Author: lenz

The world’s next great golf destination will be….the Missouri Ozarks?

Work progresses at Tiger Woods’ Payne’s Valley course while golfers play at Buffalo Ridge Springs.

HOLLISTER, Missouri – Where do you start in describing all the big new things Johnny Morris has in the works for golfers in the Missouri Ozarks?

For starters, how about a prediction?

This area in the Ozark mountains near the entertainment hub of Branson will – in the not very distant future – become the America’s next great golf destination. That’s what Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops, wants and there’s no reason he can’t achieve this the latest of his ambitious goals.

Pebble Beach in California, Doral in Florida, Pinehurst in North Carolina, Bandon Dunes in Oregon and Kohler in Wisconsin all could justifiably claim to be America’s best now. They’re all special in their own way. But keep your eye on the Missouri Ozarks. That’s where the action is now, and by as soon as 2020 – when the Tiger Woods-designed Payne’s Valley course is up and running at full steam — the established hotspots will have a most worthy challenger.

Reports of what is going on in the Missouri Ozarks have been coming out piecemeal, so the full impact of the projects that are underway hasn’t been felt yet. But it will be — and soon.

Here’s what’s happened in just the last few years:

Top of the Rock, a spectacular nine-hole par-3 course designed by Jack Nicklaus overlooking Table Rock Lake, opened at the PGA Tour Champions’ Legends of Golf event in June of 2014. Along with it came the unveiling of Buffalo Ridge Springs, a redesign effort on an 18-holer known as Branson Creek by both original architect Tom Fazio and Morris himself. The revamped layout includes bison, who roam on its outskirts.

Bison don’t affect play but they’re definitely in view off Buffalo Ridge Springs’ No. 1 fairway.

On Aug. 31, 2017, the Gary Player-designed Mountain Top course opened. It has 13 holes, all of them par-3s. The holes at Top of the Rock and Mountain Top were immediately judged good enough to be used for a tournament on the world’s top senior circuit. No par-3 course had ever received such and endorsement, so that was saying a lot.

Morris, who made his mark catering to the needs of hunters and fishermen, moved into the golf world in a most unusual manner. He built alternative courses first. Where else can you find a par-3 layout like the one Nicklaus created, or a course with an odd 13-hole rotation like the one Player designed to fit into space limitations?

Those two courses are close together, but different. Top of the Rock has forced carries and is for riding golfers only. Mountain Top, which is walking only, has no forced carries and is more family-friendly.

A round at Mountain Top involves walking over long bridges to get from hole to hole.

Steve Friedlander, completing his first year as vice president of golf for Morris’ Big Cedar Lodge — a most upscale wildness resort, can appreciate the value of alternative courses. In his 43 years in the golf business Friedlander held similar leadership positions at Doral; Kohler; Ventana Canyon in Tucson, Ariz.; Grand Traverse in Michigan; and Pelican Hills, in California. Those places had multiple quality courses and Pelican had the best practice facility in California.

“But they didn’t have alternative courses. Here we have alternatives for everything,’’ said Friedlander. “We have courses for people with a time crunch who may not want to challenge themselves on an 18-hole course. For them, nine-hole courses can be more fun. Golf is a lot about just getting people out in nature, and Mountain Top is a great walk, yet both our par-3 courses can also challenge the best players in the world. Plus, you can’t beat the scenery.’’

No question about that. The golf in Morris’ part of the Missouri Ozarks is one big photo op. You can easily see for 15 miles from most spots on the courses. He began buying up property near where he grew up — and still lives – in 1987, and he’s done wonders with it.

This is Ozark National’s par-5 first hole, notable for its buffalo grass and beige bunkers.

Just look what’s coming next:

Sept. 1 is the target opening date for Ozarks National, an 18-holer being put together by the well-respected architectural team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. They’ve built the holes on ridge-tops. Tufted, off-green buffalo grass defines many of the non-playing areas, and the bunkers are the only ones on the Morris courses that aren’t of the sparkling white variety. That makes for a course that will look different from the others here.

Stone House is a halfway house, and also a replica of a home that existed 130 years ago.

Another feature setting Ozarks National apart is Stone House, the replica of a 130-year old home that had once been on the property. Overlooking an irrigation lake, it’ll serve as a halfway house that can service players coming to or from four different holes.

Ozarks National will also have a 15-acre practice facility and a caddie program is in the planning stages. Though cart paths are in place, it won’t be a difficult walking course.

The same can be said for Payne’s Valley, the course that Woods’ design team has been putting together on land below the Mountain Top clubhouse and course that once housed Murder Rock – a course designed by John Daly.

Payne Stewart, who grew up in nearby Springfield, Mo., went on to win two U.S. Opens and one PGA Championship before his death in a 1999 plane crash four months after his second Open victory. So that there is no confusion, Stewart once had a course that had been named in his honor in the area, but it underwent an ownership change and is now called Branson Hills.

Woods is planning a course with very wide fairways that will also be very walkable. It could open sometime in 2019, and it’ll have something none of the others have – a 19th hole. The extra hole will be a 202-yard par-3 from the tips with “Johnny Morris’ The Rock’’ as its backdrop. It’s a 250-foot rock wall and, after players finish with it, they’ll get a cart ride through a cave back to the clubhouse.

“By then we’ll have two more courses capable of holding any kind of championship,’’ said Friedlander. “People will want to come here from all over the world.’’

This premier wilderness resort is a most welcoming place.

An oddity in this most positive scenario is that Buffalo Ridge Springs – widely acknowledged as the best public course in Missouri – will no longer be needed for high-profile tournament play. It’s a spectacular layout with bison roaming its outskirts. The drawback is that Buffalo Ridge Springs would be a difficult walking course, and all of the biggest tournaments are walking only.

Along with the completion of Ozarks National and Payne’s Valley comes the finishing up of the Tom Watson Putting Course beside the Mountain Top clubhouse. Watson had designed a similar putting surface, called the Himalaya, at Top of the Rock. The attraction didn’t last long there. It was destroyed when a sinkhole developed shortly before the first Legends of Golf event was played there.

Morris didn’t view the sinkhole as a tragedy. In fact, he made it an attraction that is being called the Cathedral of Nature. More than 200 yards of additional dirt was removed, as Morris searched for a suspected cave on the property. It’ll eventually be another nature-oriented attraction for visitors and the Top of the Rock Lodge will be built nearby.

