Author: lenz

Eagle Ridge comes back strong from storm damage

GALENA, IL. – I’ve always had a warm spot in my heart for the Eagle Ridge Resort. Not only has it been a favorite get-away retreat for about 40 years, it’s also a place where I’ve been on hand for some special events.

In 1984 I played in the grand opening outing for Eagle Ridge’s South course, a Roger Packard design. In 1997 I played in another celebratory round, one to mark the opening of The General — Eagle Ridge’s premier layout, created by Packard and Andy North.

That’s why it was somewhat nostalgic when I returned to Eagle Ridge this spring after a two-year absence to take advantage of one of its very worthwhile spring golf packages. I played the South course on a Tuesday afternoon in April and The General the following morning. Both were in the best spring shape I’d ever seen them. Then I learned the reason why, from director of golf and head professional Michael Stewart.

Eagle Ridge, located on 6,800 acres 150 miles west of Chicago, endured a disastrous summer in 2011, when extraordinary rainfalls did severe damage to all four of its courses. Just how bad was it? Well, 16 inches of rain hit the par-5 second hole on The General, a layout filled with spectacular vistas resulting from 250 feet of elevation changes.

“Welcome to The General,’’ said Stewart. “It’s a different kind of animal.’’ That it is.

Stewart was barely on the job when the rains hit on July 27, leading to one fatality in addition to the damage to the facility. He’d left a job in Fort Myers, FL., to run the golf operation at Illinois’ premier golf resort facility. Immediately he had to cope with rainfall that stopped play altogether.

“We weren’t closed too long – a few weeks,’’ he said. “But when we opened up we had to use temporary tees, and we let people play at reduced rates.’’

The recovery effort led to a $2.3 million renovation, which was needed anyway. Oliphant Companies, a Madison, WI., firm specializing in course development, construction and management, worked with the Eagle Ridge staff in the recovery effort.

“We had to rebuild over 100 bunkers, reshape the creeks and restore the tee boxes on all four courses,’’ said Stewart. The storms, he now believes, were “a blessing in disguise.’’ They forced repair work that left Eagle Ridge with much better courses than it had previously. Several trees were removed to improve play, drainage was improved and some bridges repaired.

When the work was in its final stages the weather also turned extraordinarily good, so Eagle Ridge had 111 rounds played on the North (which was first played in 1977 and is now open year-around) in January.

“That shows what a mild winter we had,’’ said Stewart. “We had an early run because of the wonderful weather .’’

He calls the courses “absolutely pristine and stunning in every sense of the word’’ and likens their spring condition to what they would be like in the summer.

The openings of the other courses were the earliest in the resort’s history, which spans five decades. The South opened on April 6, the East on April 13 and The General on April 20.

While The General took the biggest hit, the rains did damage to the heavily-played North, the sporty South and the nine-hole East (youngest of the layouts with a 1991 opening) as well. These courses all have extreme elevation changes, making for some fun golf.

The 18th hole of the South course might be my favorite hole of the 63. Or, maybe it’s the par-3 second on the East. The General, though, is filled with one great hole after another, the most eye-catching (see the photo at the top of this story) being the short par-4 14th, with a steep drop off an elevated tee. If The General was an easier course to walk, it’d be a great big tournament venue.

Haney’s “Big Miss” is well worth reading

Please forgive me, but I must vent.

I’ve been a member of the national golf media for over 40 years, and I’m proud of it. There are times, though, when I don’t agree with the majority of my brethren and this is definitely one of those times.

It seems to me that most media members devoted to our sport — that’s print, broadcast, digital and anybody else who has a passion for golf and the spreading of information about it — are reverting back to an old theme: Put the focus on Tiger Woods because he matters the most.

Granted, Woods moves the needle more than any other player, but there’s a lot more good stories in golf than Tiger-mania. When he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational there was the immediate knee-jerk reaction that “Tiger is back!’’

And just in time for the Masters, to boot. Well, the Masters showed that Woods isn’t back yet — by a long shot. The Arnold Palmer Invitational was just one win, that’s all.

When will the broad-based golf world realize that the PGA Tour isn’t the “Tiger Woods Show?’’ That mistake was made when he was winning a lot. Then, when Woods had his problems on and off the course, there was — in far too many quarters — the sentiment that golf wasn’t worth following without Tiger.’’ That was ridiculous then, just as a premature focus on Woods is now.

Frankly, I’m just as interested in the stories of Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Keegan Bradley, the good old names on the Champions Tour and Yani Tseng’s domination of the women’s circuit as I am in what Tiger’s doing. This isn’t meant as Tiger bashing. It’s simply an effort to tell it like it is: the pro tours have more good stories lines than they ever did, and Tiger’s is just one of them.

Speaking of telling it like it is, I most heartily recommend the just-released Hank Haney book as must reading. Haney’s “The Big Miss’’ (Crown Archetype, New York, $26) was released just before the Masters — an ideal time for the book to get maximum exposure. Haney was Woods’ swing coach for six years. He resigned in the aftermath of the personal problems that sent Woods’ popularity into a tailspin.

Given my stance on Tiger over-kill, calling attention to a book involving Woods might seem silly but “The Big Miss’’ is anything but that.

I’m not sure how many Chicagoans are aware of this, but Haney is one of us. He grew up in the Chicago area, playing high school golf for Deerfield. His first instructor was Jim Hardy, then the head professional at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park. Hardy, who has long since left the area just as Haney has, remains one of our sport’s foremost instructors and Haney has followed in his footsteps while building a much higher profile.

Haney’s career path took him to the John Jacobs’ Schools, then a job as golf coach at Southern Methodist University. He now runs four golf schools in Texas, has a regular gig on The Golf Channel, writes for major golf publications and is — of course — the former swing coach for the world’s most famous current golfer.

