Author: lenz

Europe will have big experience edge in Ryder Cup

If Ryder Cup experience means anything the U.S. team will be in big trouble when the biennial matches come to Medinah Country Club for their 39th staging beginning Sept. 25. Europe’s 12-man squad is loaded with veterans, to say nothing of talent.

The European team, which has won four of the last five Ryder Cup battles and six of the last eight, completed its roster this week when Jose Maria Olazabal named Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts as his captain’s picks.

Olazabal picked those two after 10 automatic berths were determined following European PGA Tour’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in Scotland – the Ryder Cup site for 2014.

The long-hitting Colsaerts will be the first golfer from Belgium to play in the Ryder Cup, and he’s also the only rookie on the European squad. The U.S. is already assured of three first-timers (Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson) through the point standings that determined eight automatic berths on the team.

Europe and the U.S. have different methods of selection. Europe’s formula started with the top five players on the European PGA Tour point standings (Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, England’s Justin Rose, Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Italy’s Francesco Molinari).

The process continued after the Johnnie Walker with the top five — not counting the five already picked — off the world rankings. Those spots went to Luke Donald and Lee Westwood of England, Sergio Garcia of Spain, Peter Hanson of Sweden and Martin Kaymer of Germany.

Olazabal was given only two captain’s picks. U.S. captain Davis Love III has four, and he’ll name them on Sept. 4 in New York. Love will be hard-pressed to assemble a squad as strong as the Euros. All 12 European players are in the top 35 in the world rankings. McIlroy and Donald are 1-2.

Colsaerts’ selection over Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello created the only suspense in Olazabal’s determination of his captain’s picks. England’s Poulter, a great match play competitor – he has an 8-3 record in three previous Ryder Cups, was consider a shoo-in.

The battle for the other pick was a tough one, and Colsaerts, a 10-year professional though he’s only 29, earned it in the last two weeks. He tied for seventh at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, then hurried back to Europe to tie for 19th in the Johnnie Walker.

Cabrera-Bello tied for 10th there but Colsaerts’ extraordinary length off the tee makes him a good fit for Medinah. Europe will go into this Ryder Cup with just one rookie for only the third time since 1979.

FedEx frustrations

Illinois PGA Tour players didn’t do well in The Barclay’s event last week in New York. Only Luke Donald improved his position in the FexEx Cup playoff standings. He tied for 10th to climb from 16th in the point race to 14th.

The only other local to make the cut in New York was Kevin Streelman, but he shot 76-72 on the weekend to finish in a tie for 63rd. He dropped to 112th in the point race and only the top 100 qualified for the second playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship beginning Thursday at TPC Boston.

Mark Wilson and D.A. Points both missed the cut at The Barclays but rank high enough to tee it up in Boston. Wilson is No. 39 and Points No. 50. Both will have to play well this week to stay in the top 70 for the third playoff event, the BMW Championship Sept. 6-9 at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis. The BMW Championship had been held at Cog Hill and will be contested at Conway Farms in Lake Forest in 2013.

Here and there

Recording artist Jordin Sparks has been selected to sing the U.S. National Anthem during the Ryder Cup opening ceremonies at Medinah on Sept. 27….The 90th Illinois PGA Championship concludes today (WEDNESDAY) at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake. Stonewall, has been the only public course in the tourney’s three-course rotation. Olympia Fields is listed for 2013 and Medinah for 2014….The PGA Junior Golf League, a nation-wide program for youngsters 13 and under, will climax its season with a six-team competition at Medinah on Sept. 14 and Cog Hill in Lemont on Sept. 15-16…..The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct two events on Monday – the CDGA Better Ball of Pairs at Kemper Lakes in Hawthorn Woods and a qualifying session for the U.S. Senior Amateur at McHenry Country Club…..Northbrook-based KemperSports has added Quail Lodge in Carmel, Calif., to its management portfolio.

Hohenadel wants to prove IPGA title wasn’t a fluke

What a difference a year makes.

Last year the biggest tournament at Medinah Country Club was the Illinois PGA Championship, which decides the best player among the state’s club professionals. Next month, of course, Medinah hosts the 39th Ryder Cup matches and the player who shocked the Chicago golf scene with his win last year isn’t focusing on his title defense.

Frank Hohenadel, a little-known assistant pro at Midlothian Country Club, ended Mike Small’s eight-year reign as the IPGA champion over Medinah’s No. 1 course last August. The lanky left-handed golfer defends next week at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake but he’s more interested in the big event coming to Medinah beginning Sept. 25. That’s when the U.S. stars battle Europe in the biennial team competition that’s generally considered the biggest event in golf.

“I’m looking forward to watching those guys as much as I am the Illinois PGA,’’ said Hohenadel. “I plan to go on Sunday (SEPT 30) and be part of the party – and I hope the U.S. wins this time.’’