It was a tragedy when a sinkhole appeared near the Top of the Rock course just before the Legends of Golf tournament. Now it’s a much photographed attraction called the Cathedral of Nature.

One more thing: the other major American golf destinations don’t have the side attractions that Morris has provided around his courses. The Branson area is about more than its array of shows and other entertainment attractions. Morris, always the passionate naturalist, has built the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum at Top of the Rock and then Dogwood Canyon Nature Park a few miles away.

They provide a diversion from golf, if one is needed, but Wonders of Wildlife is the most impressive of Morris’ efforts to promote the beauty of nature. It opened a year ago at the Bass Pro Shops national headquarters in Springfield, barely an hour’s drive from the golf mecca.

A final look at scenes that sum up the unique flavor of the Big Cedar area. (Photos by Joy Sarver)

Hardy poised to make his debut as a pro in Web.com stop at Ivanhoe

The college season ended for Northwestern after three rounds of the NCAA finals this week in Stillwater, Okla., and Illinois lasted one more round before an 11th place finish in the stroke play portion of the competition wasn’t good enough to get the Illini back in the top eight match play qualifiers. They will decide the national champion on Wednesday.

For Illini senior Nick Hardy, from Northbrook, the collegiate season didn’t end happily. In addition to his team’s finish, he tied for 32nd in the individual standings. The good news for Hardy is that it’s time to move on to the professional ranks and he’ll be able to do it as soon as next week.

Hardy, by virtue of a sponsor’s exemption, is in the field for the Web.com Tour’s $600,000 Rust-Oleum Championship, which will be played for the third straight year at Ivanhoe Club. Hardy will be in Monday’s pro-am as well as the starting field that tees of on Thursday, July 7.

Scott Cassin, the Rust-Oleum Championship director, has been generous in giving sponsor’s exemptions to Chicago area players and – in addition to Hardy – Wheaton’s Tee-K Kelly, a two-time Illinois State Amateur champion; Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr., a former Illinois Open titlist; and Deerfield’s Vince India, another past Illinois State Amateur winner, are in the Ivanhoe field as invitees.

The local player to watch, however, is Brad Hopfinger, who prospered from an invite last year, using it to finish in a tie for 28th place. He has playing privileges on the PGA Tour’s alternate circuit this year so doesn’t need an exemption. In fact, he appears on the brink of earning a spot on golf’s premier circuit after finishing in a tie for fifth at the Web.com’s Nashville Open last week.

That strong finish enabled Hopfinger, one of only eight players to own titles in both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open, to climb from 56th to 32nd on the Web.com season money list. The top 25 at season’s end are automatically PGA Tour members in 2019 and 25 more can earn their spots in the circuit’s post-season playoffs. The Web.com Tour plays in the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., this week before moving to Ivanhoe.

Senior Women’s Open draws 462 entries

The inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open has drawn 462 entries, and 61 won’t have to go through qualifying rounds for the July 12-15 event at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton.

Among the exempt players are 16 former U.S. Women’s Open champions headed by three-time winner Hollis Stacy and JoAnne Carner, who won the first of her two titles in 1971 and is still competitive on the LPGA’s Legends Tour. Six Open runner-ups are also in the field.

Pat Bradley, who won the 1981 Women’s Open at LaGrange Country Club, is foremost among the players who have been waiting for the event to materialize.

“I’ve had the Senior Women’s Open on my calendar for 17 years, so to say I’m excited to play is an understatement,’’ said Bradley. “It’ll bring back some great memories to go back to the Chicago area to compete for an Open title.’’

The turnout has delighted Mike Davis, the U.S. Golf Association executive director.

“We’re thrilled by the response of our USGA championship have had to this inaugural championship,’ said USGA executive director Mike Davis. “The consistent growth in women’s golf has been inspiring.’’

Most notable of the former U.S. Women’s Open titlists not entering is Nancy Lopez. She has undergone knee surgery, a factor in keeping her out of the walking-only 72-hole finals.

Roughly half the field for the 120-player finals will come from the 17 nation-wide qualifying tournaments. They begin on Monday. Entries came from 39 states, 73 of them from Florida. The Chicago qualifier is June 18.

Another Mid-Am win for Ehrgott

John Ehrgott, from Mt. Hawley in Peoria, defeated Winnetka’s Blake Johnson, representing the Glen Club in Glenview, in the title match of the rain-delayed Chicago District Mid-Amateur Championship at Hinsdale Golf Club.

Ehrgott’s 3 and 2 win gave him his two CDGA Mid-Am crowns in the tourney’s four-year history. He also won the Illinois State Mid-Am in 2007 and 2009 and his four overall Mid-Am titles are just one shy of Bloomington’s Todd Mitchell. All of Mitchell’s wins were in the state version.

Here and there

Texas’ Doug Ghim, from Arlington Heights, finished third in the NCAA finals as an individual and his team advanced to the match play portion of the tournament. Dylan Meyer, Nick Hardy’s Illinois teammate, concluded his collegiate career by finishing in a tie for fourth at the NCAA tournament.

Olympia Fields Country Club has named Virginia-based Keith Foster as the architect to oversee renovations of both its North and South courses.

The Lake Bluff Park District will keep its golf course open through this season but said private donors will have to raise $265,000 by Oct. 31 for the course to be available in 2019.

Langer to miss Senior PGA; NU women bow out of NCAA finals

PGA Tour Champions, the circuit for the men stars who have reached their 50th birthdays, have two of their five major tournaments in easy reach of Chicago this year. The first, though, might not quite feel like a major.

Bernhard Langer, who has dominated the circuit for years and won all five of those majors at least once, won’t be in the field when the 79th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship returns to Harbor Shores in Battle Creek, Mich., on Thursday.

Langer completed his sweep of the Champions’ majors last year when he won the Senior PGA at Trump National in Virginia. He had previously included the Regions Tradition, U.S. Senior Open, Constellation Senior Players Championship and British Senior Open among his 37 wins on the Champions Tour.

“I usually defend my titles but I want to support my son Jason, who is graduating form high school,’’ said Langer, who attended Harbor Shores’ media preview even though he knew he wouldn’t be playing in the 72-hole tournament. “I would love to be at Harbor Shores, but family comes first. Obviously majors are the most important tournaments, and I wouldn’t miss this one if it weren’t for my son.’’

