Author: lenz

LPGA, French Lick create a senior major with weekday dates

French Lick’s Pete Dye Course is always a challenge, but the views are spectacular.

The Ladies PGA Tour added a major championship to its 2017 schedule on Tuesday, and it’s one with a very untraditional format.

Commissioner Mike Whan announced that the first LPGA Senior Championship will be played July 10-12 – Monday through Wednesday – at French Lick Resort in southern Indiana. Most pro golf events conclude four days of competition on Sunday, but it was difficult to find weekend dates for the LPGA’s senior members, former stars now in the 45-plus age group.

To compensate the LPGA – at the suggestion of French Lick chairman Steve Ferguson and director of golf Dave Harner – put two of its smaller tour events together. The LPGA’s developmental circuit, the Symetra Tour, will hold a 54-hole event on French Lick’s Donald Ross Course from July 7-9 immediately before 81 senior members battle for a $600,000 purse the next three days on the acclaimed Pete Dye Course. There will be no cut in the senior event. The Symetra tournament, also played at 54 holes, will have a $200,000 purse with $30,000 going to the champion.

The Ross was the site of Walter Hagen’s win in the 1924 PGA Championship and victories by Mickey Wright and Betsy Rawls in the LPGA Championships of 1959 and 1960. The biggest event on the much younger Dye layout — it opened in 2009 — was Colin Montgomerie’s victory in the 2015 Senior PGA Championship.

Scheduling gets even more complex for senior women than just the assignment of weekday dates. The first LPGA Senior Championship follows one of the circuit’s regular major championships – the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Sept. 30 to July 2 at Olympia Fields Country Club — and the U.S. Women’s Open will be played the following week at Trump National in New Jersey.

Scotland’s Trish Johnson was the center of attention after her win in a six-hole playoff with Juli Inkster in last year’s Legends Championship.

“This creates a great opportunity for us to showcase our stars of yesterday, the players who really built this game, and our stars of tomorrow,’’ said Whan, who said the creation of the new event was over six months in the planning stage.

It also could mean the end of The Legends Championship, a previous brainchild of the French Lick staff who had been working with Legends Tour executive director Jane Blalock. Blalock created that circuit – acknowledged as the “official’’ senior tour of the LPGA – in 2000. The LPGA and Legends, though, operated independently.

“We’ve had a close relationship with the Legends Tour for four years,’’ said Harner. “We felt this was the right thing to do, to give the senior ladies a major event.’’

Last year’s Legends Championship, in which Scotland’s Trish Johnson whipped defending champion Juli Inkster in a dramatic six-hole playoff, had a purse of $325,000. In its four-year run The Legends Championship couldn’t get any television coverage. The first LPGA Senior Championship will have six hours of coverage on The Golf Channel. Both French Lick and The Golf Channel have multi-year agreements with the LPGA on the new senior tournament.

The Legends Hall of Fame is located at the West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick, and the Legends Championship has been the biggest event on Blalock’s circuit. For now, the tourney announced on Tuesday mainly amounts to a name change but the future of The Legends Championship is in doubt. Harner said it won’t be held at French Lick if it is held at all.

In addition to Inkster and Johnson, the Legends roster has included such prominent names as Nancy Lopez, Beth Daniel, Patty Sheehan, Joanne Carner, Jan Stephenson and Pat Bradley.

Harner is hopeful that Annika Sorenstam will end her long break from competition and join those stars at French Lick. Sorenstam wasn’t mentioned at Tuesday’s televised announcement, however. Michelle McGann, a seven-time LPGA winner, represented the senior players.

“This is amazing,’’ said McGann. “I went on tour when I was 18 and never thought I’d be playing in an LPGA Senior Championship. I’m so excited. French Lick has a fabulous golf course, and the people there have been so supportive of our Legends Tour.’’

Senior women had been the lone segment of the golf population largely ignored by the sport’s organizing groups until recently. The U.S. Golf Association announced in 2015 that it would conduct at U.S. Women’s Senior Open, but that event won’t debut until 2018 at Chicago Golf Club.

BIT AND PIECES: Tiger Woods announced that he would play in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Open Feb. 13-19 at Los Angeles’ Riviera Country Club. It was the site of his first PGA Tour event in 1992, when Woods was a 16-year old amateur.

Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray, long the only Chicago player on the LPGA Tour, could wind up playing in both the Symetra and senior events at French Lick. She’s one of only two players to earn money on all three women’s circuits in 2016. Jeray has full status on the Symetra in 2017 and expects to get into most of the Legends tournaments as well, but she fears conflicts with the accompanying pro-ams may limit her to playing one or the other tournament at French Lick. The first LPGA Senior Championship also includes pro-ams on the Friday and Saturday of the Symetra tournament.

Deerfield’s Vince India has regained his place on the PGA’s Web.com Tour. He finished third in last week’s qualifying school in Winter Garden, FL.

Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Good has been at least temporarily thwarted in its well-publicized bid to launch its new Triton driver. The club’s development was the focal point of a nationally-televised golf reality series, but the U.S. Golf Association says the club doesn’t conform to its rules. Wilson is working to correct the issue.

The John Deere Classic, despite having new dates and a weakened field due to the return of golf to last summer’s Olympics, was named the PGA Tour’s Tournament of the Year.

Illinois men’s coach Mike Small will be inducted into the Golf Coaches Hall of Fame on Wednesday night in Norman, OK.

Tournament organizers have announced that tickets are now on sale for the NCAA Championships at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove; the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship; the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, IL; and the U.S. Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.

LPGA and Symetra golfers will have this view as they play the 18th hole of the Pete Dye Course.

Want good affordable golf with history mixed in? Give Sebring a try

This Steve Smyers-designed South course at Highlands Ridge is one of the best on the Citrus Trail.

SEBRING, Florida – Now is the time for a golf upsurge in central Florida. At least that’s how Jim Kurtzeborn — spokesman for the newly-created Citrus Golf Trail — sees it, and I agree with him.

