Author: lenz

New clubhouse will also bring a stunning opening tee shot at Cherokee Valley

 

The Blue Ridge Mountains create a stunning backdrop for players at Cherokee Valley.

TRAVELER’S REST, South Carolina – Clubs — at least the lucky ones– are sometimes able to build nice, new clubhouses even in these difficult financial times.  Cherokee Valley, a 28-year old public facility 25 miles from the city of  Greenville, is one of those but there’s more to the story.

Owner Matt Jennings wanted to add a premier dining experience when he and his uncle, Ted Levine,  bought the club in 2017. They wanted a place where families, couples, individuals, business people and – of course – golfers could share a sense of community.

By November Cherokee Valley will have all of that, but it isn’t a case of a new clubhouse replacing an old one. The old clubhouse will revert back to its original use – as an events center.  The focus of the new one will be the Core 450 Restaurant, and executive chef Todd Warden is already on board to oversee the dining operation. The current golf shop will be moved to the first floor of the new building.

Making this dramatic move, however, also will necessitate a reconfiguration of the golf course – a beautiful one already, and one of the best public venues we’ve ever visited.  P.B. Dye, one of the sons of the late, great golf architecture couple of Pete and Alice Dye, was the designer.

The new clubhouse, under construction, will feature the Core 450 Restaurant and views of ninth and 18th greens.

 

For P.B., it’s more than just another credit on his resume.  He used the par-3 eighth hole, which has a 70-foot downhill drop and Glassy Mountain as a backdrop, as the site for his wedding.  P.B. and wife Jean were married on that spot shortly before Cherokee Valley opened in 1992.

With the creation of Core 450 Dye had to make changes to his original layout, one of which should stir some controversy..

The new opening hole will get players’ attention immediately.  It’s a sturdy par-4, 461 yards from the back tees, with a significant forced carry over water on the opening tee shot. In the original layout it was No. 3. The par-4 second hole becomes No. 18, which enhances viewing for those on hand at Core 450. Those viewers will be able to see the action at both the Nos. 9 and 18 holes.

In the routing  No. 1 is No. 17 and No. 2 was No. 18 The downhill par-4 third hole will be reverted to the first hole. The new configuration will create a tough finishing stretch featuring a par-5 and two lengthy par-4s in the last three holes.  They’ll measure a combined 1,404 total yards from the back tees and include the third and fifth hardest holes on the course.

While the other changes are significant, the new No. 1 will be felt the most.  Jennings says the new rotation will be a big hit with Cherokee’s players, both members and visitors alike.

“Golfers are going to love it,’’ said Jennings.  “We’ve received great feedback on the configuration. Low handicappers have readily accepted the challenging of facing two of the toughest holes on the course right at the start.’’

With a waterfall as part of the attraction, No. 5 is the signature holes at Cherokee Valley.

Bottom line is that Cherokee Valley isn’t your typical golf club.  It’s a family club in a tight-knit community, but it also has cottages – located just a short walk from the pro shop — that make it ideal for stay-and-play group outings. There’s a swimming pool as well as tennis and pickleball courts and its golf practice area is extraordinary.

While the golf carts are top-notch, the 20 Finn Cycles – motorized “golf scooters’’ – are a fun option for on-course transportation.

Regardless of the order of the holes Cherokee Valley has a great mix of challenges.  The elevation changes are dramatic in many places but the course is no killer, either.  It measures 6,728 yards from the tips with a rating of 71.4 and slope of 134.  It’s enjoyable for players of all ability levels. The course has 11 lakes and 50 strategically-placed bunkers and the current No. 5, which features a waterfall, is the designated signature hole.

These Cottages at Cherokee Valley offer visitors most comfortable lodging just a short walk from the pro shop.

`Dirty Dancing’ helped make Bald Mountain a special course

The lower green is for Bald Mountain’s No.15 and the upper one for No. 16, a site for a famous movie.

LAKE LURE, North Carolina – The Bald Mountain course at Rumbling Bald Resort hasn’t changed much since W.B. Lewis designed it in 1968.

“Actually, it hasn’t changed at all,’’ said Adam Bowles, who has headed the golf operation at the resort the last seven years. “They put in new bentgrass greens in about 2000, and the trees have grown.  That’s about it.’’

Bald Mountain, though, has a unique attraction. If you hit the green on the No. 16 hole you have – almost literally – reached “the dance floor.’’  That green was a scene in the movie “Dirty Dancing.’’ There’s a sign behind it to designate its place in the movie that has had a steady stream of followers for over 30 years.  It was released internationally in 1987.

“Everyone wants to take a picture from behind the green,’’ said Bowles.  “It’s incredible to me how many people are still attached to that movie. It has a strange attraction.  It’s funny how some movies have a cult following.’’

“Dirty Dancing,’’ which starred Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, certainly has that.  Lake Lure holds an annual Dirty Dancing Festival in September, though it won’t be held this year because of pandemic concerns.

