Author: lenz

Donald can still be a great player — occasionally

Last week’s PGA Championship at North Carolina’s Quail Hollow had its surprises.  None of the 20 club professionals survived the 36-hole cut.  Neither did established stars Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry.

One who did play all 72 holes was also surprising.  Luke Donald, the long ago Northwestern star, had missed cuts in all five of his starts on the PGA Tour this season and was over par in every one except the team event in New Orleans.

Donald shot a 4-under-par bogey-free 67 in the first round at Quail Hollow and got into a tie for third place.

“Where I am in my career, I’m obviously very grateful to the PGA of America for giving me an invitation to play,’’ said Donald.  “I was there only because I’m captain of the European Ryder Cup Team.  I wouldn’t be in the field otherwise.’’

Donald’s hot first round created an interesting side issue.  He was a shot of ahead of Keegan Bradley, who will be Donald’s opposing captain in September’s Ryder Cup matches at Bethpage Black in New York. Bradley, 38, didn’t need an invitation. He’s a solid player on the PGA Tour, missing only one cut in his 11 starts prior to the PGA.

“Keegan is top 20 in the world.  He can have one good week out here, win, and he’s absolutely in the conversation of being a playing captain,’’ said Donald.  “That’s not quite in my future, but we live very close together.  I see where he practices and he practices very hard.  He’s still one of the top players in the world.’’

Donald, 47, was one of those, too, before back problems slowed him down.  He graduated from Northwestern in 2001 and – despite never winning a major championship – climbed to No. 1 in the world in 2011 and held that spot for 40 weeks.  He also remained active in the Chicago golf community while retaining  NU director of golf Pat Goss as his swing coach. Donald’s best finish in a major was also in Chicago — a tie for third in the 2006 PGA at Medinah.

The Donald vs. Bradley competition at Quail Hollow didn’t last long.  Bradley finished at 4-under-par and in a tie for eighth place.  Donald struggled in with 74-73-76 to finish at 6-over-par and tied for 60th.  Champion Scottie Scheffler was at 11-under in his five-shot victory.

As a Ryder Cup captain Donald was superb in the Europeans’ last win in Italy after being a second choice.  Sweden’s Henrik Stenson was picked, then dropped after he jumped to the LIV Tour.  Donald was the backup pick and retained the job for the upcoming team competition.

Now living in Jupiter, FL., Donald has changed a bit since being the winning captain in golf’s premier team event.

“Well, I’m still 5-9, not hitting it far enough,’’ he said.  “As a player not much has changed.  I still like to work on my game, and it gets harder the older you get.  As a captain I had some doubts whether I could fulfill that role when I was given the call (in 2022).  Certainly in the last three years I’ve learned a lot about myself.  I’ve learned a lot about leadership, how to come out of my natural introvertness.  It’s only helped me as a person and helped me understand myself a little bit better.’’

The LIV Tour remains an issue as far as team selections are concerned for this year’s Ryder Cup.

“I do not get involved with the politics of that,’’ said Donald, but he wants the 12 best players available to him at Bethpage and that would mean LIV players Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton – and possibly Sergio Garcia – would have to be declared eligible for selection.

Even without them Donald will field a good team.

“It’s always nice when potential guys on your team are up there every week playing against the strongest fields in golf,’’ said Donald.  “At the Masters we had obviously Rory (champion Rory McIlroy), Justin (Rose), Ludvig (Aberg).  Then there’s Shane (Lowry) and Sepp (Straka). The players always seem to elevate their games in Ryder Cup years, and I love the momentum we have so far.’’

 

 

Billiter is Illinois PGA’s match play champion again

 

The PGA Championship, second major event of the PGA Tour season, claims the national golf spotlight on Thursday at Quail Hollow, in Charlotte, N.C., but the Illinois Section of the PGA staged its first of four majors last week and it produced a result for the local record books.

Jim Billiter, of Ivanhoe Club, won the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship for the fourth time at Butterfield Country Club in Oak Brook, and that put him in some very select company in the history of Illinois golf.

The IPGA first conducted a match play championship in 1952.  Since then only three players in 73 years have won more titles than Billiter. Bob Harris, who played out of Sunset Ridge in Northfield, remains the event’s dominant player with six titles.  He accumulated them consecutively, from 1958 to 1963.

Bill Ogden, of North Shore in Glenview, won the inaugural playing of the event, then waited 15 years to win for the second time in 1967.  He also took the crown in 1970, 1971 and 1972.

The other five-time winner was Bob Ackerman, who worked at Aurora Country Club.  His wins came between 1985 and 1995.