The Citrus Trail is a collection of nine courses spread among the communities of Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid. They’re roughly 60 miles south of Disney World — Florida’s most popular tourist destination. The golf in the busy Orlando area near Disney is just fine, but the Sebring area may provide a better alternative.

Golf on the Citrus Trail is more than good. It’s also one of the most affordable golf areas in the country – not just in Florida — and for the real devotees of the sport (me, for instance) there’s the added lure of golf history tied in.

Affordable golf, a nice variety of courses within close proximity to each other and a taste of golf history — all a short drive from other vacation attractions. That’s just what golf needs. Ocean-front courses are nice, but hardly a requirement for golfing enjoyment.

I’ve always been reluctant to dwell on price when reporting on golf destinations, given that fees are in a constant state of flux. They don’t just change by season. They can change on an almost daily basis. An inkling of the costs on the Citrus Trail, though, is significantly revealing.

Inn on the Lakes is a hot spot for golfers visiting the Citrus Trail.

The Trail promotes itself as “one of the most affordable golf destinations anywhere in the country, even in peak season, where golfers can stay and play for as little as $99 per person per night including room, golf and complimentary breakfast.’’

One of the courses on the Trail – actually one of my favorites to boot – is Pinecrest Golf Club in Avon Park. Its general manager, Joe Staffieri, addressed the price issue in front of a media crowd in early December.

“There’s a lot of great options for golf here, and all at a great price,’’ said Staffieri “Ours (greens fee) is about $30 today and next month it’ll go up to about $38.’’

Not bad, considering Pinecrest has a Donald Ross-designed course with challenging, well-conditioned greens that are less than a year old.

Architect Ron Garl includes Deer Run as one of the over 100 Florida courses that he has worked on.

Pinecrest has one big edge on the other Citrus Trail courses, and it’s not the price. If for no other reason, Pinecrest is worth a visit for historical reasons. It was the site of the first televised golf event. That was back in December of 1959 when Dr. Cary Middlecoff defeated Pete Cooper in the final of an eight-player match play competition that was broadcast by NBC. The tournament had a then-record $171,000 purse and Middlecoff’s prize was $37,500.

Ross, the legendary architect, was on site at least briefly in 1926 when Pinecrest was built. Now the course is 90 years old, and the area around it admittedly isn’t what it used to be. The facility included a big lakefront hotel until the 1950s when celebrities like Al Capone, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were among the visitors.

“It was a very happening place, and the railroad was responsible for that,’’ said Staffieri. “It brought people right from Chicago to central Florida.’’

In the 1960s that started to change, as golf destinations were being built in Florida’s coastal communities. The Pinecrest Hotel eventually struggled financially and was torn down 10 years ago. The course, though, was revived with a renovation last summer in which the greens and bunkers were restored to Ross’ design preferences. There are no homes or condos bordering its fairways, as the course winds through orange groves and natural wooded areas.

False fronts on all 18 greens at Pinecrest are a clear indication that it’s a DonaldRoss design.

Pinecrest isn’t the only Citrus Trail course with a touch of history. Harder Hall, in Sebring proper, has hosted one of the world’s top amateur tournaments. The Harder Hall Women’s Invitational has been played annually since 1956 and its champions include such prominent names as Cristie Kerr, Natalie Gulbis, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Stacy Lewis and Charley Hull. The 2017 version of the tournament will be played Jan. 4-6. Its chairman is Carol Semple Thompson, who was the champion three straight years (1990-92).

Two clubs on the Citrus Trail are 36-holers. The Highlands Ridge facility, in Avon Park, has its North and South courses. While both are championship courses, the South – which opened in 2012 — gives the Trail a taste of one of the current leading designers. Steve Smyers, a former president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, has a long resume of top layouts that include Isleworth in Florida, Lockenheath in Michgian and Olympia Fields South and Butterfield in the Chicago area.

The North course at Highlands Ridge was designed by Dave Harman, who patterned it after Kauri Cliffs in Zealand – Golf Digest’s Best New International Course in 2001.

This is the view you get of the Sebring Speedway from your hotel room at the Chateau Elan.

Sun N’ Lake, in Sebring, also has two 18-holers – Deer Run and Turtle Run. Deer Run opened in 1976 and popular Florida architect Ron Garl – he’s worked on 100 courses in the Sunshine State and about 250 world-wide – supervised a renovation six years ago. Its rating (73,7) and slope (134) from the back tees have made it a challenging tournament venue.

Turtle Run, designed in 1999 by Charles Ankrom – also a Florida-based architect – provides a different challenge. It demands accuracy over distance. The courses taken together give Sun ‘N Lake a country club setting that pleases both club members and visitors as well.

Placid Lakes, which opened in 1966, looks much newer than that because it underwent a complete renovation after suffering major hurricane damage in 2004.

For lodging and dining there are a variety of options. Cowpokes Watering Hole will appeal to those looking for a nightclub-type atmosphere. Inn on the Lakes, in downtown Sebring, has a lakeside location near Harder Hall and offers gourmet dining at its Chicanes Restaurant.

Chateau Elan, located beside Sebring International Raceway, has even more. In addition to its Esperante Restaurant and Hairpin Lounge, the convention center offers its visitors the chance to see a variety of auto racing events on the 3.7-mile course from the comfort of their hotel rooms.

And yes, Chateau Elan also is offering golf packages. Where else could a visitor mix golf with a prestigious auto event like March’s 12 Hours of Sebring? That’s a combination that would be hard to beat anywhere.

Name changes don’t detract from Meadowood’s interesting past

A rich history is just part of the charm at Florida’s Meadowood club.

FORT PIERCE, Florida – Golf courses tend to have their ups and downs. Many of those that are opened with extraordinary hoopla don’t stay in the spotlight for long. That’s what happened at a course known as Monte Carlo Country Club when it opened on Oct. 1, 1983.

