Author: lenz

IPGA Senior Masters honors Koschmann, Benson

Lake Shore’s Bob Koschmann and Itasca’s Phil Benson were honored Monday at the 24th Illinois PGA Senior Masters Championship at Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest.

Bob Koschmann (left) and Phil Benson joined some select company at Onwentsia.

Koschmann is wrapping up his 40th, and final, season at Lake Shore in Glenview. He learned of an opening at Lake Shore while working as a caddie for PGA Tour player Jim Jamieson. Koschmann was hired on the spot as an assistant pro and worked there two years before taking a similar post working under legendary club pro Bill Ogden at North Shore.

With two more years of seasoning under Ogden, Koschmann was ready to begin his long stint as the head man at Lake Shore. He plans a move to Scottsdale, Ariz., after his retirement.

Benson also found happiness after settling at one private club. He entered the PGA of America’s then-new Professional Golf Management program at Ferris State after his high school graduation in 1975 and began his career at Itasca in 1979.

“I pretty much do the same thing now as I did in 1980,’’ he said. “I take are of the members, take care of the wives, take care of the kids, run the events, teach the people how to play and always listen to all their interesting stories when they come off the course. I don’t ever feel like I’m going to work when I go to work, so I guess that’s why I stayed in the field and stayed at Itasca. It’s always enjoyable to come to work.’’

Koschmann and Benson became the 47th and 48th club professionals honored at the Senior Masters event, the last 13 stagings of which were at Onwentsia. Their accomplishments were cited at a luncheon that preceded 18 holes of competition that included a pro-am. Tournament director Robert Duke gave the competitors pre-tournament instructions before sending them on to the course.

Illinois PGA pros and amateurs prepare for tournament director Robert Duke’s shotgun start.

St. Andrews’ 90th anniversary celebration is a family affair

This is a milestone year for one of the Chicago area’s very special golf facilities. St. Andrews is turning 90 years old, and only a handful of other golf clubs – private or public — have lasted that long.

Not only that, but St. Andrews’ road to success has been done family style. None of the other historically-rich clubs can match the family longevity that’s evolved at St. Andrews.

The West Chicago club’s story begins in 1926 when architect Edward B. Dearie built the first course. Three years later a second 18-holer, then called Lakewood, was added. One (the first, called St. Andrews) was built as a private club for members, the other (Lakewood) was for daily fee players. Private clubs dominated the game in the Chicago area before that, beginning with the building of Chicago Golf Club – the nation’s first 18-hole course — in 1892.

St. Andrews’ 36-hole facility became the home base for Joe Jemsek in 1938. Born the day before Christmas in 1913, he got involved in golf as a caddie and then a parking lot attendant at Cog Hill, in Lemont, and by age 19 he was a club professional there.

Jemsek gained fame by hitting a 501-yard drive in a long-drive contest at the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair, then moved to St. Andrews in 1938 after his bosses at Cog Hill wouldn’t give him a raise. That’s when the family side of St. Andrews began.

Though he was a competitive player, Jemsek’s goal was to own a golf course and the opportunity arose when St. Andrews owner Frank Hough offered him the facility for $40,000. Using a combination of savings and a loan, Jemsek not only took over ownership of St. Andrew; he also married Hough’s daughter Alice.

Jemsek would later take over the operations – either through ownership or lease agreements — of Cog Hill, Fresh Meadows in Hillside, Pine Meadow in Mundelein and Glenwoodie in Glenwood. He also added two more courses to the 36 at Cog Hill and became most-aptly known nation-wide as “the father of public golf.’’

St. Andrews, though, was his first venture into golf ownership and management. He opened both courses to public lic.

Jemsek, his wife and two children – Frank and Marianne – resided in a home behind the first green of the St. Andrews Course and now Marianne and her husband, Jerry Hinckley, live there. Though still part-time California residents, they became active owners of St. Andrews after Jemsek’s death at age 88 in 2002.

Son Frank Jemsek, meanwhile, has long directed the operations at Cog Hill and Pine Meadow and his family members play various roles in what happens there.

St. Andrews, though, is where it all started. It was the first public course to host a U.S. Open qualifying round in 1947 and the first to offer U.S. Golf Association handicaps to its regular players. Joe Jemsek also hired the legendary woman player Patty Berg as St. Andrews head professional, and she remained on staff for almost 50 years.

Eventually the Lakewood course at St. Andrews was renamed as the Joe Jemsek Course.

