lenz – Page 128 – Len Ziehm On Golf

PINEHURST: Famed resort’s banner year will come in 2014

PINEHURST, N.C. – It may seem silly for a golf addict from Chicago to visit the famous Pinehurst Resort – if only for a few days around Christmas – and not hit a shot. That’s what I did at the start of a long winter trip that will include plenty of golf, I guarantee that.

A Pinehurst stop, though, was appropriate because in 2014 that resort, its entrance pictured above in the heart of the Christmas season, will take on something no golf facility has ever done. It’ll host – on successive weeks in June – the men’s U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open on the same 18-hole layout.

The buildup to the big golf doubleheader should be followed closely in coming months. In my book, it’s a far more cutting edge, risky endeavor than the U.S. Golf Association’s more recent, highly publicized decision to eventually ban anchored putters. Playing the two national Opens back-to-back on the same course should give a particularly big boost to the women’s game, but will also impact the elite players, the amateurs who will be watching on TV and the resort itself, which has never been reluctant to take on big projects.

The USGA made the tournament schedule announcement amidst limited fanfare in 2009. The following year architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were hired to supervise a restoration project on Pinehurst’s No. 2 course. They completed the project in March, 2011, with the return of wire-grass in the rough areas the most striking feature. It had been part of the original course, designed by Donald Ross in 1907.

Ross was head professional at Pinehurst and lived off the third hole on the No. 2 course, which has come to be called “The Deuce.’’ His architectural efforts world-wide are legendary and the wire-grass will become a household name for golfers once they see how it impacts the two Opens. I’ve played it, and I like it, but – like the USGA’s decision to schedule the major championships back-to-back on the same course – opinions in the golf world are not unanimous on either.

The Christmas visit was my fourth to Pinehurst since 1999. I was there for two successful U.S. Opens and again when wire-grass was re-introduced in the spring of 2011. Given the long preparatory saga that Medinah went through leading into this year’s Ryder Cup, I suspected I’d see some evidence of preparatory work at Pinehurst.

I didn’t see much, the most notable being Lee Pace’s latest book — “The Golden Age of Pinehurst,’’ which was on sale in the Newstand at the resort’s hotel. Pace, a freelance writer who lives an hour away in Chapel Hill, previously authored two versions of “Pinehurst Stories’’ (1991 and 1999) and “The Spirit of Pinehurst’’ (2004).

Pace’s latest book updated the 2004 version, including in it the details of the architectural work done by Coore and Crenshaw. I had a talk with Pace after ending my latest visit, and he pointed out that the restoration project and the unusual scheduling of the two big tournaments weren’t related.

“The restoration had absolutely nothing to do with the U.S. Open,’’ he said. “That work was done because the course had gotten away from what it had been years ago.’’

The men’s U.S. Open is returning to Pinehurst in large part because of the success of the previous tournaments there, and the U.S. Women’s Open had three successful stagings at nearby Pine Needles since 1996.

There was some doubt that Pinehurst could handle a U.S. Open prior to 1999. They were unfounded.

“But it was such a success inside and outside of the ropes,’’ said Pace. “That’s why it got another Open so quickly (in 2005).’’

Hotel space was limited in 1999 but improved in 2005 and four more hotels have since been built in the neighboring towns of Aberdeen and Southern Pines. Population of Moore County has also increased, from about 50,000 seven years ago to nearly 90,000 now.

Reg Jones, who had worked for Pinehurst while directing the two previous U.S. Opens there, now has an administrative office at Pinehurst in preparation for 2014. Otherwise, there aren’t many outward signs of the big things coming.

“You won’t see much change until a couple months out,’’ said Pace. “(Pinehurst leaders) don’t want to disrupt the ebb and flow of the club experience. They have (big tournament preparations) down to a science. There’s not another club the USGA would have tried to do this with, and everything will be fine.’’

As for our stay, everything was very much fine – even though the atmosphere was much different than it will be in June, 2014. Christmas at Pinehurst didn’t have the hustle-and-bustle of other places, visitors weren’t as numerous as they are in the golf season and some of the quaint little shops in the village operated on limited hours.

Instead Pinehurst offered its trademark great breakfast buffets in the Carolina Room and more casual dining in its Ryder Cup restaurant. The courses were open, with the exception of No. 8. It was closed to facilitate work projects. Rather than play golf, a hike in the nearby arboretum area was a worthy substitute.

All in all, not a bad way to celebrate Christmas. I certainly can recommend it.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: `King of Clubs’ uncovers piece of Chicago golf history

After reading “King of Clubs: The Great Golf Marathon of 1938’’ I felt there was a message to be delivered about how bad slow play has gotten.

Virginia-based sports writing veteran Jim Ducibella recounts the story of J. Smith Ferebee, a Chicago stockbroker and Olympia Fields Country Club member who was briefly in the national spotlight for his bid to play 600 holes of golf in eight cities over four consecutive days.

Think about this. Seven decades ago Ferebee played more than 33 rounds of golf in 96 hours and never shot 100. Had he hit triple digits he would have lost the bet that started his whole ordeal, and Ferebee did post 99 in one round. Most of his scores were in the 80s, however, and he was playing on many courses – located from Los Angeles to New York – that he’d never seen before.

To put the feat in better perspective, Ferebee would play at least 144 holes per day, keeping a very brisk pace between each shot. There were no golf carts involved, and Ferebee had to tee up his drives and take the ball from each cup after he putted out. Those were the terms of the bet.

Then he’d board a plane, with an entourage that included a doctor, caddie and publicist among others, and fly to the next stop to do it all again. I recall twice playing 45 holes in a day, walking all in the second, in tours of the five Chicago Park District nine-hole courses. Those tours were organized by KemperSports in the early 1990s. They were a lot of fun, as a few media friends would get van transportation between each course.