Billiter had a 10-year gap between his first win, in 2015, and his most recent victory. It was a mlld surprise, in that Billiter was the No. 12 seed at Butterfield and had last won the tournament in 2021. Though he won the 2015 IPGA Championship, an event conducted at stroke play, Billiter’s competitive reputation comes in match play.

Since earning his Class A PGA membership in 2009 he has appeared in 17 IPGA Match Play Championships and advanced to the third round or further in 11. He made it past the quarterfinals six times and never lost a match in the semifinal or championship rounds.

“It’s always special to win this event,’’ said Billiter. “I’ve always thought that I was a better match play player than a stroke play player because you have to think differently.  Butterfield is an amazing place, and I especially love it because there is almost no out-of-bounds to the right. To come through so many tough matches and lift the trophy again, it’s incredibly rewarding.’’

Making his feat more notable was the fact that he wasn’t at full strength.

“I’m dealing with a torn labrum,’’ he said.  “I can swing, but I just can’t swing as fast.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to play much this season.  We’ll keep pushing through the rest of the season and get it fixed in the offseason.’’

Billiter didn’t have much trouble in the final, where he defeated North Shore’s David Krzepicki 5 and 3. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches were much tougher. Billiter rallied from three down with eight holes to play to beat David Paeglow of Kishwaukee  in DeKalb 2-up.

In the semis Billiter drew Frank Hohenadel, of Mistwood in Romeoville.  Hohenadel had beaten Billiter in a 20-hole match in the third round in 2024, but this time Billiter prevailed 3 and 2.

HERE AND THERE:  The Chicago area didn’t have a player in the 156-man official starting field at the PGA Championship, but one might still get in.  Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim was the No. 7 alternate, but four players dropped out after arriving at Quail Hollow, lifting Ghim to the No. 3 alternate. He’s had a decent season so far, making eight of 12 cuts and earning $538,587.

Northbrook-based KemperSports has taken over the management of McHenry Golf Club.  It’s Kemper’s 12th property in Chicago and third private club, following Royal Melbourne and Hawthorne Woods.  McHenry opened in 1922 and is noted as the place where the first metal wood was designed. Gary Adams, son of long-time McHenry head pro Vale Adams, designed the club and founded TaylorMade, the equipment manufacturer now based in California.

The first championship of the Chicago District Golf Association’s 112th season concludes  Wednesday f fhs  CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer.

TruSpec Golf, a leading custom club fitter and club builder, has opened a second Chicago  location at The Golf Practice academy in Lisle. The other is in Highland Park. TruSpec has 40 studios nation-wide.

 

 

There’s one course that stands out among others at Myrtle Beach

General manager Kurtis Kuhn shows off Pine Lakes’ original building from the Myrtle Beach Hall of Fame Garden.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – This is a given.  If you’re in search of a golf destination Myrtle Beach will never let you down. So many courses, an oceanfront location for beach goers,  lots of other entertainment options, lodging and dining options. It’s all there.

I’ve made annual trips to MB for about 15 years and played multiple rounds each time. One question I’ve regular gotten is `What’s the best course there?’ and my answer is always the same — `Probably the last course I played there.’

We attacked that issue a little differently this year during a Golf Travel Writers of America stay that involved playing three of the best layouts in Founders Group International, Myrtle Beach’s largest golf course ownership group.  Founders has 21 courses spread over 18 facilities and also owns MyrtleBeachGolfTrips.com, the leading provider for stay-and-play golf packages and online tee times in the area.

This time we won’t be tricked into considering what course is “the best.’’ Instead we’ll focus on which is the “most important.’’

That’s easy.  It’s Pine Lakes.

Without Pine Lakes there wouldn’t be a Myrtle Beach as we know it, and plans are underway to underscore that at the course’s centennial celebration in 2027.

No. 14, a par-4 with a backdrop of nearby buildings, may be Pine Lakes’ best known hole. (Joy Sarver Photos)

“We have a fun year coming up,’’ said Kurtis Kuhn, Pine Lakes general manager.  “We’re still working on a lot of things, but we’ll try to market it more as Myrtle Beach turning 100.  The celebration won’t just be about us but about Myrtle Beach golf.’’

Parts of Pine Lakes’ past have been reported, but more will be revealed in the next couple years. For now it’s a public course with 275 golfing members. There’s also some social members, but Pine Lakes has never had a famous player as its representative or hosted a particularly big tournament.  And, the course has no real estate component.

“In the beginning it probably was private,’’ said Kuhn. “We may have a membership push, but Pine Lakes will never be fully private. Anybody can play here.’’