As soon as the book’s release neared Woods condemned Haney for writing it, claiming it was “unprofessional’’ for him to discuss their work together and insisting he’d never read the book. I’m not sure whether Mark Steinberg,Woods’ long-time representative, read the book or not but he was even more critical of this Haney project.

Enough about that nonsense. Those who haven’t read it might think Haney’s book is a hatchet job on Woods. It’s not. While I’m sure a profit motive was involved, I’m glad Haney took on the project. (He did so, I must say, working with Jaime Diaz — a long-time friend of mine. Jaime is a top-notch golf writer, one of the best in the business. He was recently named editor of GolfWeek magazine. It’s important to note that Haney calls Diaz his “collaborator.’’ Diaz’ name isn’t on the cover of the book, only Haney’s).

The gist of the book is this: Being Woods’ swing coach was never an easy job. In explaining why, Haney gives glimpses into Woods’ life that I haven’t seen so clearly presented before. We don’t get the sordid details of his sexual escapades, but we don’t need them. Instead we learn how driven, focused and single-minded Woods could be. You got them impression from Haney that it wasn’t easy being Tiger Woods, despite his enormous talent. And you also got the impression that it wasn’t always easy being around Woods, even in the best of times.

There were times Woods blamed his swing coach for his own shortcomings in competition. There were times Woods would give Haney the silent treatment on the lesson or practice tee without any apparent reason. When Haney came under criticism for Woods’ play, Woods wouldn’t support him.

There was an instance when Woods told then-wife Elin that there wouldn’t be a party after he won a big tournament because winning “is expected’’ for him. He was great at staying in the moment, which helped on the golf course. But that didn’t help him enjoy life off it.

One thing Woods apparently did enjoy was training with the Navy SEALs. His late father Earl was a career military man, and Woods’ fascination with the SEALs’ lifestyle led him to take some extraordinary risks. He’d go on SEALs’ training expeditions, both underwater and parachuting out of planes. He’d take long runs with heavy boots on. There was the definite possibility that these ventures contributed to the knee problems that slowed his golf career perhaps as much as his marital woes did. Haney warned Woods of impending peril, but to no avail.

Their breakup was declared by Haney, but Woods wouldn’t accept his resignation and then claimed that it was an agreement of mutual consent. It wasn’t.

“My departure was complicated,’’ Haney wrote, “but I’m proud of the way I managed it.’’

Haney insists he’ll never work with a touring pro again, but doesn’t regret time spent with Woods. “I wish him well,’’ was how Haney concluded the book.

That was a perfect ending. Appreciating Tiger Woods’ extraordinary talent is one thing. Understanding Tiger Woods, the person, isn’t so easy. He is, though, perhaps the greatest athlete of our generation. I’m glad Haney made the effort.

Affrunti’s return to PGA Tour will take awhile

Last Sunday’s conclusion of the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open created a time of reflection for Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti, whose last appearance on golf’s premier circuit was at that tournament in 2011.

For Affrunti, a former Illinois Open champion and University of Illinois graduate, the last year has been difficult – and that’s putting it mildly. He became one of the few Chicago golfers in the last four decades to earn a coveted PGA Tour card in 2010, thanks to his showing on the Nationwide Tour. A shoulder injury, though, has prevented him from demonstrating his talents on the biggest stage in golf.

Affrunti played in six PGA Tour events last year, making the cut in two. He was never healthy, and was eventually diagnosed with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required surgery last June. Affrunti has been rehabbing ever since. Two weeks ago he played his first 18-hole round, though he had to pick up on some holes.

“It’s been a real slow process, in part because I played on it too long,’’ said Affrunti, who has been practicing at TPC-Sawgrass, the Florida course that will host The Players Championship next month. He’s still a PGA Tour member, but is on a major medical exemption that will continue for awhile.

“I determine when I come back,’’ said Affrunti. “They allow you five Nationwide rehabilitation starts. I expect to make some of those in August or September, then go to Q-School in hopes of improving my status.’’

Even with Tour membership, it’s tough to get into tournaments and Affrunti will have seven months to earn enough money to keep his card once he returns to the circuit. He doesn’t want to rush things, and doesn’t expect to play in a PGA Tour event until 2013.

“The shoulder is coming along,’’ said Affrunti. “I ice it three-four times a day. I’ve played nine holes lots of times, but it’s a little sporadic where the ball goes.’’

Kemper expands its focus

Kemper Sports has been a big player in Chicago golf since 1978, but this season the Northbrook-based group that had managed seven Chicago golf facilities has taken on two notable additional projects. Two of Chicago’s oldest public facilities are now getting the Kemper influence with new personnel in place.

Rick Walrath has taken charge as general manager and head professional at Deerpath, the only public course in Lake Forest. The city-owned facility opened in 1927 and operates near three of Chicago’s premier private clubs – Onwentsia, Knollwood and Conway Farms.

“Deerpath is unique,’’ said Walrath, a former head pro at Wynstone in Barrington and assistant at Crystal Lake Country Club. “Well over 50 percent of our players are walkers. That’s very unusual in this day and age.’’

Fox Lake Lake Country Club, which opened in 1925, is one of the few family-owned courses left in the area. The Petrungaro family has owned this 18-holer, which also received a new GM-head pro in Vince Juarez. He had a similar role at Antioch Golf Club.

Kemper has also brought in a new GM at Highland Park Country Club, with Randy Farber moving over from Bolingbrook.

Here and there

A big weekend is ahead for Big Ten golfers. For the first time the men’s and women’s conference championships will be held at the same site – French Lick Resort in southern Indiana. The men will compete at the Pete Dye Course and the women at the Donald Ross Course. Competition runs Friday-Sunday. French Lick will also host both tourneys in 2013 and 2014.…. TaylorMade, Nike and Wilson will display their equipment at Deerpath’s Demo Day from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday….The Illinois PGA’s assistants and senior players begin their tournament seasons on Monday (APRIL 30). The assistants are at Northmoor in Highland Park and the seniors at Golf Club of Illinois in Algonquin…The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct its first qualifiers for the Illinois Mid-Amateur Championship at Village Greens of Woodridge on Monday and Balmoral Woods in Crete on Tuesday.