Playing that much golf in a day that started at dawn at the Marovitz course on Lake Michigan and finished at dusk at Columbus Park was considered a noteworthy back then – at least by us – but we had nothing on J.Smith Ferebee. In one stretch he played 144 holes in 15 hours 7 minutes and averaged 86 for every 18 holes. In that time he walked an estimated 40 miles. I’m staggered by it all.

Olympia Fields, his home club, had four courses back then including one (now known as the North course) that has hosted two U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships. Ferebee played those four courses in the middle of his marathon in 89, 83, 85 and 89. All of the courses he played were short by today’s standards, but hardly of the pitch-and-putt variety.

Anyway, with all due respect to my Big-3 partner – golf historian extraordinaire Tim Cronin – Ducibella’s “King of Clubs’’ deserves a place in Chicago’s golf history archives. It is much more than a recounting of a whacky pre-World War II publicity stunt. Ducibella tells me that very few people (including the current membership and staff at Olympia Fields) knew much – if anything – about Ferebee.

That’s surprising, given that Ferebee’s quest to complete his marathon was closely followed by media outlets throughout the country. In Chicago his adventure shared the spotlight with a late-season charge by the Cubs to the National League pennant.

Perhaps Ferebee’s moment in the spotlight was simply a reflection of another, most colorful, era in the history of Chicago sports. Still, it makes for most interesting reading. I heartily recommend this book, published by Potomac Books of Dulles, Va.

BMW, JDC tourneys honored by PGA

The PGA Tour gave glowing reports to its 2012 tournaments with Illinois connections. The BMW Championship, conducted by the Western Golf Assn., was selected as the circuit’s Tournament of the Year and the John Deere Classic received the Most Engaged Community Award.

In 2012 the BMW raised $3.1 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation and was one of the top-attended tournaments of the year. The crowd count for the week at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis in September was 143,000 – a good reason for the WGA to continue its recent policy of moving its biggest event out of Chicago every other year.

The WGA took the event to Bellerive, in St. Louis, in 2008. The BMW Championship was also the PGA Tour’s Tournament of the Year that time.

Winning the Most Engaged Community Award isn’t anything new for the JDC, held annually at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities. The JDC previously won the award in 2008 and 2011. This year’s event showed a 12 percent increase in ticket sales, a 27 percent increase in money raised through its Birdies for Charity campaign and a record $6.79 million windfall for 493 local charities. That amount was raised from more than 20,000 individual donors.

Did you know?

Two Chicago golf leaders of a few decades back passed away with a month of each other recently. Nat Rosasco was owner and president of Northwestern Golf Co., a prominent equipment manufacturer, and Charles Chudek was the founder of Chicagoland Golfer, a twice-a-week publication that flourished in the early 1960s. Chudek’s publication is not to be confused with Chicagoland Golf, which operated under the late Phil Kosin from 1989-2009. Rosasco was 83, Chudek 82.

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The University of Illinois’ Luke Guthrie played in only 10 events on the Web.com Tour this year after using up his collegiate eligibility, but he was one of three finalists for the circuit’s player-of-the-year award. It went to money-leader Casey Wittenberg through a vote of tour members. Guthrie, second on the money list, is headed for the PGA Tour in 2013.

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The NCAA announced its postseason sites for 2014 and 2015. Rich Harvest Farms was awarded a men’s regional, with Northern Illinois the host school, in 2014.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Meierdierks, Jeray Q-School successes are in sharp contrast

Rarely does a Chicago golfer get through a qualifying school for any of the professional tours. This year, though, two did – and their roads to success couldn’t be much more different.

Wilmette’s Eric Meierdierks, a 27-year old with only one PGA start to his credit, made it all the way to the PGA Tour for 2013 with his tie for 14th finish in the three-stage November elimination that started with 1,558 players.

Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray, 42, competed in the qualifying tournament for the LPGA Tour for the 19th time. It had 122 finalists, and she finished tied for 17th . That 90-hole competition ended earlier this week.

Meierdierks, though relatively new to the rigorous qualifying procedures, made it easily. The top 25 and ties qualified for PGA Tour cards at PGA West in LaQuinta, Calif. A week later Jeray survived in dramatic fashion at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, FL. Only the top 20 get LPGA cards in that circuit’s Q-School, and Jeray had to go to a seven-player playoff for the final four spots. She survived with a 20-foot birdie putt on the fifth extra hole.

The first PGA Tour event for Meierdierks as a card-carrying member of the circuit will likely be the Sony Open in Hawaii on Jan. 7. Jeray has been on and off the LPGA circuit since earning privileges for the first time in 1994. She won’t make her full-fledged LPGA return until at least February, since that’s when the circuit begins play in 2013.

Meierdierks arrival on the PGA Tour was a feel-good story, just as much as Jeray’s grittiness was on the women’s side. He had been basically a mini-tour player since turning professional in 2009. His career highlight had been a victory in the 2010 Illinois Open at Hawthorn Woods, and he lost that tourney’s 2012 title in a playoff with Max Scodro last August at The Glen Club.

Six days before the first stage of this fall’s Q-School Meierdierks suffered a family tragedy. His father Dick, who had been in poor health after developing an infection following surgery, passed away at the age of 70. Making it through the first stage may have been Meierdierks’ toughest test in the qualifying process.

Fond memories of his father, however, played a role in Meierdierks’ success in the final stage, played over the Tournament and Nicklaus courses at PGA West.

“We had stayed in Palm Springs on spring vacations,’’ he said, “and I distinctly remembered one year.’’

That was when the family’s lodging was off the seventh hole of the Nicklaus’ layout. It was understandable he’d remember that, given an incident that happened to his father there when he and Eric went out on the course to play a few holes late in the day.