Monte Carlo was one of the very first courses in what is now the Tournament Players Club Network – clubs that are licensed by the PGA Tour. Eighteen of the 30-plus that exist world-wide now are operated by PGA Tour Properties and many were awarded big tournaments quickly after opening for play.

That was the case when TPC Monte Carlo hosted three events on the fledgling Senior PGA Tour – now PGA Tour Champions – in the 1980s.

TPC courses — whether they’re private, resort or daily fee – are recognized as premier layouts. Florida has five of them, headed by TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, site of The Players Championship in March. Few TPC courses anywhere, however, have a history as interesting as that of what started out as TPC Monte Carlo.

Now known – for the second time – as Meadowood, this club got off to a rousing start when Hall of Famer Ray Floyd smashed the opening tee shot. Two months after that TPC Monte Carlo hosted the World Mixed Championship with Sam Snead and Joanne Carner winning the title.

Two years later the Senior PGA opened its 1985 season with an event called the Sunrise Senior Classic at TPC Monte Carlo. Miller Barber was its champion, beating Orville Moody in a February duel for one of his 24 victories on the 50-and-over circuit.

Damage resulting from two hurricanes led to Meadowood getting a rebuilt clubhouse.

Prize money remained at $225,000 with $33,750 to the winner a year later but the tournament got a name change. It was the Treasure Coast Classic when Charlie Owens took the title in the second event of the 1986 Senior PGA Tour campaign. (Barber had won the first and Owens stayed hot enough to win again three weeks later).

That was the end of TPC Monte Carlo’s run as a major tournament site but hardly the end of its time in the limelight of golf. The legendary Snead moved to the area in 1988 and was the club’s resident pro emeritus until his death in 2002. The club, in fact, celebrated Snead’s 90th birthday just before Snead hit his last ceremonial first tee shot at that year’s Masters. He passed on shortly after that.

Snead wasn’t the only prominent golfer hanging out at TPC Monte Carlo. Bernhard Langer had a home near the 14th tee and was brought in to represent the club. Four Masters champions either lived or played there with one of them, Bob Goalby, also a particularly frequent visitor. Tennis great Bjorn Borg also spent time on the club’s tennis courts.

A fountain doesn’t come into play, but it does spice up the look of Meadowood’s last stretch of holes.

That was quite a start for a course created by Florida designer Charles Ankrom. Ankrom, from nearby Palm City, was a prominent course designer in the Sunshine state with over 23 layouts on his resume in addition to courses in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Japan. Ankrom passed on in 2009 at the age of 72. By then his most prominent creation had been renamed three times.

Ankrom created his course for a German group of investors out of what was a virgin pine forest and had it available for play two months before the clubhouse opened on Dec. 1, 1983.

After its run as a tournament venue the Hankins Group purchased the property in August, 1988 and renamed its Meadowood. A group of members took over the facility in 1992 and leased it to a development company in 1996. The name was changed to Panther Woods at that point and existed under that title for nearly 10 years.

The homes around the Meadowood course offer some eye-catching architecture.

In 2004, two years after Snead’s death, the club was devastated by two hurricanes. The course was closed for over two months and the clubhouse for over six months before members took over the property again in January of 2005. They benefitted from a rebuilt clubhouse following the hurricanes, ordered a major course renovation in 2006 and restored the Meadowood name in 2009.

Other than acknowledging Snead’s connection, the club doesn’t dwell much on its most notable past. There’s not need to do that. Meadowood is definitely one of the best options for golfers visiting south Florida. It remains comfortably distant from the busy areas of nearby Fort Pierce and Vero Beach in what is very much a private club-type gated community. The club, though, allows most affordable public play at certain times.

The course, in great condition when we played it, measures 6,773 yards from the back tees with a rating of 72.8 and slope of 136. With six sets of tee markers, it is suitable for all types of players. Most notably, the course becomes more of a fun challenge as it goes along and the last four holes create a most memorable home stretch.

Water comes into play in a variety of ways during a round at Meadowood.

HERE AND THERE: Here’s where Trump got started in the golf business

HAIL TO THE CHAMPIONS: This team from the Las Positas course, in Livermore, Calif., won the PGA Junior League national title at Grayhawk, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The fast-growing junior program had 30,000 youngsters from 48 states playing on its 2,500 teams in 2016.

Donald Trump’s rise to President of the United States has come amidst a variety of controversies. There’s no debate about him from the architect who built Trump’s first golf course, however.

“He was the best client I ever had in the United States,’’ declared Jim Fazio, the designer who created what is now Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla. That course opened in 1999.

“It was just a piece of flat land,’’ recalled Fazio. “He leased it from the airport authority. The reasoning was, he never had built a golf course but he played and knew the game.’’

In other words, Trump wanted to learn before expanding his business involvement in golf. Trump Golf now has 18 properties around the world. Jim Fazio also designed Trump National Westchester in New York, which opened in 2002, and his designer-brother Tom has also been the architect for Trump courses.

Trump National, though, came first. Jim Fazio has designed and built over 20 courses in the United States and another 20-plus overseas. He’s done work for a variety of owners, including one in Japan who owns 15 courses. Fazio has worked for him for eight years and only seen him twice.

Architect Jim Fazio got an early inkling of Donald Trump’s approach to the golf business.

It wasn’t like that at Trump International.

“During the winter he’d stay at Mar-a-Lago (Trump’s private club in nearby Palm Beach) and he would see the course being built,’’ said Fazio. “Every week he’d come out and bring two-three friends. We moved over 3 ½ million cubic yards of dirt and he kept saying `We need more,’ and I kept saying `No, we don’t.’ Sometimes more is not good. We didn’t have any budget. We just kept building one hole after another.’’

Time wasn’t much of a consideration, either.

“Usually it takes six-nine months to build a golf course in Florida,’’ said Fazio. “This one took two years to the day.’’

