.S. Senior Open.

“I was in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier here when I was about 16,’’ he said. “I’ve probably played 30 rounds here. I don’t know if that gives me an advantage. Maybe it let’s me know where to miss it on certain holes.’’

TRAVERSE CITY, MICH.: Two resorts have withstood the tests of time

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Golf course openings are rare in these tough economic times. Three decades ago that wasn’t the case, but none back then were as celebrated as Jack Nicklaus’ The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort.

Grand Traverse, then just five years old, took an extraordinary step when The Bear was ready for play. Virtually very member of the media covering the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills was invited to play the layout the day after Andy North won his second Open title, and most of them showed up.
That type of sendoff for a new golf course was unheard of, and media members from throughout the country found the layout appropriately named. It was indeed a bear.

The Grand Traverse tower over looks the humps and bumps of The Bear.

Over the years the course has been changed a bit, and Grand Traverse has undergone ownership changes. It remains, though, the heart of golf in the Traverse City area – and I consider that region the golf capitol of Michigan. Apparently I’m not alone. Golf Digest lists Traverse City as one of its Top 10 Best Buddies-Trip Golf Destinations this year.

Traverse City has grown considerably since The Bear opened. Now the area has 17 championship courses. The Bear is just one of three at Grand Traverse. Spruce Run, which pre-dates the resort, opened in 1979 as a Bill Newcombe design. Gary Player’s first Michigan course, The Wolverine, opened in 1999.

Now owned by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse has a 17-story hotel that features most interesting upscale dining (The Aerie Restaurant and Lounge) on the 16th floor and two casinos are nearby. Also new this year is an expansion of the golf teaching staff. Director of instruction Scott Hebert, lead instructor Terry Crick and assistant Charlie Hathaway have been joined by two new lead instructors – Randy Ernst and Adam Roades.

The Bear, still the toughest course in the area, was strangely bypassed as a site for pro tour events. A Senior PGA Tour event, the now defunct Ameritech Senior Open, was played there in 1990 before moving to Chicago for a 12-year run. The Michigan Open was played on The Bear for 28 years, and Hebert won it six times.

That tourney may have left in 2008, but The Bear has maintained its high profile without hosting an annual big event. In 2012 the Michigan Golf Course Owners Assn. named The Bear and Grand Traverse its Course-of-the-Year. That’s one lofty honor, given that Michigan has more public courses (768) than any other state. And, only two other states have more total golf courses. Golf is indeed big business in Michigan.

Traverse City golf, though, isn’t limited to The Bear and Grand Traverse. Shanty Creek, another long-time favorite in Bellaire, has four courses including two that have been widely recognized – Arnold Palmer’s The Legend (its popular par-3 fourth hole is shown above) and Tom Weiskopf’s Cedar River. The Bear and The Legend together started making Traverse City a significant golf destination. Now both United and American have direct flights from O’Hare to Cherry Capital Airport in part at least to accommodate golfers.

Shanty is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and Cedar River has long been one of my all-time Michigan choices. Interesting things are going on at another Shanty layout, though. Eight-inch cups have been added on all 18 greens of the Summit course, a move to make the game easier and encourage more people to give this challenging sport a try. A new set of forward tees, set at between 95 and 125 yards, have also been added to the layout, designed as a par-71 by architect William Diddel that plays 6,260 yards from its tips. This innovative moves are – at the very least – a good try to freshen things up a bit.

One of Traverse City’s other resorts, A-Ga-Ming, is also a multi-course facility. Located in Kewadin, it has three 18-holers.

Best of Traverse City’s other seven courses may be LockenHeath (a Steve Smyers design in Williamsburg that is the longest of the region facilities at 7,239 yards) or Manitou Passage, in Cedar, which offers great views overlooking Lake Michigan. The views are so good, in fact, that ABC’s Good Morning America named its Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as “America’s Most Beautiful Place.’’ It was selected after judging 10 contenders that included spots in California, Hawaii and North Carolina.

Hallberg has been Chicago’s best ever home-grown golfer

No Chicago-born and raised golfer has accomplished more than Gary Hallberg, and now he’s coming back.