“He walked through a screen door and tore his patella tendon,’’ recalled Meierdierks. That misfortune aside, good family memories helped Meierdierks cope with the tension that always plays a part in Q-School. By the time his 90-hole marathon was over Meierdierks was set for the next stage in his golfing life.

“It’s been incredible,’’ he told me after a few days of reflection. “It’s been a long journey, and it feels really good to finally have a dream come true and see a lot of hard work pay off.’’

Except for caddie and boyhood friend Bill Bohr, Meierdierks winged in alone during the final stage of Q-School. His mother Linda debated coming after Eric moved into contention, but decided to stay in Chicago.

“She didn’t want to change the mojo that was going on in my week,’’ he said, “though I’m not sure it would have made any difference. Anyway, she’ll be able to see me play lots of tournaments now.’’

Meierdierks, who has spent considerable time in Arizona “chasing the money on mini-tours’’ the last two years, planned a return to Illinois for two weeks during Christmas. Then he’ll be off on a new adventure. His only previous PGA Tour event was the 2009 Frys.com Open. He made it into the field through Monday qualifying but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut.

“I didn’t play particularly bad,’’ he said. “It was mainly a learning experience, and it was very eye-opening. I had placed the players on the PGA Tour on such a high pedestal, but I realized then that they weren’t that far away. It was a really big step for me. I also saw how well they were treated out there.’’

Now Meierdierks will find that out more frequently. He expects to get into quite a few early-season events, and his play will dictate how much he plays as the year progresses. Bohr, who carried his bag in all three stages of Q-School, will remain his caddie. They grew up together as caddies at Sunset Ridge, though Meierdierks went to high school at New Trier and Bohr at Loyola.

His equipment sponsorship, with TaylorMade, isn’t a concern and he feels prepared for what’s ahead the next few months.

“I could see (at Q-School) that the PGA Tour is a massive organization, and it has a lot of people in place to help you through this process,’’ said Meierdierks. “There’s going to be a little lifestyle change, but mainly I figure I’ll be paying a little more taxes.’’

Jeray has been the only Chicago player on the LPGA Tour for the last two decades. The last Chicago player to earn privileges on the PGA Tour was Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti, who earned his card by finishing in the top 25 on the Nationwide (now Web.com Tour) money list in 2010. He required shoulder surgery last spring and missed most of what would have been his rookie season on the PGA Tour. Coming off a medical exemption, he hopes to resume playing on the circuit in 2013.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Meierdierks, Langley are survivors at PGA’s Q-School

PGA Tour qualifying school hasn’t been kind to the few Illinois golfers who have tried it over the years, but that wasn’t the case this week.

Eric Meierdierks, the 2010 Illinois Open champion from Wilmette, and Scott Langley, the 2010 NCAA champion for the University of Illinois, both earned their PGA Tour cards during the six-round marathon that concluded at PGA West in LaQuinta, Calif., on Monday.

Meierdierks, a New Trier High School graduate who didn’t play golf in college at Michigan State, followed his Illinois Open win of two years ago at Hawthorn Woods with a playoff loss to Chicago’s Max Scodro in this year’s championship at The Glen Club, in Glenview. Meierdierks, who turned pro in 2009, has spent most of his time since then on the Gateway Tour in Arizona but he did return for his state’s premier championship.

Since turning pro he also had a Gateway win to his credit, but he also had to deal with personal issues in getting through Q-School. His father passed away six days before the first stage of the competition.

“That was the hardest tournament I ever played,’’ Meierdierks offered after the battle for his card ended successfully. “It made (the final stage) a walk in the park.’’

He also had good vibes as he toured the TPC Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course, the 18-holers at PGA West used for the qualifying rounds. Meierdierks’ family had vacationed off the No. 7 fairway of the Nicklaus’ course, and his glimpses of the lodging there triggered good memories for him in the heat of the competition.

This year’s Q-School – the last one to send players directly to the PGA circuit – had 1,558 registrants. There was a pre-qualifier and then three stages of eliminations before the top 25 and ties were awarded PGA playing privileges. Mierdierks tied for 14th, and Langley tied for 17th. Low man over the six tense rounds was Dong-hwan Lee, at 25—under-par. Mierdierks was at 20-under and Langley was another stroke back.

Also making it was Kris Blanks, the winner of the last Chicago area Nationwide (now Web.com Tour) tournament – the Bank of America Open at The Glen Club in 2008. Blanks earned a return trip to the PGA circuit. A shoulder injury had led to his failure to reach money-winning standards necessary to retain membership this year.

Another plus for the Illini

Langley’s arrival on the PGA Tour was just the latest in major accomplishments for University of Illinois alums. Five will play on the PGA Tour in 2013, with Langley joining Steve Stricker, D.A. Points, Luke Guthrie and Joe Affrunti. Affrunti is still recovering from major shoulder surgery last spring.

Like Langley, Guthrie will be a PGA Tour rookie. He qualified for the big tour by finishing second on the Web.com Tour money list – and he needed only 10 tournaments to do it. Guthrie didn’t turn pro until the Illinois season was over in June. Interestingly, Meierdierks’ Illinois Open win came in a duel with Guthrie.

Langley’s advancement was no surprise. In addition to winning his NCAA title the left-handed golfer was a factor in the last two U.S. Opens. He tied for 16th in 2011 and tied for 19th this year.

Illinois’ run of success hasn’t been without a cost. Coach Mike Small lost his assistant coach when Zach Guthrie, Luke’s brother, resigned that post. He’ll be Luke’s caddie on the PGA circuit in 2013.

They didn’t make it

Those who didn’t crack the top 25 (actually 26 earned turn cards) at PGA West included Camilo Villegas, Heath Slocum Billy Mayfair, Nick O’Hern, Skip Kendall, former Northwestern star Chris Wilson, ex-British Open winner Todd Hamilton and Patrick Cantlay, who dazzled the PGA Tour when he shot a 60 as an amateur in the 2011 Travelers Championship.