First of the PGA Tour Champions majors was last week’s Regions Tradition in Alabama. Langer couldn’t defend his title there, finishing in 11th place behind champion Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Langer had an unusually slow start (for him) this season. He needed eight tournaments to get his first victory at the Insperity Invitational in Texas, but he had three second-place finishes prior to that. He’ll be in the field for the third and fourth Champions’ majors. The U.S. Senior Open and Constellation Senior Players Championship at Exmoor, in Highland Park, are back-to-back in July.

Going collegiate

Both the Illinois and Northwestern men finished in the top five of last week’s Columbus regional and will be in the 30-team field for the NCAA Championships, which tee off on Friday at Karsten Creek in Oklahoma. The Illini were second and the Wildcats fourth at Columbus.

The women’s tournament concluded their season by losing 3-2 to Stanford in the quarterfinals. Northwestern qualified for match play for the second straight year on Monday, getting through the 72-hole stroke play portion of the championship in fourth place.

Last year coach Emily Fletcher’s NU team was the national runner-up, losing to Arizona State in the final match at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. This year’s team, with four returning players from last year’s squad, wasn’t as strong until the finals at Karsten Creek. Then Hannah Kim, a mainstay for four seasons but not quite as sharp as a senior, cemented herself as the best player in program history. She tied for 13th as an individual after playing the last 40 holes in 40-under-par.

The Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the women’s championship match plus next week’s individual finals and all three days of match play of the men’s event.

Ghim wins Hogan award

Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim won the Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer. The University of Texas senior was the low amateur at the Masters in April and will lead the Longhorns into the men’s NCAA finals. They won the Raleigh Regional with Ghim the top individual.

Weir joins Ivanhoe field

The Web.com Tour’s Rust-Oleum Championship will have a former Masters champion in the field. Mike Weir, the Canadian left-handed player who won at Augusta in 2003, will compete on the PGA Tour’s alternate circuit at Ivanhoe Club from June 4-10.

Weir, 48, has $28 million in earnings and eight victories on the PGA Tour. He was awarded a place at Ivanhoe through a special eligibility category reserved for PGA Tour veterans in the 48 to 49 age group who are preparing for PGA Tour Champions. Weir’s parents are former Crystal Lake residents.

His play on the PGA Tour has been limited the last three years. He played in four tournaments on the main circuit this year off a major medical extension and had three missed cuts and a tie for 73rd place.

Format change for Women’s Western Amateur

The Women’s Western Amateur, a national championship that’s been played for 117 years, will undergo a format change when it’s held June 26-30 at Mistwood in Romeoville.

The tournament will be limited to 120 players, based on the lowest handicap index. Last year the field was limited to 144 players. As per previous years there’ll be a 36-hole qualifying session spread over two days to determine the match play qualifiers. In previous years the low 64 qualifiers went to match play. This year the number will be only 32, and there will be playoffs if there are ties for the 32nd position.

In previous years the players who didn’t qualify for the championship flight of match play were be flighted into lower level flights. This year there will be only the one flight.

Louisiana’s Audubon Golf Trail is a winner for more than just golfers


Lots of states have golf trails, and some of them have received more recognition than Louisiana’s Audubon Trail. That’s unfortunate, because the Audubon offers much more than the others if your golf trips take into account non-golf attractions.

Make no mistake, the 15 courses on the Audubon Golf Trail are good. The trail was named for naturalist/artist John James Audubon, who painted many of his bird studies in Louisiana, and many of the courses on the trail are members of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. They undergo rigorous screening to become members.

We covered six of the courses in as many days in 90-degree early-summer heat. They all kept our attention throughout, and each had its unique features.

Best of the lot – but not by much – was Gray Plantation in Lake Charles – the state’s golf hotbed.

Rocky Roquemore, a Georgia-based architect, became prominent in the Chicago area in 1986 when one of hls designs, Pine Meadow in suburban Mundelein, was named America’s Best New Course by Golf Digest. He also did some work on Cog Hill’s famed Dubsdread course in Lemont, Ill., so I had some familiarity with his architectural style.

The bunkering on the par-3 eighth is Gray Plantation’s most memorable hole.

I got another taste of just how good an architect Roquemore was while playing Gray Plantation. It’s a player-friendly layout with its wide fairways, but it has a great mix of holes. Most notable are a double dogleg par-5 at No. 7 and the par-3 at No. 8 with its stunning bunker complex.

Gray Plantation is one of those “semi-private’’ facilities. It has memberships but also accepts public play. An indoor Golf Academy is also being developed. Though there was some debate among my most knowledgeable traveling companions, from my perspective it was the most enjoyable of the Audubon Trail courses.

Understandably the low handicappers might prefer TPC Louisiana, annual site of the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. It’s a Pete Dye design, and you can never go wrong choosing a Pete Dye course. On our visit the tournament scaffolding was still in evidence, though any comparison between our play and that of the PGA Tour guys was purely coincidental.

The Atchafalaya at Idlewild spotlighted the habitat that lives on the course with its tee markers.

The Atchafalaya at Idlewild, in Patterson, is a fun track designed by Robert von Hagge. It has five lakes and some dramatic elevation changes but its most unique touches are the tee markers – they’re not color-coded, but rather are named after the habitat in the area. The tees, from front to back, are Otter, Owl, Eagle, Bear and Alligator. I hit from the Owls, a wise move on my part.

The 150-yard markers were also unusual. Rather than using the standard stakes, these were marked by Cypress knees. The camouflage-painted golf carts also gave the course a refreshing look.

The Loyola University chapel overlooks the Audubon Park course.

The Wetlands, in Lafayette, is a tricky layout devised by Frank Burandt, who had formerly been with Nicklaus Design. He made use of the many lakes and – obviously as per the name – wetlands areas. Water comes into play on 11 holes and the greens are well-bunkered.

First course on our agenda, The Golf Course at Audubon Park, was planned as a warmup round. It’s the oldest golf course in Louisiana, dating back to 1898 when it had only six holes. Audubon Park underwent a major transformation when Georgia-based architect Dennis Griffiths created the present layout in 2001.