Hallberg was a state high school champion at Barrington, an Illinois Open winner twice, an NCAA champion at Wake Forest and the first player to earn PGA Tour playing privileges without going to qualifying school.

As a professional he was the PGA’s rookie-of-the-year in 1980. He won on the PGA Tour three times, the Nationwide (now Buy.com) circuit and the Champions Tour. He also won in Japan. Last year he was runner-up to Fred Couples in the Senior British Open.

About to turn 55 on May 31, Hallberg is a regular on the Champions Tour. He’ll be competing in the Senior PGA Championship, at Bellerive in St. Louis, starting on Thursday, and has entered the Encompass Championship, which begins at North Shore in Glenview on June 21. That event marks the 50-and-over circuit’s return to Chicago for the first time in 12 years.

Hallberg is happy to compete in Chicago again, though he’s lived in Colorado for several years. Born in Berwyn, Hallberg’s family lived in Park Ridge before moving to North Barrington in 1969. His parents still live there, and Hallberg’s heart has never left the area. He was back last week, in part for a practice round at North Shore before heading to St. Louis.

“My folks are here and my daughter goes to school here,’’ said Hallberg. “It’s my home away from home. I love to reminisce about the good days here.’’

His father George, a Swedish immigrant, introduced Hallberg to golf when he was 8 years old. His first round was at Rob Roy, in Prospect Heights. He developed his game playing the former Thunderbird (now Makray) course in Barrington and still holds the course record (a 64) at Stonehenge, the Barrington private facility. He also caddied at Biltmore, another Barrington private club.

“All I wanted to do back then was play golf,’’ said Hallberg. “If there was a patch of green grass I wanted to hit a ball off it. I developed an addiction to the game. I’d polish my clubs with a tooth brush.’’

The passion for golf has never left, though Hallberg is married with two grown children now. His son Eric, 19, is showing interest in playing golf.

“He wants to give it a shot, but it’s whatever he wants,’’ said Hallberg. “I stand back a little. It’s his journey. That’s what my dad did.’’

This Champions Tour season hasn’t been a rousing success yet. Hallberg’s best finish in a tie for 17th. But he’s well rested going into this week’s first major championship for the circuit at Bellerive. He’s also looking forward to North Shore, where he played several times as the guest of the club’s late long-time professional Bill Ogden.

“I feel prepared after a few works off to work,’’ said Hallberg, “and it’s fantastic we’re going to North Shore. I think we’ll get a great turnout.’’

More honors for Small

Life couldn’t get much better for Illinois men’s coach Mike Small these days. As a player he shot 69 and earned the last of four U.S. Open sectional qualifying berths offered in a local qualifier at Sangamore Club in Noblesville, Ind. As a coach, his Illini won an NCAA regional at Fayetteville, Ark., to advance to the finals starting next Tuesday (MAY 28)_in Atlanta.

To cap off the month Small was selected to the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. The selection committee voted in Small, Champions Tour veteran Jay Haas and Bob Harris, former head professional at Sunset Ridge in Northbrook. Induction ceremonies will be held in October at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Another big event at Medinah

Medinah will never have an event as big as last fall’s Ryder Cup, but the club will host perhaps the year’s biggest charity event next Tuesday (MAY 28). It’ll include play on the famed No. 3 course, the Ryder Cup site.

The fourth annual Medinah Patriot Day will be played on both the Nos. 2 and 3 courses. No. 1 is undergoing a renovation supervised by architect Tom Doak. The event provides financial assistance to support Illinois military families.

Encompass outing is memorable with putter announcement looming

Officials for the Encompass Championship, which brings golf’s Champions Tour back to Chicago for the first time in 12 years next month, held their kickoff event on Monday at North Shore Country Club in Glenview.

They announced the latest player commitments for the June 17-23 event included 16 major championships winners – Mark Calcavecchia, Ben Crenshaw, Steve Elkington, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Mark O’Meara, Larry Mize, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Jeff Sluman, Craig Stadler, Hal Sutton, Bob Tway and Fuzzy Zoeller.