Next year’s Q-School will only offer spots on the Web.com Tour. That circuit will play a bigger role in determining who advances to the big circuit. This year the top 25 on that tour’s money list was promoted to the PGA Tour for 2013.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Mierdierks is on the brink of something big

Anybody who follows the golf scene in Illinois should tune in to what happens the next few days in the final stage of the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School at PGA West in California.

Wilmette’s Eric Mierdierks, winner of the 2010 Illinois Open at Hawthorn Woods and runnerup (in a playoff) to Chicago’s Max Scodro at The Glen Club in 2012, hit the halfway point in the six-round marathon in a tie for ninth place. The top 25 and ties after the six rounds earn berths on the PGA Tour for 2013.

Mierdierks, 27, has never played in a PGA Tour event. A New Trier High School graduate, he developed his skills playing on Arizona’s Gateway Tour the past few years, and his game appears to be peaking at the right time.

The PGA Tour Qualifying School will be radically transformed in 2013. This is the last year its top players will earn berths for the following year on the PGA circuit, and Mierdierks wants to take advantage of what might be a last-chance opportunity. Q-School will offer only spots on the Web.com Tour in 2013. That means it’ll be even harder to get on golf’s premier circuit, and it’s plenty difficult already.

Mierdierks was one of 1,558 players submitting entries to the 2012 Q-School, which is being conducted in three stages. This final stage, still in progress, began with 172 players battling for the coveted PGA Tour spots. Through the first three rounds Mierdierks is at 203, and five strokes behind leader Meen Whee Kim. Mierdierks shot 66-67 in rounds 2 and 3 on Thursday and Friday over the Nicklaus Tournament Course and TPC Stadium Course to climb the leaderboard.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday rounds remain before playing privileges are determined. Most of the finalists will get privileges of some sort on the Web.com Tour in 2013 but, of course, the PGA spots are more coveted.

The last of the very few Chicago area players to earn a PGA Tour card was Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti. He earned his in 2010 by finishing in the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour money list. Affrunti, like Mierdierks, was an Illinois Open champion (2004) and also won the Chicago District Amateur in both 2000 and 2001. His PGA Tour hopes, however, have been hampered by a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Mierdierks won his Illinois Open title with a one-shot win over Luke Guthrie, the University of Illinois star who made it to the PGA Tour in a hurry. Making good use of some sponsor exemptions, he was a smash hit on both the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour in the second half of the 2012 season.

KemperSports update

KemperSports, the Northbrook-based golf management firm, continues to build a broad impact world-wide. Its latest project is the Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resort in Panama, and the soon-to-open 36-hole Streamsong Resort in Polk County, FL., has already received rave reviews in various golf publications.

Scott Wilson has been named director of golf at Streamsong. He had been at another KemperSports location, Vellano Country Club in California.

On the more local front, Nate Mather is leaving his job as general manager of Glen Flora Country Club in Waukegan to become GM of The Club at Fairvue Plantation in Gallatin, Tenn. – another KemperSports facility.

For the record

Hopefully this is the end of media reports suggesting Oak Brook’s Butler National might return as a big-tournament venue. Some club members would like the exposure Butler received as site of the Western Open from 1974-1990, but the vast majority want it to remain all-male and therefore not acceptable for U.S. Golf Assn. and PGA events. A vote was taken on the issue recently and my sources tell me only one or two members wanted to accept female members. Until that sentiment changes Butler as a tournament site is a non-issue.

Just my opinion

This joint announcement by the U.S. Golf Assn. and Royal & Ancient Golf Club banning the anchoring putting stroke isn’t that big a deal. Of course, anchoring a club against your body should be banned. It represents too big a departure from golf’s traditions. Royal & Ancient likely felt stronger about this issue than the USGA did, and the rule proposal was too long in coming.

And don’t forget, long putters (the belly variety and the longer “broom-handle’’) are still legal. That’s fine by me, though I suspect there’ll be some controversies over just what is anchoring and what isn’t once the rule is put into effect in 2016. How close to your body does the club have to be to be considered “anchoring?’’ Players might be willing to test the rule on that.

As far as I’m concerned, though, golf has a bigger issue to solve – slow play. That would be at the top of my list.

Calendar material

I’ve found golf just fine in this late-fall, early-winter period in Chicago and only wish more courses were still open. The Nos. 1 and 3 layouts at Cog Hill, in Lemont, are among the few that will remain open year-around, and some fun events are coming up on those.

The Frosty’s 3-Club Open will be held over No. 1 on Dec. 9 and the Eskimo Open will be played on both courses on Jan. 6.

Also notable is the Jan. 1 deadline established by the Western Golf Assn. for the sale of its holiday ticket package. The package includes two any-day tournament tickets, lanyards and ticket holders to next September’s BMW Championship at Conway Farms for a great price — $65. Only 2,500 such packages will be available.

MISSOURI OZARKS: Old Kinderhook is the place to go

CAMDENTON, Mo. – It’s easy to have warm feelings about Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks region. Mine go back to college days, and that was way too long ago.

Not everything in the world is better now than it was back in those more carefree years, but Lake of the Ozarks fits the bill. It still has its beautiful lakes and down-to-earth charm, and – make no mistake – the golf has gotten better, too.

As recently as the early 1990s the area had just five 18-hole courses, the hotbeds being at the two big resorts – Tan-Tar-A and Lodge of the Four Seasons. Those spots are still thriving, but now the number of public courses in the region is up to 13 and nine having lodging available.

Perhaps the best of the course now – and I’ve played most of them at one time or another — is Old Kinderhook, located in Camdenton (population about 4,000). It’s hard to describe Old Kinderhook, a place that got its name off the former name of Camden County.

