Hopefully the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship, which teed off on Thursday at Olympia Fields, won’t have the problems that affected one of the biggest competitions for local players this week. Mike Small, the men’s coach at the University of Illinois, won the Illinois PGA Professional Championship for the 14th time and became the winningest PGA…
Author: lenz
PGA Tour returns to Olympia Fields but will miss Nick Hardy
The BMW Championship returns to Olympia Fields this week, but without a local hopeful. University of Illinois alums Nick Hardy and Thomas Detry didn’t survive the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, though Hardy made a great run at it. Hardy was on the bubble for advancement entering the St. Jude Classic in…
Hardy will make his debut in a much different FedEx Cup Playoffs
The FedEx Cup Playoffs, which begin on Thursday at TPC Southwind in Tennessee, were designed to give the PGA Tour a grand climax to its season. Changes in the postseason format and the arrival of the LIV Golf Tour have changed that, however. In the past the FedEx Playoffs started with 120 players. This…
Illinois Open has a crowded field at Flossmoor
The men’s 74th Illinois Open teed off on Monday with the potential of having too many players at Flossmoor Golf Club. State-wide qualifying rounds largely determine the field in the Illinois Open. There are seven of those and one couldn’t be completed because of rain delays. With rescheduling deemed impossible, the Illinois PGA opted…
Everything looks new at Eagle Ridge — with one exception
GALENA, Illinois – Mark Klausner changed most everything since taking over ownership of the Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa four years ago – with one notable exception. We’ll get to that one later. Klausner hosted the grand opening of his pride and joy, the Stonedrift Spa, earlier this year and it is something to…
New nine-hole short course will be Boyne’s next new attraction
HARBOR SPRINGS, Michigan – Boyne Golf has a lot to celebrate these days. Boyne Mountain, the first of the group’s three Michigan destinations to open, is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The Highlands, a few miles down the road, is celebrating its 60th and long-time senior vice president of golf operations Bernie Friedrich has been named…
Illini star, in Korn Ferry stop at the Glen Club, is ready for PGA
The Korn Ferry Tour, which visits the Chicago area for the fifth straight year this week, provides a path for young golf stars to get to the PGA Tour. Chicago’s stop on the circuit, the NV5 Invitational, has one player – and one with Illinois connections to boot – who has, for all intents, earned…
JDC win started Harman on his way to capturing the British Open
The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, is known for its first-time winners. It’s had 23 of those in its 52-year history, and Brian Harman was one of them. Harman, who won the British Open by a whopping six-stroke margin on Sunday, made the JDC his first victory in 2014 at TPC…
This amateur golf doubleheader is not one to miss
Rarely has Illinois been treated to a golf tournament doubleheader as attractive as the one on tap for this week – and it’s all about the amateurs. The Women’s Western Amateur has been played without interruption since 1901, and the 123rd staging begins on Tuesday at White Eagle, in Naperville. The always popular Illinois…
These non-golf Wisconsin attractions can be overwhelming
SPRING GREEN, Wisconsin – This was one of those odd stops where we stayed at a golf resort — and it looked like a pretty good one — but didn’t hit a shot. House on the Rock has 27 holes designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., but we were there to see a couple of…