Pine Lakes is the oldest course among Myrtle Beach’s courses.  It opened in 1927, and the second one, the Dunes Golf  & Beach Club, didn’t open until 1948. The community once had over 100 courses, but now the number is back in double digits thanks to a changing economy.

In its early years Pine Lakes wasn’t Pine Lakes. It was called Ocean Forest and was connected to the Ocean Forest Hotel.  The course’s name was changed after the hotel was demolished.

Originally designed by Robert White,  a Scotsman who was also the first president of the PGA of America and co-founder of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.  He also built the first putting green on the White House lawn.

Pine Hills’ logo and the cover of Sports Illustrated’s first issue play a big part in the club’s history.

As the oldest course in Myrtle Beach Pine Lakes had its big moments, if not big tournaments.  Sports Illustrated magazine was created in a meeting in the Pine Hills clubhouse in 1954. The club also won a well-publicized legal dispute over its logo with clothes designer Ralph Lauren. Now Pine Lakes doubles as the site of the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame.

And that’s all been done as a public course.  Kuhn appreciates that fact, but isn’t awed by it.

“If you want a true private course the only one (in MB) is The Dunes Club,’’ he said, “but there are packages available where people can still play there.  That’s just the nature of Myrtle Beach.’’

As for Pine Lakes, the old club was appropriately dubbed “the Granddaddy’’ long ago. It’s thrived through constantly changing times, and we found the course perhaps the best conditioned one we’ve played in Myrtle Beach – and that’s even after a trying year in which the area dealt with snow in late January and threatening forest fires.

“An interesting year weather-wise,’’ said Kuhn, “but Pines Lakes isn’t going anywhere.  We’ve seen a lot of courses get sold for homes, but this place will be a golf course for a very long time.’’

He has his own opinion as to why the club has thrived.

“It’s the history,’’ he said.  “It started what Myrtle Beach is today.  There’s no place like it.’’

Kings North has 43 bunkers on just one hole, and they’ll have white sand when its renovation is completed.

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT to Pine Lakes, it’s hard to leave Myrtle Beach without keeping up with some of its other significant courses.

Kings North, at Myrtle Beach National, was the most interesting on this trip. The three-course property was built by the  Arnold Palmer Group in the 1970s and Palmer was on hand for the Kings North renovation in 1994. Now Founders wants to elevate the course’s profile.

Brandon Johnson, a designer with a most fertile imagination, is with the Palmer group.  He finished a renovation of Kings North’s front nine that was stunning.  Now the back side is getting his attention.  Given the extent of his work on the front side, one wonders what surprises he’ll unveil on the back.

General manager Ryan Ruddy won’t give many details, but the white sand used on the front side will be used on the back and the 18th hole will be toned down.  It has a stunning 43 bunkers now.  Ruddy says “they’ll be reduced…they’re a maintenance nightmare. But there’ll be a lot more of the waste area.’’

General manager Tom VanHoogen (left) and head professional Shane Peters guide a busy place at Grande Dunes.

GRANDE DUNES, the last course built in Myrtle Beach in 2000, has become one of Founders’ most popular courses.  It underwent its own extensive renovation three years ago.

The original course was designed by Roger Rulewich and John Harvey, who worked with Rulewich on the original design and construction, renovated the greens – largest in the area – back to their original size and also worked on every bunker.

“We wanted to bring Grande Dunes back to its original roots,’’ said Tom VanHoogan, the general manager.  “After 20 years we wanted to revitalize it.  But the clubhouse may have been the biggest thing. Now it’s very inviting for golfers, and it’s been brightened up.’’

The pro shop grew by 400 feet, an indoor-outdoor bar was added and outdoor seating expanded.

A greatly enlarged pro shop was the highlight of the most recent renovation at Grande Dunes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Euros might have a rare advantage in the ’26 Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup, played every two years between the top PGA Tour players from the U.S. and a select team of International stars from all parts of the world except Europe, hasn’t created much excitement since its debut in 1994. The U.S. holds a 13-1-1 edge in the series.

Medinah hosts the next staging, in September of 2026, and it’ll have an intriguing twist.  The opposing captain of the International squad, Australian Geoff Ogilvy, will know the course better than his U.S. counterpart, Brandt Snedeker. Ogilvy and Snedeker were named to their respective posts last week.

Snedeker played for the U.S. in the 2013 Presidents Cup and was on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2012 and 2016. He was an assistant captain for the U.S. in the 2024 Presidents Cup and is a vice captain on this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team, which takes on Europe at New York’s Bethpage Black this Sepember.

Ogilvy played for the International side three times and has been a captain’s assistant for the Internationals in the last four Presidents Cups, so both know all about team golf. Ogilvy, however, knows all about Medinah’s No. 3 course.  His Australian-based design firm, OCM, oversaw the renovation of the historic layout, a two-year project.