No BMW here, but this summer will be extraordinary

Maybe — MAYBE — this will be a quiet summer for golf in Chicago. At least there won’t be a PGA Tour stop. The BMW Championship will be played at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis this year, but the absence might not be long.
While nothing’s official as of this printing, the Western Golf Association is expected to announce that the 2013 BMW will by played at Conway Farms in Lake Forest. That’s the home course for world No. 1 Luke Donald when he’s in Chicago.
Vince Pellegrino, tournament director for the BMW, had hoped to name the 2013 site for the tourney a few weeks after last year’s event ended in mid-September. Complications arose, however, and the site paperwork still hasn’t been completed. It seems a foregone conclusion, though, that Conway will get the nod, and that will bring an end to Cog Hill’s reign as host of the tourney. The tourney, then known as the Western Open, moved from Butler National in Oak Brook to Cog Hill in 1991.
That’s next year, though. There’ll be plenty going on this year, though 2012 seems to be perceived in many quarters as a done one for local golf — largely because there’s no PGA Tour event, a rarity in these parts, and the Ryder Cup doesn’t take the spotlight until well into the fall. This sentiment disturbs me, so I thought I should set the record straight.
This Chicago golf season will be extraordinary — as in extraordinarily good!
Pro tour events are one thing. They’re nice, and we’ll get to them later.
For starters, though, consider that two of our golf facilities are undergoing complete renovations. Mistwood owner Jim McWethy closed his Romeoville course early last season to allow architect Ray Hearn to get at the business of updating it. Hearn did his job, a new learning center was also constructed and a new clubhouse could in the works soon.
Before long Oak Meadows, once the private Elmhurst Country Club and now part of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, will get its facelift — and the work there will eventually include a new clubhouse as well. The process of choosing the course architect is well underway, so getting a new course is much more than a pipe dream now.
Given the recently difficult economic times, it’s encouraging to see the ownership of two long-respected public facilities taking such aggressive measures to make their places better.
As for the local tournament scene, I see postive develops there as well. Mistwood, expected to re-open in June, will be a better site for the Illinois Women’s Open after the renovation and the men’s Illinois Open will have a new site as well. The Illinois PGA is moving its biggest event back to The Glen Club in Glenview. I had no problems with Hawthorn Woods Country Club, and its membership’s support of the tournament the last four years was exemplary, but The Glen is better on several fronts and has been away from the tournament calendar for too long.
Now for the big tours. Chicago’s been spoiled in years past. It’s had stops from all the circuits, and it’s both puzzling and disappointing that the area has been increasingly excluded from their calendars the last few years.
Consider this, though. The Western Golf Assn. will put on its prestigious Western Amateur at Exmoor in Highland Park in July, and the U.S. Golf Assn. is bringing another of its championships here, the U.S. Mid-Amateur being scheduled for Conway Farms in Lake Forest in September. And two weeks after that the Ryder Cup comes to Medinah.
Those events are hardly small potatoes, and you don’t have to go far to watch some other biggies this year. One of the Champions Tour’s major championships will be played a two-hour’s drive from Chicago, in Michigan, and the U.S. Women’s Open — the biggest major on the Ladies PGA circuit — will be about as far away, in Wisconsin. Andl a PGA Tour event that promises to be one of the most historically significant of the season, will be within the Illinois borders and the BMW Championship, seemingly in limbo site-wise the next few years, will only require a four-hour drive to Indianapolis this time around.
While the events held in the immediate Chicago area may not be as numerous as they have been in some past years, I can’t remember any year in which four very big events have been scheduled so close to home and they’re nicely spaced throughout the season, too. Here’s a closer look at them:

SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, May 24-27, Benton Harbor, Mich — It’ll be coming to the spiffy new Harbor Shores course, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus. This event, presented by KitchenAid, will be played for the 73rd time with a field highlighted by defending champion Tom Watson. Harbor Shores will also host the tournament in 2014. For ticket information and other details on the Senior PGA Championship check out www.pga.com.

U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN, July 5-8, Kohler, Wis. — The 67th staging of one of the majors for the Ladies PGA Tour will be played at Blackwolf Run, just a few miles from Whistling Straits, already the site of two PGA Championships.
Blackwolf Run, one of the most celebrated works of architect Pete Dye, hosted the U.S. Women’s Open in 2001 and that championship was one of the most memorable in the history of women’s golf. It came down to a playoff between Korean professional Se Ri Pak and amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn that Pak won on the second extra hole.
All the players found that Blackwolf Run layout extremely difficult, as Pak and Chuasiriporn both played the regulation 72 holes in 6-over-par. Blackwolf has changed a bit since then, as two more nines were added to provide 36 holes for the resort’s guests. Those courses, known as the River and Meadows Valleys, underwent renovations over the last three years and 2012 will mark the first year since 2008 that all 36 holes are available.
While the nines were divided when the additional holes were added, the U.S. Women’s Open layout of 2001 will be restored for 2012 tournament week as the Original Championship Course.
The Women’s Open, conducted by the U.S. Golf Assn., has a long history of exciting tournaments and last year’s was no exception. It came down to a battle of Koreans with 21-year old So Yeon Ryu winning a three-hole playoff from Hee Kyung Seo.
For ticket information and other details on the U.S. Women’s Open check www.usga.org.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC, July 12-15, Silvis, IL. — This PGA Tour event will again be played the week before the British Open at TPC at John Deere Run, one the outskirts of Moline. While the JDC has become a rare small-market fixture on the PGA Tour, this event will be one for the history books as Steve Stricker tries to win the title for the fourth straight time.
Last year Stricker’s birdie on the 18th hole, set up by a spectacular second shot from a fairway bunker, was a feature on the PGA Tour’s season highlight reel. For details check www.pgatour.com.