Lots of golf courses have come and gone in the Chicago area since the first tee shot was hit at St. Andrews. Many big tournaments have been scheduled at private clubs or Cog Hill, but St. Andrews remains a popular place for golf beginners and diehards alike.

The Hinckleys have brought in their own upgrades. Music on the front lawn has become a Wednesday night fixture, one of many things that sets St. Andrews apart from other public facilities, and those artists move indoors – to the St. Andrews Room – come October. The driving range was expanded more recently and now has hitting bays heated for winter use.

St. Andrews, long a popular destination for weddings as well as all types of golf outings, remains an extraordinary family-oriented operation.

Oldest on the staff is 89-year old Annie Judson, Marianne Hinckley’s aunt and Joe Jemsek’s sister. She has worked at St. Andrews for 65 years in a wide variety of capacities.

Dave Erickson, the head professional and practice range manager, has been employed by Jemsek Golf since 1970 and spent the last 27 years at St. Andrews. His aunt Anabelle was office secretary for many years.

Michelle Bockrath, the pro shop manager as well as marketing and live entertainment coordinator, has been at the club for 32 years – which is still five years short of her mother Jackie Tomaso. She’s worked the Half Way House for 37 years.

When Amos Lapp retired as course superintendent his son John replaced him and, when John retired, his nephew Brian took the job. Between Amos, John and Brian the Lapps have spent 42 years at St. Andrews.

The maintenance crew includes Jaime Cabrera (39 years); Darrell Redmond and Jesus Garcia, who are both 30-year employees; Jim Smith (27 years) and Antonio Garcia (25). Joe Baker was bar manager for over 50 years and his son Jude now holds that position. Three other Bakers are veterans of the bar operation – Dave for 36 years, Courtney for 28 and Brenda for 22. Another bartender, Tom Howell, has been on board for 27 years.

Cheryl Soto, the assistant general manager, is in her 41st year with the club and head ranger Dennis Maher is in his 28th season. Starters Walt Larsen and Don Rericka are 25-year men and Nick Koukos has worked in the pro shop for 26.

Teaching pro Mike Cain has been at St. Andrews for 27 years after starting work there on the maintenance crew in his teen-age years. The maintenance gang also provided a start for Butch Hansen, who has been a starter for 22 years.

Waitresses Susan Hansen, on board for 27 years, and Dee Albrecht, for 22, have also topped the two decade mark and bartender Tracy Page and practice center supervisor Carlos Alanis reached it recently.

And the list goes on. St. Andrews’ centennial is only 10 years away and there are sure to be plenty of long-term employees on hand for the celebration.

IWO starts a hectic stretch of area tournaments — 4 in 10 days!

Rarely have a series of big Chicago area tournaments been condensed into such a short time frame. Beginning on Monday there will be four such events crammed into a 10-day period.

First up is the 22nd Illinois Women’s Open, at Mistwood in Romeoville. The tourney’s pro-am is on Sunday and will conclude with a gala dinner in Mistwood’s new clubhouse, marking the first time the Great Hall will be in operation at the course’s showcase tournament. The three competitive rounds tee off on Monday with the field cut to the low 30 and ties after 36 holes.

Mistwood director of golf Andy Mickelson extended the entry deadline after about 50 players – 10 of them professionals – met the original signup requirement.

The tourney won’t have a defending champion, as Rockford teen-age sensation Madasyn Pettersen is focusing on the national junior tournaments instead.

“A few conflicting things drew down the size of the field,’’ said Mickelson. Perennial contender Jenna Pearson of Wheaton heads the competitors. The Symetra Tour player won the IWO as an amateur in 2006, lost the title the following year in a 10-hole playoff and then won it again as a professional in 2011.

Meanwhile, the 86th Illinois State Amateur starts its three-day run on Tuesday at St. Charles Country Club and the biggest tournament of this season – the LPGA’s UL International Crown – begins four days of competition next Thursday, July 21.

Then the 67th Illinois Open, at two St. Charles courses – Royal Fox and Royal Hawk — begins day after the Crown ends. Last of the 258 players advancing to the Illinois Open will be determined at the Last Chance Qualifier next Wednesday at The Grove, in Long Grove. It’s open to players who missed the entry deadline for the seven state-wide qualifying events, and those who didn’t advance through one of those qualifiers can also bid again for one of the last three spots in the starting field at St. Charles.