A BRIDGE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: Vidanta Resorts, which include five courses in Mexico, just announced the opening of its Greg Norman Signature Course in Nuevo Vallarta. Three of the other courses are Jack Nicklaus designs, but they don’t have one thing that the Norman layout does.

The par-73 Norman design features the world’s longest golf cart suspension bridge. It covers the Ameca River from Nayarit to Jalisco, spanning 558 feet – or 1,444 feet including the ramps.

BIG CHANGES AT PINEHURST: A Gil Hanse redesign of the No. 4 course highlights a three-year improvement plan that will soon be underway at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

Hanse, who previously led restoration projects at The Country Club in Boston, Los Angeles Country Club, Merion in Philadelphia and Oakland Hills in Michigan and created the original design for the Olympic Course in Brazil, will also build a new short course that will impact two other Pinehurst courses.

The short course will consist of eight to 12 holes on land that is currently part of the Nos. 3 and 5 courses. No. 3 will close in December and re-open in the spring as a par-68 course. Work will also be done on Thistle Dhu, the popular putting course, and Maniac Hill, the country’s first driving range.

The 18th hole on the Dye Course is just one of the eye-catching holes at Barefoot Resort.

TOUR OPERATORS’ FAVORITE: Barefoot Resort, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., created a sensation in 2000 when it became the first American facility to open four courses simultaneously. The resort has courses designed by Norman, Tom Fazio, Davis Love III and Pete Dye.

Sixteen years later the International Association of Golf Tour Operators has selected Barefoot as the North American Golf Resort of the Year. Over 500 tour operators in 62 countries participated in the voting. Last year the winner was Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club, in Florida.

NICKLAUS NOSTALGIA: Jack Nicklaus was just 11 years old and playing golf with his father at Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club on a family vacation in 1951. The round was memorable because Nicklaus shot 37 and broke 40 for the first time. Now that course has become more than a walk down memory lane for the legendary Golden Bear.

Nicklaus, working with architect John Sanford, just completed a $9 million redesign of the course. The architects also added a 300-yard practice and teaching range as the latest in resort upgrades. The on-course project follows $50 million in renovations and other enhancements at the resort in recent years.

Jack Nicklaus had good vibes about this Naples Beach course even before his redesign work began.

OMNI UPGRADES: Several Omni resorts have made significant improvements. A new clubhouse overlooking its Old Course has opened at Omni Bedford Springs in Pennsylvania. (The course opened in 1895 after Spencer Oldham created the original design. A.W. Tillinghast (1912) and Donald Ross (1923) also did significant work on the course).

A tree removal project also improved the Cascades course at Omni Homestead Resort in Virginia. That resort opened even earlier (1766) than Bedford Spring, and The International Course, — a Norman design, has re-opened at Omni Orlando in Florida after undergoing thes first renovation in its 16-year history. The companion National Course is scheduled for similar improvements in 2017.

BITS AND PIECES: KemperSports has announced the naming of two new general managers – Don Crowe at Bandon Dunes in Oregon and Vince Juarez at Deerpath, a public layout in Lake Forest, Ill.

The Donald Ross Course at Indiana’s French Lick Resort is planning for its 100th anniversary celebration. It hosted the 1924 PGA Championship, won by Walter Hagen; and two LPGA majors — 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championships, won by Betsy Rawls and Mickey Wright.

Harbor Shores, in Michigan, has announced plans for its seventh, and largest, waterfront development. Called Harbor Village, it’ll open to residents in the summer of 2017.

Hugh Royer, winner of the 1987 Western Amateur and son of the 1970 Western Open champion of the same name, has joined Tidewater, in Myrtle Beach, to lead the club’s instructional efforts.

Re-opening of Dye Course underscores progress made at PGA Golf Club

Pete Dye’s bunkers were the talk of the day at the re-opening of the Dye Course at PGA Golf Club.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida – The PGA Golf Club is the winter home of the PGA of America’s 28,000 members. It’s also one of just two facilities in America that the PGA operates, the other being Valhalla – the organization’s premier tournament venue in Louisville, Ky.

PGA Golf Club, with its four 18-hole courses plus a six-hole short course and elaborate learning center, is one of the nation’s top golf resorts. That’s why this week’s re-opening of its Dye Course will have an immediate impact on the game nation-wide. Visitors, both from all parts of the U.S. as well as other countries, will soon be arriving here with a new, most attractive playing option.

The Dye, created by legendary architect Pete Dye, was the third course built at PGA Golf Club. It opened in 2000, four years after two Tom Fazio designs – The Wanamaker and The Ryder. The Dye is the only course at the 20-year old resort not designed by a Fazio; Tom’s brother Jim designed the other, St. Lucie Trails.

Director of agronomy Dick Gray had fun discovering hidden bunkers during the Dye Course renovation.

Work on The Dye began in May and the re-opening was delayed two weeks after Hurricane Matthew visited the area. Director of agronomy Dick Gray said the course “isn’t perfect’’ yet but it’s more than ready to take players and Gray expects the last remnants of the hurricane will be gone in a month.

To be sure, The Dye needed work. Over years of play it had ceased to look like a Pete Dye-designed golf course. The greens had gotten smaller and some of the bunkers had disappeared, only to be re-discovered during the renovation in which Celebration Bermuda was used to re-grass the fairways and Tifeagle was used for the new putting surfaces. Dye, soon to turn 91 years old, was only minimally involved the restoration project.

“We don’t do anything without Pete taking a look at it first,’’ said Gray, a fellow Indiana native who has known the Hall of Fame designer for nearly 50 years. “We had him out in late April and he’s OK with everything we’ve done. Obviously he was a little distressed by the way it started, but Pete’s back in our corner.’’

Revived Dye Course will make PGA members proud.

Dye hasn’t seen the finished product yet but may visit next week when he’s being inducted into the Florida Golf Hall of Fame.