BMW CHAMPIONSHIP, Sept. 6-9, Carmel, Ind. — The WGA moved the BMW tourney after Medinah landed the Ryder Cup, the reasoning being that there’d be too much competition for spectator attention and corporate hospitality dollars.
The BMW is the third of four tournaments in the PGA Tour’s Fed Ex Cup season-ending playoff series. It’ll involve the top 70 on a season-long point list, with the top 30 at Crooked Stick moving on to the Tour Championship two weeks later in Atlanta, Ga., so extremely big money will be on the line.
England’s Justin Rose is the defending BMW champion, but he won his title at Cog Hill.
Crooked Stick is no stranger to big tournament golf. Another Pete Dye design, it hosted the a milestone PGA Championship for the men in 1991, when then-unknown John Daly burst onto the golf landscape with a stunning victory after getting into the field as the ninth alternate. The U.S Women’s Open was also played at Crooked Stick in 1993 with Lauri Merten winning the title and Fred Funk won the U.S. Senior Open there in 2009. In addition, Crooked Stick was the site of a U.S. victory in the 2005 Solheim Cup matches.
For ticket information and other details on the BMW Championship, check out www.wgaesf.com.

RYDER CUP, Sept. 25-30, Medinah — The matches between the top professionals from the U.S. and Europe were first played in 1927. While the U.S. team dominated in the early years, the event has been invigorated by a European emergence in more recent years and that has led to one of the most emotional, exciting competitions in all of sports.
This 39th Ryder Cup will be the biggest event ever played at Medinah, and that’s saying something since the venerable club hosted three U.S. Opens and one U.S. Senior Open prior to being the site of PGA Championships in both 1999 and 2006. Tiger Woods won both.
While tickets are no longer available, more information on the Ryder Cup is available through www.pga.com.

Only minor changes coming at Cog Hill

Cog Hill is off the PGA Tour calendar for only the second time since 1991 this year, but that won’t keep owner Frank Jemsek from tweaking his Dubsdread layout that hosted both the Western Open and BMW Championship.

Jemsek opened the premier course on his 72-hole Lemont complex last week with some minor changes. The fifth hole, which played as a par-4 for the PGA Tour stars, is now being played as a 507-yard par-5 from the back tees and the long, tight ninth hole has been shortened from the 613 yards it played for the pros to a maximum of 586. Both changes were made to answer complaints from PGA staffers, who felt No. 5 was too long for a par-4 and No. 9 was too long regardless of its par.

More significant changes will come down the road, with controversial architect Rees Jones still in charge. His $5.2 million renovation of the course in 2008 was widely criticized by PGA Tour players, a big reason the Western Golf Assn. moved the BMW Championship to Conway Farms in Lake Forest when it returns to Chicago in 2013.

“One reason we chose Rees was because he could enhance what the original architects (Joe Lee and Dick Wilson) did,’’ said Jemsek. “It’s a huge advantage having the same guy coming in so you get the same feeling.’’

Jemsek anticipates Jones eventually altering the No. 1 hole with the removal of some bunkers on the right side of the fairway and building a new tee box that will shorten the par-5 15th. He also wants Jones to re-design the seldom-used alternate hole for the par-3 second. Jones will devise a plan for those upgrades later this year, and Jemsek said the work would be done “down the line…..We’d like to have a little money in the bank first.’’

He downplayed the pros’ complaints of the last two years.

“Some things that they dislike now will go away over time,’’ said Jemsek. “It’s a great golf course, certainly a wonderful course.’’

Ryder Cup fever, Scottish-style

The next Ryder Cup will be contested at Medinah in September, but that didn’t keep the event’s host country in 2014 from coming to Chicago for promotional purposes last week. Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for culture and external affairs, was on hand to launch a design competition for one of the giant golf balls which will adorn Chicago’s streets in advance of the Medinah event.

Excitement for 2014, though, is already in full force in Scotland.

“Our objective is to host the best-ever Ryder Cup, and reinforce Scotland’s position as being the Home of Golf,’’ said Hyslop . “The Ryder Cup is regarded as the third biggest event on the sports calendar, behind only the football (soccer) World Cup and the Olympics. Scotland is the perfect stage for world-class events.’’

No question Scotland is big on golf. Last year the country hosted the Johnnie Walker Championship, Dunhill Links, Walker Cup matches, Women’s British Open, Barclay’s Scottish Open and Ladies Scottish Open.

Hyslop reported an unprecedented level of investment in commercial golf facilities in recent years ($400 million), and three more big resorts are in the works — Blairs Estate in Aberdeenshire ($180 million), DeVere West in Linton ($80 million) and Whitekirk in East Lothian ($25 million).

Here and there

Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, who qualified for the Illinois Open as a 15-year old last summer, finished second to Texan Branson Davis in the Goodman Networks Junior Championship last week in Bryan, Tex. Connor Black, the 2011 Western Golf Assn. Junior champion at Beverly in Chicago, was third…..Indian Lakes, in Bloomingdale, has scheduled two Demo Days. Callaway and Nike will show their products from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on April 29 and TaylorMade and Adams will do the same from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on May 6…..The Illinois PGA will conduct its Country Club of Decatur Classic on Monday (APRIL 23) and the Chicago District Golf Assn. opens its tournament season the following day with its Better Ball of Pairs competition at The Glen Club in Glenview….Medinah will host Illinois Patriot Golf Day on May 29, benefitting Illinois military families in need. The third annual event will be played primarily on the club’s No. 1 course, but No. 3 (the Ryder Cup venue) will also be used on a limited basis…. A celebrity charity event has been added to the Chicago calendar. The Chicago Legends Golf Classic is scheduled for Aug. 10 at Oak Brook Hills Marriott to raise funds for the Dr. Jeff Foundation, which helps parents with critically ill children.