The IPGA Championship, which rotates between Olympia Fields, Medinah and Stonewall, begins its 54-hole run on Monday and concludes on Wednesday. Illinois coach Small had dominated the competition until Hohenadel caught fire on a weather-damaged layout.

“Conditions were different that what we’re used to last year,’’ said Hohenadel, who opened with a 65 and never looked back. “We played lift, clean and place in the fairways, but there was no problem with the greens.’’

The No. 1 layout — the site of Hohenadel’s victory — has been reduced to nine holes to accommodate Ryder Cup preparations and that entire 18 will be torn up after September’s matches to allow architect Tom Doak to renovate the course, which was opened in 1925. The Ryder Cup will be played on the No. 3 course.

Hohenadel, who grew up in Tinley Park and went to Andrew High School and St. Francis College in Joliet, is in his third season at Midlothian after spending five at Wedgewood, a public facility in Joliet. He had played in only four IPGA events last season but has been in nine this year. He shot 68 to finish second in an assistants event and his scoring average is a respectable 72.5.

“I’ve got more confidence in my game,’’ he said. “This year there’ll be a little more pressure. I was pretty much under the radar last year.’’

He’s played Stonewall, the lone public course in the IPGA Championship rotation, only once and that was in the spring.

“It’s very different than Medinah and Olympia,’’ said Hohenadel. “My game is more suited to those long, old-school courses than it is to the links style.’

Hasley, Wright pace Mid-Am qualifiers

There’ll be a big contingent of Chicago area players in the 32nd U.S. Mid-Amateur, which is coming to Lake Forest courses Conway Farms and Knollwood next month.

Illinois had three qualifying tournaments last week, and Winnetka’s Scott Hasley and Aurora’s John Wright posted the best scores – 69s at Chicago Highlands in Westchester. The other qualifiers there for the Sept. 8-13 national championship for players 25 and over were Matt Olson of Chicago, Chad Arsich of Mokena and Nick Schenk of St. Charles.

Lake Forest’s Andrew Price was medalist in the qualifier at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Club, in Rockford, with a 70. Scott Rowe of Hinsdale and Richard Balla of St. Charles were among the other qualifiers there and Chicago’s Scott Rech made it at Piper Glen, in Springfield.

Here and there

European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal named three vice captains for the upcoming matches. He picked Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley. All are former players with at least nine Ryder Cup wins. They were also on the staff when Europe won the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales…..Wildcat Golf Day With Luke Donald, a fundraiser for Northwestern’s golf programs, has been scheduled at Medinah on Sept. 10…..The 85th Mid West Amateur runs Friday and Saturday at the Chicago Park District’s Marovitz course….The Bridges at Poplar Creek, in Hoffman Estates, will host a qualifier for the Illinois State Senior Amateur on Tuesday (AUG 28).

Champions Tour stars applaud Augusta National’s change

Four prominent members of golf’s Champions Tour learned of Augusta National’s decision to admit two women as members just as they were about to announce a new tournament coming to Chicago.

All were delighted that the annual site of the Masters tournament was ending its all-male membership policy, and at least one wasn’t even surprised.

“I had heard through the grapevine, because I’m a past champion. I knew they were thinking about it,’’ said Fuzzy Zoeller, who won the Masters in his first appearance at Georgia’s Augusta National in 1979. “I’m very happy. This is 2012. Let’s get this thing moving forward.’’

But, Zoeller added, “there are private clubs that should be able to write their own rules.’’

Jeff Sluman, Hale Irwin and Chip Beck and Sluman were all familiar with former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, one of the new Augusta National members. None knew the other, South Carolina businesswoman Darla Moore. Rice has played in the pro-ams of the Champions Tour’s Regions Tradition event in Alabama.

“Condy loves golf,’’ said Sluman. The talk has been going on for awhile. I thought she might already be a member.’’

“What a sweet lady,’’ said Zoeller. “But congratulations to both of them.’’

“There’s no way golf is going to succeed without the women,’’ said Irwin. “We need them in golf. This is great.’’

Champions Tour is finally returning to Chicago

Jeff Sluman showed up at Chicago’s East Bank Club on Monday for the announcement of the return of golf’s Champions Tour to Chicago. The 50-and-over circuit will compete in the $1.8 million Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glenview next June 17-23.

But, first things first. Long before the circuit’s return to Chicago for the first time since 2002, Sluman will play a prominent role in next month’s Ryder Cup matches at Medinah Country Club. A long-time Hinsdale resident, he was chosen as a vice captain of the U.S. squad by head man Davis Love III.

Because of his proximity to Medinah, Love put Sluman to work early. He sent Sluman to Medinah last week to have a look at the No. 3 course that has suffered in this summer’s weather. The famed layout had plenty of rough spots during a media viewing on Aug. 6 and several fairways were stripped after that.