The new Medinah No. 3 re-opened last summer.  It has larger greens, scale bunkering, wide fairways and a new routing than the old No. 3. Snedeker saw it for the first time in a walk-around last week.

“Geoff did a great piece of work,’’ said Snedeker – but Snedeker is going to change it for the 2026 Presidents Cup.

“We’re going to redo the routing a bit,’’ he said.  “Hole 4 will be the first hole.  That way, the routing is going to be a little bit different.  Geoff is going to have intimate knowledge of this course.  He has his fingerprints all over it.  He knows it better than anybody is going to know it.  That’s something we’re going to have to deal with.’’

Ogilvy downplays his apparent advantage.

“This may be a little advantage pre-tournament,’’ he said, “but by the time we get to Thursday morning (of tournament week) it will be pretty nullified. Touring professionals can learn a course really quickly. By the time we tee off I imagine the U.S. team will have it pretty well worked out.’’

HERE AND THERE: Next week’s PGA Championship at North Carolina’s Quail Hollow almost had a Chicago connected player in the field.  Andy Svoboda, head professional at Butler National, and Dakun Chang, the Illinois PGA Player of the Year in 2018 when he worked at Twin Orchard, tied for 20th in last week’s PGA Professional Championship in Florida but were eliminated in a four-for-one playoff for the final spot at Quail Hollow. The top 20 in the Profesional Championship earned spots at Quail Hollow.

The IPGA Match Player Championship,  first of the Illinois Section’s four major events, concludes its four-day run on Thursday at Butterfield, in Oak Brook.

Illinois’ rivals in the May 12-14 regional at Atkins Golf Club in Urbana include two teams ranked ahead of the No. 14 Illini nationally – No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 10 North Carolina.  Marquette and Illinois State are also in the 14-team field that sends the top five teams to the NCAA finals May 23-28 at Omni LaCosta in California.

The fifth annual Jackson T. Stephens Cup will be played at Shoreacres, in Lake Bluff, Sept. 15-17.  The event, named after a former chairman of Georgia’s Augusta National, features 12 men’s and women’s collegiate teams plus individuals from the U.S. Military Service Academies and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Northwestern will have teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

Illinois senior Jackson Buchanan has been named the winner of  the Byron Nelson Award, which cites academic and community excellence in addition to golf performance. Buchanan shot a 5-under-par 67 on Monday and shared low Wheaton’s Tee-K Kelly and Aurora’s Bryce Emory in a U.S. Open local qualifier at Briar Ridge in Schererville, Ind.

 

 

 

 

Illini golfers switch attention to hosting an NCAA regional

 

Coach Mike Small’s University of Illinois men’s team, scheduled to host one of six NCAA regional tournaments, will find out the other schools in the field on Wednesday’s Selection Show on The Golf Channel.

The Illini, ranked No. 13 in the collegiate polls, will join other hopefuls for the NCAA finals from May 12-14 at Atkins Golf Club in Urbana.

Illinois will be going into another NCAA appearance coming off a rare season in which they did not rule the Big Ten tournament. Small’s teams had won 13 of the previous 15 league titles but came up short last weekend at Baltimore Country Club, losing by a stroke to UCLA.

The Illini had a six-stroke lead entering Sunday’s final round and were eight ahead of UCLA.

“We just didn’t grab ahold of it and close it out, and that’s what happens sometimes,’’ said Small. “Come-from-behind wins happen frequently in college golf, especially with tough conditions coupled with young teams.  Strong teams hold their ground at the end. We didn’t, and UCLA took advantage of it. When adversity hit we didn’t hold our ground with our short games and our putters.’’

Freshman Jake Birdwell,playing in the last group of the day in his first tournament of the season in the Illini scoring lineup, gave his team a chance.  He made birdie on the 17th hole to keep Illinois’ title hopes alive and his birdie try on the final hole would have put the Illini in a tie for the lead.  That putt missed to the left, leaving the Illini in the runner-up spot.

Birdwell, though, tied for third as an individual with a 3-under-par 207 for 54 holes. The Illini have advanced to the NCAA finals 17 times in Small’s 25 seasons as head coach  and won eight regional titles in the last 11 years.

The Illinois women’s team is also in NCAA regional play and is the No. 8 seed in the Ohio State Regional, which runs May 13-17.  The Northwestern women are the No. 2 seed in the Oklahoma Regional.