The length – only 4,220 yards from the tips – may give the impression that Audubon Park is not “real’’ golf. Each nine has one par-5, two par-4s and six par-3s, all situated in a park that includes a zoo and has a walking/biking trail within the borders of the course. You also get a nice view of the Loyola University chapel. Personnel from that school as well as those from nearby Tulane University utilize the facilities, which include a plantation-style clubhouse with good dining options and an outdoor venue for social events like weddings and birthday parties. In short, Audubon Park is a most fun place for more than just golfers.

TPC Louisiana is big on alligators. Some of the live ones were even televised during the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

While The Bluffs on Thompson Creek, in St. Francisville, was shaking off some issues related to flooding, the Arnold Palmer designed course had some excellent holes – especially the 17th, a downhill par-3, and the uphill 18th. James Audubon once studied and illustrated the bird life on what is now holes 11 through 13, and 32 of his paintings were made when he resided in the area.

Other courses at the Trail are Black Bear, the Louisiana State Park’s only course in Delhi; the 27-hole Olde Oaks near Shreveport; Cypress Bend Resort in Many; Tamahka Trails at Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville; OakWing, in Alexandria; Carter Plantation, designed by Louisiana native and one-time PGA Championship winner David Toms, in Springfield; and three Baton Rouge area courses — the Robert Trent Jones-designed Santa Maria, links-style Copper Miller and The Island, carved out of a sugar plantation in Plaquemine.

Unlike most of the other golf trails we’ve visited, the Audubon has signage on both the nearby major highways as well as the course entrances. The courses aren’t difficult to find.

George Rodrigue became a popular artist when he put blue dogs with haunting eyes in his paintings.

There are other quality layouts off the trail, most notably Contraband Bayou and neighboring Golden Nugget, both by the L’Auberge Casino Resort, and The National Golf Club of Louisiana. They’re all in the Lake Charles area.

Just as New Orleans is more than just Mardi Gras, Louisiana is more than just golf. But, the golf is good, affordable and – perhaps best of all – accessible to far more attractions than most of the nation’s other golf trails.

While in New Orleans we hung out for a while at the French Quarter where we dined at Dickie Brennan’s Tableau and enjoyed the night life of the Bourbon O Bar at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel.

The historical offerings were outstanding in upscale St. Francisville, particularly a church cemetery that had gravesites dating back to the mid-1800s. We also were backgrounded on the once brutal but now reincarnated Angola Prison.

No. 17 at The Bluffs, an Arnold Palmer design, has a stunning, and most challenging, par-3 at No. 17.

We petted baby alligators while getting a tour of the Bayou Rum distillery in Lacassine. We enjoyed a terrific Cajun style dinner at the Jack Daniels Bar & Grill at L’Auberge Casino’s Jack Daniels Bar & Grill where super chef Lyle Broussard gave us a backgrounder on each offering.

We learned how Tabasco has been made on Avery Island for the last 150 years and we had both a French-style breakfast and spirited musical pre-dinner entertainment at Mouton Plantation Bed and Breakfast in Lafayette. We also enjoyed a scenic boat cruise and another great meal on board at Lake End Park in Morgan City. Obviously there’s plenty to enjoy in Louisiana besides the golf.

No. 17 may be the easiest hole at The Wetlands, but it is also the prettiest.

What intrigued us the most was the Blue Dog Café in Lafayette. It’s famous for more than its cuisine. The food is served amidst a collection of artworks by artist George Rodrigue, who became famous after he started including blue dogs with haunting eyes in his creations. This side trip was made even more memorable when we met Jacques Rodrigue, son of the famed artist who passed away in 2013. Jacques gave us an inside look at the work his father had done.

Lafayette was declared “America’s Happiest City’’ by the Wall Street Journal and you get a hint why as soon as you see the city’s welcome sign. The “Y’’ in Lafayette is missing – and for a good reason. The missing letter creates a great photo opp. Stand in the spot of the missing letter in the “Welcome to Lafayette’’ declaration, which is near a fountain in the middle of town, with your arms upraised. That’s where you realize that the “Y’’ stands for “You.’’

You can’t help but smile after learning that tidbit. Indeed, Lafayette might be America’s Happiest City, but everyone we encountered in Louisiana seemed happy with their surroundings, too.

Appreciating the “Welcome to Lafayette” marker requires personal participation.

The plantation-style clubhouse at Audubon Park is the center for all kinds of activities every day.

Can Northwestern make another run at the NCAA women’s title?

Last year the Northwestern women’s team created a Cinderella story. Coach Emily Fletcher’s team, with only one senior, marched all the way to the championship match at the NCAA finals at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

A year later, Fletcher says, “we’ll try to do it again.’’

The Wildcats made the 24-team field for this year’s NCAA finals, which tee off on Friday at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. Over the course of the season, though, the team hasn’t performed at the level that might be expected of a team with four returning players.

“We’ve struggled a little,’’ admitted Fletcher. `Not everybody has played at the same level. Overall we were a little inconsistent. It’s been a challenge living up to expectations.’’

Most notable that applies to Hannah Kim, a stalwart on the NCAA runner-up team that dropped the title match against Arizona State.

“She’s had a slightly off year after being a trailblazer for us her first three years,’’ said Fletcher. This year’s team barely squeaked into the finals, and Kim was a key reason the Wildcats made it at all.

NU got off to a slow start in last week’s 54-hole regional tournament at University Ridge in Madison, Wis. The Wildcats needed to finish in the top six teams to make the finals, and they stood ninth after the first round. They posted the second-best round of the day in Round 2 to climb into a tie for sixth with Illinois and Ohio State, however, and that set the stage for a tension-packed final round in bad weather conditions.

Kim was 4-over-par for her first nine holes on the front nine but was 2-under on what could have been her last nine as a college player, and that helped NU nab the coveted No. 6 spot. Kim wasn’t the big gun in the gutty team effort, but her finish was a huge help.

The key player was sophomore Brooke Riley. She wasn’t on the NCAA runner-up team as a freshman but got her chance after Kacie Komoto graduated. Komoto turned pro, tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the Japan tour and will try to make it on the LPGA’s Symetra circuit this summer.

Riley has already made it at the collegiate level. She made eight birdies and shot a 6-under-par 66 in the heat of the regional’s third round. That was the second-best postseason round in the history of the NU program and her three-day total of 7-under 209 put Riley in a tie for fourth individually.

“She was tremendous for us,’’ said Fletcher. “I couldn’t be more happy for her. She pretty much kept us in it, but it was a collective effort.’’