Ruffled Feathers unveils renovation

Dallas-based Arcis Golf has unveiled its $2 million renovation of Ruffled Feathers, the Lemont course boasting the only Pete Dye-designed layout in the Chicago area. Both the course and clubhouse underwent extensive upgrades. Arcis has announced it will spend $50 million in major capital improvements at its 66 public and private facilities nation-wide.

As for the Ruffled Feathers work, general manager Victor Rodarte described it as “a true revival of the entire property.’’

Arcis also operates five other Chicago area courses – Fresh Meadow, in Hillside; Mill Creek and Eagle Brook, in Geneva; Tamarack, in Naperville; and Whitetail Ridge, in Yorkville.

Lewis looks forward to Crown

Sandwiched between last week’s U.S. Women’s Open and the Olympics, the UL International Crown has plenty of competition for the women’s golf spotlight but America star Stacy Lewis is already looking forward to the second playing of the global team event.

“It was interesting to be part of the first one,’’ Lewis said during the U.S. Women’s Open in California. “Nobody knew how the format would play out as far as the team aspect. It was like the Solheim Cup on a smaller scale.’’

That’s a good thing, she said.

“There were only four of us (on the U.S. team), so we could have our families around a little more,’’ said Lewis. “It was more of a relaxing week. We could hang out as a group, and it was fun playing the other countries.’’

Here and there

Sabrina Bonanno, of Norridge, and Bing Singhsumalee, of Naperville, earned berths in the Aug. 1-7 U.S. Women’s Amateur in Springfield, Mass.. Both collegiate stars shot 1-under-par 70s and tied for fifth in the sectional qualifier at Sportsman’s, in Northbrook. Bonanno attends Arkansas-Little Rock and Singhsumalee goes to Illinois.

The Chicago golf community lost two giants from the club professional ranks last week with the passing Leon McNair and Hubby Habjan. McNair, 75, led in the development of Fox Bend, in Oswego, and Habjan, 84, was a long-time head man at Onwentsia, in Lake Forest. Both are members of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

Illinois coach Mike Small, already in this week’s new Lincoln Land Championship on the Web.com Tour, will also be in the field for the U.S. Senior Open next month. He was medalist at a qualifying tournament last week in Indianapolis.

KemperSports has taken over the management of Boughton Ridge, the nine-hole executive length course that has served Bolingbrook residents for over 35 years. KemperSports will also manage its Ashbury’s restaurant.

The Illinois PGA’s senior members have a busy competitive stretch. The Thompson Cup matches against the Chicago District Golf Association’s top amateurs is Wednesday on Olympia Fields’ South course and the IPGA Senior Masters follows on Monday at Onwentsia.

The Schaumburg Park District’s ninth annual Links Technology Cup has been scheduled for Aug. 10 at Schaumburg Golf Club. It includes a Taste on the Tee showcase of food and beverages on most every hole. Proceeds benefit the district’s recreation scholarship program.

International Crown will have its place in women’s golf history here

The Merit Club’s first tee is where the excitement of the International Crown will begin.

The Chicago area was at the forefront of women’s golf long before the creation of the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1950. The arrival of the UL International Crown this month at the Merit Club is just the latest of the big women’s
events staged in this neck of the woods.

Granted, the UL International Crown will be the most unique. Its format – 32 players representing eight countries competing to decide the best women’s golf-playing nation in the world – assures that.

The Crown is something new and different. The competition has been played only once before, two years ago at Caves Valley in Maryland with Spain winning. The LPGA needed friendly, enthusiastic environments to introduce its most innovative competition and bringing it to the Chicago area this year and Korea in 2018 fit that requirement to a tee. The Chicago area knows about women’s golf because it has been welcoming such big competitions for well over 100 years.

One of the very first great American players was a Chicago woman, Bessie Anthony. She won the first three national championship put on by the top organization of that era – the Women’s Western Golf Association – in 1901, 1902 and 1903. All three were played on Chicago area courses as was the 1903 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Anthony won that one, too, at Chicago Golf Club.

Another Chicago woman. Elaine Rosenthal, won the Women’s Western Amateur three times between 1915 and 1925 and that tournament – one of the two biggest for women until the LPGA was founded – was played at Chicago courses 12 times in the next 24 years leading into the LPGA’s debut season.

The first U.S. Women’s Open champion in 1946 was Patty Berg, who represented St. Andrews Golf Club in West Chicago for over 50 years. She was also one of the 13 founders of the LPGA.

The first LPGA season consisted of only six tournaments and one, called the Chicago Weathervane, was played at Skycrest Country Club (now Twin Orchard in Long Grove) with Louise Suggs winning.