Paul Hannigan, an all-purpose staffer at Old Kinderhook with a work background that includes doing sports radio in Illinois, admits that Old Kinderhook isn’t really a resort because it doesn’t have a hotel. That will soon change. The resort will reveal artists’ renderings and plans for The Lodge at Old Kinderhook on Oct. 30, 2013. It’s expected to be a five-story structure near the current pro shop.

Even without a hotel Old Kinderhook has plenty of lodging, thereby definitely qualifying it as a golf destination. On the premises are cottages, villas, patio homes and estate homes. There’s also a conference center and two quality restaurants – The Hook Café for breakfast and lunch and The Trophy Room, a most pleasant place for upscale evening dining.

You don’t have to give up the more homespun places that have marked the Ozarks for decades, though. RJ’s Family Restaurant (some Ozark veterans may know it as CJ’s, but the name was changed in recent years) and Tonka Hills are nearby spots that worked out for breakfast and Jake Culpepper’s Steakhouse was a fun dinner spot.

Normally, full-fledged golf resorts offer more than one course. Old Kinderhook doesn’t, but Lake Valley – a fun layout with six par-5s, six par-4s and six par-3s – is across the street on Rt. 54 and Deer Chase, newest of the Ozark courses (it opened in 2004), is a short drive away — though a bit off the beaten path — in Linn Creek.

As for the Old Kinderhook layout, it’s got a bit of everything. Tom Weiskopf, the long-successful PGA Tour star, designed it in 1999, and it wasn’t just a case of him putting his name on the course for promotional value. Weiskopf actually lived in the area for a few months when Old Kinderhook was under construction.

The 6,855-yard par-71 finished product reminds me of Cedar River, another Weiskopf design at the long-popular Michigan resort, Shanty Creek in Bellaire. Cedar River is outstanding, but Old Kinderhook may be even better thanks to its stunning elevation changes.

Old Kinderhook has zoysia fairways and large bentgrass greens, and it’s open year-around. After a mid-November round there I was most impressed with the variety of the par-3s. No. 3, at 206 yards from the tips, offers a dramatic downhill tee shot. The shortest, the 152-yard seventh (pictured above), plays over a ravine and is my most memorable of the four one-shotters. A great view of the lake on the left is featured at the 11th, another downhiller, and water is on the right at the 16th, which has a split-level green.

In addition to the course, considered perhaps Weiskopf’s best, there’s an 11-acre practice range and two putting greens. It’s a golf destination very much worth checking out, and it’s been getting better. Thirty homes were built in a 24-month span and a 12,000-square foot garden was created behind the No. 12 tee to supplement the restaurant’s food offerings.

DOWN ROUTE 66: Good golf mixes well with all the nostalgia

For years it had been on my bucket list of things to do. I wanted to make a driving trip down Route 66. Upon retirement from my full-time job as a sportswriter I made that trip happen.

In June, 2010, the two of us took off on a drive of nearly 6,000 miles, which included some side trips that took us through eight states on roads that once were heavily travelled. The once-famous Route 66, which opened in 1926 and was closed in 1984, is still marked by road signs and many of its attractions still attract tourists looking to reconnect to a simpler time, when there weren’t many chain hotels or franchise dining establishments.

For us this journey was all at once nostalgic, interesting, sobering, educational, entertaining, enlightening and – above all – very much worthwhile. It gave us a glimpse of what America used to be and brought into focus how much it has changed.

And that got me to thinking about making another, very similar, dream trip. Why not combine the unique offerings of Route 66 with rounds at golf courses along the way? This trip is still a dream, but it could be done. I haven’t played all the courses that I’m about to propose, but each is just a few miles off of Route 66 and the myriad of attractions it offers.

Like Route 66 itself, the public courses were chosen because are – or at least seemed to be – out of the ordinary in one way or another. Presumably they are all in keeping with the spirit of Route 66.

So, let our journey begin.

It starts at the corner of Michigan and Adams in downtown Chicago, but that’s just a photo shoot opportunity. Get to Joliet, and that’s where the fun begins. Route 66 is called Joliet Road for a stretch, and that’s where you’ll find a small park with both an ice cream stand and garage, called Dick’s on Route 66, with most unusual rooftops. The ice cream stand has a replica of the Blues Brothers and the garage across the street is adorned with an old car. You just don’t see places like that anymore – except on Route 66.

GOLF STOP NO. 1 – How about Cog Hill’s No. 2 course, called Ravines, in Lemont. I like fun golf, and this one has always been one of my favorites.

Continue on through the little town of Wilmington, which has a Route 66 landmark – the Launching Pad Restaurant with its big Gemini Giant statue. Just a few miles away, in Odell, is a gas station that opened in 1932 and is one of the oldest attractions on Route 66.

We found Illinois didn’t offer as many Route 66 attractions as some of the other states, but there was the first Steak & Shake restaurant in Bloomington and a rabbit ranch in Staunton.

GOLF STOP NO. 2 – In Missouri you go through the Lake of the Ozarks, which has a number of good courses. My choice would be Old Kinderhook, a Tom Weiskopf design in Camdenton.

You don’t drive far before you hit Cuba, Mo., a town of 3,500 that is a must-stop for Route 66ers. If you can endure tight quarters you should spend the night in the tiny rooms at the Wagon Wheel Motel and have breakfast at the Back in the Day Café. Cuba has promoted Route 66 better than any other community. The World’s Largest Rocking Chair is eye-catching but not nearly as interesting as the murals which adorn many of the town’s buildings. You’ll need to allow some time for sightseeing in Cuba.

From there you go briefly through the edge of Kansas and then hit Oklahoma, another state that embraces the Route 66 spirit. In Catoosa you’ll find a landmark, Totem Pole Park. The poles have intricately created paintings on them, and one is 90 feet high.

GOLF STOP NO. 3 – I’m told the lengthy Jimmie Austin layout at the University of Oklahoma in Norman is one of best campus courses in the U.S.