Adam Bowles is amazed how the movie `Dirty Dancing’  has impacted one course’s popularity.

“It’s a really big deal,’’ said Bowles.  “You wouldn’t believe how many people flock to this area.  A lot of places that were in that movie have since burned down, and there’s not much remaining.  It’s really the only place where people who love that movie can go where it was made.  Pretty bizarre to me.’’

No. 16 is a pretty hole – a 160-yard par-3 over water from the back tees.  It follows a striking par-5 that is pretty special, too.  It’s downhill from tee to green with a covered bridge used to get golfers from the fairway to the putting surface. The green is blocked by a small, but troublesome, creek.

There’s some other interesting holes at Bald Mountain as well. Course designer Lewis was a protégé of George Cobb, best known for creating the par-3 course at Augusta National.

“We’ve called 16  our signature hole because there’s so much history involved,’’ said Bowles, “but players have developed a love-hate relationship about No. 15.’’  That’s the longest hole on the course at 509 yards from the back tees.

The downhill par-5 fifteenth is protected by this hazard, making it Bald Mountain’s toughest hole.

Bald Mountain, a par-72, measures only 6,233 yards from the tips, but it’s also unusual for having five par-3s and five par-5s. It’s a short, sporty layout with lots of doglegs and elevation changes. There’s a lot of steep, windy roads leading into the resort, and that suggests the elevation changes on the layout are more pronounced than they really are. Bowles says the elevation is 1,500 feet, but that’s enough to make it interesting for a wide variety of players.  The Carolina Golf Association plays between six and eight events there each year and junior events are also in abundance.

The course has been owned by its homeowners since 1992, and Bowles envisions the day when the resort connection may be dropped.

“It’ll be more attached to the community, which is really what it is – more a homeowners course,’’ he said.

Bald Mountain will soon have a partner course again.  Apply Valley, which was acquired by the resort in 1986, will re-open to the public on Aug. 24.  It has been closed since June to allow for the replacement of bentgrass by Champion Bermuda. Apple Valley was designed by Pinehurst, N.C. architect Dan Maples.  He the son of Ellis Maples, an architectural icon.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to do something in a year we didn’t expect to do anything,’’ said Bowles.  “It was a tough financial decision, but it was the smartest thing to do. We’ll be providing something for people to look forward to.”

 

 

 

Illinois Open, PGA run back-to-back this week

 

Most golf tournaments didn’t allow spectators this year, but they turned out for the Illinois Open at White Eagle. (Rory Spears Photo)

The biggest tournament for Illinois residents, the 71st Illinois Open, concludes today at White Eagle in Naperville.   A day later the PGA Tour’s major championships for 2020, the PGA Championship, tees off at Harding Park in San Francisco.

Before August is over the PGA Tour will have completed its FedEx Cup Playoffs, which conclude the 2019-20 season, but this year’s U.S. Open and Masters still won’t have been played.  The Open was postponed until September and the Masters to November.

Locally, the Illinois PGA didn’t have a tournament until July due to pandemic concerns.  Now its second biggest of the section’s four major tournaments, the IPGA Championship, falls just three weeks after the Illinois Open.

Given all the postponements and cancelations caused by pandemic concerns, tournament pileups like this were inevitable. Big events for both pros and amateurs, local and national, will come fast and furious now and they’ll run all the way into December.  The Ladies PGA Tour has its two biggest events – the U.S. Women’s Open and Tour Championship – scheduled on back-to-back weeks that month.

Here’s some things to keep in mind from the standpoint of Illinois players while these tournaments seemingly run almost together:

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP:  Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman has handled the scheduling pileups better than most of his tour colleagues.  With two runner-up finishes and four top 10s, Streelman could contend for his first major title in this week’s PGA Championship.  He’s also No. 19 in the FedEx standings, so he’s in good position to stay in the top 30 and make it all the way to the Tour Championship, which concludes on Sept. 7. The three playoff tournaments are huge money events, and Streelman looks ready to cash in big-time. One of them is the $9.5 million BMW Championship, at Olympia Fields Country Club August 27-30.

PGA TOUR: Doug Ghim, the Arlington Heights product in his rookie season on golf’s biggest stage, has been struggling.  He’s survived only five of 15 cuts but things are looking up.  Though he didn’t qualify for the PGA Championship Ghim cashed the last two weeks in tour stops – a tie for 18th (his best showing of the season) at the 3M Championship in Minnesota and a tie for 48th in last week’s Barracuda Championship in California.

KORN FERRY TOUR:  PGA Tour cards won’t be awarded until the end of the 2021 season but Northwestern alums Dylan Wu (4) and David Lipsky (16) and Illinois product Nick Hardy (19) are all in the coveted Top 25 spots in the rankings now, and in position to move up to the premier circuit if they can stay there.  The Korn Ferry has two Illinois stops coming up next month – the Lincoln Land Championship at Panther Creek in Springfield Sept. 3-6 and the Evans Scholars Invitational at Chicago Highlands in Westchester Sept. 10-13.