The U.S. Women’s Open would come to the Chicago area three more times – victories by Sandra Hayne in 1974 and Pat Bradley in 1981 at LaGrange Country Club and by Australian Karrie Webb in 2000 at the Merit Club. That was the first big event at the private facility and the only one until the UL International Crown tees off.

Carol Mann, a World Golf Hall of Famer who grew up in Olympia Fields, also was a U.S. Women’s Open champion in 1965 – a year after she won the Women’s Western Open, a tournament that’s no longer held. The Women’s Western Open was considered a major championship during its run from 1930 to 1967 and was played on Chicago courses 13 times.

The LPGA has made other inroads in the Chicago area for 54-hole tournaments. Betty Burfeindt won the Child & Family Services Open at Midlane, in Wadsworth, in 1973. The LPGA returned for a three-year run of events with the Chicago Sun-Times as title sponsor from 1991 to 1993. Martha Nause won the first with a spectacular birdie-birdie-eagle finish at Oak Brook Golf Club, holing out from the fairway on her last shot. Dottie Mochrie (now Pepper) and Cindy Schreyer were the other champions of that event.

From 2002 to 2004 the Kellogg Keebler Classic was played at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora and it had some high profile champions – Webb in 2002 and Annika Sorenstam the other two years.

The last time the LPGA came to town was in 2009 for the very well received Solheim Cup – a team event in which the U.S. defeated Europe at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. This UL International Crown was also to be played at Rich Harvest, but officials at both the LPGA and the club mutually agreed to a parting of the ways last year and Merit Club owner Bert Getz stepped in to bring the LPGA stars back to his course.

Drew Blass, the Crown director, also was on staff for the Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest.

“I love both places,’’ said Blass. “Every golf club has its positives. Rich Harvest Farms has a lot of great things – all the parking is on site and there’s more acres available — but Merit Club is closer and tighter, so spectators can see more matches. I love the Merit Club. It has the ability to host multiple championships, and I love it that we’re the one to open the gates again. This is a gem that needs to get its name back on the map.’’

Rich Harvest owner Jerry Rich has not commented on the decision to move the event which he helped found away from his club – the most active facility for tournament play in the Chicago area in recent years.

“This (playing at the Merit Club) is better off for everybody,’’ said Blass. “Rich Harvest Farms has the NCAA Championship next year, and they’ve been having a lot of (big tournaments). We were just another event for them.’’

The Merit Club, though, is a good fit for both the exciting new event and the club, which includes legendary Chicago athletes Michael Jordan and Brian Urlacher among its members. One of Merit Club’s assistant professionals, Jim Billiter, is also among the elite playing members of the Illinois PGA. He won two of the section’s four major tournaments — the IPGA Match Play and IPGA Championship – in 2015.

Two Florida courses thrive thanks to a Chicago influence

You’re a Chicago resident and you want to play golf year-around? One way to do that is to move to Florida, and some who did even went a step further. They bought their own courses in the Sunshine State and have taken them to new, higher levels.

Two Orlando area facilities – Mission Inn Resort & Club, in Howie-in-the-Hills, and Royal St. Cloud Golf Links, in St. Cloud – are thriving under the guidance of transplanted Chicago area residents.

The tale of Mission Inn, a resort with 36 holes located 35 miles southwest of Orlando, goes back to 1964 when Nick Beucher, a Wilmette resident who worked as a salesman for Morton Salt Company, bought the Hotel Floridian and its dilapidated golf course. He gradually brought family members from Chicago to help in the development of the place.
Son Bob came to Florida first and eventually became the resort president.

Bob’s now retired but retains the president’s title while his brother Bud directs the day to day operation. Nick Beucher died in 2005 at the age of 88, but the family spirit remains at Mission Inn. In addition to the two sons, three of their four brothers-in-law, one of two sisters-in-law and all 16 grandchildren have been involved in the resort’s operation.

Royal St. Cloud’s story is much different. It involves two former Chicago area residents — successful Hinsdale businessman Tom Butler and Bill Filson, a former teaching professional at Oak Brook Golf Club. Butler was one of Filson’s pupils there. Together they opted to buy Royal St. Cloud in 2003 with Filson becoming the general manager and face of the facility.

Filson had the background in golf. He grew up in LaGrange and his father was superintendent of Illinois Masonic Children’s Home. Tom Byrd, the late head professional at the since closed Timber Trails golf course, taught Filson the basics of the game and Filson eventually joined Trey Van Dyck’s staff at Oak Brook after giving up hopes of becoming a tournament player. Filson worked at Oak Brook 11 years before coming to Florida.