“It’s my guess he’ll be more than satisfied with the way the course now looks and feels,’’ said Gray.

That could well be the case, as the course will look much different than the last time Dye saw it.

“The greens are much bigger, with many more pin placements,’’ said Gray, “but with Pete’s courses it’s like going on a treasure hunt. You go out and find something you didn’t know was there. I couldn’t tell you how many peripheral bunkers we found. It was a restoration project, but it was a reclamation in places, too.’’

The digging most notably revealed six bunkers that had existed behind the No. 9 green, but there were more at Nos. 5, 10, 11 and 18 and Gray suspects more hidden bunkers are still out there.

Reviving The Dye was just the latest step in an upgrading of the resort that started after the number of rounds played fell to what general manager Jimmy Terry called “the lows of three-four years ago.’’

No bunkers anywhere look quite like the many Pete Dye designed at PGA Golf Club.

“We saw the challenge and we’re 3 ½ years into a five-year (improvement) plan,’’ said Terry. “We’ve had the absolute support from the PGA of America on what we wanted to do. We started simple, to make sure our golf courses are commensurate with the PGA of America so that its members will be proud to call it their winter home.’’

The first year of upgrades dealt with agronomy, with work done on the greens at St. Lucie Trail. That course, private when the upgrading began, took on its present name, was made semi-private and its pricing structure was changed.

In the second year the focus was on the clubhouse. Work was completed last year, but the tweaking continues. The facility was expanded and memorabilia added, most notably replicas of the trophies presented to the winners of the four major annual championships – the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. It makes for a nice photo opportunity.

Players at PGA Golf Club can get their picture taken with the four major championship trophies.

The fairways and greens of The Wanamaker were upgraded last year and The Ryder was to get the same treatment right after that.

“Because we had a couple large events scheduled there this fall we didn’t want to take the risk,’’ said Terry. One of the tournaments, the PGA Senior Professional Championship, is on tap on that course this week.

So, work was started on The Dye instead but The Ryder is going to get a facelift, too.

“We’ll do The Ryder Course next year,’’ said Terry. “At the end of the five years we’ll have touched every golf course and the clubhouse. The response from our members has been very positive. Our private club memberships have the highest they’ve ever been and the rounds of golf are back to a level where we’re happy with them.’’

No private golf club in Florida matches up with The Legacy

Bob Foisie’s The Legacy offers many activities that other Florida golf clubs don’t.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida – The Legacy may be the most intriguing course in golf-rich Florida.

Located in a community that has five 18-holers in close proximity to each other, The Legacy – the only private course among the five — has been around for 32 years and has hosted local qualifiers for many U.S. Opens and other national tournaments. Its designers carry a highly respected name in course architecture circles and its most progressive 82-year old owner has made upgrades that make his club both special and unique.

Still, The Legacy has maintained a lower profile than the four resort courses that comprise the PGA Golf Club. Many of the club professionals from around the U.S. who have come to this community to play the four layouts at PGA Golf Club don’t know much about The Legacy. There’s an aura of mystery about it for those not living in the immediate area.

Thirty-two years ago the course was called The Reserve and its owner was George Fazio. He holds a unique place in golf history, being the first of many touring pros who have dabbled in course architecture. Fazio did much more than dabble after a playing career that included victories in the 1946 Canadian Open and the 1947 Bing Crosby Pro-Am and a playoff loss to Ben Hogan in the 1950 U.S. Open.

Fazio’s list of course designs includes such well-known American layouts as PGA National, East Lake, Butler National and Jupiter Hills. His financial partners on such golf ventures included legendary comedian/golfer Bob Hope, one of Fazio’s frequent pro-am partners. Fazio paved the way for his nephews, Jim and Tom, to enter the golf architectural business and Fazio Design now spans three generations, since the sons of Tom and Jim have also gotten involved.

Owner Bob Foisie and architect Jim Fazio have teamed to make The Legacy something special.

The Legacy holds a unique place in golf history, it being the last course designed by George and the first designed by Jim, who has since created about 30 courses in the United States and a similar number overseas.

“George was a pretty good tour pro. He had a nice playing record,’’ said Chuck Knebels, a well-known club professional in the area, “but he was the first player of that generation to get into architecture. Before him course designers were more engineers, guys who were more visionary about the land rather being a player. George – then Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw – were the first players to take a shot at it. At the end of the day people really needed to get a player’s perspective. It’s hard doing well without being there.’’

Knebels knew George Fazio long before either settled in Florida. They both had roots in Philadelphia, and Fazio helped Knebels – then just 22 years old – land the head professional’s job at Mariner Sands, another Fazio design in the nearby town of Stuart.

“I was just lucky to be associated with someone like that as a kid, because it opened doors,’’ said Knebels, who spent 24 years at Mariner Sands before finishing a successful professional career with a 15-year stint at Hawks Ridge — a highly upscale private club in Atlanta. Now he’s back in Stuart, still involved with Mariner Sands and giving perspective on The Legacy as well.

“The Faz” is a statue that pays tribute to the work of George Fazio.

Jim Fazio, though a nephew of George, didn’t really get to know his uncle until he was in his teens.

“I didn’t meet him until I was 15, because he lived in California and was a pro on the tour,’’ said Jim. “I went to work for him when I was 17 at a nine-hole golf course he had in Pennsylvania.’’

As George’s career was winding down due in part to health problems Jim’s was on the upswing. They wound up together working on a property called The Reserve in the early 1980s. The owner had donated a portion of a 2,500-acre property called The Reserve in what was then Fort Pierce, Florida, for the creation of a golf course. The Reserve was the first course built in what is now PGA Village, a part of Port St. Lucie. The first of the resort courses weren’t built there until 1996.

George Fazio lived on the premises for about four years, built the clubhouse, tennis courts and swimming pool, then developed prostate cancer. Jim recalls the course being built for less than $1.5 million and estimates that today its construction would be a $6 million project. After clearing 100 acres of trees, the finished project was much like today’s layout – a challenging 7,023 yards from the back tees.