Not to worry, Sluman said. He rode the course in a cart when Love’s European counterpart, Jose Maria Olazabal, played a practice round with record world No. 1 Luke Donald.

“Then I called Davis,’’ said Sluman. “Mother Nature has not been kind to golf courses in the Chicago area the last two years. They had too much rain and too much heat last year, and too much heat this year. I was away, but when I called home I was told the weather was brutal. But the (Medinah No. 3) golf course will be fine. It’ll be very, very good. The Ryder Cup isn’t for awhile (Sept. 25-30), and I expect it’ll be perfect.’’

Sluman expects the new short par-5 15th hole to be set up at 305 to 310 yards, making it driveable for the players on both teams. Sluman expects it to be “a great place for momentum swings.’’ Otherwise, Sluman defers course matters to his captain.

“Davis will know exactly what to do,’’ said Sluman. “When he gets here in a couple weeks he’s will go around with Curtis (Medinah superintendent Curtis Tyrrell) and determine what (areas) should be grown out, where they should pinch in. It’ll be the same for both teams, but Davis doesn’t want to have much rough. That’s great. Birdies and recovery shots are very exciting for crowds to watch. Hacking out of rough probably isn’t so exciting.’’

The new event, though still 10 months away, should be plenty exciting. It’ll have a different format than Chicago’s previous stops for Champions Tour players. They had tour stops at Stonebridge, in Aurora; Kemper Lakes, in Long Grove; and Harborside International, in Chicago, through 2002 and U.S. Senior Opens were played at Medinah in 1988 and Olympia Fields in 1997.

Hale Irwin won three of those Champions Tour stops as well as the 1974 Western Open at Butler National and the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah. He joined fellow tour players Sluman, Fuzzy Zoeller and Chip Beck at Monday’s announcement and Irwin, Sluman and Beck were also part of Encompass’ presentation to North Shore members during the negotiating process.

Northbrook-based Encompass took over the Champions Tour event in Tampa, Fla., last year and plans an event heavily-loaded with pro-ams at North Shore. Traditional pro-ams will be held on Wednesday and Thursday of tournament week and celebrity pro-ams will be included in the first day of the championship proper. Only tour players will compete on the final day.

My GolfVisions record: 16 courses played in four states

CHESTERTON, Ind. – Tim Miles Sr. tells me I’ve made golf history. He says I’m the first member of GolfVisions’ Player Pass program to play all of the 16 courses offered in this most innovative program, and I’ll tell you it wasn’t easy.

Miles, the GolfVisions president, started the Player Pass program two years ago and tweaked it for this season. GolfVisions is a course management firm that Miles founded under the name GreenVisions in 1989. It presently oversees 11 courses in Illinois, two in Indiana, one in Michigan and two in Florida.

Under the Player Pass program, you pay an annual fee to join, then get one free greens fee at each course plus other perks – the lowest fee the course offers for your playing partners, free range balls and discounts on meals and pro shop merchandise.

A friend urged me to sign up for a Players Pass and it took me a month – bolstered by a reduced holiday special rate of $99 prior to Christmas – to do it. While I’ve played all 16 courses, my buddy – for a variety of reasons – has played but two. He says he’ll catch more of the courses before the year is out, and I hope he does. My regular partner and I, meanwhile, made this our special project, and we had a lot of fun with it.

To make the program fully work you have to have the time and willingness to travel. Just playing the two Florida courses, Club at Pennbrooke Fairways in Leesburg and Green Valley in Clermont, made it worthwhile for us. In our two-month Florida stay in January and February you pay top-dollar for greens fees. Thanks to my Player Pass we got in two rounds (two people with cart) for $27 apiece. Now that’s $54 for four rounds of golf with cart. That’s a bargain anytime, but especially in central Florida during the height of the tourist season.

Pennbrooke had 27 holes, broken into the Meadows, Oaks and Sanctuary nines. The first two were sporty, executive length layouts. Green Valley, which dates back to 1966, is a favorite of the locals. It’s a 6,645-yard par-72 with some nice elevation changes.

Had I played alone on weekdays at the courses without my Players Pass I would have spent $598, though senior rates might have knocked that number down in some instances. And that doesn’t include money that might have been spent on range balls and food and pro shop merchandise. It also doesn’t factor in the savings on my partner’s fees. Not bad for a $99 investment.

Some of the close-to-home courses (Foxford Hills and Chalet Hills in Cary, Settlers Hill in Geneva, Village Green in Mundelein, Oak Grove in Hebron and HeatherRidge in Gurnee) are regular annual stops for this hacker who relishes playing lots of courses rather than limiting myself to the one in which I am a member. Those weren’t all played as part of the 2012 Player Pass program but I have plenty of familiarity with them.