ILLINOIS OPEN:  Whoever wins the title today didn’t have to beat the defending champion. Bolingbrook’s David Cooke, a two-time winner, had to call off his title defense when Chesson Hadley made the 36-hole cut (and finished in a tie for 17th) at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship on Sunday.  Cooke is Hadley’s caddie now.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS: The 50-and-over circuit finally re-started its season last week with The Ally Championship in Michigan.  Jeff Sluman, the only Chicago player on the circuit, withdrew after a 74-72 start.

WOMEN: Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol suffered a similar fate as Sluman when the LPGA re-started its season with the Drive On Championship in Ohio.  Szokol shot 80-74 and missed the cut.

 

 

 

Defending champ Cooke has a dilemma going into the Illinois Open

David Cooke won the Illinois Open as an amateur in 2015 and last year as a professional. He may well have problems just making his first-round tee time to open his title defense when the 71st playing of the tourney tees off on Monday at White Eagle Club in Naperville.

Cooke’s win last year was special.  After holding off Northbrook’s Nick Hardy – now a member of the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour, for the title at The Glen Club in Glenview – Cooke was off to his wedding in North Carolina and then what he hoped would be the start of a career as a touring pro in Europe.

The wedding went off fine, the European venture not so much.  Cooke, who grew up in Bolingbrook and  starred in college at North Carolina State, missed the cut in the German Open (won by Paul Casey), the KLM Open (won by Sergio Garcia) and the Spanish Open (won by Jon Rahm).  Then he didn’t play well in the European Tour qualifying school.

“I loved Europe but played terrible, so I didn’t pursue it,’’ said Cooke, who returned to Chicago and  planned to enter qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour.  It was canceled because of pandemic concerns, but Cooke proved he can still play.  He finished second in an event on the Tour Red mini-tour at Flossmoor Country Club and shot a course record 64 in an informal round with Andy Krajewski, his long-time swing instructor, at Naperville Country Club.

A married man needs a job, though, and Cooke didn’t have a tour to play on so he did the next best thing.  He became a caddie.

He started on the Korn Ferry Tour and Daved Kocher, one of his first players, won a tournament in Mexico on March 1 – the circuit’s last event before all the golf tours were shut down for three months because of the coronavirus issue.  That immediate success led to Cooke getting work with Chesson Hadley on the PGA Tour.

Cooke carried for Hadley in the 3M Open last week in Minnesota and is on his bag again this week in the Barracuda Championship in California.

“I love caddying, and I’m getting exposure to the PGA Tour,’’ said Cooke.  “If I can get a full-time job I’m going to do it. I’ve got to stick with a full-time thing.’’

Cooke left his clubs in Chicago, and — if Hadley survives the 36-hole cut on Friday  — he’ll have a tough time getting back for the Illinois Open since the Barracuda Championship concludes on Sunday. Cooke will try, though.

“I love the Illinois Open, but there aren’t enough tournaments like that,’’ said Cooke. Winning the Illinois Open – even winning it twice – doesn’t get Cooke into any other professional events and this week’s Illinois Open isn’t like the won he won last year. Because of pandemic concerns the field for the finals was cut from 264 to 156 and White Eagle is the new host site instead of The Glen.

 

STATE OF MIND: The Wisconsin State Golf Association allowed out-of-state residents to compete in its State Amateur this week, and Illinois players took full advantage since the Chicago District Golf Association had previously canceled its own state championship over pandemic concerns.

About 20 Illinois players were among the 156 to tee off Monday at Milwaukee Country Club.  They were allowed in the Wisconsin event if they were members of clubs in the Badger state and promised they wouldn’t play in a corresponding championship in another state.

Wisconsin, though, lost some players, too.  Three of that state’s best amateurs opted for the Western Amateur, being contested at Crooked Stick in Indiana.  That trio includes three top college players – Hunter Eichorn (Marquette), Piercen Hunt (Illinois) and Harrison Ott (Vanderbilt).  Eichorn was the Wisconsin Amateur champion last year and Ott won the title in 2018 .

The Wisconsin Amateur ends on Thursday and the Western Am, with only two players from Illinois among its starters, runs through Saturday.  The Western is a national championship put on by the Chicago area-based Western Golf Association.

CDGA OPENER: The 107th tournament season of the Chicago District Golf Association finally got started on Monday with the CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe.  The tourney concludes on Wednesday (today).  The bulk of the CDGA season — including the State Amateur and CDGA Amateur — was wiped out by pandemic concerns.

GOLF TRAVEL NOTEBOOK: Bath Course coming to Blackwolf Run

 

Here’s a sneak preview of the new 10-hole 1,135-yard Short Course at Forest Dunes, in Roscommon, Mich. Designed by Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns, it’s scheduled to open on Aug. 1 and we’ll be among its first visitors.