While Filson was guiding Royal St. Cloud’s emergence as one of Orlando’s busiest courses , Mission Inn was blossoming as a full service resort spread over 1,100 acres. The resort has 176 guest rooms and suites, four restaurants, two lounges, a poolside cabana, a 54-slip marina, fitness center and spa. The two courses, though, make it a special place for golfers.

El Campeon, the older layout, was built in 1917 and is the fifth-oldest course in Florida. A Chicago architect, George O’Neil, built the original course, which was known as Howey Golf Club. It was also called Chain O’Lakes, Bougainvillea and Floridian before the present name – which means “The Champion’’ in Spanish – was adopted.

A Scottish architect, Charles Clarke, updated El Campeon after 10 years and is the architect of record, though more updates followed over the years. Despite its age, it’s still very much relevant for any level of golfer. In 2009 El Campeon was named Florida’s Course of the Year by the National Golf Course Owners Association.

The other course at Mission Inn, Las Colinas, is in its 23rd season and – like El Campeon — has been consistently listed among Florida’s Top 25 in the various polls. That’s saying something, since Florida is rich in golf courses with well over 1,000 in operation.

A nominee for Best New Resort Course by Golf Digest magazine in its early years, Las Colinas was designed by Gary Koch, a veteran PGA Tour player, in 1992 and renovated by the respected Ron Garl in 2007. The Beucher family is particularly proud of the many collegiate events that have been played there.

El Campeon doesn’t look like a typical Florida course. With 85 feet of elevation changes it offers a most memorable golfing adventure thanks in large part to major design tweaking over the years supervised by Bob Beucher. Now El Campeon even has an island green, at the par-4 16th

Las Colinas (Spanish for “The Hills’’) is a more typical Florida resort layout. It has wide fairways and isn’t quite the challenge that El Campeon can be. Cited by Golf for Women for its Top Fairways award, Las Colinas is player-friendly but still interesting throughout. The courses are similar in that both are par-72 layouts with one par-5 on front nine and three on the back.

The story of the Royal St. Cloud started ominously. The grand opening of the first 18 holes came two days before the horrendous 9-11 terrorist attack in 2001. That 18-hole course was known as the St. Cloud Golf Club and the designer was Chip Powell. Powell was a product of both Danville Community College and Illinois State University before starting his architectural business in Florida in the early 1980s.

Powell created the course for St. Cloud’s original owners, who sold it two years later. Then the Illinois influence became much stronger. A PGA professional for 24 years, Filson’s role at Royal St. Cloud is much broader than that of the usual GM.

First order of business when he arrived was rebuilding the original 18. Filson did that while working with Powell. Next came the addition of a new clubhouse, which opened in November of 2008. Blessed with plenty of open space for expansion, Butler and Filson didn’t see the need for a second 18-hole course but opted for a third nine. Filson, again working with Powell, designed it and they had it up and running in 2009.

Each of the nines is a par-36 and only 43 yards separates the shortest (on the White course) from the longest (on the Blue). The fairways are generous throughout but there are special touches. Each hole has a name, some examples being Wake Up, Mouse Trap, Nesse’s Back, Brent’s Bridge, Hookenfacher’s Nose, Gauntlet of Palms and Oliver’s Field. Their stories are told on unique signs, which provide reading material throughout the course.

There’s also the Deli Tele – authentic British shiny red phone booths that golfers can use to contact the clubhouse to place food orders.

“We believe in making our course second to none in the (Florida) public market,’’ said Filson. “We give prices that are significantly better than fair and we treat everybody exactly the same. The condition is always extremely good and we’re real friendly people.’’

Thumb injury will keep Korea’s best player out of International Crown

The UL International Crown, the biggest golf event to be played in the Chicago area this season, took a hit this week with the announcement that Korean star Inbee Park will be unable to compete.

Park, with a No. 3 standing in the Rolex World Ranking, was the highest-ranked player among the 32 women who will compete in the global team event at the Merit Club from July 21-24. She pulled out after meeting with doctors following the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – the last qualifying event for the Crown. She cited a left thumb injury for her withdrawal.

“I met with my doctors and they strongly recommended rest for my left thumb injury to heal,’’ said Park. “The International Crown is a month away, and I’m uncertain my injury would heal within that time frame.’’

The Republic of Korea, the top-seeded team in the competition, will still be the favorite even without Park. She’ll be replaced by So Yeon Ryu, who played for Korea in the inaugural Crown two years ago in Maryland.