Anyway, this project wasn’t so much about saving money as it was about having golf adventures. What the Player Pass did was encourage us to take some day-long golf getaways, the longest of which was to the Michigan course, Whittaker Woods. It required a 130-mile drive each way.

Some of the courses were better than others, of course, but all offered something a little different from the ones we play on a regular basis and we also got a chance to see different areas than we would have just playing near home. We tried some most interesting restaurants along the way as well.

Our favorite course of the lot was The Brassie (pictured above), in Chesterton, Ind. We played that one in 102-degree temperatures. It was like a sauna out there. The Brassie is a links-style course designed by Jim Fazio (not George or Tom) in 1998. Jim and Tom are the nephews of the late George, who designed Butler National in Oak Brook, among others. Tom has some great creations, too, most notably Conway Farms in Lake Forest. Jim’s The Brassie isn’t bad, either.

The Brassie had the very best Course Guide that I’ve ever seen – and that’s saying something, given the number and variety of courses I’ve played in over four decades as a golf journalist. The staff at The Brassie was also extraordinarily friendly — and that’s not to say the staffs at the other courses weren’t. At The Brassie, though, the people went beyond the expected service. Our random selection for dinner before heading home, — the Lucrezia Café, a cozy Italian place – worked out well, too.

On one trip we hit two of the courses – Tanna Farms, in Yorkville, IL., first and Deer Valley, in Big Rock, IL., on the way home. Deer Valley has the smallest greens I’ve ever seen. It’s a nine-holer built by John Flodstrom who owned the land in 1995. He later sold it to Kane County.

Deer Valley had a log-cabin clubhouse and the lowest Players Pass fee of the places we visited — $12 with cart for two players – and it was a fun, but challenging, layout. Our round there came in the aftermath of 18 holes at Tanna Farms, which has tons of wetlands and a most unusual start; there’s no par-4 hole until No. 4. You open with a par-3 over water, then hit a par-5 and then another par-3.

A few weeks before making the Tanna Farms-Deer Creek run we visited Nettle Creek, in Morris. This place had a most charming clubhouse, excellent food, a challenging start (especially the first two holes), a well-conditioned course and a most polite staff. What more could you want? Too bad Nettle Creek is so far from home. I would play it more often.

Two of the courses had undergone some obvious problems. The clubhouse had burned down several years ago at Hunter Country Club, in Richmond, IL. – a quaint little town just inside the Wisconsin border – and operations were conducted out of a trailer in the parking lot. And GolfVisions had just taken over Chapel Hill, a McHenry layout known for having the only hole over 700 yards in Illinois. The clubhouse was shuttered at Chapel Hill, with all business done out of the golf shop. I had played both Hunter and Chapel Hill many years before (at least 10 in both instances) and was just happy to see that they were still in operation.

River Pointe Country Club, in Hobart, Ind., had the most interesting history. It was a long-time private club created by American Steel Supervisors. This was the biggest of the facilities – 27 holes – with Red, White and Blue full-length nines.

Our journey ended, appropriately, at Whittaker Woods (pictured below), in New Buffalo, MI. It was a highlight to our golfing odyssey.

Opened in 1996, Whittaker Woods had an extremely tight front nine holes. The starter tells you “You may lose your ball if you hit it into the trees, but you could find three while you’re looking for it.’’ That tells you right away the challenge you’re about to face.

Needless to say, we put some balls in the trees on that front side. Then you come to No. 10 and you’re surprised — and relieved — to find a wide open tee shot. This course had tee shots over wetlands on almost every hole, it seemed, but the fairways and greens were in great shape.

Whittaker Woods also had the nicest-looking restaurant of the Players Pass facilities. The only drawback was that the restaurant had already closed by 5 p.m. We found that unusual, but there are plenty of good dining spots in New Buffalo. We ate at Brewsters with the couple that played with us, completing a most enjoyable day.

Miles, a former golf team captain at the University of Missouri, created excitement at the last two Chicago Golf Shows when he provided patrons with free greens fees at some of his courses. GolfVisions didn’t have as many Player Pass buyers this year as it did in 2011, but Miles plans to continue the program next year with some minor tweaks.

“It’ll be similar to what we did this year,’’ he said. “This is a promotion, to see if we can get people to try our courses. We’re real happy with it.’’

Only Stricker is sure bet for a U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s pick

The first phase to determine who will be playing in next month’s Ryder Cup matches at Medinah is over.

Point standings, accumulated over two years, determined the eight automatic berths on the U.S. team after Sunday’s PGA Championship was completed and those earning berths were Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson.

In past years the U.S. captain named his picks the day after the PGA, but that was changed this time around. U.S. captain Davis Love III will name four (as opposed to just two in the past) picks on Sept. 4 in New York.

The new system is much better than the old, in that it allows the captain to pick the players who are hot leading into the biennial matches. That means Love can analyze play in three tournaments, two of them part of the pressurized FedEx Cup playoffs, before filling out his roster for the Sept. 25-30 spectacular at Medinah.