Joining Riley and Kim on NU’s sixth straight NCAA finalist team were senior Sarah Cho and juniors Stephanie Lau and Janet Mao. They’ll start the competition at Karsten Creek, Oklahoma State’s home course, on Friday. All the teams will compete over 54 holes of stroke play, then there’ll be another round of stroke play for the top 15 teams.

After the 72 holes of stroke play are over the top eight teams will go to match play to determine the champion. The Golf Channel will cover the last three days of the tournament, which concludes on May 23.

Now it’s the men’s turn

The women’s teams from Northwestern and Illinois battled to the wire in their regional. Now the men are doing the same on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course. That regional ends today (WEDNESDAY) with the top five teams going to the NCAA men’s finals, which take over the Karsten Creek course after the women’s tournament is over.

Illinois has qualified for the match play portion in seven of the last eight NCAA finals but never won it all – a fact not lost on two-time Big Ten individual champion Nick Hardy of Northbrook who turns pro at the Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe Club as soon as his collegiate career is done.

“I’m really excited, ‘’ said Hardy. “Finishing with my team should really be fun. We’re playing well at the right time.’’

While the Illinois men’s program has won eight of the last nine Big Ten titles including the last four in a row the NU men are consistent contenders as well. They have qualified for NCAA regional play nine times in the last 10 years.

Kemper is good to Chaussard

Garrett Chaussard, a four-year letterman for the Illini prior to his graduation in 2005, won his first major Illinois PGA title at Kemper Lakes last week. He took the 67th IPGA Match Play crown, beating frequent practice partner Chris Green of Glen View Club 3 and 2 in the final.

“Playing 36 holes three days in a row, it was a relief to get it over with and I’m glad I survived,’’ said Chaussard, the director of instruction at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe after holding similar jobs at Cog Hill and Chicago Highlands.

Unlike previous IPGA Match Plays, the tournament shared the course with workers preparing the Kildeer layout for next month’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

“There was constant activity out there,’’ said Chaussard. “They’re definitely doing some bunker work. Like all our courses they’re coming out of a real late spring, but that course is in really great shape.’’

Flavin delays decision to go pro, will defend his two state titles

The best golfer in Illinois last season has made his decision. Patrick Flavin won’t turn pro – at least for a while.

Last year Flavin became the first player in 37 years to win both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open in the same year. Only David Ogrin, way back in 1980, had accomplished that extraordinary feat.

Flavin, from Highwood, is completing a solid collegiate career at Miami of Ohio. He set his school record with eight tournament wins, four of them in his senior season. While his team narrowly missed receiving an invitation to the NCAA tournament Flavin did make it as an individual. He’s one of 10 competing in the regional play on Ohio State’s Scarlet course starting on Monday.

If Flavin finishes among the top three individuals at Columbus he’ll continue to the NCAA finals in Stillwater, Okla., from May 25-30. Lots of college seniors will turn pro after that tournament’s over, but not Flavin.

“I plan to stay amateur through the summer,’’ he said. “Staying amateur was a no-brainer for me. It was incredible to win the state Amateur and state Open last year and to repeat is a huge goal of mine, though I know the fields will be strong.’’

There hasn’t been a repeat champion in the Illinois State Amateur since Todd Mitchell in 2002-03 and only five others have won back-to-back since the tournament went to a stroke play format in 1963. Illinois men’s coach Mike Small was the last to repeat in the Illinois Open. He won three straight titles from 2005-07.

Flavin tested the professional ranks when he went through qualifying for the Canadian PGA Tour while retaining his amateur status. He didn’t make it, and he didn’t survive Monday’s local qualifying round in the U.S. Open, either. A 73 in his first-ever round on Cog Hill’s famed Dubsdead course in Lemont left Flavin in a tie for ninth place and only the top five advanced to sectional play.

His summer tournament schedule includes the Western Amateur, starting July 30 at Sunset Ridge in Northfield; the Sunnehanna, in Pennsylvania; the Northeast, in Rhode Island; and the Trans-Miss, in Ohio. All are invitationals. He’ll also enter the U.S. Amateur before the fall qualifying tournaments for the PGA’s Web.com Tour begin. That’s when he figures to turn pro.

“My game is solid right now. I know I can play at the next level,’’ Flavin said.

NU dominates U.S. Open locals

Northwestern proved they’re ready for next week’s NCAA regional in Columbus with an impressive showing in Monday’s U.S. Open locals. Dylan Wu and Ryan Lumsden were among the five sectional qualifiers at Cog Hill and Sam Triplett was the medalist at South Bend.

Big Ten champion Illinois is also in the field at Columbus but the top Illini player, conference individual titlist Nick Hardy, opted to skip the Open eliminations. Hardy, who has reached the U.S. Open finals twice, received a sponsor’s exemption to the Web.com’s Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe Club. The Open sectionals are on June 4, the Monday of tournament week at Ivanhoe.

Hardy will turn pro at that tournament and will participate in a pro-am during the sectional qualifying day. Wheaton’s Tee-K Kelly also received an invitation to play at Ivanhoe and he skipped the Open locals for the same reason.

In addition to Wu and Lumsden the local qualifiers at Dubsdread were Bloomington’s Bob Wuethrich, the low man with a 3-under-par 69; Crystal Lake’s Ethan Farnam; and Wheeling’s Brian Ohr, who survived a four-man playoff to advance. Illinois’ other locals will be next Monday at Illini Country Club in Springfield and May 17 at ThunderHawk in Beach Park.

Szokol wins on Symetra Tour

Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol, who spent two seasons at Northwestern before transferring to Virginia, notched her first victory on the LPGA’s Symetra Tour on Sunday. A final-round 4-under-par 68 gave her a one-stroke win in the IOA Invitational at Atlanta National in Georgia.

The win earned Szokol $22,500 and came in the second tournament of her second season on the circuit. She had missed the cut in her first tournament of the year, which was three weeks before she claimed the victory with a 4-under-par 212 score for 54 holes.

Here and there

Berths in the NCAA women’s finals will be on the line Wednesday (TODAY) in a regional at University Ridge in Madison, Wis. Illinois, Northwestern and Notre Dame are among the 18 teams in the competition with the top six advancing to the finals at Karsten Creek in Oklahoma from May18-23.