So Yeon Ryu has the longest active cut streak on the LPGA Tour but hasn’t won since the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in 2014. When she dropped out of the top 10 in the world rankings she began working with Cameron McCormick, who is also the swing instructor for Jordan Spieth.

Ryu is still ranked No. 11 and would not have made the Korean team had first alternate Ha Na Jang – ranked No. 10 – also been unable to compete. She is battling anemia. Still, all four Korea players in the Crown are ranked in the top 11 in the world.

Two of the other eight team qualifiers for the Crown also announced roster adjustments. Japan replaced Shiho Oyama (back injury) with Ai Suzuki and China called in Simin Feng after Shi Yuting pulled out with a schedule conflict.

With Park out the top ranked player coming to the Crown is No. 4-ranked Lexi Thompson of the U.S. Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson, one-two in the rankings, can’t play in the Crown because their countries didn’t qualify.

Park’s injury also leaves her status for August’s Olympics in Brazil in doubt. Fifteen of the 32 players in the Crown would be playing in the Olympics if the Games started today. Qualifiers are based largely on the world rankings.

The Olympics are suffering much worse than the Crown from player withdrawals. None of the women currently qualified for the Games have pulled out yet. On the men’s side, though, eight have already decided not to play – Jason Day, Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Branden Grace, Vijay Singh, Graham McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Marc Leishman. Most cited concerns about the Zika virus.

Here and there

The 97th Chicago District Amateur concludes its four-day run on Thursday with a scheduled 36-hole title match at Calumet Country Club in Homewood.

The Illinois PGA will soon lose another key staffer. Bill Ibrahim, a 16-year veteran as the IPGA’s director of operations and public relations, has announced his resignation to join former IPGA section colleagues Michael Miller and Mike Schoaf at the PGA’s Southwest Section, based in Arizona.

Madasyn Pettersen, surprise winner of the Illinois Women’s Open as a 15-year old last season, won’t defend her title at Mistwood, in Romeoville, next month. She’s focusing her tournament schedule on national junior events and previously skipped the Illinois Women’s Amateur, which was played in her hometown of Rockford.

Mistwood continued its strong showing in local tournament play when pros Andy Mickelson and Brian Brodell combined to claim a five-stroke victory in the IPGA Centennial Celebration team event at Ruth Lake in Hinsdale.

Clara Rattana, of Western Springs, won the third flight at the 116th playing of the Women’s Western Amateur in Dayton, Ohio. Jillian Hollis, a University of Georgia sophomore, ruled the championship flight. The event returns to the Chicago next June at River Forest, in Elmhurst.

Sean Maruyama, of Los Angeles, won the 99th Western Golf Association Junior title at Red Run, in Michigan. Brendan O’Reilly, of Hinsdale, finished ninth.

International Crown will be a golf event like no other in Chicago area

A sports event like no other will soon be hitting the Chicago area soon.

The UL International Crown is a women’s golf event – nothing so unusual about that – but it’s also a team competition with a global feel. Only the Ryder Cup, for men, and Solheim Cup, for women, fall into that category and the UL International Crown is much different than both of those.

Eight countries will be represented when the UL International Crown comes to the Merit Club from July 19-24. The Ryder and Solheim Cups are both two-team affairs — U.S. vs. Europe. Add six more teams and you’ve got what event director Drew Blass admits is “a different animal.’’

And that’s putting it mildly. You have to be there to fully appreciate how different the UL International Crown is.

“I love the Solheim Cup,’’ said Blass, who worked on that event when it was played to rave reviews at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove in 2009, “but the U.S. was only playing the European Union. Here each of the eight countries get their own national anthems. All the players will be in their team uniforms, with no sponsor logos.’’

The Ladies PGA needed a different event, one that underscored what an international scope its players offer at each and every tournament, and the UL International Crown fits that to a tee. The competition for places at the Merit Club actually began as soon as the first UL International Crown concluded in 2014. All the players on the LPGA Tour – as well as smaller professional circuits world-wide — had a chance to qualify.

Under this unique format all the players are awarded points off their tournament showings as individuals and those are translated into their positions in the Rolex World Rankings. Then the rankings of the top four players in each country are combined and the eight countries with the lowest total receive invitations to the UL International Crown.

That means that the big week at the Merit Club will feature 32 players representing eight countries be battling for one – highly coveted – crown.