Love will be looking for experienced, as well as hot, players for his four selections. The automatic eight are short on experience. Dufner, Bradley and Simpson have never played in the biggest team competition in golf and Watson and Kuchar have played only once. Love will want some veterans to back them up, even though Mickelson – the last of the automatic qualifiers – will make his ninth straight appearance. That’s a record for consecutive, as well as all-time, appearances.

Though he wouldn’t say it at a Monday press conference Love is sure to name Steve Stricker to the team. He was 10th on the point list but is Woods’ preferred partner. Hunter Mahan, one spot in front of Stricker and a two-time winner this season, figures to make the U.S. squad for the second time as a captain’s pick.

The other two picks are up for grabs, with performances in this week’s Wyndham Championship and the first two FedEx playoff events – The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship – critical in Love’s view. He’ll make his picks on the Monday of the third FedEx tourney, the BMW Championship. It’ll be held at Crooked Stick, in Indianapolis, this year after having a home at Cog Hill, in Lemont. The Western Golf Assn. wanted to move its PGA Tour stop out of Chicago this year to avoid oversaturation with the Ryder Cup.

If Love is worried about experience he could pick Jim Furyk (11th in the point standings) or even dip into the Champions Tour ranks for Fred Couples. If he wants an exiting young star Ricky Fowler and Dustin Johnson would be possibilities.

Unfortunately there won’t be a local player on the U.S. squad. Mark Wilson, D.A. Points and Kevin Streelman loomed as possibilities, however remote, early in the year but Wilson was down in 23rd place in the standings with Points 31st and Streelman 69th. All are too far back to merit consideration.

The European team is chosen differently, with captain Jose Maria Olazabal making only two captain’s picks, both on Aug. 27 – the day after the Johnnie Walker Championship concludes in Scotland. Ten members of the European team are chosen off a point standings than concludes after the Johnnie Walker event.

Big week for NU

Northwestern’s golf programs had an impact far beyond the college level last weekend.

Two NU alums Chris Wilson (2007) and Scott Harrington (2003) went to a playoff to determine the title in the Web.com Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Classic in Springfield, Mo., Wilson winning. Illinois’ Luke Guthrie tied for 10th in that event, the sixth time in as many pro starts on the PGA and Web.com circuits that he’s finished in the top 20.

An NU sophomore Nicole Zhang reached the semifinals in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. That’s the best finish by a Wildcat in either the men’s or women’s U.S. Ams since Dillon Dougherty was runner-up in 2004. (Luke Donald’s best in the U.S. Am was a semifinal finish).

Here and there

Those lucky enough to secure Ryder Cup tickets should probably have them by now. They were mailed on Friday (AUG 10)…..The third and final Illinois qualifier for next month’s U.S. Mid-Amateur at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, is today (AUG 15) at Piper Glen, in Springfield….The Illinois PGA Pro-Senior tournament is today at Elgin Country Club and the Schaumberg Classic is Monday – the last tuneup for the Aug. 27-29 IPGA Championship at Stonewall Orchard, in Grayslake….A qualifier for the Illinois State Senior Amateur will be held on Tuesday (AUG 21) at The Links at Carillon, in Plainfield….The Midwest Shelter Golf Fundraiser has been scheduled for Aug. 26 at Klein Creek in Winfield.

ILLINOIS AMATEUR: Prchal ends title run by college players

MARION, IL. – The college players’ domination of the Illinois State Amateur golf tournament is over.

Collegians had won eight straight times until Glenview’s Quinn Prchal came through with rounds of 66-69 on Thursday at The Links at Kokopelli to notch a two-stroke victory over Derek Meinhart of Mattoon. Prchal went through the three-day 72-hole test in 8-under-par 272.

A recent Glenbrook South graduate, Prchal hasn’t played a college event yet, but it won’t be long. He’ll play in his last junior event next week in Greensboro, N.C., then is off to Princeton University for the start of his freshman year.

Prchal, 18, didn’t qualify for either the Illinois Open or U.S. Amateur and hadn’t won a tournament since a December junior event in Florida. He wasn’t completely surprised by his breakthrough in his first appearance in the 82nd annual State Am, however.

“I just followed my routine and hit a lot of fairways and greens and made a number of short putts,’’ said Prchal, who tied for fourth in the Class 3A high school tourney in the fall.

The last non-collegian to win the Illinois Am was Bloomgton’s Todd Mitchell, who took back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003. He tied for third Thursday after leading the tournament through 36 holes and starting fast on Thursday. He made three birdies in his first five holes.

“Then it vanished,’’ said Mitchell, “but I’ve got to hand it to (Prchal). He was 5-under today, and that’s playing very, very well.’’

