CLEARWATER, Florida – When Mark Hensby was getting started in professional golf he was definitely different. He moved from Australia to the Chicago area in 1996, devoted himself to golf and promptly won the Illinois State Amateur. He was known to occasionally sleep in his car in the Cog Hill parking lot in those…
Author: lenz
Golf is by no means everything in the St. Augustine area
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA – There are lots of golf travel destinations well worth visiting – even if you don’t play golf. This is Part 2 of a series on that theme. We had intended to bring our clubs to World Golf Village for a brief visit over the Thanksgiving holidays. Those clubs got left…
This ING Fall Forum wasn’t like any of its predecessors
SEBRING, FL. — Mike Jamison, executive director of the International Network of Golf, started holding Fall Forums at the Inn on the Lakes Hotel in 2022, ending a run of annual Spring Conferences that started at Hilton Head, S.C., in 1990. It ran through 2019 when the Sebring Raceway Hotel hosted before the pandemic…
Is a Chicago player turnover coming on the LPGA Tour?
BELLEAIR, FL. – Elizabeth Szokol, the only player on the Ladies PGA Tour with Chicago area roots, announced her retirement on the same day that Lauryn Nguyen, the most recent Northwestern star, concluded her debut on the premier women’s circuit. Both missed the 36-hole cut on Friday in The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican…
Caitlin Clark can play more than just basketball — Is golf next?
BELLEAIR, FL. – There’s a chance that the pro-am at this week’s LPGA Tour event, The Annika driven by Gainbridge, will create more excitement than the 72-hole event proper and there’s one major reason for that. Her name is Caitlin Clark. As a basketball sensation Clark has brought more attention to women’s basketball at both…
Northwestern alum Nguyen set to make her LPGA debut
The legendary Patty Berg, who played out of St. Andrew’s in West Chicago, was among the original members of the Ladies PGA Tour was formed in 1950. There have been very few LPGA players from the Chicago area since then. Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol has been the only one in recent years but this week –…
Illinois Golf Hall of Fame has one of its strongest induction classes
The Illinois Golf Hall of Fame inducts new members every two years, and the next class of six inductees joining the select group will be honored at Friday’s ceremonies at The Glen Club, in Glenview. While Illinois has hardly been rich in PGA Tour players, the 21st induction class has two who made it…
Ryder Cup site Bethpage Black has an unusual way of doing things
Lots of golf facilities have hosted the biggest PGA events, but Bethpage Black – site of the Ryder Cup has an unusual way of doing things. The head golf professional, Justin Koff, is also the director of junior instruction at the massive five-course facility. The director of golf is Kelley Brooke whose company heads Bethpage…
Butler National’s Svoboda retains IPGA Player of the Year honors
Andy Svoboda had the reputation of being a very good player when he took the head professional’s job at Butler National in Oak Brook in 2024, and the former PGA Tour player continues to prove it. Svoboda earned the Illinois PGA Bernardi Player of the Year honor in his first year on the job,…
Holtz, Tour Edge join Donald as golf big newsmakers
The Ryder Cup, which ended so dramatically in New York on Sunday, ended as a great day for Northwestern alum Luke Donald. He became the first European captain to lead back-to-back victories since Tony Jacklin in 1985 and 1987. Donald’s immediate response was that he won’t be attempting a three-peat in 2027, but time will…