Yujeong Son, of Norman, Okla., and Martina Edberg o Sweden were the two survivors of Monday’s sectional qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Open at Elgin Country Club. Both covered the 36 holes in 4-under-par 140.

Defending champion Jim Billiter lost his first match in the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship on Tuesday. The reigning IPGA Player of the Year bowed out of the section’s first major tournament on him home course in a 1-up loss to Northmoor’s Brett Packee.

Jason Day, winner of the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday, will co-host the Go. Give. Gala Celebrity outing on May 21 at St. Charles Country Club. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps will share hosting duties with Day.

Chicago State is among the entries in the 32nd PGA Minority Collegiate Championship, which begins its five-day run on Thursday in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Kemper Lakes’ Billiter seeks repeat as Illinois PGA Player of the Year

The Illinois PGA has been awarding its Bernardi Trophy to the section’s Player-of-the-Year for 46 years, and Jim Billiter has been a factor in two of the more interesting races.

Understandably, more Bernardi points are available in the section’s four annual major championships – the IPGA Match Play, the Illinois Open, the IPGA Championship and the IPGA Players Championship – than are offered in the stroke play competitions. Win more than major in a year and the Bernardi Trophy could be yours, right?

Well, Billiter learned that’s not always the case. In 2015 he won the Match Play and IPGA Championship, but Mistwood’s Brian Brodell took Player of the Year. In 2017 it was Adam Schumacher winning two of the big ones – the IPGA Championship and Players – but Billiter beat him out for Player of the Year.

“He deserved it,’’ said Schumacher. “Jim dominated the other events.’’

“In 2015 I played great, probably better than last year,’’ said Billiter, beginning his second season as head professional at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer. “But, because of work, I had to miss the Illinois Open so I had no chance. That’s worth a ton of points, and I learned from that. My goal last year was to play in every event. You can’t win if you don’t play them all.’’

Schumacher, entering his fifth season as an assistant pro at Indian Hill in Winnetka, finished strong last year with his wins in the last two majors but the final point totals had Billiter at 2,896.35 Bernardi points and Schumacher at 2,482.93. They were at the top of a long list, as 179 IPGA members earned Bernardi points during a season that ran from April into October.

Billiter was an assistant at the Merit Club, in Libertyville, in 2015 when he learned that winning two majors wasn’t necessarily enough. His club staged one of its biggest member events opposite the Illinois Open then so Billiter understandably opted for job duties over tournament time.

“But I credit all my good play to the time I spent at Merit Club,’’ said Billiter. “Don Pieper (Merit Club general manager and director of golf) wanted me to play, either with the staff or with the members. He told me to `Go play!’ and I probably played more than any pro in the country then.’’

The chance to play that much after his move to Kemper Lakes wasn’t quite the same. As a head professional starting a new job (coupled with the fact that Billiter got married a month before moving to Kemper), Billiter found his playing time reduced. He did, however, gain one competitive advantage in the deal. Kemper Lakes is the site of the IPGA Match Play Championship, first of the four majors.

Billiter, 31, got a jump start on his rivals with Kemper as his new home course. He won the Match Play there in 2015 and took it again last year, beating Glen Oak’s Danny Mulhearn 1-up in a tense final match that triggered Billiter’s charge to Player of the Year.

Schumacher won two matches in last year’s Match Play but missed the cut in the Illinois Open while Billiter was finishing in a tie for 13th place. That doesn’t sound impressive, but he was the low IPGA pro in the field and that meant plenty of Bernardi points.

Then it was Schumacher’s turn to take over the spotlight. He won the IPGA Championship at Medinah, with Billiter finishing fifth, and added the IPGA Players title in a playoff with Mistwood’s Andy Mickelson at Eagle Ridge in Galena. Billiter tied for 13th in that one, but by then it didn’t matter as far as Player of the Year was concerned.

“I was very fortunate,’’ said Billiter. “No one announced it, by I had already won Player of the Year two tournaments before that. I knew I had won it, though probably by the skin of my teeth.’’

Billiter shot a 67 to win a stroke play competition at Calumet Country Club in Homewood a week after Schumacher had triumphed at Medinah. Billiter, who had also won a stroke play at Elgin Country Club earlier in the season, had enough Bernardi points to win the award before the shootout in Galena.

Though he came up short in the Player of the Year battle Schumacher had no complaints.

“I got hot at the right time. It was probably the best end to the year that I could have asked for,’’ said Schumacher, who hopes the confidence boost he got from those big wins will carry over into this season.

Immediately before his win at Medinah Schumacher made a strong showing in the PGA Professional Players National Championship in Oregon. He was in the top 10 after the first round and stayed in contention until an 80 in the final round doomed his chances for making it into the top 20 and earning a place in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.

“If I’d shot even (par) in the last round I think I would have made the top 20,’’ said Schumacher. “I just got a little aggressive and tried a little too hard.’’

Schumacher, 26, landed his job at Indian Hill immediately after graduating from Ferris State, in Michigan. He’ll be just one of the promising young players challenging Billiter in his defense of the Player of the Year award. Only six players have been repeat winners since Bill Ogden, the legendary North Shore pro, won the award in 1971 and 1972 – the first two years the Bernardi Trophy was presented.

Two players – Glen Oak’s Steve Benson (1980-82) and Aurora’s Bob Ackerman (1987-89) – were three-peaters. Others to win back-to-back were Dino Lucchesi (1997-98), Roy Biancalana (2003-04), Mike Small (2007-08) and Curtis Malm (2012-13).

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Kemper Lakes’ Billiter is in the spotlight as Chicago tournament season tees off

Now things get serious. The 67th playing of the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship kicks off a busy five months of tournament play for Chicago’s best golfers.

The host professional defends his title and puts his hopes of retaining his IPGA Player of the Year status will be on the line at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer. Jim Billiter, who has won the Match Play title twice in the last four years, will definitely be in the spotlight again.

“Player of the Year doesn’t reward you financially,’’ said Billiter, “but the hard work that goes into winning it proves to yourself that, for one year, you were the most consistent player.’’

The Match Play is one of the Illinois Section’s four major championships. The winner thrusts himself into Player of the Year contention immediately because the tournament offers more Bernardi points than all but the Illinois Open, Illinois PGA Championship and IPGA Players Championship.