Before exiting Oklahoma you should visit the Round Barn in Arcadia, with a hayloft that is popular for weddings and other social events. Just a few yards further is Pops, a relatively new restaurant created with a Route 66 flavor. A shakes and burgers place, it has all glass walls formed with pyramids of pop bottles.

It seemed like tedious drive into Texas until we ran into the beautiful Stations of the Cross, featuring a 190-foot crucifix, in the town of Groom. Just west of Amarillo is the Cadillac Ranch, another must-see for Route 66ers. It’s a strange thing, and poorly marked on the road. Some eccentric art-minded individual bought a dozen old cars, buried them in the ground and spray-painted them. Guess this is something you have to see to appreciate.

In Adrian, Tex., you reach the designated midway point of Route 66. It’s 1,139 miles from the start in Chicago to the finish in Los Angeles. Not surprisingly, the sign giving you that information is a photographer’s favorite. Then it’s on to New Mexico.

GOLF STOP NO. 4 – Paa-Ko Ridge, a 27-hole facility in Albuquerque, may have the best course in New Mexico. Some say its scenery rivals that of Pebble Beach.

Albuquerque has an 18-mile stretch of a main street, Central Avenue, on Route 66 that is a microcosm of how the world has changed since the road’s heyday. You need to take this portion of the drive slowly to ponder the old hotels, the tourist-friendly restaurants and – sadly – the dilapidated buildings as well. Mile by mile you see how time changes. Some places tried to keep up with the times. Others didn’t.

Arizona comes next. First stop was in Gallup, home to the El Rancho Motel. Once a regular hangout for movie stars like William Bendix and Jane Fonda, El Rancho also had some cinema memorabilia worth seeing. The Indian craft shops nearby offer some interesting things as well.

The Painted Desert and Petrified National Forest are available for brief rest breaks as is the town of Winslow, made relevant by the Eagles’ song “Taking It Easy.’’ There’s a landmark at “the corner’’ made popular by that song. Those places, though, are just a warmup for the Grand Canyon outside Flagstaff. The views there are breathtaking.

GOLF STOP NO. 5 – In Williams, 30 miles from Flagstaff, there’s a layout with at least a good name – Elephant Rocks. It opened in 1990, green fees are moderate.

By now you’re in the home stretch. Only 321 miles in California remain on Route 66. The finish is at the Santa Monica Pier where a 1952 plaque honors humorist Will Rogers. You might also get a taste of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which is also known as the Pasadena Freeway. It was the nation’s first freeway and connected Pasadena with Los Angeles. It took three interstate highways to replace Route 66 through California, though most of the old road remains.

Before you reach the finish line the California portion of the jaunt brings you into the state from Arizona over the Colorado River. San Bernardino, Barstow. Los Angeles and Pasadena are also on the route before you hit Santa Monica.

GOLF STOP NO. 6 – California has plenty of better courses, but I’ve always enjoyed the 36 holes at Brookside, in Pasadena. The economically priced courses are in the shadow of the famed Rose Bowl stadium, and just that setting makes them special.

Six rounds of golf, mixed in with at least a week of driving and sightseeing. Does that sound like fun to you? Once we completed our very memorable trip I commented that driving Route 66 once was enough. Now I’m not so sure.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Changes are coming among Illinois club pros

There wasn’t much movement in Chicago’s club professional ranks the past few years, but that’s not the case now. Already five well-established head pros have announced plans to move on.

The move creating the most ripple effect was Mike Scully’s departure from Medinah immediate after the Ryder Cup. He is now in charge at Desert Mountain, a Scottsdale, Ariz., resort that has five courses.

Scully was also the vice president of the Illinois PGA, so his leaving the area after nearly 10 years created some adjustment in the section’s rotation of officers. Chris Gumbach became the IPGA’s 25th president at the Fall Annual Meeting. Gumbach, a member of the board of directors from 2007-12, succeeds Casey Brozek, who will continue on the board as honorary president.

Gumbach, in his 18th year at River Forest Country Club, has been that club’s head professional the past seven seasons.

Scully’s position as vice president was taken over by Jim Opp, the head professional at Bonnie Dundee who has been on the IPGA board for eight years and was most recently chairman of the Education Committee. Mark Labiak, in his 15th season at Ruth Lake, is the new secretary and Hans Larson (Westmoreland), Jim Miller (Bloomington) and Mike Picciano (Bull Valley) have taken on three-year terms on the board of directors.

Other pros departing their jobs are Ron Romack, at Exmoor; Carmen Molinaro, at Buffalo Grove and Arboretum, Jim Arendt at Naperville and Michael Knights at Midlothian. Molinaro and Arendt announced their retirements.

Watson honored at WGA’s Green Coat Gala

Tom Watson (left) is welcomed into the Western Golf Association’s Caddie Hall of Fame by WGA executive director John Kaczkowski at the WGA’s Green Coat Gala at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel. (Chuck Cherney Photo).

Northwestern lands big-time recruits

Northwestern coaches Pat Goss and Emily Fletcher have each signed high profile recruits to letters of intent for 2013.

Goss picked up Matt Fitzpatrick of Sheffield, England, the 2012 British Boys Amateur champion. Goss calls him “the most significant player we’ve signed since Luke Donald’ and predicts Fitzgerald “will make an immediate impact on our program.’’

Fletcher added Kacie Komoto to her women’s team. Komoto, from Punahoe High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, is the reigning Antigua National High School champion. She was the Hawaii state champion in 2011.

CDGA revamps schedule, adds Super Seniors

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will had the first CDGA Super Seniors tourney to its schedule for 2013. The flighted one-day event for players 65 and over will be held Aug. 5 at Royal Hawk, in St. Charles.