Batavia’s Martin is one busy course architect

Batavia-based Greg Martin has been one busy golf course architect within the Chicago area of late. Three of his public course projects are about to open for the season, and at least three others are in the works.

Martin handled two renovation projects last fall — the front nine at Fox Run in Elk Grove and the South nine at Arrowhead in Wheaton. Only the back nine at Fox Run has been playable so far this surprising spring, but the opening of the front is now scheduled for April 20.

The 27-hole Arrowhead facility has 18 of its 27 holes in operation. Martin has been working on that layout in nine-hole increments. He completed work on the East nine and did his work on the South last fall. That nine is to re-open in late April, with no date set yet. The West nine,which hasn’t been given the Martin touch yet, is now open, and Martin will do his work there in the fall.

Last fall he also did some tweaking at Settler’s Hill, in Batavia. That course is scheduled to open for the season around May 1.

Martin also expects to apply his talents at Wilmette, Mount Prospect, Prairie Bluff, in Lockport, and Oak Meadows, in Addison, in the near future. Oak Meadows will be the biggest project of the bunch. One of Chicago’s oldest public layouts, it was created as private Elmhurst Country Club in 1919 and assumed public status under its current name in 1986.

A charming layout that was the site of Ben Hogan’s victory in the 1941 Chicago Open, Oak Meadows has been hampered by flooding problems for years.

“We know we need to fix the golf course,’’ said Martin, whose firm was chosen from the 22 who applied for the job through the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. He isn’t sure how many of the present holes will remain, or if the adjoining East nine-holer will be incorporated into the re-design.

“Nothing’s off the table now,’’ he said. “Nos. 1, 2, 17 and 18 — those are great holes. We should keep them in some way.’’

Oak Meadows, which also lost its clubhouse in a fire several years ago, will remain in its current state for two years as design plans are finalized and work permits are acquired. Martin doesn’t expect the project to be completed until 2016.

“That reveals the complexity of the issue that exists,’’ he said. “We want to solve as many problems as we can.’’

Dubs set to open

Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course, a PGA Tour site every year but one since the Western Golf Assn. moved the Western Open there in 1991, opens for the season on Saturday (APRIL 14). The Lemont layout won’t host the pros this time, as the WGA moved September’s BMW Championship to Crooked Stick in Indianapolis. Jemsek Golf, though, has been working with both the PGA Tour and U.S. Golf Assn. in an effort to bring another high-profile competition to its 72-hole complex.

In the meantime, the Jemseks have altered the superintendent duties. Scott Pavalko, who joined the staff last year to ready Dubsdread for its last BMW Championship, will now also assume responsibility for the No. 2 course as well. The retiring Ken Lapp will oversee Nos. 1 and 3.

Here and there

The Illinois PGA has its Pro Pro competition scheduled for Monday at Chicago’s Harborside International….Dewey Lewis, who has taught and competed at Cog Hill for over 30 years, has been rewarded with emeritus status….The Downers Grove Golf Club will host the 36th annual Pine Hollow Open on April 28. Entries will be accepted through April 18….A Demo Day has been scheduled at Cog Hill on April 28….Cantigny, in Wheaton, has scheduled five Welcome to Golf clinics from adults and families. They’ll start in May.

Another partner joins LZOG: Hacker’s Central

Len Ziehm on Golf is today announcing a fourth partnership agreement, this one with the website Hacker’s Central. Based in Minneapolis, this site provides information and rates courses in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Nevada and Illinois.

For starters, LZOG will contribute Travel Destination blog-type pieces as well as occasional news items relating to golf in Illinois to Hacker’s Central. We share the common purposes of passing on our love for the game to golfers of all abilities in all regions of the country.

In addition to the online golf community provided via Hacker’s Central, this group also produces Hacker’s Guides, which provide information on courses across the Midwest as well as in Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.

Founded by publisher Bruce Stasch in 2007, the Hacker’s Guide uses 60 different factors to rate a course in six different categories and is the most complete state-by-state golf course rating system since the U.S. Golf Assn. established par and course ratings. The Hacker’s Guide has rated over 530 golf courses across 13 states, including Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and North and South Dakota.

LZOG now has four partners, two of which operate beyond the boundaries of the Chicago area. Prior to hooking up with Hacker’s Central, LZOG established a partnership with Golf Now! Chicago, which — in addition to its website — has produced a premier designation guide for golfers for 10 years. It is guided by Indiana-based Cheryl Justak, who is running LZOG Travel Destination pieces on her website as well as two of our pieces in the 2012 printed version of Golf Now! Chicago.

In addition, LZOG is working with two long-time Chicago golf media buddies, Rory Spears and Tim Cronin. We have formed the “Big Three,’’ with the purpose of giving Chicago golfers a complete picture of pertinent news developments in and around our area. Rory operates out of the popular Golfers on Golf radio show and website while Tim, long-time golf writer for the Daily Southtown newspaper, has just introduced the first edition of his Illinois Golfer publication.

Can Wilson, Donald tame Augusta National?

When the first major championship of the PGA Tour season tees off Thursday there’ll be two players with Chicago roots in the field.

Luke Donald, the Northwestern alum and the world’s No. 1-ranked player will try to make the Masters his first major title. So will Mark Wilson, who has made Elmhurst home in recent years but doesn’t have the high profile that Donald has. Wilson is even reluctant to call some courses for a tee time.

“I don’t know if they’ve heard of me,’’ Wilson lamented earlier this spring. “No one’s heard of me. When I call up I can’t just say my name — like Phil (Mickelson) or Tiger (Woods) can. I have to add `I’m Mark Wilson, a PGA Tour player.’ Maybe they’ll be looking me up on the computer when I’m on the phone to see if it’s legit.’’