In 2015 Billiter won the Match Play as well as the IPGA Championship but didn’t win the Player of the Year award because he didn’t play in the Illinois Open. Last year Adam Schumacher, assistant pro at Indian Hill in Winnetka, won two of the majors – the IPGA Championship at IPGA Players – but Billiter beat him out for the season-long honor.

“In 2015 I played great, probably better than last year,’’ said Billiter, “but by missing the Illinois Open I had no chance. My goal last year was to play in every event. You can’t win Player of the Year if you don’t play them all.’’

Because he had also won two of the section’s one-day stroke play events Billiter had Player of the Year locked up before Schumacher’s victory in the last major. Billiter got off to a solid start in Monday’s first stroke play event at Libertyville’s Merit Club, shooting a 71 to tie for third behind Mistwood’s Andy Mickelson (69) and Chris Green of the Glen View Club (70).

This year Billiter faces an additional challenge. Kemper Lakes hosts the biggest tournament of the Chicago season, next months’ KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and the host professional gets a heavier-than-usual workload when his club is in the world spotlight.

“It’s been incredible, a lot of work buying for the (tournament) merchandise tent,’’ said Billiter. “We’re ahead of the game, but this winter I was tied up more than in the past. Because of that my expectations aren’t as high for this year. In years past I’d make as many as six trips in the winter, either with members or for tournament series.’’

Last year he got away just once, but home course knowledge should still mean something next week. The tourney starts on Monday with the semifinals and championship matched scheduled for Thursday, May 10.

Madison-bound

Northwestern and Illinois will both be competing in an NCAA regional at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., when the women’s national collegiate championships tees off on Monday.

NU, runner-up in last year’s NCAA finals at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, is the No. 4 seed and the Illini are No. 5 in Madison. The top six teams advance to this year’s finals at Karsten Creek in Oklahoma. Illinois, however, finished ahead of NU in the Big Ten Championships, the Illini tying for second – their best finish in 42 years – and the Wildcats tying for fourth.

Hannah Kim became Northwestern’s first-ever four-time first team all-Big Ten selection after the conference tournament. The first-teamers also included NU’s Janet Mao and Illinois’ Grace Park and Bing Singhsumalee.

Hardy’s on a roll

The Illinois and Wisconsin men’s teams will get their NCAA regional assignments during Wednesday’s 5:30 p.m. selection show on The Golf Channel. For Illini senior Nick Hardy that will mark the beginning to the end of a great collegiate career. He will turn pro at the Web.com Tour’s Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe Club the week after the NCAA finals.

Hardy was crowned the Big Ten’s individual champion for the second time last weekend and paced his team to its fourth straight conference title and ninth in the last 10 years. Hardy, who was also the individual champion as a freshman, gave the Illini eight straight years in which the school had the league individual champion.

Open-ing up

The Chicago District Golf Association will conduct a 36-hole sectional qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Open at Elgin Country Club as well as an 18-hole local qualifier for the U.S. Open at Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in Lemont on Monday.

A 59-player field will compete for two spots in the women’s event while Cog Hill’s 90-player field will battle for five spots in sectional play. Patrick Flavin, the first player to win both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open in the same year in 2017, heads the field at Dubsdread.

Here and there

Chris Ioratti, of Mistwood in Romeoville, captured the Illinois PGA Assistants title with a 1-up victory over Schaumburg’s Kyle Donovan at Ruth Lake in Hinsdale. Donovan prevented at all-Mistwood final with his 3 and 2 win over Mickelson in the semifinals.

Chicago will again have a second U.S. Open local qualifier – on May 17 at Thunderhawk in Beach Park – but survivors will have to leave the area for sectional play.

The story behind `Caddyshack’ rivals the movie itself

`Caddyshack’ may not be my favorite sports movie. I still lean towards `Chariots of Fire.’
`Caddyshack’ isn’t even my favorite golf movie. I give the nod there to `The Greatest Game Ever Played.’

Still, there’s no movie I’ve watched more times than the classic golf comedy that was filmed nearly 40 years ago. I had to watch it still again after Chris Nashawaty’s book, “Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story,’’ was released this month.

Nashawaty is the film critic at Entertainment Weekly. He liked the movie enough to – by his account – watch the movie 100 times. That more than qualified him to write about the behind-the-scenes making of `Caddyshack,’ and his account left me wondering how the movie ever got made in the first place.

“The shocking thing is — with the amounts of drugs and alcohol consumed — that the movie makes any sense at all,’’ said Nashawaty.

`Caddyshack’ was hardly an instant hit. It took years for it to be fully appreciated, but the movie – made on a $6 million budget – eventually made $40 million.

“When it came out in the summer of 1980 it was the followup to `Animal House,’ and expectations were high,’’ said Nashawaty. “The critics, though, tore it apart. They savaged that movie.’’

One notable exception was Roger Ebert, the late, great movie critic at the Chicago Sun-Times. “He nailed it. He really understood what was going on,’’ said Nashawaty.

Ebert was in a vast minority. `Caddyshack’ was no `Animal House’ even though those two movies had many of the same stars. Comedy was changing from 1970 to 1980 and those movies were a major proof of that.

`Caddyshack’ had a first-time director, Harold Ramis, and a first-time producer, Doug Kenney. Kenney, who had been battling a drug problem, had one of the funniest, brightest creative minds in the film industry at the time. He was despondent over the initial reaction to `Caddyshack,’ and was found dead in Hawaii ravine shortly after the movie was released. Just 33 years old, his death came under mysterious circumstances, though it was eventually ruled accidental.

According to Nashawaty’s account, drugs were rampant during the three-month filming of `Caddyshack,’ the cast of which included top box-office stars Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield.

“Not everyone was doing cocaine,’’ said Nashawaty. “It’s been said that only Ted Knight wasn’t involved. That might ben an exaggeration, but not by much. They had a good time.’’

Nashawaty also included Murray, the famed comedian who played hilarious, gopher-chasing assistant golf course superintendent Carl Spackler in the movie, from the cast members who were not into the drug scene.

“Bill Murray was not a cocaine guy,’’ said Nashawaty. “He liked his drinks.’’

One of Murray’s brothers, Brian-Doyle Murray, was – with Kenney and Ramis – a leader in getting studio executive to invest in the project. In the early stages of the process Winnetka’s Indian Hill Club was considered as the site for the filming because the Murray brothers had been caddies there during their youth.