Meanwhile, the CDGA’s premier event – the 83rd Illinois State Amateur – will get a major date change. It’ll be held July 16-18 at Aldeen, in Rockford, instead of taking its long-held spot on the calendar in the second week of August. The change will make the State Am a lead-in to the Illinois Open and Western Amateur and avoid a conflict with the U.S. Amateur, which received a date alteration from the U.S. Golf Assn.

Another significant change on the CDGA slate involves the 21st Illinois Mid-Amateur at Flossmoor. Usually held in May, the tourney will be conducted Aug. 27-28 in 2013.

Here and there

Jim Richerson, who heads Kohler Company’s golf operations, is the new Region 6 director for the PGA of America. He succeeds Butler National’s Bruce Patterson as the focal point for PGA activities in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

The Bolingbrook Sports Dome (formerly the Ditka Dome) now has its indoor golf operation in full swing. The facility was renovated by new owner Jim McWethy, owner of the Mistwood course in Romeoville, during the summer.

Two of Wisconsin’s top courses — Meadow Valleys course at Blackwolf Run and the Irish course at Whistling Straits – will offer reduced rates until their closing on Nov. 25.

LedgeStone, one of Missouri’s best public facilities in Branson, will hold a toy drive through Dec. 22. Players will get a free round (with a $22 cart fee) if they donate a toy during play Monday-Thursday.

Did you know?

The George S. May Insurance building, somewhat of a Chicago golf landmark, is now more. Located at Touhy and Washington in Park Ridge, it was recently taken down to make room for a Whole Foods store. May was a pioneer tournament promoter who put on big-money, high-profile tournaments at Tam O’Shanter in the 1940s and 1950s. Tam, long since reduced to nine holes, is located in Niles and is about two miles from where the May headquarters was located.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: New bunkers have changed Kemper

Illinois PGA will have a different challenge if the section decides to keep its first major tourney of 2013 at Kemper Lakes.

The club, which hosted the 1989 PGA Championship, the 1992 U.S. Women’s Amateur and several Champions Tour stops before it became a private venue in 2009, has begun a renovation project.

Taking small steps at first, the club approved Libertyville architect Rick Jacobson’s plans to radically change the bunkering. The original course had 199,000 square feet of bunkers. When Jacobson’s work is done it’ll have 112,000. But the number of bunkers will probably increase from the present 63.

Kemper has a 10-year master plan, and Jacobson started with the green-side bunkers on the back nine. They’re smaller and deeper now, and that trend will continue when he takes on the front nine next fall. A fall round at the Long Grove layout revealed some eye-catching new looks, particularly at Nos.13, 15 and 16. Only temporary greens were in play – with the exception of the tight par-4 12th, which remained unchanged — after Genesis Golf construction company began work on Oct. 1.

In its public days Kemper hosted 24 consecutive Illinois PGA Championships. Since going private the club has cut back on outside tournament play, but it does host the IPGA Match Play Championship in April. If the tourney returns in 2013 its players will face nines with radically different sets of bunkers. Not only will the size and depth of the bunkers be different, but so will the sand. The white variety, so well-received at Knollwood during this season’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, will be used in Kemper’s new bunkers.

Having such a lack consistency from one nine to the other is not ideal, but the IPGA might decide that keeping continuity at one of its favorite tournament sites overrides that.

A great fall for the Rosinias

In September Michael Rosinia won the boys 15-17 age competition in the Youth Skills Challenge, a Ryder Cup preliminary that drew over 3,000 entrants and concluded at Medinah the week before the U.S. and European pros went at it in their memorable team competition.

Two months later the IPGA announced that Billy Rosinia, long-time head professional at Flagg Creek in Countryside and Michael’s father, was its Senior Player-of-the-Year. He’ll pick up his prize at Medinah, too, when the IPGA hosts its awards ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 15.

Rosinia and Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb have dominated the IPGA senior events and one or the other has been player-of-the-year in each of the last six years. Rosinia edged Sobb this time, finishing in the top 10 of all six tournaments he entered with one victory and two runner-up finishes on his scorecard.

St. Charles assistant Curtis Malm had earlier clinched a rare sweep of the IPGA Player-of-the-Year and Assistant Player-of-the-Year honors. Malm was the third man to do it, and the first since Glen Oak’s Matt Slowinski in 2009.

Streelman sticks with Wilson

Equipment changes have done in many a touring pro over the years, and it’ll be interesting to see how successful world No. 1 Rory McIlroy is after making a switch in 2013.

As for Chicago PGA Tour player Kevin Streelman, he’s not taking such a risk. Streelman is staying with Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods. Streelman, from Winfield, signed with Wilson in 2010 and just signed an agreement to continue playing Wilson Staff FG Tour V2 irons. He’ll also carry a Wilson bag and wear a cap supporting the company.

Streelman had three top-10 finishes in 2013, including a tie for eighth at the John Deere Classic.

Jemsek Golf remains at Pine Meadow

There was plenty of doubt for most of the summer, but Jemsek Golf will continue to operate Pine Meadow in Mundelein.

The Jemsek family, owners of Cog Hill, began a lease agreement with the University of St. Mary of the Lake and the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1985. The next year, after architects Joe Lee and Rocky Roquemore worked their magic on the land, Pine Meadow was named the Best New Public Course in the U.S. by Golf Magazine. It’s been widely recognized as one of Chicago’s best layouts ever since.

Negotiations on an extension of the lease were lengthy and complicated but they were eventually successful, though terms were not announced.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: A new column to help golfers cope with winter weather

I may have felt that a 125-pound 14-year old would have to be teeing it up in the Masters before there was a need for me to write a golf column for primarily Midwest readers in the cold weather months.

Oops, now there is such a rare golfer– or at least there will be in another five months. An eighth-grader from China, Guan Tianlang, won last week’s Asian-Pacific Championship for amateurs in Bangkok, Thailand. That merited a Masters invitation for next April, as far Augusta National Golf Club’s members were concerned.