Well, Wilson is definitely legit. He has won five times on the PGA Tour, three in the last two years and the Humana Challenge in January. And, his profile must be changing.

Sports Illustrated did a feature on Wilson in its Masters preview edition, and his success has led to other off-course possibilities, like course designing. He was suggested as a consultant during recent architectural presentations for the renovation of Oak Meadows course in Addison recently.

Nothing’s official on that front, but Wilson’s profile will be upgraded in a hurry if he wins the Masters or makes the U.S. team for September’s Ryder Cup matches at Medinah Country Club — a 10-minute drive from his home. Despite that proximity, Wilson has never played Medinah.

“I walked around it a few times (to watch tournaments) when I was a kid,’’ he said. “I don’t play much when I’m home. I play Butler National or Cog Hill…..It’s easier to go over to Butler versus making a phone call and figure something out.’’

Like Donald, Wilson skipped last week’s Shell Houston Open to rest up for the Masters. He needed the break after playing four straight weeks without much success. His finishes steadily dropped in March, from a tie for 30th in the first of the four starts to a tie for 59th in his last one at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Wilson missed the cut in his only previous appearance at the Masters last year, but don’t let that fool you. Wilson has shown the ability to play well in big events. In addition to winning the Humana Challenge he finished third in February’s World Golf Championship – Accenture Match Play Championship, beating the likes of Dustin Johnson and Lee Westwood along the way.

Though Wilson has been a busy player the first four months of the season, that may change soon. His wife Amy is expecting their third child in August.

Local tournament watch

First significant event on the Chicago calendar is Monday (APRIL 9) when the Illinois PGA holds its Spring Pro-Assistants tourney at Royal Country Club of Long Grove, which its operators are now promoting as simply The Grove. Until last year it had been known as Hillcrest Country Club.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. holds its first competition on April 24, with the Better Ball of Pairs at The Glen Club in Glenview. The Glen will also return as the site of the Illinois Open this year. After a seven-year run there the IPGA conducted the championship at Hawthorn Woods Country Club from 2008 to 2011.

Mistwood, the Romeoville layout that has long been the home of the Illinois Women’s Open, has scheduled a June 1 re-opening. The course closed early last season to allow Michigan architect Ray Hearn to supervise a major renovation that also included the construction of a new learning center. Meanwhile, Mistwood owner Jim McWethy has bought the Ditka Sports Dome in Bolingbrook and plans to convert it into a golf and dining facility.

Ticket takers

The BMW Championship, held primarily at Cog Hill in Lemont since 2007, won’t be played until September but tickets for the PGA Tour event’s 2012 staging at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis went on sale last week.
Tickets will range from $20 for a daily practice round to $275 for a weekly badge with Wadley Club privileges. To check out the ticket options check out www.bmwchampionshipusa.com. The tourney will return to the Chicago area in 2013, at Conway Farms in Lake Forest.

Here and there

While most of the area courses have opened, Cog Hill’s Dubsdread layout won’t be available until April 14….Kemper Sports has taken over management duties at Fox Lake Country Club and installed Vince Juarez as general manager. Fox Lake becomes the 11th Illinois course under Kemper management. Kemper has also created a new private club division, called KemperCollection, with senior vice president Barrett Eiselman in charge….Greg Baresel has been added to the teaching staff at Cantigny in Wheaton. He has previously taught at Marengo Ridge and Oak Brook’s AthleticCo Golf Performance Center….Architects Greg Martin, of Batavia, and Art Schaupeter, of St. Louis, were selected from 22 candidates to handle the Oak Meadows renovation. Work on the DuPage County Forest Preserve layout, however, won’t likely begin until late in 2014 and with a re-opening expected in 2016 at the earliest…..The Illinois PGA will begin taking entries for the Ryder Cup Skills Challenge on Monday (APRIL 9). Competition for youngsters between the ages of 9-17 begins on May 1.

When the first major championship of the PGA Tour season tees off Thursday there’ll be two players with Chicago roots in the field.

Luke Donald, the Northwestern alum and the world’s No. 1-ranked player will try to make the Masters his first major title. So will Mark Wilson, who has made Elmhurst home in recent years but doesn’t have the high profile that Donald has. Wilson is even reluctant to call some courses for a tee time.

“I don’t know if they’ve heard of me,’’ Wilson lamented earlier this spring. “No one’s heard of me. When I call up I can’t just say my name — like Phil (Mickelson) or Tiger (Woods) can. I have to add `I’m Mark Wilson, a PGA Tour player.’ Maybe they’ll be looking me up on the computer when I’m on the phone to see if it’s legit.’’

Well, Wilson is definitely legit. He has won five times on the PGA Tour, three in the last two years and the Humana Challenge in January. And, his profile must be changing.

Sports Illustrated did a feature on Wilson in its Masters preview edition, and his success has led to other off-course possibilities, like course designing. He was suggested as a consultant during recent architectural presentations for the renovation of Oak Meadows course in Addison recently.

Nothing’s official on that front, but Wilson’s profile will be upgraded in a hurry if he wins the Masters or makes the U.S. team for September’s Ryder Cup matches at Medinah Country Club — a 10-minute drive from his home. Despite that proximity, Wilson has never played Medinah.

“I walked around it a few times (to watch tournaments) when I was a kid,’’ he said. “I don’t play much when I’m home. I play Butler National or Cog Hill…..It’s easier to go over to Butler versus making a phone call and figure something out.’’

Like Donald, Wilson skipped last week’s Shell Houston Open to rest up for the Masters. He needed the break after playing four straight weeks without much success. His finishes steadily dropped in March, from a tie for 30th in the first of the four starts to a tie for 59th in his last one at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Wilson missed the cut in his only previous appearance at the Masters last year, but don’t let that fool you. Wilson has shown the ability to play well in big events. In addition to winning the Humana Challenge he finished third in February’s World Golf Championship – Accenture Match Play Championship, beating the likes of Dustin Johnson and Lee Westwood along the way.