Business is reportedly down aty America’s golf destinations, but you certainly can’t blame the operators of those places for that. They have taken aggressive measures to entice golfers back, even in these troublesome pandemic times.

Most notable recent example of that comes from Kohler, Wis., with an announcement only a few days after the Ryder Cup matches were called off there for 2020 and pushed back to 2021 on the fearsome Whistling Straits course.

Blackwolf Run, another Kohler facility that has 36 holes and has hosted major championships on the LPGA Tour, will offer The Baths of Blackwolf Run, a 10-hole par-3 course with a two-acre putting course, food and beverage service and special event capability. It’s scheduled to open in June of 2021, well ahead of the rescheduled Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.

Chris Lutzke, a Pete Dye disciple, is the architect for the project, but Kohler executive chairman Herb Kohler is on record as the “co-designer.’’

“The par-3 and putting courses will provide a dynamic experience for our international guests and local community,’’ said Kohler. “It’s important for these courses to aid in our continuing efforts to grow the game by creating opportunities for players of all skill levels. The Baths will do it with the Kohler touch to create a unique experience.”

The new features will be built on 27 acres between the first and 11th holes of the Meadow Valleys course at Blackwolf. The par-3 will have holes ranging from 60 to 160 yards and they’ll have four strategic water features, called “Baths,’’ mixed in. They’ll be ideal for groups, couples and corporate events.

Here’s an artist’s rendering of what will soon be a new attraction in Kohler, Wis.

 

 

 

 

WE WILL HAVE TO  take a wait-and-see approach to The Baths, but there are some attractions available now.

For instance:

EAGLE RIDGE, Galena, IL. – The General, a premier course with stunning  elevation changes, now has a new clubhouse, pro shop, restaurant and lounge. The course also has a new look, as the nines have been flipped, allowing for a stunning view of the 18th hole for visitors at the new Highlands Restaurant and Lounge 289.

SOUTHERN PINES, North Carolina – The Donald Ross-designed Southern Pines Golf Club is under new management and will soon have new owners. Kelly Miller, president of the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, announced the lease/purchase of the course from the Southern Pines Elks Club. The Pine Needles/Mid Pines management company has taken over the operation of Southern Pines and is working toward a final sale once some infrastructure changes are made.

“I’ve always thought (Southern Pines) is a wonderful golf course,’’ said Miller. “It’s one of the best routings in the area. It has great topography and a set of par-threes that are unmatched anywhere. The club has a lot of fascinating history. It’s a perfect fit for us.’’

The Pinehurst Resort, meanwhile, is preparing to host both the boys and girls High School Golf National Invitational Aug. 3-5. Participants will come from more than 40 states for a three-round 54-hole stroke play competition. The fields are expected to number about 110 for the girls and 250 for the boys.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The 37th playing of the Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship couldn’t be stopped by the pandemic. It’ll go on as scheduled from Aug. 31 to Sept 4 with over 2,200 players already registered. The 72-hole tourney usually draws over 3,000. The only drawback to this one is that the World’s Largest 19th Hole won’t be held because of pandemic concerns.

Also at Myrtle, the area’s largest golf course group has decided to allow walking throughout the year. Founders Group International includes TPC Myrtle Beach, King’s North, Pine Lakes and Pawleys Plantation among others.

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The three premier courses at Sea Pines Resort – Heron Point, Atlantic Dunes and Harbour Town – will host the Lighthouse Invitational, a two-person team competition for men and women amateurs from Sept. 17-20. Harbour Town has already hosted the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Classic and was rated the No. 1 course in South Carolina in 2019.

BIG CEDAR, Missouri — The facility on the outskirts of Branson has long been a site for PGA Champions Tour events but now it will host two of them in back-to-back weeks.  Both will be 54 hole events carrying a $3 million purse and worldwide television coverage. The first will be at the Buffalo Ridge Course Aug. 19-21 and the seond at Ozarks National Aug. 24-26.  In keeping with pandemic concerns, not spectators will be allowed.

Western Golf Association braces for its amateur doubleheader

General manager John Parsons is about to celebrate the end of a five-year renovation at Schaumburg Golf Club (Photo by Rory Spears)

This has indeed been a strange year for the Western Golf Association. The organization’s two national junior tournaments had to be canceled due to pandemic concerns and its two professional events were rescheduled for the same reason.

The WGA’s two history-rich amateur championships, however, are going on as scheduled. The 120th playing of the Women’s Western Amateur teed off on Tuesday at Prestiwck, in south suburban Frankfort, and the 118th staging of the men’s Western Amateur follows almost immediately at Crooked Stick, in Indiana.

WGA staffers will get only a day’s break between the two. The 18-hole title match in the Women’s Western Amateur is on Saturday morning (JULY 15) and the practice round for the Western Amateur is on Monday. Five rigorous days of competition follow, with the 36-hole final on Aug. 1.