HERE AND THERE: A day after the Big Ten tourney ended Mike Small was competing in the first event of the new Illinois PGA Open Series at White Eagle, in Naperville.  Starting in the last group off the tee, he finished in an eight-way tie for third place.  Anthony Albano, of Park Ridge, was the only player under par among the 96 competitors, making five birdies en route to a 1-under 71.  Joey Ranieri, of Zionsville, Ind., was one stroke back.

Matthew Rion, of Vernon Hills;  Paul Schlimm, of Chicago; and Callan Fahey of Wheaton were among the survivors of the first of three U.S. Open local qualifiers conducted by the Chicago District Golf Assn.  The other two are May 5, at Briar Ridge in Schererville, Ind., and May 12 at Illini Country Club in Springfield. Survivors of the locals advance to sectional play.

Two Northwestern alums, David Lipsky and Dylan Wu, tied for fourth in last week’s PGA Tour stop – the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.  They were three strokes behind winners Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin and three ahead of the celebrity pairing of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

 

GOLF TRAVEL NOTES: PGA Tour returns to Myrtle Beach

The Dunes Club will welcome the PGA Tour for the second straight year. (Joy Sarver Photos)

 

 

Make no doubt about it.  With its beaches, lodging options, golf courses and wide variety of other attractions Myrtle Beach, S.C., is – at least arguably – the top tourist destination in the Carolinas.

For a week in May, however, it’ll be a bit more than that.  It’ll be the site of a PGA Tour event in one of that circuit’s most important months of the year.  The PGA Championship, at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., comes up a week after the ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic, which is May 8-11.

The PGA Championship is the second of the four major golf championships of 2025.  The ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic is in only its second staging, but the first was a success and the second has a new title sponsor.  It’ll again be played at the Dunes Club, a layout that has thrived on Atlantic Beach since 1939.

Myrtle Beach’s tournament won’t have all the golf stars that will be at Quail Hollow a week later, but it’ll have a tournament well worth watching again.  Chris Gotterup won the initial playing in 2024 with a 22-under-par performance.

The lead-in has been innovative.  The Q at Myrtle Beach was introduced before the first staging and was honored as the PGA Tour’s Best In-Class Element award-winner for 2024.  The Q features 16 players – eight aspiring pros and eight influential content creators in an 18-hole stroke play competition.  It was held on March 3 at TPC Myrtle Beach but the winner will be revealed on YouTube on May 5.

That player’s identity has created pre-tourney interest, as he will get a spot in the Classic field. Last year’s winner – pro golfer Matt Atkins – made the cut in the tournament proper and finished tied for 46th place.

KENTUCKY GOLF TRAIL – This new  venture has a new logo and is also drawing interest with one of its courses, Woodford Club in Versailles, hosting a significant tournament.  The Bluegrass Women’s Senior Amateur Championship will be played there May 5-8.

The Kentucky Golf Trail, organized by veteran professional Bob Baldassari, has six courses – Woodford, Bardstown Country Club, Gibson Bay, Cherry Blossom, Greenbrier and GlenOaks.

In addition to golf, the tour participants can visit Bourbon distillerys and get behind-the-scenes looks at Kentucky’s rich history of horse racing with tours of the state’s horse farms.

Shallow Creek, the new 18-holer in The Villages, has wide fairways and a wide variety of challenges.

A REAL GOLF MECCA:  The numbers don’t lie.  The Villages, in Florida, can make a case for being “the single largest golf community in the world.’’

That claim was made after the area’s courses reported 3.4 million rounds were played in 2023.  That number tailed off to 2.983 million in 2024, but that didn’t reflect a reduction in golf enthusiasm.  Every course had to be closed for at least two weeks last year because of weather-related problems.

Villages courses reported 747 holes of golf were available in 2023.  Now the number is 792.  It doesn’t seem like the community needs more courses, but we heard of a new 18-hole opening and had to check it out.

Shallow Creek, the 14th championship course in the area, was a lot of fun to play. Kenny Ezell, The Villages course architect with the Clifton, Ezell and Clifton Golf Design Group, created a par-70 layout with six par-3s and four par-5s.  It has TifTuf fairways and TifEagle greens. The Villages High School borders the layout, which will be the home course for the school’s boys and girls teams. Shallow Creek also features the Boosters Bar & Grill. It has 50 TVs and a menu particularly notable for its extensive hot dog options.

So, now The Villages course count is 46 executive layouts and 14 championship 18-holers – and more are coming. The Woodlands, an 18-holer, and Meadow View, which will have 27 holes, are in various stages of development. And that doesn’t count practice facilities and putting courses.  The Villages has those, too.

Ezell offered this explanation for the extraordinarily rapid growth of golf in The Villages Magazine:  “We are going to try to introduce the game to any and everybody that wants to experience the game of a lifetime and what has made The Villages such a hub for golf.’’