Though Wilson has been a busy player the first four months of the season, that may change soon. His wife Amy is expecting their third child in August.

Local tournament watch

First significant event on the Chicago calendar is Monday (APRIL 9) when the Illinois PGA holds its Spring Pro-Assistants tourney at Royal Country Club of Long Grove, which its operators are now promoting as simply The Grove. Until last year it had been known as Hillcrest Country Club.
The Chicago District Golf Assn. holds its first competition on April 24, with the Better Ball of Pairs at The Glen Club in Glenview. The Glen will also return as the site of the Illinois Open this year. After a seven-year run there the IPGA conducted the championship at Hawthorn Woods Country Club from 2008 to 2011.
Mistwood, the Romeoville layout that has long been the home of the Illinois Women’s Open, has scheduled a June 1 re-opening. The course closed early last season to allow Michigan architect Ray Hearn to supervise a major renovation that also included the construction of a new learning center. Meanwhile, Mistwood owner Jim McWethy has bought the Ditka Sports Dome in Bolingbrook and plans to convert it into a golf and dining facility.

Ticket takers

The BMW Championship, held primarily at Cog Hill in Lemont since 2007, won’t be played until September but tickets for the PGA Tour event’s 2012 staging at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis went on sale last week.
Tickets will range from $20 for a daily practice round to $275 for a weekly badge with Wadley Club privileges. To check out the ticket options check out www.bmwchampionshipusa.com. The tourney will return to the Chicago area in 2013, at Conway Farms in Lake Forest.

Here and there

While most of the area courses have opened, Cog Hill’s Dubsdread layout won’t be available until April 14….Kemper Sports has taken over management duties at Fox Lake Country Club and installed Vince Juarez as general manager. Fox Lake becomes the 11th Illinois course under Kemper management. Kemper has also created a new private club division, called KemperCollection, with senior vice president Barrett Eiselman in charge….Greg Baresel has been added to the teaching staff at Cantigny in Wheaton. He has previously taught at Marengo Ridge and Oak Brook’s AthleticCo Golf Performance Center….Architects Greg Martin, of Batavia, and Art Schaupeter, of St. Louis, were selected from 22 candidates to handle the Oak Meadows renovation. Work on the DuPage County Forest Preserve layout, however, won’t likely begin until late in 2014 and with a re-opening expected in 2016 at the earliest…..The Illinois PGA will begin taking entries for the Ryder Cup Skills Challenge on Monday (APRIL 9). Competition for youngsters between the ages of 9-17 begins on May 1.

For more golf news check out www.lenziehmongolf.com. To contact Len send an email to lenziehm@gmail.com.

FarmLinks finds it’s time for a change

SYLACAUGA, AL. — The FarmLinks course in this little town about 45 miles from Birmingham already has a big reputation. Golf Digest, Golfweek and the National Golf Foundation have recognized it for one good thing or another.

Soon, though, things will be changing. Honours Golf, which managed the facility for 10 years, will be leaving and a new management team is coming in. Honours did a good job, but 81-year-old owner Jimmy Pursell wants to take his course in another direction.

Pursell, who made a big impact in the fertilizer business, created the course as an agronomic research and demonstration facility. The course, designed by the highly-respected architectural team of Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, is just too good. While the national golf publications have shown their respect, perhaps FarmLinks’ most significant appraisal came from the Birmingham News, which called it the No. 1 public course in Alabama in 2009. Golfweek had previously rated it “one of America’s best (public) courses” in 2004.

With those accolades in mind FarmLinks is changing.

“It’s been very successful, said Chuck Ocheltree, who took over as general manager in January. “Our superintendents’ program has been what FarmLinks has been all about. We took care of 1,000 superintendents a year since the course opened in 2003. Now the Pursell family wants to become a 4-star resort in the golf business.’’

That’s likely to happen sooner rather than later, and it’s already been listed among Golf Digest’s Top 75 Resorts, debuting at No. 39. I’m not one to take the magazine polls as gospel, and I think FarmLinks will eventually be considered much better than that.

The biggest problem with FarmLinks is getting there. It’s an hour’s drive from the Birmingham airport, an hour from a regional airport in Montgomery and two hours from Atlanta. But once you get there you find a very special place.

The course measures 7,444 yards and was the site of the Alabama Amateur championship in 2011, yet it’s playable for a wide variety of players. This year Golf Channel’s Am Tour paid a visit while we were there. Near tornado conditions the night before and a cold, rainy day didn’t detract from either our day on the course or that of the Am Tour competitors, who had become familiar with the course the year before.

It’s not easy to describe FarmLinks, which will likely get a name change — to the FarmLinks course at Pursell Farms. That’d be a more appropriate name, since there’s much more to the place than the extraordinary golf course. It has its conference center with high-tech meeting rooms in an out-of-the-way setting, making it a productive business retreat as well as a vacation option. But it’s also been a site for the First Tee program the last three years.

However you get to FarmLinks, you arrive at an impressive entrance. A windy two-mile drive is required to get from the guard gate to the clubhouse. While the food is top-notch, the staff is just getting prepared to host big events. It doesn’t even have a liquor license yet (that’s expected to be acquired by May).

Pursell, a man with strong religious beliefs, isn’t changing his own lifestyle nor that of his family. His son David is chief executive officer of the facility and son-in-law Tim Spanjer is director of marketing. But, underscoring the overall name of Pursell Farms, the place is being given a more resort-like feel. Pursell has 3,500 acres available, and quail hunting, fishing, hiking, horseshoes and five-stand clay shooting are established offerings. Horseback-riding and hayrides have been added recently as has a working relationship with a Birmingham spa. More resort offerings will be added soon.