Local players are far more prevalent in the 120-player women’s field. Heading the list is University of Illinois senior Tristyn Nowlin, the tourney runner-up in 2018 and an Elite Eight qualifier last year. As an added perk from previous years, the champion and runner-up at Prestwick will be given spots in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Maryland’s Woodmont course Aug. 3-9.

Prestwick is hosting a Women’s Western championship for the first time since 1972, when Nancy Lopez won the WWGA’s Junior title. That tourney returns to Prestwick for the 50th anniversary of that event in 2022.

Only two Illinois players – Lake Bluff’s Andrew Price and East Peoria’s David Perkins — will be among the 156 starters in the Western Amateur at Crooked Stick. The invitational tourney will be played in Indiana for the first time since 1951 and the field includes 24 international players.

The Western Am is the third oldest amateur tournament, behind the British Amateur (1855) and U.S. Amateur (1895). The Western made its debut in 1899.

Only one spectator per player will be allowed at the two tournaments. The women’s calls for a second day of stroke play qualifying today (WEDNESDAY) , then the top 32 will decide the title in three days of match play competition.

The men’s event is grueling – two days of stroke play to cut the field to the low 44 and ties, then 36 more holes to determine 16 qualifiers for the concluding two days of matches.

The WGA’s tournament season concludes with the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship, at Olympia Fields Aug. 25-30 and the Evans Scholars Invitational, a Korn Ferry Tour stop, Sept. 9-13 at Chicago Highlands, in Westchester.

ILLINOIS OPEN QUALIFIERS: The 71st Illinois Open, scheduled Aug. 3-5 at White Eagle in Naperville, has had its trying times as well. To salvage the tourney the Illinois PGA had to make radical format changes. The field for the finals was cut from 264 to 156 and the number of qualifiers from eight to five, and one of those last week was reduced from 18 to nine holes because of bad weather.

Bryce Emory, of Aurora, and Varun Chopra, of Champaign, led the first qualifier with 67s at Flossmoor Country Club. Ethan Brue, of Ashland, and amateur Parker Govern, of Plainfield, posted 3-under-par 32s to lead the shortened session at Deerpath, in Lake Forest.

The other qualifiers are Wednesday, at The Hawk in St. Charles; July 29 at Willow Crest in Oak Brook and July 31 at Countryside in Mundelein.

The No. 9 green on the Tournament Course was the last to be completed in the Schaumburg renovation. (Photo by Rory Spears).

BITS AND PIECES: The lengthy renovation of Schaumburg Golf Club’s 27 holes is almost over. All 27 will be in play on Aug. 1. That will end five years of work, which includes two years of planning, remodeling of the clubhouse and separate work done on all three nines. The renovation at Sportsman’s, in Northbrook, is underway — and it’ll be more extensive — but the completion is expected to come sometime in 2021. Next renovation work will begin shortly Settler’s Hill, in Geneva.

Mark Krizic, director of golf at Chicago’s Ridge Country Club the last 16 years, will depart after this season. He’s the new owner of Fyre Lake, a course designed by the Nicklaus Design team, in Sherrard, IL., near the Quad Cities.

Steve Kashul kicked off the 27th season of the Golf Scene TV show last Sunday. It’ll be broadcast at various times on NBC Chicago.

Andrew Godfrey, a new assistant pro at Mistwood in Romeoville, was low man with a 4-under-par 67 in Monday’s Illinois PGA Stroke Play event at Riverside Golf Club. He was one shot better than Kyle English, of Crestwicke, in Bloomington. English won the IPGA Assistants championship last week.

It’s not just PGA Tour; spectators will also be scarce at Western amateur events

The Western Golf Association’s three most prestigious championships certainly will look different this year thanks to ongoing pandemic concerns.

An announcement from the PGA Tour this week declared that there will be no spectators at its tournaments through the FedEx Cup Playoffs. That means the second of those three postseason events – the BMW Championship Aug. 25-30 at Olympia Fields Country Club – can be viewed only on television.

Spectators will also be scarce at the WGA’s two upcoming amateur championships. Each of the 120 participants in the 120th Women’s Western Amateur, which begins on Monday (JULY 20), will be allowed to bring only one spectator onto the grounds at Prestwick Country Club in south suburban Frankfort. The tourney runs through Saturday, July 25.

The men’s Western Amateur, first held in 1899, tees off the following week at Crooked Stick, in Carmel, Ind. Each player there is allowed one caddie and one guest.

The PGA Tour hasn’t allowed spectators since resuming its schedule on June 11 following a three-month shutdown. The policy was to end at this week’s Memorial tournament in Ohio but the circuit changed its policy on that last week.