Sand Creek, French Lick’s new short course, was in the final stages of construction in our most recent visit.

COMING SOON:  The French Lick Resort, in Indiana, was among the first places in the U.S. to have a short course.  There was one on the grounds in the early 1900s, and now there’ll be another one.  Sand Creek, with nine holes measuring between 35 and 90 yards, is to open on May 1.

French Lick hosted major championships for both the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour  in its early years.  It returned with the opening of the Pete Dye Course and renovation of the Donald Ross Course. Now the resort is the host for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

Sand Creek, though, will be different than the big layouts and likely will stay open longer than those courses.  It’ll have lights for night play and also included piped-in music. Sand Creek will include miniature versions of Dye’s famous “Volcanic’’ bunkers and challenging greens reminiscent of those on the Ross course.

HERE AND THERE: Barely a year after Pinehurst opened its No. 10 course the North Carolina resort is planning for a No. 11.  Pinehurst Sandmines was the site for the Tom Doak-designed No. 10 and No. 11, being created by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, will be nearby.  It’s scheduled to open in 2027.

Myrtle Beach’s World Amateur Handicap Championship has drawn over 3,000 players frequently.  Now the field will be limited to that number when it’s played Aug. 25-29.  Nearly 1,000 are already in the field through Past Participation Registration.

Dunedin  Golf Course, in Florida, has completed a $6 million restoration of its Donald Ross-designed course.  The project was directed by architect Chris Spencer.

The Heritage Golf Group has acquired The Club at Cheval in Tampa Bay, FL.  It’s Heritage’s 42nd course nationwide and ninth in Florida.

 

 

Illinois PGA’s new Open Series will be something unique

 

Last year the Illinois PGA’s newest big thing was the addition of a season-long team competition that was  well received by section members.  This year’s newest big thing is more far-reaching.

The Illinois PGA Open Series tees off on Monday at White Eagle, in Naperville. That’ll be the first of six one-day tournaments that are open to IPGA professionals (members and associates), amateurs with a handicap index under 10.0 and other professionals that are at least 18 years old.  Players under 18 may be accepted, too, but must submit a playing resume first.

It’s a unique format that has been long in the planning stages.

“We have been talking internally, and branching out to more of our staff,’’ said Andy Mickelson, the IPGA tournament chairman, director of golf at Mistwood in Romeville and the section vice president.  “We went to the CDGA (Chicago District Golf Association) to get their blessing.  It’ll be good for tournament golf in Illinois. We think it’ll be a big hit.’’

The Series won’t conflict with the IPGA stroke play events.  Handicaps won’t be used in the competition and there’ll be sponsors for each event.  The entry target for each event is 90 players.

In addition to club pros the  White Eagle event includes Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach; Vince India, a two-time Illinois Open champion who has been a regular on the Korn Ferry Tour; and Sarah Arnold, a two-time champion in the Illinois Women’s State Amateur.

Mickelson expects prize money for the pros will probably be in the “low four figures for the winner.’’ Amateur prizes will be in the form of gift cards. Entry fee in the first event was $225. Some of Chicago’s top courses will be hosting Series events.  Flossmoor will host on May 21, Hinsdale  on June 9, Elgin on July 14, Aurora on July 28  and Bill Valley on Oct. 8.

Players can walk or ride in the events. They’ll be assigned to play separate tees based on age and/or gender.

HERE AND THERE: Chicago products Nick Hardy and Doug Ghim get back in action on the PGA Tour on Thursday in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.  Hardy and Davis Riley won the circuit’s lone team event in 2023 and will play together again.  Ghim’s partner is Johan Kim. Luke Donald is paired with Camilo Villegas and Illinois alum Thomas Detry with Robert McIntyre.

Illinois’ second-oldest golf course, Rock Island Arsenal, will re-open as a nine holer after being closed since 2018.

Chicago’s first U.S. Open local qualifier is today at Stonewall Orchard. The first U.S. Senior Open qualifier is Tuesday (APRIL 29) at Kankakee Elks.

Vernon Hills will hold the grand opening of its new short game facility –The Back Nine at the Muny—on Tuesday.

The University of Illinois men’s team, coming off a third-place finish in the Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue, will seek its 14th Big Ten title in 16 years when the three-day league tourney tees off Friday at Baltimore Country Club.

Jay Sigel, one of the world’s best amateurs in the post World War II era, has passed away at age 81, a victim of pancreatic cancer.  Sigel won one of his most notable titles in 1984 at North Shore Country Club when he defeated Chris Perry 8 and 7 in the final of the U.S. Amateur. That made Sigel the eighth player to win the U.S. Amateur in back-to-back years.