Prchal, who plans to study engineering at Princeton, isn’t committing to a career in golf despite the promise he showed at Kokopelli, the southern-most location ever for the championship.

“I plan to play all four years in college and should be able to gauge my play then,’’ said Prchal, who plays most of his golf at the Glenview Park District course and The Glen Club in Glenview and has worked with veteran teaching pro Ed Oldfield Sr. for the last seven years at the nearby Willowhill nine-holer.

Not even the closest pursuer to Prchal was a collegian. Runner-up Meinhart, 34, completed his sixth State Am. The vice president of Innovative Staff Solutions, he qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Mitchell has also focused on the Mid-Am, which brings its 2012 finals to Conway Farms in Lake Forest next month.

Mitchell shared third with Frankfort’s Brian Bullington, who was trying to become the third straight Illinois Amateur winner off the University of Iowa golf team.

Roger Warren will be back for Junior Ryder Cup at Olympia Fields

The first in a long line of upcoming Ryder Cup announcements is coming up on Aug. 7. That’s when Roger Warren will announce the six boys and six girls on the U.S. team for the Junior Ryder Cup.

This is just one of many events surrounding the big show coming to Medinah Sept. 25-30. The PGA of America bills the Junior Ryder Cup as “an international showcase of golf’s next generation.’’

Warren is captain of the U.S. team, a duty that generally goes to an outgoing president of the PGA of America. For him it’s also a homecoming. Warren was a high school teacher and coach before entering the golf business at Village Links of Glen Ellyn in 1986. He’s come a long, long way since then but the Junior Ryder Cup will bring him back to Chicago, since the competition will be on Olympia Fields’ South course.

After leaving The Links in 1991 Warren directed the operation at Seven Bridges in Woodridge from 1991-2003 and then headed for the famed Kiawah Resort near Charleston, S.C. He became the president there in 2005 and was concurrently the president of the PGA of America through 2006 and the PGA’s honorary president in 2008.

As PGA president twice removed, Warren is the Junior Ryder Cup captain while also preparing for Kiawah to host the year’s last major, the PGA Championship, from Aug. 9-12.

“I’ve got my hands full,’’ admitted Warren, “but I couldn’t be more excited about the Junior Ryder Cup. I’m looking forward to it because of my background in high school coaching and because of the quality of the junior golfers who will be on the team. They’ll all be great players and good people.’’

Before going into the golf business Warren was the basketball and golf coach, as well as a teacher, at Dundee Crown High School and the U.S. Math and Science Academy. His duties with the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team will cover just one intense week after the selection process is completed. Warren will be helped out on that end of other PGA staffers.

The actual event at Olympia starts with practice rounds Sept. 21-23. Opening ceremonies will also be on the 23rd with matches following on Sept. 24-25. The Junior Ryder Cup experience ends on Sept. 26 at Medinah, when the two teams participate in the Friendship Bowl, a nine-hole competition on Nos. 1-3 and 12-18 on Medinah’s No. 3 course while the pro teams from the U.S. and Europe are finishing preparations for the main event.

M.G. Orender was a past PGA president who captained the last U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, which defeated its European counterparts 13 ½-10 ½ in Scotland two years ago. He knows what Warren can expect.

“In my time as a PGA professional I don’t know of a better experience I’ve had,’’ Orender said. “I was so thrilled for those kids. They played their hearts out.’’

That was the third U.S. win in the seven previous competitions, the others coming in 1997 in Spain and 2008 in Bowling Green, Ky. Europe won in 1999, 2002 and 2004 and the 2006 competition in Wales was halved, so the Junior Ryder Cup series is all even at 3-3-1 going into the Olympia Fields shootout.

Each team has had one blowout win in the competition. Europe dominated in 1999 in Boston, winning 10 ½ – ½, and the U.S. romped 22-2 in Bowling Green, Ky. Most of the matches, though, have been hard-fought affairs.

“It’s an exciting event, and very competitive,’’ said Warren, “and it gives these kids a taste of what could happen if they take up a career in golf.’’

Competition involves foursome, mixed four-ball and singles matches. The U.S. players must be members of high school graduating classes of 2013 to be eligible for selection. Europe requires its players be no older than 16 on the final day of the competition.

The U.S. Junior Amateur champion and U.S. Junior Girls champion are given automatic invitations to play on the U.S. team. Those competitions concluded July 21.

Exemptions will also go to the champion and runner-up at the 37th PGA Junior Championship, which concludes Aug. 3 at Sycamore Hills in Fort Wayne, Ind. The top boy and girl from the US. Junior Ryder Cup point standings, which is based on competitions going back to 2011, will also earn spots on the team.

Warren will then make his captain’s picks to fill out the roster. It’ll be an honor to play for the U.S.. Jordan Spieth, now at the University of Texas, went 3-0 in his matches for the U.S. at both the 2008 and 2010 Junior Ryder Cups.