“Our BMW Championship team has been working tirelessly over the past several months to develop a comprehensive plan for a limited number of spectators, following guidance from the PGA Tour and county and state officials,’’ said Vince Pellegrino, the WGA’s senior vice president for tournaments. “However, we understand the challenges and concerns that Covid-19 has created and recognize the decision to proceed without spectators is in the best interests of everyone involved.’’

PRESTWICK PREVIEW: Sarah Shipley, a University of Kentucky senior, won’t defend her Women’s Western title. She’s has accepted an invitation into a Symetra Tour event in Battle Creek, Mich., instead.

The Women’s Western field will be headed by last year’s other finalist, Antonia Matte of Chile. Five Northwestern players – Brooke Riley, Kelly Su, Kelly Sim, Rachel DeAngulo and Charlotte Hillary – will be in the field as will Illinois senior Tristyn Nowlin, a tourney finalist in 2018.

Prestwick, designed by the late Chicago architect Larry Packard, is hosting the Western Amateur for the first time but was the site of the Western Junior in 1972 when Nancy Lopez won as a 15-year old. Lopez went on to win that event the next three years and then took the Western Amateur title in 1976 before enjoying a legendary career on the LPGA Tour.

Other former Women’s Western champions include Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Beth Daniel, Stacy Lewis and Ariya Jutanugarn. This year’s format calls for 36 holes of stroke play qualifying before the field will be cut to 32 players for three days of match play competition. The champion will be crown on Saturday, July 25.

NU ALUM WINS: David Lipsky, who finished his collegiate career at Northwestern in 2011 and had previously won two pro events in Europe and one in Asia, notched his first victory on the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour at the TPC San Antonio Challenge in Texas on Sunday.

Lipsky, who won by four shots, went to the same high school in La Canada, Calif., as Collin Morakawa, Sunday’s winner at the PGA’s Workday Charity Open in Ohio. Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman tied for seventh in the Workday event, his fourth top-10 finish of the season and second in a row.

Both the PGA and Korn Ferry circuits will stay in the same towns for tournaments this week. Streelman is in the field at the Memorial, played on the same course as the Workday was, and Lipsky is again in San Antonio but the Oaks Course will be used this week instead of the Canyons.

BITS AND PIECES: Kemper Lakes has named Matt Simon as its new head professional. He replaces Jim Billiter, who took a position at Glen View Club, in Glenview. Billiter was the Illinois PGA Player of the Year in 2017. Simon had been on the staff at Biltmore, in North Barrington.

Kyle English, who tied for first in the Illinois PGA’s first tournament of the season last week, won the IPGA Assistants title on Monday. English, from Crestwicke in Bloomington, shot a 6-under-par 66 at Cress Creek, in Naperville, to win by one over Jeff Kellen, of Butler National.

The area’s first charity event of the season is Monday (JULY 20). It’s the fourth annual TimeSavers/Salute Outing to benefit military families and will be held at Rolling Green, in Arlington Heights.

Rob Wuethrich, a senior at Illinois Wesleyan, has been named the Jack Nicklaus National Division III Player of the Year.

Illini golf teams get a boost from course donation

Northwestern, Iowa and Indiana just upgraded their golf facilities. Now Illinois is doing the same.

The school announced that the Atkins family has donated about 300 acres in Urbana, which includes the Stone Creek Golf Course, to the University. Stone Creek opened in 2000 and was closed in January. It’s expected to re-open for public play in 2021.

“Our teams have always felt welcome at Stone Creek, and it’s been a privilege to call it our home course for close to 20 years,’’ said Illinois men’s coach Mike Small. “Now, with this gifting, we can continue to improve and update the facility with the intent to rival the top college courses in the nation.’’

Stone Creek will be renamed the Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois. The Atkins family already has its name on tennis and baseball facilities at the school. The family’s latest donation is valued at $15 million.

Small, along with women’s coach Renee Slone, have struggled along with other college coaches since the pandemic wiped our their spring seasons. Both will have players involved in the first two big national amateur events coming up this month.

Slone has three players in the field for the Women’s Western Amateur, which tees off on July 20 at Prestwick, in Frankfort. Small has five players in the field for the men’s Western Amateur the following week at Crooked Stick, in Indiana, and he could have more. Two other Illinois players are on the waiting list to get in.

The men’s event is again loaded with four college stars. Florida’s Ricky Castillo, is the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world. Georgia’s Davis Thompson is No. 4, Florida State’s John Pak No. 5 and Texas’ Cole Hammer No. 7. Hammer won the Western Amateur in 2018.

COG HILL SETBACK: For 20 years Cog Hill, in Lemont, hosted the PGA Tour. Once the BMW Championship departed in 2011 the Jemsek family — owners of the 72-hole complex — have been looking for a big event to takes its place.

They thought they had one this year when the World Long Drive Championship was scheduled there from Sept. 3-9. Those hopes dwindled this week when The Golf Channel, the owner of the World Long Drive, announced that all five of the qualifying tournaments were canceled and the finals at Cog Hill were “suspended.’’