Tickets to the LIV Golf League’s Chicago tourney Aug. 8-10 at Bolingbrook Golf Club are now on sale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eagle Ridge bolsters its golf instruction program

 

Galena’s Eagle Ridge, long been Illinois’ premier golf resort, has brought in a new instructor who knows the area well.

Scott Szbowicz went to Eagle Ridge  on his honeymoon 41 years ago.   Szybowicz and his wife, Jane, have been squeezing in regular visits to Eagle Ridge during his 37 years as a PGA member. Now the connection with the resort is getting more serious.

Szybowicz is in the process of transitioning his golf instruction efforts to Eagle Ridge, and that’ll be a big boost to the pro shop operation directed by John Schlaman.

“John’s excited about the quality of the facility that Eagle Ridge is,’’ said Szybowicz.  “It needs an instruction program, so this is such a natural fit. That’s my function – to develop programs. For now I’ll have the whole load.  It’ll be a very busy summer.’’

Schlaman started his career as an assistant professional at Eagle Ridge and moved up to the head job of the resort’s South Course before leaving for 14 years to direct the operation at Prairie Landing, in West Chicago. He eventually returned to Galena as a resident, and in 2022 was named the resort’s director of golf.

Scott Szybowicz is moving his instruction base to Galena.

Szybowicz is going in a similar direction. He taught golf at a variety of locations in the Chicago area and is now completing a corporate project that isn’t in the golf industry while planning the move to Galena. He’ll  be playing a major role in developing an instruction program there.

“It’ll be part-time initially,’’ said Szybowicz.  “I’ll be there most weekends and holidays and make myself as accessible as I can.’’

Eagle Ridge is a 63-hole facility that has made major upgrades since Mark Klausner took over ownership of the resort in 2018.

Szybowicz was a PGA golf coach and golf instructor at Antioch Golf Club; Prestwick, in Frankfort; Thorngate (formerly in Deerfield) and Mission Hills, in Northbrook. He also taught at the Chicago Athletic Association, the Saddle & Cycle Club and Chicago’s Diversey Range while running his own golf school.

Currently a Volo resident, Szybowicz and his wife plan to live full-time in Galena.

“It’s in a setting that doesn’t look like Illinois,’’ said Szybowicz.  “It looks like Ireland.  We’ve always loved it and have friends who moved there.’’

Eagle Ridge will soon be a hopping place for golfers. Only the South Course is open now, but The General opens on Friday (APRIL 18), the North on April 25 and the nine-hole East on May 2.

HERE AND THERE: Dan Roan, long-time TV sports anchor at WGN, will be the new host of Dave Lockhart’s Golf360 TV show. The show begins its 10th season in June on Marquee Sports Network.

Canyata, an exclusive golf retreat in downstate Marshall since 2005, has been acquired by Escalante Golf of Fort Worth, TX. Escalante is a boutique owner and operator of luxury golf courses in 17 states.  Canyata has a new general manager, Brent Allen, and a new superintendent, Brock Burton.  It’ll open for members’ play in May.

The major renovation at Orchard Valley, in Aurora, is underway but the driving range remains open.  The $8.8 million project is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2026.

Eight stations have been added to the range at Mistwood, in Romeoville. Now all four teaching bays can be used at the same time.

Vernon Hills golf course has announced a new partnership with the Chicago School of Golf to bring top tier instruction and expanded player development programs to golfers of all ages and skill levels.

Birdies for Charity, the charity arm of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, IL., has launched its 32nd season.  It’ll be accepting new charities through May 30.

 

 

Golf has moved into the McIlroy Era now

 

The 89th Masters golf tournament was followed by people world-wide, golfers or not.  It’s not unusual for publishers to use that big event to introduce their newest books, and – since I dabble with book reviews periodically – it’s not unusual for those publishers to send me their books for review purposes.

The week before the Masters teed off at Georgia’s Augusta National I received a copy of “Together We Roared,’’ an interesting  account of the glory days of Tiger Woods and his long-time caddie, Steve Williams. It was written in third person but Williams was a co-author with Evin Priest (William Morrow, an imprint of Harper/Collins Publishers). It was a nice rehash of many of the great moments that Woods provided us.

Those days, though, are gone.  Woods, 49, hasn’t won a tournament since 2019 – the year he captured his last Masters and the 82nd and last win in a PGA Tour event.  He didn’t even attend this year’s Masters, not even the past champions dinner, while recovering from a torn Achilles that required surgery in March.

Yes, the Woods Era is over.  It probably would have ended much sooner, but there was no player to replace him.  Now there is.