Also included was the announcement of two more celebrity pro-am participants – ex-Bear Brian Urlacher and Chad Watson, a wounded warrior serviceman who will participate in the Friday and Saturday portions of the event.

Of more immediate interest was today’s announcement by the U.S. Golf Assn. of its decision on the use of long putters. Rocco Mediate, the first player to win with the controversial club on the PGA Tour — at Doral in 1991, thought the proposed ban of the club should be dropped.

“They should have made it illegal in 1991 if they were going to do it,’’ said Mediate, whose team won the day’s pro-am competition (see accompanying photo. Our team included former Sun-Times teammate Herb Gould and Bears’ kicker Robbie Gould was our partner on the front nine).

“Obviously the (long putter) isn’t traditional, but what is now? ,’’ said Mediate. “ I don’t really care what they do. I went to it because of my (sore) back, and it definitely helped me.’’

Another tour veteran, Jeff Sluman. also went to the long putter and expects it will be banned today.

“And that’s unfortunate,’’ said Sluman. “I tried every way (to putt) because I had the yips, but some guys have putted that way their entire lives. Statistics say (use of the long putter) isn’t an advantage, and everybody can use it.’’

Chip Beck, another veteran tour player, just hopes golf’s ruling bodies agree on the ruling. The PGA Tour has already voiced reservations on proposals made by the U.S. Golf Assn. and Europe’s Royal & Ancient Golf Club.

“If they split up, that won’t be good for the game,’’ said Beck, who thinks it’s “a little too late’’ to ban the long putters.

“Long putters aren’t as good as they’re going to be,’’ said Beck. “They’re too heavy. As they get lighter kids will start using them, and better equipment will bring lower scores. That will be good for golf.’’

IPGA MATCH PLAY: Malm notches an historic repeat

Curtis Malm won both player-of-the-year awards handed out by the Illinois PGA last year, and – judging by what happened in the first of the section’s four major championships of 2013 – there’s no reason to think he won’t pull off another sweep this season.

Malm became the first player in 25 years to win back-to-back titles in the IPGA Match Play Championship when he defeated Doug Bauman 3 and 1 in Thursday’s title match at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.

In his fifth year as an assistant professional at St. Charles Country Club, Malm became the first repeat winner of the 62-year old tourney since Aurora’s Bob Ackerman triumphed in 1987 and 1988.

“The format and golf course are absolutely perfect for me,’’ said Malm, who turned pro a day after winning the 2000 Illinois Open. He doesn’t think he’s as good a player now as he was then.

“I might be smarter,’’ he said. “Back then I never had a negative thought. You just played golf, and I was playing pretty much lights-out. Now my game may be more diverse.’’

After coming up one stroke short of qualifying for U.S. Open sectional play on Monday Malm stormed past six opponents over the next three days. His first four matches didn’t last beyond the 15th hole.

All three matches played at Kemper on Thursday concluded on the 17th green. Malm beat Matt Slowinski, assistant at Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn, in the morning semifinals while Bauman ousted Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb. All four semifinalists were former winners of the tournament, and both matches were decided by 2 and 1 scores.

Bauman, a three-time winner, finished as the runner-up for the sixth time. In his 25th year as the head man at Biltmore in Barrington, Bauman started the final with three straight birdies. Malm, however, was able to overcome his opponent’s 3-3-2 start.

“The putt he made (for birdie) at the No. 2 and his bunker shot (that set up a win) at No. 4 were huge,’’ said Bauman. “I tried to put the pressure on him, but he didn’t flinch.’’

Bauman, 56, is 21 years older than Malm,. Though consistently outdriven by his opponent, Bauman’s 235-yard 5-wood to 18 feet at the par-5 11th was the shot of the match. It set up an eagle that put him just 1-down, but he left a shot in a bunker at No. 13 and missed a three-footer for par that would have won No. 14. Those letdowns enabled Malm to stay in command, and Bauman’s tee shot at the par-3 17th went wide right, leading to a bogey that ended 2-hour 41-minute duel.