The format does keep some top players – like world No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand, No. 2 Brooke Henderson of Canada and popular Norway veteran Suzann Pettersen – out of the finals. Their countries don’t have enough other top players to earn a position in the top eight in the team standings.

Blass doesn’t see the absence of a few top stars as a negative. In fact, it has some long-range benefits.

“It’s a positive, because it grows the game globally,’’ said Blass. “Look at China. I would never have guessed that China would be in this field two years ago but now it has four qualified players.’’

Two years ago it had but one, Shanshan Feng. She made a point of thanking the three young players who improved their rankings to elevate China into the finals of the UL International Crown.

Even without players like Ko, Henderson and Pettersen, the field at Merit Club will be filled with world-class players fighting for a unique honor – that being the world’s best women’s golf-playing nation.

The final eight teams have been divided into two four-team pools. The Republic of Korea had the lowest point total during the qualifying process and was accorded the No. 1 seed in Pool A. The U.S. had the second-lowest point total and received the No. 1 seed in Pool B.

Japan, Chinese Taipei and England are also in Group A and Australia, Thailand and China are in Group B. Each country will play two, four-ball matches between each of the other three countries in their pool in the first three days of competition.

Then, the top two point-earning countries from each pool and one wild card country will advance to Sunday’s series of single matches. The cumulative points from the four days of competition will determine the champion.

When the UL International Crown was played for the first time in 2014 Spain won the title. Spain, however, didn’t survive the qualifying process for this second playing of the UL International Crown.

Unlike the Solheim Cup, there will be four days of matches at the UL International Crown instead of three. There will also be a pro-am event before the matches begin at the UL International Crown. There isn’t one in the Solheim Cup format.

“We couldn’t be more excited,’’ said Kraig Kann. chief communications officer for the LPGA. “It’s an event that will have an Olympic-type field. All that we won’t have is a podium to hand out gold, silver and bronze medals.

Eagle Ridge’s courses have a new and improved look

The beauty of The General has been enhanced by maintenance improvements at Eagle Ridge.

GALENA, Illinois – Let’s make this perfectly clear. I’ve always enjoyed visiting Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa. I’ve been there many times – and for various reasons – over the last 35 years. It had been four years since my last visit, though, and this time things were different.

That’s different, as in better.

It all boils down to a series of developments starting in 2013 when Capital Crossing acquired the facility, which has long been the premier golf resort in a state that doesn’t have enough of them.

Capital Crossing brought in Texas-based Touchstone Golf to manage its 63 holes and Mount Prospect-based Bricton Group to manage the resort.

Touchstone manages courses in 10 states but Eagle Ridge is its only facility in the Midwest. The bulk of Touchstone’s 36 properties are in California (16) and Texas (7). Steve Harker, formerly with American Golf, started the company in 2005. His team now includes Mark Luthman who — as regional director of operations for Chicago-based KemperSports — was a leader in the planning, pre-opening and operations of Oregon’s Chambers Bay, site of the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2015 U.S. Open. Luthman is Touchstone’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

There’s few more memorable tee shots than from the No. 14 tee at The General.

Bricton, a major hotel management group, is headed by president Ed Doherty – a former Evans Scholar. Touchstone and Bricton combined to form Brickstone, the firm that oversees Eagle Ridge’s total operation.

The first order of business was to address the shortcomings on the golf side. The resort’s website alludes to “renovation’’ work done on its three 18-holers – The General and the North and the South courses – as well as the nine-hole East course. That’s a bit misleading.

Renovations generally connote total revamping of a course and usually include design changes. That wasn’t needed at Eagle Ridge. All four courses were designed by one-time Chicago-based architect Roger Packard, with two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North helping out on The General – the showcase course. All four courses are blessed with the “wow factor’’ thanks largely to the elevation changes throughout the 6,800-acre property.

Reagan Davis, Eagle Ridge’s director of golf, is also a noted collector of golf memorabilia.

The North opened in 1977, the South in 1984, the East in 1991 and The General in 1997. I played in the grand opening outings at both the South and The General, so I can spot any changes in them and the East is a long-time favorite with its straight-down tee to green shot at the par-3 second hole. You don’t forget playing a hole like that one, just like you don’t forget teeing off at The General’s elevated No. 14 tee. There’s a 14-story drop to the fairway on that par-4.

Anyway, while Packard’s designs remained intact, the work done since Touchstone arrived has still been extensive.