Rory McIlroy didn’t just win the Masters on Sunday.  He became the first golfer since Woods to complete the career Grand Slam.  Only five had done it before McIlroy – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods.

Winning titles in the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and The (British) Open is no small feat, and McIlroy’s emotional reaction, dropping to his knees and sobbing uncontrollably after the last putt dropped, was a fitting climax to an historic day in sports.

I had a personal reason for being delighted by the result.  Picking the winner in the Masters is an annual rite of spring for golf columnists.  I made my first pick in 1986 – the first year I covered the Masters in person.  My Masters picks were made for publication every year since then, but tabbing McIlroy to win  last week in the Daily Herald was only my third  winner.  The others were Fred Couples in 1992 and Scottie Scheffler in 2022.

McIlroy may never match Woods’ records, but he did surpass the drama on Sunday in my memory book.

There are four most memorable Masters in my years.  The first was in 1975, when Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf  and Nicklaus were paired as a threesome in the final round.  It came down to the final hole and final putts by each, Nicklaus knocking his in last for the victory. Lots of drama that day.

Even more came in 1986, my first Masters on site at Augusta National.  Nicklaus won his record sixth title that year thanks to a heart-pounding final round.  That was the most memorable day writing-wise in my professional career.  And, then there was 1987.   A year after Nicklaus’ last win the Masters was decided in a playoff with relative unknown Larry Mize beating legends Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in sudden death.

And now for McIlroy’s win.  “His Era’’ may not last as long as the Nicklaus and Woods reigns.  Scheffler is fine player, though not as charismatic as the others.

Still, professional golf needed a day with all the excitement that McIlroy’s win provided.  The sport that’s been struggling through conflicts between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Players from both circuits play together in the Masters, but in very few other events.  Golf needs more such tournaments.  This year’s Masters underscored that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

McIlroy’s win puts this year’s Masters in a class by itself

 

The 89th Masters golf tournament was followed by people world-wide, golfers or not.  It’s not unusual for publishers to use that big event to introduce their newest books, and – since I dabble with book reviews periodically – it’s not unusual for those publishers to send me their books for review purposes.

The week before the Masters teed off at Georgia’s Augusta National I received a copy of “Together We Roared,’’ an insiteful  account of the glory days of Tiger Woods and his long-time caddie, Steve Williams. It was written in third person but Williams was a co-author with Evin Priest (William Morrow, an imprint of Harper/Collins Publishers).

After thoroughly watching this year’s Masters I couldn’t help but wonder, did anyone miss Tiger Woods?   I didn’t – at least not during the pulsating four days of competition and the dramatic finish when Rory McIlroy won the title in a sudden death player to become the sixth player in history to complete a career Grand Slam.  The means wins in golf’s four major events – the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The (British) Open.

An extraordinary accomplishment for McIlroy, to be sure.  He joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods in completing the career Grand Slam.

I had one reason for being delighted by the result.  Picking the winner in the Masters is an annual rite of spring for golf columnists and I made my first pick in 1986 – the first year I covered the Masters in person. Picking the winners of golf tournaments is difficult, much harder than forecasting team champions in various sports.

My Masters picks were made for publication every year since then, but tabbing McIlroy to win this one last week in the Daily Herald was only my third such successful pick.  The others were Fred Couples in 1992 and Scottie Scheffler in 2022.

Sunday’s wrapup to this year’s Masters was the most dramatic of my years as an official Masters watcher. I can’t help but compare the others, which date back to 1968.

There are four most memorable Masters in my years.  The first was in 1975, when Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Nicklaus were paired as a threesome in the final round.  It came down to the final hole and final putts by each, Nicklaus knocking his in last for the victory. Lots of drama that day.

Even more came in 1986, my first Masters on site at Augusta National.  Nicklaus won his record sixth title that year thanks to a heart-pounding final round.  I’ve long felt that was the most memorable event writing-wise in my professional career.  But, then there was 1987.   A year after Nicklaus’ last win the Masters was decided in a playoff with Larry Mize beating the much more famous Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in sudden death.

And now for McIlroy’s win.  The final scene with him on hands and knees sobbing uncontrollably on the green after his last putt dropped put everything in perspective.  Winning a Grand Slam merits such a reaction, and McIlroy’s was as genuine as it gets.

As for Woods, he didn’t attend this Masters.  He wasn’t even at the past champions dinner on Tuesday night while recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in March. I suspect he’ll eventually play some events on PGA Tour Champions, but it’s time to declare an end to the Woods Era and look ahead to what comes next in a sport that’s been struggling through conflicts between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

Players from both circuits play together in the Masters, but in very few other events.  Golf needs more such tournaments.  This year’s Masters underscored that.