Mike Small, the University of Illinois coach who has won 14 Illinois PGA titles, was bidding for a recording tying fifth Illinois Open crown on Friday. He had an uncharacteristically bad day at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer and didn’t get it, but the day wasn’t a complete downer. In July one of Small’s…
Author: lenz
It’s Ohr by four with a round to go in the Illinois Open
Travis Johns, a teaching professional at Medinah Country Club, and Brian Ohr, who is “transitioning’’ to instruction after focusing on tournament play, were paired together in the first two rounds of the 76th Illinois Open and benefitted from it at Kemper Lakes, in Kildeer. John, 47, took the first-round lead with a 68 when Kemper…
LIV Tour brings its stars back to Bolingbrook
The best golf you’ll see in the Chicago area this year begins on Friday when the LIV/Chicago tournament tees off at Bolingbrook Golf Club. LIV, in its fourth straight year with a Chicago stop, has three events remaining on its 14-tournament season. Last year only 22 of 54 bettered par at Bolingbrook in what then…
Michigan’s Island Resort will have a unique new course
HARRIS, MI. – The Island Resort & Casino in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula already has two golf courses that offer variety for their players. So, now they have a third course that will split the different style-wise between the two. Michigan architect Paul Albanese, who designed the first two courses – Sweetgrass and Sage Run –…
Grieve has just two big events left in his amateur career
Lake Forest’s Pierce Grieve has a big stretch of golf ahead, and his game is ready for it. Last week the 6-6 Grieve, who finished his collegiate career at West Virginia after starting it at Louisville, was low man in the final qualifier for the 125th U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club in San Francisco….
Doubling up: Two upgrades have increased the fun for Boyne golfers
HARBOR SPRINGS, MI. – Operators of the three Boyne resorts have always stayed ahead of the game. This year they’ve been twice as good at it. Two upgrades at The Highlands, in Harbor Springs, have changed the golf atmosphere there. One is called Doon Brae, a one-of-a-kind nine-hole short course that was planned as the…
A golf trip doesn’t have to be just about golf
MACKINAC ISLAND, MI. – The first time we visited this vacation hotspot in Northern Michigan we came largely to check out the golf. It appeared to be a well-kept secret on the Island that we should be uncovering – and it was. The island’s iconic Grand Hotel has an 18-hole course that is well worth…
Korn Ferry Tour is back at the Glen Club
Back in 2019 Scottie Scheffler won the first NV5 Invitational Championship – a Korn Ferry Tour event played at the Glen Club in Glenview. Now he’s the world’s No.1-ranked golfer with five major titles, the most recent coming in last weeks’ British Open. This year’s NV5 Invitational, conducted by the Western Golf Association, returns to…
Less was more in winning the Illinois State Amateur
The Illinois State Amateur has been played for 94 years, but it’s doubtful it ever had a tournament wrapup quite like Thursday’s at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora. Macomb’s Connor Hamm shot a 9-under-par 63 in the morning to start the 36-hole final day of the event, and that gave him a seven-stroke lead on…
Pierce Grieve’s next goal is the U.S. Amateur
The biggest tournaments of the Chicago golf season are coming fast and furious now, starting with the 94th Illinois State Amateur, which concludes its three-day run at Stonebridge, in Aurora, on Thursday. Next week comes the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open Monday and Tuesday at Mistwood, in Romeoville, followed by the Korn Ferry Tour’s NV5…