“Really unbelievable,’’ Spieth said of the experience. “The 2010 team was even stronger than our 2008 team, but the European team was better, too.’’

The team he’ll lead is very much a part of the wide-ranging activities surrounding the 39th Ryder Cup matches coming to Medinah on Sept. 25-30.

The Ryder Cup is much more than the intensely patriotic three-day competition played biennially between the top touring pros from the U.S. and Europe. There are plenty of events around the big one, and the Junior Ryder Cup is one of the most important.

Olympia Fields will host the Junior event on its South course. This will be the eighth time high school-aged teams from the U.S. and Europe collide as part of a Ryder Cup.

July, 2012, was a milestone month for golf in the Midwest

Where do I begin?

Rarely, in my nearly 43 years covering golf in these parts have I witnessed so many noteworthy tournament developments in a month’s span. The tournament schedule was bunched up this season, and all the things that happened in July were almost overwhelming. We’ll try to put them all in perspective here.

I’d say the most notable of those developments came at the 41st John Deere Classic, the only PGA Tour stop of 2012 in Illinois. That’s where Steve Stricker’s historic winning streak ended and where another University of Illinois golfer, Luke Guthrie, continued his great start as a touring pro. From a local golf perspective they’re both significant.

The focus — as it should have been — was on Stricker’s bid to become the fourth golfer (behind Tom Morris Jr., Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods) to win a major professional tournament four years in a row. Stricker made a good run at, but Zach Johnson won. Nothing wrong with that. Johnson, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, Ia., is considered a native son in the Quad Cities and his victory was a popular one.

Down the road, though, that tourney might well be remembered for the showing that Guthrie made in his second start as a pro. It might well be the start of something big. Guthrie had finished a solid tie for 19th in the first PGA Tour stop as a pro at Memphis and his final-round 64 gave him a tie for fifth (with Stricker) at the JDC.

Guthrie was a fine college player (two-time Big Ten champion), but his fast start as a pro was still surprising. Just two years ago, while still an amateur, he lost to Eric Meierdierks in a duel for the Illinois Open title at Hawthorn Woods.

“He should have beaten me because he played better than I did, but he wasn’t as experienced,’’ said Meierdierks. “He was a good player. I saw a lot of talent in his game when I played with him.’’

Meierdierks was on the other end of a similar duel with an up-and-coming young player at this year’s Illinois Open. Notre Dame graduate Max Scodro beat him in a five-hole playoff at The Glen Club, in Glenview.

Scodro started his professional career by winning the Arizona Open in June. Two tournaments later he won the Illinois Open. Next month he’s in the Iowa Open. Could it be a three-peat, state-wide version?

MOVING ON, there was the story of a former Chicago whiz kid – now 56 years old – who made national news in the U.S. Senior Open at Ironwood, in Lake Orion, Mich. Who wouldn’t appreciate a caddie leaving his bag-toting duties to make a run at a major championship. That’s what Lance Ten Broeck did.

In the 1970s Ten Broeck was the youngest of eight children in a family of golfers living on Chicago’s South Side and playing at Beverly Country Club. In 1975, at age 19, he made the cut in the U.S. Open at Medinah and in 1984 he won both the Illinois Open at Flossmoor and the Magnolia Classic, then an unofficial PGA Tour event.

Ten Broeck was a journeyman on the PGA Tour who turned to caddying when his playing career fizzled. For 10 years he was on Jesper Parnevik’s bag, then spent two years working for Robert Allenby and is now with Tim Herron.

Ten Broeck is both player and caddie now. In a 10-week span ending with the Senior Open he had carried in eight tournaments and played in two. At the Senior Open – the biggest event of the year for 50-and-over players — Ten Broeck led after 36 holes before finishing in a tie for ninth. If there ever was a Cinderella story, this was it.

THEN, IN ORDER OF SIGNIFICANCE, comes the U.S. Women’s Open, played at Wisconsin’s Blackwolf Run for the second time. No local angle there, though two-time Illinois Women’s Open champion Aimee Neff and Flossmoor’s Ashley Armstrong both got into the field after being first alternates in sectional play.

No, the significance of that tournament was similar to the aftermath of the 1998 staging there, when Se Ri Pak won. This was another story that was huge in Korea, as Neon Yon SP??? Choi and Amy Yang finished one-two – the second consecutive year that two players from a country the size of Indiana have finished at the top of the leaderboard in the biggest tournament in women’s golf.

FINALLY there was the 63rd Illinois Open, back at The Glen Club after a four-year absence. It ended with Scodro beating Meierdierks, but before that there were some developments in Round 2 that sent the attending media and Illinois PGA staffers scouring the record books.

Meierdierks posted back-to-back eagles on Nos. 14 ant 15. Had that ever been done before in the tournament? Nobody knows for sure, but I strongly doubt it and I’ve covered every Illinois Open since 1975 – the last year the Chicago District Golf Assn. conducted the championship before turning it over to the Illinois PGA.