“They wanted to shoot the film in the fall but they couldn’t shoot (in Chicago) in November,’’ said Nashawaty.

California was ruled out because the movie’s personnel didn’t want Hollywood film executives getting involved. The movie was proposed as a fun project, which it obviously was, and a filming location in south Florida, near the Ft. Lauderdale airport, was chosen.

“So many golf clubs would not allow a Hollywood crew to trample their golf course in the middle of their season,’’ said Nashawaty. The club was named Rolling Hills Country Club then, but was called Bushwood in the movie and is now known as Grande Oaks Golf Club.

Officially located in the town of Davie, Grande Oaks isn’t at all like Rolling Hills, which opened in 1959, or Bushwood. In 1999 it was purchased by Wayne Huizenga, who would later own football’s Miami Dolphins, baseball’s Miami Marlins and hockey’s Florida Panthers. The clubhouse used in the movie was demolished a year after Huizenga bought the club and the course was re-designed by legendary golfer Ray Floyd.

The climax scene in the movie was an explosion on the course that wasn’t approved by the club’s membership at the time. Apparently any bad memories from that experience have been forgotten by the private club’s current membership. Its promotional materials confirm that it was “The Home of the movie Caddyshack.’’

The Murray brothers have carried on the Caddyshack memory, opening one popular bar-restaurant by that name at World Golf Village Resort in St. Augustine, Fla., and more recently opening another in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont.

`Caddyshack II,’ a sequel released in 1988, was poorly received but the original is without doubt a cult classic and Nashawaty’s book won’t likely be the last written about it. Cindy Morgan, the actress who played the character Lacey Underall in the original version, has been working on a book that won’t be anything like Nashawaty’s. It’ll apparently be a coffee table book with a lot of pictures. I will be on the lookout for that one.

Recent changes have spurred Streelman’s fast start in PGA Tour season

Kevin Streelman won’t declare his hot start to the 2017-18 PGA Tour season as the best in his 11 years on the circuit but all the major changes he made over the last few months are certainly paying off.

With top-10 finishes in the last two tournaments — the RBC Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, S.C., and the Valero Texas Open – Chicago’s top pro golfer boosted his season winnings over $1.2 million and has career number over $16 million.

He’s now ranked No. 38 in the FedEx Cup standings, third on the circuit in greens in regulation and fourth in scrambling. While Streelman had early season wins in 20013 (Tampa Bay) and 2014 (Hartford), his trademark for this campaign has been consistency. He’s made the cut in 14 of 15 tournaments with three top-10s. He also did have a win, of sorts.

Streelman teamed with Larry Fitzgerald to win the pro-am portion of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Both are members at Whisper Rock, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Fitzgerald, a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, and Streelman also finished second in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2017.

The pairing with Fitzgerald was one of the few things that Streelman ITAL didn’t END ITAL change since the PGA’s wrap-around 2017-18 season began last October. Since then he’s changed his swing instructor, his caddie and his agent.

All that stayed the same were his two longstanding Chicago affiliations. He continues to play out of Black Sheep, the all-male club in Sugar Grove that made him an honorary member long before his golf career blossomed, and he still uses Wilson clubs. He started his affiliation with Wilson in 2011 and the company re-signed him for two more years last fall.

Though he had already established himself as a solid PGA Streelman had no reservations about making major changes in his team. Australian Andrew Getson is his new swing instructor, veteran caddie Frank Wlliams is now on his bag and Jeff Koski of Lagardere Sports is his agent.

“After 10 years fresh starts were needed,’’ said Streelman.

Getson and Koski are both based in Scottsdale, where Streelman lives with his wife Courtney and their two children, Sophia 4 and Rhett 2. He also has a new training base in Scottsdale, Premier Fitness.

Both Getson and Koski have worked with Phil Mickelson. On the caddie front Streelman ended a five-year relationship with A.J. Montecinos to hire Williams, who is in his 31st year working on the PGA Tour. He’s previously carried for Curtis Strange, Davis Love III and Hunter Mahan and was on the bag for Stewart Cink when he won the 2009 British Open.

The fitness change might be the most significant. Premier Fitness focuses on flexibility training.

“For someone in my stage of his career that’s been just terrific,’’ said Streelman. “I feel more flexible than I ever have, and I’ve never had a serious injury in my 11 years on the PGA Tour and 17 as a professional. That’s very unusual.’’

Streelman says the only aches he gets are in his shoulder and upper back, when he carries his children through airports. With both children still not of school age the Streelmans continue to travel as a family from tournament to tournament.

“We can probably do it one more year,’’ said Streelman. “It gets chaotic sometimes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.’’

Streelman first developed as a golfer in Wheaton — in youth programs at Arrowhead and Cantigny and as a caddie at Chicago Golf Club. He also played high school golf at Wheaton South before heading to Duke for college. Through it all Streelman hasn’t forgotten his Chicago roots. Working with the Illinois Junior Golf Association, he’ll host a special day on July 9 at Cantigny during the week of the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop.

“We did this in 2009 and had almost 400 there,’’ said Streelman. “We’re hoping this one will be bigger and better.’’

Streelman is taking this week off while the PGA Tour holds a two-man team event in New Orleans. He’ll be in four May tournaments – the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, The Players in Florida, the Fort Worth Invitational (formerly Colonial) in Texas and the Memorial in Ohio. Unless he wins one of those he’ll conclude the stretch at U.S. Open sectional qualifying in Columbus, Ohio.

Last year, feeling exhausted, he skipped the qualifier and didn’t play in the Open proper at Wisconsin’s Erin Hills. This year the finals are at Shinnecock Hills, the New York course that’s rich in golf history. Streelman badly wants to be in the field there.

Here and there

Bernhard Langer won’t defend his title in next month’s Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Michigan. He’ll attend his son’s high school graduation in Florida instead.

Defending champion Illinois will bid for its ninth title in 10 years at the Big Ten men’s tournament beginning Friday at Baltimore Country Club. The Illini face a strong challenge this time, as Purdue edged them for the title in last week’s Kepler Invitational in Ohio.

The Illinois women’s team tied for second at their Big Ten championships last week in Mainsville, Ohio. Coach Renee Slone’s Illini were 7-under-par, tying the school record for one round, in the last round of that event and the runner-up finish was Illinois’ best since 1976. Northwestern, runner-up in last year’s NCAA finals, was two strokes behind the Illini.