“We’re hoping for 2021,’’ said Troy Newport, the Cog Hill general manager.

SCHACHNER’S HOT START: Michael Schachner, named the assistant men’s coach at DePaul earlier this year after spending several years playing on a variety of professional tours, had seven birdies and an eagle en route to shooting a 4-under-par 68 in the Illinois PGA’s first tournament of the season on Monday.

Kyle English, of Crestwicke in Bloomington, matched Schachner’s score at The Hawk Country Club in St. Charles. Schachner and English were one stroke better than host pro Brian Carroll. Illinois’ Small finished solo fifth.

BITS AND PIECES: The PGA Tour begins a two-week run at Muirfield Village in Ohio this week but there’s been one change in plans. Next week’s Memorial tournament was to be the first tournament since the resumption of tournament play on June 11 to be played with spectators. Now that’ll be without spectators as well.

Northbrook’s Nick Hardy is skipping this week’s TPC San Antonio Challenge on the Korn Ferry Tour after notching three top-10 finishes in four starts since the PGA’s satellite circuit restarted its season.

Jerry Rich, owner of Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, has promoted Vicky McGowan to director of golf. McGowan has been on the staff there for 10 years.

Reagan Davis, who spent six years as director of golf at Eagle Ridge Resort in Galena, just took a similar positions at World Golf Village, in St. Augustine, FL. World Golf Village is the home of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

David Cooke, a two-time Illinois Open champion and the winner in 2019, set the Naperville Country Club course record last week with a 64.

Dave Lockhart’s Golf360 television programs have resumed for another season. They’ll be aired at various times on NBC SportsChicago.

Here’s the reasoning on the canceling of the JDC

At first it was a feeling of shock, then disappointment. How could the 2020 John Deere Classic be canceled?

Here was a tournament that struggled at times to just stay on the PGA Tour, a difficult task for any event in a small market. And, this year’s July 6-12 staging at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis was to mark the JDC’s 50th anniversary. Lots of special events were planned. It would have been fun.

Plus, the JDC was being billed as the first tournament on the PGA Tour to allow spectators since concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season on March 12. That would have made this JDC special, too.

All that was not to be. Clair Peterson, one of the most respected tournament directors in all of golf, announced the JDC’s cancelation on May 28.

“It certainly wasn’t what anyone wanted,’’ said Peterson, “but it was the right decision, for sure.’’

Once Peterson elaborated on the decision I could see his point. There really was no other option, though various possibilities were considered by the tournament staff, sponsor John Deere and the PGA Tour for a month before the announcement was made.

As to the JDC being the first tournament to welcome spectators, Peterson said that was misleading.

“The first announcement (from the PGA Tour) said the first four tournaments (the Charles Schwab Challenge, RBC Heritage Classic, Travelers Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic) wouldn’t have fans but it didn’t say that the John Deere would,’’ said Peterson.

The fans – that’s where the problems started.

“Having fans vigilant about observing social distancing are mutually exclusive, if you think about it,’’ said Peterson. “It’s almost impossible to provide a safe environment in an event with fans.’’

Fans are quickly packed together once they arrive at the course. They ride shuttles together, they go through security together, they stand together while watching play. There really is no way to keep them apart at a tournament like the JDC, which has been blessed with a large, supportive fan base. So, fans – it was decided – wouldn’t work at the JDC. It would relegate the tournament to just a TV show, and that’s not what the JDC is all about

“Once you’re without fans you lose all three of your pro-ams, and that’s a million dollars,’’ said Peterson. “Guests are not interested in coming and revenue is dramatically affected.’’

Even without fans the players, tournament staff and volunteers have to be protected. The John Deere clubhouse isn’t big by PGA standards. Players needed a six-foot space around them to accommodate safety requirements. That wasn’t possible.

Governmental restrictions required that all parking be done on site. Shuttles for caddies and media were ruled out. The JDC staff couldn’t solve that problem, either.

“It was a tough task that has nothing to do with anything but safety, and John Deere is very serious about that,’’ said Peterson, noting that Deere has been manufacturing face shields as part of its effort to combat the virus.

Other tournament sponsors have also been helping, of course, and Peterson expects many will have answers to the problems that the JDC didn’t have in putting on their tournaments.

“Every event is different,’’ said Peterson. “Different states have different regulations. Some title sponsors have different philosophies. Some events have larger clubhouses and parking lots. Maybe they can pull it off, and we’re rooting for them. People are getting a little understanding of what these events are facing to safely bring golf back. We just couldn’t check all the boxes.’’

The PGA Tour said another tournament would soon be announced to fill the dates left vacant by the JDC’s cancelation.

One thing the JDC didn’t lose in canceling its tournament was its Birdies for Charities program. It remains in operation. Last year 543 area and regional charities shared a record $13.8 million raised from the tournament. This year the participating charities, even without a tournament being held, will receive a 5 percent bonus from John Deere for their money raised.