“Things can happen here that can’t happen anywhere else,’’ said Ocheltree, who had been living in much more cosmopolitan Atlanta. “But golf still drives everything.’’

Stay-and-play packages got a big boost in 2009 when guests could enjoy new cottages and cabins, each comprised of four suites, a shared great room and outdoor patio areas with views of lakes and mountains as well as the golf course. Ours, at the Jones Cabin, offered a putting green just off the patio. Now there’s also a Golf Academy on site, headed by Layne Savoie, who had coached collegiately had Arkansas and Florida State.

FarmLinks maintains its claim as “the world’s first and only research and demonstration golf course,’’ and will continue to welcome more than a thousand superintendents from all over the world to The Experience — an educational program that showcases the industry’s best products, services and equipment. In the past golf industry professionals have learned about advanced technologies and turfgrass research thanks to partnerships with several top manufacturers via roundtable and focus-group meetings.

That won’t change. Neither will FarmLinks’ involvement with various ministries. A large prayer group is booked at the facility in early May. But there’ll be more weddings and other gatherings mixed in with the great golf moving forward.

Alabama’s an underrated state for golfers

GULF SHORES, AL. — There is, I believe, a misconception about golf in Alabama.

Sure, the creation of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail 20 years ago was a big boost for golf in the state. In fact, it was a marketing breakthrough for the entire golf industry. The Trail has 11 courses covering 468 holes, with most in the Birmingham area. Newcomers to Alabama may well gravitate to those layouts.

Extensive mounding creates a unique look on No. 18 at the GlenLakes course.

There’s a lot more to golf in Alabama than the Jones Trail, however. I witnessed that up-close-and-personal on the way home from a winter spent in Florida. Alabama golf is much different than its neighboring state to the south. Gulf Shores is less than an hour’s drive from Pensacola., FL., near Mobile.

The courses I played in Gulf Shores were much more like the ones in the Midwest in terms of the grass, then bunkers and the designs. And all of them were good.

Tourism in Alabama has had it tough recently, due to the bad publicity produced by an oil spill that affected its coast-line in June, 2010. There were no signs of lingering problems in Gulf Shores, however. In fact the 32 miles of white sand of neighboring Orange Beach produced a waterfront that rivaled (maybe even surpassed) Florida’s Siesta Key, which happily points out a recent survey that proclaimed it the No. 1 beach in the United States.

Orange Beach has a lot more golf to go with it than Siesta Key does. Golf GulfShores boasts nine signature courses covering 189 holes, all within easy driving range of each other. Probably the best is Kiva Dunes, designed by former U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate in 1995. It’s Alabama’s only beachfront golf resort.

That wasn’t on my itinerary, though. My first tee time was at Craft Farms, which boasts the only Arnold Palmer-designed courses in Alabama — Cotton Creek and Cypress Bend. Cypress Bend, the newer of the two, reminded me of another Palmer design in Illinois — Hawthorn Woods Country Club, site of the Illinois Open from 2008 to 2011. Wide fairways make it user friendly, but undulating putting surfaces and big bunkers make it challenging enough, as well. Palmer’s design company also handled the updating of Lost Key, another Gulf Shores course, in 2006.

Second stop was at GlenLakes, which has 27 holes and claims to be “the best golf value on the coast.’’ Visitors play for $65 before noon, $45 from noon-2 p.m. and only $30 after 2 p.m. during the busy winter season. By comparison, the Palmer layouts at Craft Farms charged $89 before 1 p.m. and $69 afterwards.

GlenLakes’ 18-hole links-style Vista Dunes course was a design combination of Bruce Devlin and Robert von Hagge. The nine-hole Lakes is more resort style but has water on six holes. I played the Vista and Lakes nines, which were fine, but Duncan Millar, the Golf GulfShores executive director, told me I missed something special by not taking on the well-mounded Dunes nine.

Two other 27-hole facilities — Peninsula and TimberCreek — were designed by Earl Stone, and he also was the architect for 18-hole Rock Creek. The father-son team of Jay and Carter Morrish did the design work on Gulf Shores Golf Club. Built in the 1960s as the first course in Gulf Shores, the Morrishes did a complete makeover in 2005.

Four of the Golf GulfShores courses — the two at Craft Farms as well as Rock Creek and Peninsula — are well-managed by Honours Golf, which oversees 13 courses in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi and is somewhat of a rival to the Jones Trail. Honours also includes Alabama layouts Limestone Springs (Oneonta), Highland Park (Birmingham), Cider Ridge (Oxford) and Gateway and Lagoon Park (Montgomery) in its portfolio but will lose one of its best clubs, FarmLinks in Sylacauga, this spring.

FarmLinks, a very special location that’s a 200-mile drive from Gulf Shores, is moving in a new direction after a management change. Developments there will be detailed in a future Len Ziehm on Golf report.

Gulf Shores, though, stands on its own as a golf destination. In addition to the courses and spectacular beaches, the area also offers such entertainment options as deep sea fishing, kayaking, surfboarding, cycling, water sports, hot-air balloon rides, horseback riding, family fun parks and cruises.

It also has a surprisingly wide range of restaurants. One that we can heartily recommend is Tin Top, a fish and oyster bar with an out-of-the-way location that fits the stereotype of rural Alabama down to the hot rod enthusiasts who revved up their engines on the country roads. That added spice to an already spicy lunch.

Of a more genteel nature, there’s Nolan’s Restaurant and Lounge — one of the many appealing places right off the main drag of Gulf Shores Parkway. There are plenty of other good, non-chain restaurants to visit, and the lodging options are almost as varied. In addition to the beach resorts and condo rentals available you might want to check out the Courtyard Marriott GulfShores at Craft Farms. It just underwent a $2.2 million renovation, the completion of which was celebrated during our visit.