So be it, and his participation will spice up the first major championship of 2013. Plenty of golf news will be made before that, however – even in the winter months in the Midwest. There haven’t been many places to get the word out on such developments, though, so I’m going to do my part.

My Big Three teammate, Rory Spears, is the man to provide the bits and pieces on a nearly daily basis in his Golfers on Golf blog. I’ll be providing something different.

“It Ziehms to Me’’ will be exploring some different avenues of golf and delivering the news with a unique, and hopefully entertaining, spin. There’ll be no regular publication schedule, but I’ll write as frequently as news developments require it. We hope you enjoy “It Ziehms to Me.’’

So, here we go.

THE RECENT RYDER CUP may have seemed a downer after the collapse of the U.S. team in the Sunday matches, but – while being on site at Medinah every day – I found an uplifting story behind the scenes — the reunion of the Sweeney brothers.

Frank and Mary Sweeney, their parents, moved to a residence on Sunset Terrace – about 600 yards from the Medinah clubhouse – in 1962 and raised six children there. Their four boys – Frank, Phil, Pat and Brendan – were all Medinah caddies, and the Ryder Cup marked the first time they were all together since 2007. Their father passed away in March and their mother lives in Venice, FL.

“We had a blast growing up around the course,’’ said Brendan Sweeney. “We also parked cars and worked in the bag room. If it wasn’t for Medinah and the experiences we had there in our formative years we would not be where we are today. Golf is a great sport, and we were taught by the best.’’

All four had lengthy stints as caddies, went on to college and moved on to different careers.

Frank, 56, works as a blackjack dealer at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. He was a Medinah caddie from 1967-79 and worked at the 1975 U.S. Open as well as two Western Opens.

Phil, 55, lives in McHenry and is a mortgage banker for Harris Bank. He was a caddie from 1968-82 and worked two Western Opens.

Pat, 49, lives in Chicago where he is vice president of Global Video Chicago. Not only did he caddie at Medinah (1975-88, plus two Western Opens), he earned an Evans Scholarship doing it. Medinah is even more special to Pat. He was married at the club in 1994.

And then there’s Brendan, 45. He was a caddie from 1978-91, worked one Western Open and never left golf. While he lives in Orlando, FL., he works as director of golf media and player development for Indiana’s French Lick Resort – a facility that has four courses.

ON THE TEACHING FRONT there were two notable developments involving some of the game’s best.

Another honor has come to Pat Goss, the head coach at Northwestern and long-time swing guru for recent world No. 1 Luke Donald – and this is a big one. Goss, in his 17th season at NU, was named the winner of the prestigious Labron Harris Sr. Award, which goes to the college, high school or PGA professional who “represents the finest qualities the game has to offer.’’

And then from the St. Louis area comes the announcement of a new instruction video that was a joint effort by Jay Delsing, a long-time PGA Tour player, and Maria Palozola, who was director of golf at the Michael Jordan Golf Center a few years back. The video is called “Putting Perfection: 100 yards and in Wins!’’

Palozola taught at other Chicago facilities but may be better known for her tournament play at Mistwood. As Maria Long she captured the 2002 Illinois Women’s Open and proved she still had game four years later when she finished third in the state’s premier women’s competition.

THE WESTERN GOLF ASSN. honors Tom Watson on Friday in its annual Green Coat Gala, a long sold-out event at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel. That’s just the start of a much busier than usual winter for the WGA.

For one thing, there’s the detail work involved in moving next September’s BMW Championship to a new location. It shifts from long-time Chicago area base Cog Hill to Conway Farms – a Lake Forest private facility that has hosted tons of big amateur events but never a PGA Tour stop.

Then, the WGA is also taking its Western Amateur out of Chicago for a year. After three Chicago stagings it’ll be held at The Alotian Club in Arkansas in 2013.

And then there’s the newest WGA venture – the Hotel Fitness Championship , which will lead off the new Web.com Tour’s four-tournament playoff series beginning next Aug. 26. It’ll be held at Sycamore Hills, in Ft. Wayne, Ind., and Duke Butler IV will be the tournament director.

This event will get big exposure next summer, as it will bring together the top 75 on the Web.com Tour money list and those ranking from 126 to 200 on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points list.

FROM HERE AND THERE:

This year’s John Deere Classic reported a record $6.79 million charity distribution off its 2012 PGA Tour stop at TPC Deere Run. That’s a $1.5 million increase over 2011, and 493 Quad Cities charities are the beneficiaries.

Steve Skinner and Josh Lesnik, chief executive officer and president respectively of KemperSports, were ranked 13th on Golf Inc. Magazine’s Most Powerful People in Golf. It’s the 12th straight year that KemperSports has been represented on the list, and the Northbrook-based organization is now the sixth largest golf management company. Among the more than a dozen additions to its portfolio this year is Stone Creek, home course of the University of Illinois golf teams.

James Lepp, who started his collegiate career at Illinois, continues to do big things. Lepp, who eventually transferred to Washington, won an NCAA title in 2005 and won on the Canadian PGA Tour in 2007. He took a break from golf in 2008 to start Kikkor golf shoe company but is back in it as a player, participating in The Golf Channel’s Big Break series.

AND A FINAL THOUGHT: An avid viewer of The Golf Channel, I’m generally less-than-impressed with the settings of foreign tournaments. The crowds don’t look as big as what I’m used to seeing in the U.S., and the courses don’t look as good, either.

A major exception came in watching the last World Golf Championship event of 2012, the HSBC Championship that was won by Ian Poulter at Mission Hills in China. It was played on the Olazabal Course (designed by the most recent European Ryder Cup captain). A beautiful layout for TV purposes with some intriguing elevation changes, it’s one of 12 courses at Mission Hills. That makes it the largest golf club in the world and provides more proof of how global the sport has become.

Author: lenz