Building started in March of 1983 and finished in November. An 11-inch rain on the day of the scheduled opening pushed the course’s debut to January 1, 1984, and it wasn’t exactly a smash hit then largely because of its somewhat remote location.

“It was a fun thing to do, but we were ahead of our time,’’ Jim Fazio says now.

Miniature golf is just one of the many activities offered to members and guests at The Legacy.

George moved back to a cottage he owned at Jupiter Hills shortly after The Legacy opened and his wife Barbara sold the course to Jack Piatt, of Pittsburgh, after her husband’s death in 1986 at the age of 73.

“With Piatt the course lost some of its pizzazz,’’ said Knebels. “George would attract the higher end amateur golfer and guys of a higher economic stature.’’

Bob Foisie, a successful entrepreneur from Connecticut, was one of the club members when Piatt was the owner. Foisie already owned a course in New Hampshire, saw possibilities with The Reserve and – most important — recognized that the golf industry was changing. He bought the club and one of his first moves was to change its name.

“The Reserve didn’t mean much to me,’’ said Foisie. “A reserve could have been almost anything.’’

Members and their guests are in for a treat at The Legacy.

He decided on The Legacy as a tribute to George Fazio and a statue, called The Faz, honors his memory in front of the pro shop.

Over the years the Fazio name became much more well known in golf architecture thanks to the efforts of Jim and Tom and their sons, Tom and Logan.
Jim Fazio has had a hand in every change made to The Legacy but — with Foisie’s guidance — he’s done much more than that at the club. Foisie, who has owned the club for 20 years, also called upon him to create an upscale practice range, a par-3 course that accommodates both walkers and riders and a lighted miniature course.

That’s all in keeping with Foisie’s realization that golf clubs need much more than a good 18-hole course to attract members these days.

“You have to have a golf course, and other things,’’ he said. “When you add ours all up, we have a good 14 different activities.’’

In addition to various dining options, The Legacy’s non-golf attractions include six tennis courts, a swimming pool, facilities for bocce ball and pickle ball, a dog park and dog agility course.

In addition to golf, bocce ball is just one of 14 activities offered at The Legacy.

HERE AND THERE: Arcadia Bluffs is adding another course, too

Dana Fry (right) teamed with fellow architects Ron Whitten and Mike Hurdzan to design 2017 U.S. Open site Erin Hills, but Fry will go it alone in creating the second course at Arcadia Bluffs.

Arcadia Bluffs and Forest Dunes have battled for the status of Michigan’s best public course for several years, so it should come as no surprise that construction of a second course will begin on Nov. 1 at Arcadia. And there’s no better place to begin another round of our “offseason” travel-related golf reports.

Forest Dunes, in Roscommon, had a soft opening for its unique Tom Doak-designed reversible course — a layout that can be played both clockwise and counter clockwise — this season and it’ll be in full swing in 2017 to provide an alternative to the respected Tom Weiskopf-designed main 18-holer.

Arcadia’s second course will be on the unusual side as well. Called the South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, it’ll be located about a mile from the present 18-holer and – unlike its companion layout – it won’t be on the water.

Architect Dana Fry is planning an inland course that will be noted for its huge putting surfaces that will be either square or rectangular-shaped. Planned opening is in the summer of 2018.

In the meantime, Fry will be a busy guy. With Mike Hurdzan and Ron Whitten, he was one of three architects involved in the designing of Erin Hills – the Wisconsin site of the 2017 U.S. Open next June. Fry plans to spend nearly two weeks at Erin Hills before and during the first U.S. Open ever played in Wisconsin. And that’s in addition to the demands of the work required at Arcadia Bluffs and some projects overseas.

Hurricane Matthew update

The damage done by Hurricane Matthew was serious in the golf world, no doubt about it.

Clearly Hilton Head, S.C., got it the worst – especially at Sea Pines Resort where the opening of the new Atlantic Dunes course had to be postponed. Its other two courses – Harbour Town and Heron Point also are closed. The target for the opening of all three is Nov. 21.

TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra, FL., also suffered extensive damage, though much of it was not initially reported nationally because the famous Stadium Course – site of the PGA Tour’s Players Championship – had been closed for a renovation since the last Players Championship in May.

According to reports from Sawgrass 372 trees fell during the hurricane, 203 on the Stadium Course. The facility was hit with 66 mile-per-hour winds and 14 inches of rain. Tentative re-opening of the Stadium Course is Nov. 15.

Shark Shootout will have a female touch

Greg Norman’s Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout will be played for the 16th straight year at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, FL., from Dec. 8-10 but it will have a new look.

The field will include a woman – LPGA star Lexi Thompson – for the first time since Annika Sorenstam participated in 2006. She’ll be paired with 21-year old rookie star Bryson DeChambeau.

They represent two of the eight first-time participants in the Shootout. Among the others is English veteran and former world No. 1 Luke Donald. Brandt Snedeker and Jason Dufner will defend their title in the event.

Bits and pieces

With our base moving again from the Chicago area to Florida for the winter, it’s time to clean out the notebook items from all parts of country. Here’s the best of the bunch:

This team from Cog Hill will comprise Team Illinois in the PGA Junior League national finals.

Cog Hill’s junior league team is among eight to qualify for the Nov. 19-21 national championship at Grayhawk, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The team is captained by Carol Rhoades and coached by Kevin Weeks, both PGA professionals.

PGA Golf Club, the 54-hole flagship facility of the PGA of America located in Port St. Lucie, FL., will hold a Red, White & You charity event on its recently-renovated Wanamaker course on Nov. 13. It’ll benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation and PGA REACH.

Golf TV commentators Johnny Miller and Mark Rolfing will be special guests at the Western Golf Association’s Green Coat Gala on Nov. 4 at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel.