And then there was a double eagle by amateur Shane Smith of Godfrey, IL., a few hours later. (He holed a 263-yard 3-wood at the 559-yard first hole). Was that double eagle another tourney first? Probably, but again the records are lacking.

Another stat worth noting is the cut number – 3-over-par 147 for the first 36 holes. No cut number has been lower since 1999 and the only time the number was matched was in 2011. That time, however, host venue Hawthorn Woods was set up as a par-71 while The Glen Club was a par-72 this year.

Smith’s double eagle was the fourth of the year by either an IPGA member or at an IPGA event. Most dramatic of those was by Ridgemoor pro Jason Lee in the section’s Match Play Championship at Kemper Lakes. It brought a quick ending to a playoff in the early rounds.

Glen Oak assistant Matt Slowinski had a double eagle in the Professional Players National Championship in California and Green Garden’s John Platt had another in a Senior stroke play event at Naperville Country Club.

Small, Guthrie elevate the profile of Illini golf program

This would figure to be a big week for Mike Small, the Illinois men’s coach. He’ll make his 11th appearance in a major championship when he tees off at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., in the PGA Championship on Thursday.

This is the last of golf’s four majors this season and the final tournament at which points to determine the U.S. team in next month’s Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club are awarded.

Small isn’t a factor in the Ryder Cup standings and he’s not even the Illini golfer most in the spotlight these days, however. That mantra belongs to Luke Guthrie, who came on like gangbusters after turning pro immediately after the NCAA Championships in June.

Guthrie received sponsor’s exemptions into two PGA Tour events and got into another off his showing in those. In the three events he earned $284,672. Then he was invited to the Columbus stop on the Web.com Tour and lost that title in a playoff. That strong showing got him into last week’s tourney in Omaha and he shot 62-63 in the first two rounds before finishing in a tie for third.

So, in his first five pro tournaments the 22-year old from Quincy is 64 strokes under par for 20 tournament rounds and has earned $402,272.

Small isn’t surprised, though two of his other players – Scott Langley and Thomas Pieters – were NCAA champions. Guthrie’s biggest college accomplishments were two Big Ten titles, but he also won two Illinois prep championships and one Illinois Amateur.

“He’s been the closest rival to (1988 Illini player and PGA Tour star Steve) Stricker in the last 25 years,’’ Small said of Guthrie. “He’s very tough-minded and strong-willed, and he’s getting better all the time.’’

As for Small, he isn’t going into this PGA with any momentum. He endured his worst-ever Illinois Open (tie for 26th place) last month and didn’t make the cut at the Colorado Open in his last two tournaments.

“Those were only my second and third multi-day events (of the year),’’ said Small. “I haven’t had time to play that much with the NCAAs going into June, then recruiting and camps. I need reps, but I’ve always been a coach first and a player second.’’

Small most recently gave a clinic for high school coaches at Naperville Country Club the day after the Illinois Open. His only tournament as a player after this week’s PGA will be the Illinois PGA Championship, at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake Aug. 27-29.

Southern flavor for State Am

The Illinois State Amateur concludes Thursday at The Links at Kokopelli in Marion. That’s the southern-most location ever for 82-year old championship. Marion is 25 miles from the Kentucky line. The 1998 tourney was held at Rend Lake in Whittington. Otherwise, the championship has never been contested in southern Illinois.

This year’s tourney is short on past champions. There was only one – Bloomington’s Todd Mitchell, who won in 2002 and 2003 – among the 138 who teed off in Tuesday’s first round. He’s trying to become the event’s fourth three-time winner, following Jim Frisina (who won five times between 1942 and 1958) and Bob Zender and D.A. Points, three-time champions who became regulars on the PGA Tour.

All eight State Am winners since Mitchell turned pro, but one of those – T.C. Ford (2004) – has since regained his amateur status. Now living out of state, he recently finished sixth in the Louisiana Amateur.

The Illinois Am field will be cut to the low 30 and ties after today’s (WEDNESDAY) round, and the survivors will decide the champion in a 36-hole session on Thursday.

Here and there

Champions Tour player Chip Beck will give a clinic at Deerpath, in Lake Forest, on Sunday (AUG 12) as part of the course’s family golf event…..August will be a busy month at Libertyville’s nine-holer. The course will host a Two Clubs and Putter Challenge on Saturday (AUG 11), a Senior Open on Aug. 18 and the Libertyville Open on Aug. 25…..Brian Milligan has been named the new chief financial officer for Northbrook-based KemperSports golf management company…..The 22nd annual Children at the Crossroads Foundation Invitational has been scheduled for Sept. 10 at Chicago’s Harborside International. Proceeds will provide scholarships to The Francis Xavier Warde School.