Many of the tour players contacted Peterson after the cancelation announcement and were sympathetic with the plight of the tournament. The 50th anniversary will be celebrated in 2021 instead of 2020 and Quad Cities author Craig DeVrieze will delay publication of his much-anticipated book on the tournament’s colorful history. Dylan Frittelli will return as the defending champion, two years after his victory instead of one.

Traditional July dates – the week before the British Open, which was also cancelled this year – are expected to continue in 2021.

“Our expectation is that things will be back to normal,’’ said Peterson.

One can only hope for that.

 

WGA keeps in touch with these changing times for caddies

Youth caddies are facing an uphill climb during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Just ask members of the Western Golf Association. They campaigned relentlessly to make sure caddies were not forgotten as golf courses were in various phases of re-opening.

Happily, progress is being made. Golf is back to being played in all 50 states and, as of June 1, caddies were a factor in Illinois again. Illinois government restrictions on golf course operations were loosened, allowing for the use of forecaddies. At least that was a start.

“There’s no touch points yet,’’ said Tim Orbon, director of the WGA’s Carry The Game and Caddie Development programs. “We anticipated forecaddies would be first, and that still provides a reasonable amount of opportunity. The only major adjustment is that they are staying away from clubs for now.’’

Once Phase 3 went into effect 75 Chicago area golf facilities were able to put several thousand caddies back on their courses, albeit just one forecaddie per group of players.

“Virtually all the clubs with caddie programs in the Chicagoland area got up and running, and that was great,’’ said Orbon. “Kids were just finishing school so the timing was great. We were excited.’’

Orbon isn’t sure when experienced caddies will be back carrying bags or when new caddies will be integrated into the programs at the various clubs, but one thing is certain. A caddie’s job will be much different than it was before the pandemic.

The WGA has been awarding college scholarships to deserving bag-toters since 1930, when life-long amateur legend Chick Evans declared caddies to be “the life-blood of the game.’’ The Evans Scholars program continues to flourish, as applications for the next batch of scholarship winners opens on Aug. 1.

The overwhelming number of caddies this year, though, were deemed non-essential workers once the pandemic restrictions were announced. It became Orbon’s job to help the nearly 800 caddie programs throughout the U.S. and Canada adjust to that thinking, and he had to be patient about it.

“Until Memorial Day kids were supposed to be in school, so it became somewhat of a waiting game,’’ he said. “We had to wait for experts to tell us when the time was appropriate, when caddying was safe and permissible. We took that time to do our homework.’’

The WGA works with clubs in 27 states and Canada. “All the clubs are a little different,’’ said Orbon, “but a lot wanted to keep caddies employed.’’

To do it while adhering to social distancing guidelines required adjustments, and Orbon had a game plan that was presented to course owners and managers. It proposed that caddies be scheduled in four-hour shifts. They wouldn’t be allowed to congregate around the clubs before or after their loops.

They may receive payment for their work in sealed envelopes or electronically through a system like PayPal rather than a cash transaction. They would wear appropriate protective gear, including a mask and any other safeguards as required by the club, and carry hand sanitizers.

A caddie’s duties on the course would change, too. Each would carry rakes and divot repair mix. They’d locate golf balls, give yardages and help read greens but they wouldn’t touch clubs. The players would pull them from the bag. There would be no hand shaking or any other non-verbal contact with golfers.

The WGA also proposed a hole-specific caddie plan, which some clubs may find more desirable than the standard procedures of the past. One to four caddies would be assigned per hole. They’ll be stationed on greens and tee boxes and be available at positions beside the fairways to help in locating balls.

Under this hole-specific plan caddies will repair divots but never touch the flagstick. They can wash golf balls, but then must throw them back to the player rather than have a hand-to-hand exchange. The caddies will greet each golfer as he plays through but won’t be with any one player throughout his round.

Those are the changes proposed by the WGA, but each club will offer its own input.

In anticipation of parental concerns about caddie procedures, prominent Chicago physician, former caddie and long-time WGA supporter Kevin Most has advised clubs on health precautions. Orbon anticipates “some attrition’’ in the caddie ranks due to all the changes mandated by pandemic concerns.

“We think kids will want to come out, but parents will ask questions,’’ said Orbon.

Both Orbon and his wife Gaelen were Evans Scholars, Tim at Northern Illinois and Gaelen at Marquette. Orbon, in his eighth year with the WGA, also worked as a club professional for 11 years. During the current lull period he has led WGA efforts to beef up on-line caddie training and created a caddie manual, a practice exam and a caddie playbook that includes short videos. All will help clubs and caddies adjust to the changing times.

“This is a challenging time in golf work,’’ said Orbon, “but new caddie programs are starting in Kentucky, the Kansas City area, Iowa and even down in Florida. We want to grow the game.’’