The University of Illinois men’s team, which has remained a national powerhouse in what figured to be a rebuilding season, concludes its fall campaign at the East Lake Cup from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2. Coach Mike Small has fielded a team without a senior (two juniors, one sophomore, three freshmen). The Illini won their first three tournaments and climbed to the No. 1-ranking in the Golf Coaches Association poll.

David Feherty will perform at Chicago’s Copernicus Center beginning at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.

Antioch Golf Club, one of the Chicago area’s longest-standing public 18-holers, is for sale. Asking price for the north suburban layout that was built in the 1920s is $950,000.

The Myrtle Beach Preseason Classic, a 54-hole two-man team event with three formats, has been scheduled for Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. The Heather Glen, Legends Heathland, Kings North, Pine Lakes, Prestwick and Pearl West courses will be used for the event.

Notre Dame’s Warren course has been named the site for the 2019 U.S. Senior Open. It’ll be the first campus course to host the event and only the 16th campus course to host a U.S. Golf Association championship.

For starters, a new name is needed for the rejuvenated Oak Meadows course

The letters now missing from the signage signify that Oak Meadows’ days as a golf course are done.

The course reconstruction is done, at least for this fall. Course architect Greg Martin has the new routing for what had been the Oak Meadows golf course in place, the turf is starting to grow in and the Wadsworth Construction equipment is departing the 288-acre property in Addison.

In short, the anticipation is growing – even with cold weather about to curtail another Chicago golf season. In just a few months this chunk of land will be the most talked about course in at least the Chicago area, and it should be. This isn’t just a golf course renovation. It also involves environmentally-driven restorations and wetland creation – and all that doesn’t come cheap.

DuPage director of golf Ed Stevenson is anxious to open a new golf course.
Ed Stevenson, director of golf for the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, estimates the cost of those combined projects at $16 million and that doesn’t include the building of a clubhouse, which won’t likely be ready until 2019. Nineteen architects submitted proposals for that aspect of this massive project, four were interviewed and selection of the chosen one is imminent.

Next order of business involves the naming of the new course. One thing is certain: it won’t be called Oak Meadows, which was a deteriorating, flood-plagued layout before its formal closing on July 7, 2015. The Oak Meadows signs were taken down at the conclusion of the construction period.

Stevenson is heading the committee that hopes to come up with the new name in time for a mid-winter announcement. A committee of environmentalists, naturalists, ecologists, landscape architects and golf course personnel are pondering possible names and the best one from the group as a whole will be submitted to the DuPage board for approval.

Frequent flooding on the course initiated discussions for a renovation years ago. Then, in 2009, lightning struck the clubhouse and an ensuing fire destroyed it. That misfortune stimulated more discussion on what should be done at this choice location, which has housed at least one golf course since 1923.

Pro shop photos show that Ben Hogan’s 1941 Chicago Open win hasn’t been forgotten.

Originally the course was called Elmhurst Country Club, a private facility that hosted the 1941 Chicago Open – a big tournament won by the legendary Ben Hogan. For about 60 years Elmhurst CC existed beside another private country club, Brookwood. The courses went public in 1986, when the DuPage Forest Preserve District took over and started transforming what was there.

Maple Meadows, which had 27 holes on basically the Brookwood property, operated side-by-side with Oak Meadows before Martin began his renovation. The 18 holes at Oak Meadows and the nine-hole East course at Maple Meadows were eliminated to make way for the new 18-hole course.

Tee markers from the first and last holes are all that’s left of the Oak Meadows course.

Solving the flooding problems from Salt Creek was vital in the reconstruction. Two dams were removed and 1.2 miles of the creek were restored throughout the property.

“Salt Creek was a liability, and now it’s the star of the show,’’ said Stevenson, while giving his first sneak preview of the new course toward the conclusion of his 22nd season on the job. “We can hold 20 million more gallons of storm water because the water now goes where we want it to go. We can hold more of it, and the golf course can stay dry longer.’’

Opening of the new course is targeted – most optimistically – for next Memorial Day weekend but play will likely be limited for a while after that first ball is struck. Regulars from the Oak Meadows days will find that the Nos. 1 and 18 holes look familiar. The rest of the course, not so much – if at all.

While numerous trees were removed in the reconstruction process, about 500 native ones were planted. There had been 12 bridges on the property; now there are 10.

The 20 bunkers on the Oak Meadows layout were removed and 54 new ones were built, all with the new high-tech Better Billy Bunker system that was put into use at Minnesota’s Hazeltine National in preparation for the recent Ryder Cup matches. The new bunkers will have white sand, a trademark of PGA Tour courses, and the course was re-grassed with T-1 bentgrass, another upscale feature that was well-received at Valhalla – a PGA Tour-owned championship course in Kentucky – among other high-profile clubs.

One unfortunate part of the transformation was the elimination of an historic hole. The short par-3 sixteenth hole of the Oak Meadows course had the first island green in America. Charles W. Wagstaff, designer of the Elmhurst Country Club course, created it and such holes became popular world-wide over the years. Flooding concerns required the elimination of that hole in the new design.

The revamped practice range will be unique. It’ll have six target greens and a fairway will be cut down the middle. When completed the range can double as a six-hole course to be used in youth programs.

In some spots the renovated course that was Oak Meadows looks ready to welcome golfers.

Champions Tour golfer Jeff Sluman is undergoing a lifestyle change

Veteran tour player Jeff Sluman (left) talks golf with Steve Cochran at Exmoor’s tournament preview.

For at least two decades Jeff Sluman has been the Chicago area’s premier player on the Champions Tour. He still is, but no longer can he be referred to as “Hinsdale’s Jeff Sluman.’’

Sluman revealed at the Western Golf Association’s preview for the 2018 Constellation Senior Players Championship on Wednesday that he’s no longer a suburbanite. He sold his mansion in Hinsdale. Sluman and wife Linda have moved into Chicago and are adjusting to being empty-nesters. Their only child, daughter Kathryn, has begun her freshman year at Florida State University, Jeff’s alma mater.

“My wife and I get on a plane every two weeks or so to see her,’’ said Sluman. “That’s been difficult, but we’re looking forward to a new chapter in our lives living downtown and seeing the city.’’

Sluman has over $10 million in tournament winnings. Now 59, his biggest win came in the 1988 PGA Championship and he and remains a constant contender on what is now called the PGA Tour Champions. He tied for third in his last tournament and climbed from 21st to 15th in the circuit’s Charles Schwab Cup standings.

While the PGA Tour season ended with the Ryder Cup two weeks ago and its 2016-17 campaign has already begun, the 50-and-over circuit is about to begin its first-ever season-ending playoff series – three events that conclude on Nov. 13 at the Charles Schwab Cup finals in Scottsdale, Ariz.

That’s got Sluman’s attention now, but he’s looking forward to coming to Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park for one of the PGA Tour Champions’ major events. Exmoor, which dates back to 1896, has a well-tested tournament course that was re-designed in 1914 by Donald Ross.

“I couldn’t be happier that we’re going to be playing here in two years,’’ said Sluman during a fireside chat conducted by radio personality Steve Cochran for the benefit of Exmoor members and prospective tournament sponsors. “The course is absolutely magnificent. All our guys will love it.’’

Sluman was also a spokesman for the players during the circuit’s Encompass Championship during its three-year run at North Shore Country Club in Glenview. That tournament left town, and the PGA Tour Champions didn’t play in the Chicago area this year won’t in 2017, either.

The WGA will manage the Constellation Senior Players Championship in 2018, an addition to its usual duties of conducting the BMW Championship on the PGA Tour, the Western Amateur and Western Junior. The Western Amateur has been played at Exmoor three times, most recently in 2012.

Exmoor was one of 11 charter clubs when the WGA was founded in 1899 and – like Sluman’s home club, Hinsdale Golf Club, — it has been a big supporter of the WGA’s Evans Scholars Foundation. Hinsdale has sent 80 caddies to college since 1954. Exmoor has sponsored more the 60 Evans Scholars.

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This World Championship golfer has the speed to prove it

International athletes couldn’t match Kenosha’s Jamie Young in the World SpeedGolf Championship.

GLENVIEW, Illinois – SpeedGolf, a sport created 14 years ago, combines a player’s golf score with his time covering 18 holes – and Jamie Young is good at it. So good, in fact, that he’s now the world champion.

Young, 52, from Kenosha, WI., won the World SpeedGolf Championship at The Glen Club on Tuesday. He shot rounds of 72 on Monday and 77 on Tuesday while averaging 10 minutes 20 seconds per mile.

Each round consisted of about five miles running and Young’s scores and speed together were good enough to beat 28 other competitors in the Elite Division in an event that drew athletes from 19 states and six countries.

The problem for Young comes in how to deal with the prize money. A $40,000 purse, put up by prominent Chicago golf course creator Mike Keiser, was offered at the World SpeedGolf Championship but Young couldn’t claim the $10,000 first prize because he chose to compete as an amateur.

Young is a golfer first and a runner second. He played college golf at the University of Oklahoma in the 1980s and was introduced to SpeedGolf five years ago when a friend encouraged him to compete in an event in Richmond, Va.

As was the case in the World Championship, there were amateur divisions at Richmond and Young posted a time that beat all the professionals. He received a nice trophy but Ireland’s Rob Hogan pocketed the $10,000 first prize.

“I turned pro after that,’’ said Young, “because there was talk about expanding it into a tour. I did two more tournaments, cashed in both and won about $5,000 but come the spring of 2015 the Richmond tournament was off, one in Portland was in doubt and the World Championship was to be determined.’’

Young went to the U.S. Golf Association to regain his amateur status, which would allow him to play in the big state golf events in Wisconsin again. He did play in last year’s World SpeedGolf Championship at The Glen Club and finished sixth, but he couldn’t touch the $2,500 prize that went with it because he was an amateur again.

Last January the USGA announced a rule change that would allow amateurs to donate their share of money won to charity, so Young made donations to his local Rotary Club and a church group. He’ll do the same with the first place money earned this year but he hasn’t ruled out a return to the pro ranks.

“If they get a tour going I might re-consider,’’ he said. He was one of four amateurs to compete in the Elite Division at The Glen.

In the meantime Young is keeping both his golf and fitness level in top shape in a variety of ways. He plays most of his golf at both Strawberry Creek, a private club with about 200 members that is owned in part by ex-Bears’ center Jay Hilgenberg in Kenosha, as well as a nearby public layout, Spring Valley.

A 1-handicapper at Strawberry Creek, Young has won the club championship four times and his three sons are his main rivals each year. The owner of his own investment company, Young has also competed in the Ironman Triathlon five times and has completed numerous marathons, most notably the big ones contested in Chicago, New York and Boston.

SpeedGolf presents a different challenge than those more traditional endurance sports. Young competes with six clubs in his bag. Each athlete runs by himself, accompanied by timers and scorers, with tee times eight minutes apart.

“My focus is more on breathing, not like a regular golf tournament where you’re feeling the pressure,’’ he said. “This tournament, though, I focused on shooting a good golf score.’’

He did that with an even par round on his first 18 holes and was 5-over in Tuesday’s second round in edging closest rival Wesley Cupp, of Rome, N.Y. Hogan finished fourth in defense of the title he won at The Glen last year.

If speed were the major consideration Young would have done just fine, too. He has played 18 holes at Strawberry Creek in just 56 minutes. He likes early-morning tee times, which allow him to get to his office for a day’s work after playing 18 holes and running four-five miles.

“For me it’s a great way to stay in shape,’’ said Young.

Runnerup Wesley Cupp and third-place finisher Mack McLain flank SpeedGolf winner Jamie Young. (Photo by Elizabeth Epstein).