“There wasn’t any construction on the fairways,’’ said Reagan Davis, the director of golf who came aboard in August of 2013. “Packard did a great job, but a lot of places were overgrown and a lot of the tees and landing areas were claustrophobic. The native areas were overgrown, and a lot of the trees weren’t trimmed. People would measure a round on The General by how many balls they lost.’’

The new Woodstone Restaurant now shares top billing with the course at The General.

Davis estimates that $700,000 was spent on cleaning up the courses, and I found The General and the North – the two that I played on my most recent visit — in the best condition they’ve ever been in.

“We went in and trimmed all the trees we could,’’ said Davis. “We pushed back the tee boxes and tried to make the courses like they were originally.’’

In the process playing experiences improved, especially on the super challenging General.

“It speeded up play,’’ said Davis. “We picked up 35 minutes of time (per round). On a busy day a round might have gone 5 hours 25 minutes before. Now it’s more like 4 hours 30 minutes, and rounds are rarely over 5 hours.

The General also got a new restaurant. “Spikes’’ is gone and has been replaced by WoodStones, which features a $30,000 oven that can cook a wood-fire pizza in four minutes. The restaurant is even featured on the more dramatic welcoming signs at the main entrance.

“We wanted something more for the community and not so much for the resort or the golfers,’’ said Davis. “We keep it open 10 months out of the year. It’s done well.’’

Thirty goats perform an important role in course maintenance at all the Eagle Ridge courses.

Davis’ arrival solved an immediate problem on the Eagle Ridge golf calendar. The Illinois PGA had pulled its final major tournament of the season out of the resort because it didn’t have a Class A professional. Losing its biggest tournament was not a good thing but Davis had been assistant professional at Camelback Inn and director of golf at Troon North – both upper echelon destinations in Arizona.

Thanks to his credentials – Davis is in his 25th year as a golf professional and his 20th as a PGA of America member — and enthusiasm, the Illinois PGA Players Championship returned to Eagle Ridge in 2015 after being played at Metamora Fields in 2013 and 2014. It’ll also be played at Eagle Ridge this fall and Davis sees it as back home for a much longer run.

Davis brings more to the table than that. His older brother Joe was a golf professional and that led to Davis developing connections with PGA Tour players.

Craig Perks, who once won The Players Championship, and Mike Heinen, a former champion at the Shell Houston Open, were college teammates at Southwestern Louisiana. Before playing collegiate golf Davis developed a long-time friendship with PGA Tour mainstays Jay and Lionel Hebert. That led to Davis becoming a collector of vintage clubs and other golf memorabilia, all of which is on display for those lucky enough to visit his bottom floor office at The General.

There has also been some notable additions on the golf side. Robbie Gould, a golf addict who doubles as a great kicker for the Bears, is now the resort’s golf ambassador. Gould hosted a clinic at the resort earlier in the spring and will don Eagle Ridge gear in his charity golf appearances throughout the summer.

There’s some other newcomers as well – 30 goats. They’ve been brought in to roam the steep slopes where mowing equipment can’t be used.

The Brickstone influence is evident beyond the golf side at Eagle Ridge. The lobby of the Eagle Ridge Inn has been completely renovated and upgrades have been made in the 200 homes on the property that are rented out. A room renovation, estimated to cost $2 million, is expected to begin this winter.

As for the charming little town of Galena just seven miles away, it hasn’t changed much — and that’s a good thing. The resort offers all sorts of activities beyond golf and Galena and its neighboring towns only enhance that vacation atmosphere.

Thanks to some tree trimming Lake Galena provides a great setting from the Eagle Ridge Inn.

Return to Calumet stirs more CDGA Amateur memories

The Chicago District Golf Association has conducted tournaments since 1914 and none have quite the history as its oldest one – the CDGA Amateur. The 97th playing of that tournament starts on Monday (JUNE 27) at Calumet Country Club, in Homewood.

Calumet hasn’t hosted the tournament since 1947, and the last staging there created one of the most memorable results because its champion, Frank Stranahan, continued on to tie for second in that year’s Masters.

The CDGA Amateur has an interesting history. Its first winner was the legendary life-long amateur Chick Evans. In 1935 the organization decided to issue invitations nationally and call the event the Great Lakes Amateur. That’s how Stranahan, a member of a wealthy Ohio family who competed in most of the professional tournaments as well, got into the field.

Stranahan had won the CDGA Amateur the year before at Knollwood, in Lake Forest, and pulled off the rare repeat at Calumet. That year he also won the Canadian Amateur and shared runner-up honors at the Masters with Byron Nelson, both of them edged out for the title by Jimmy Demaret.

Since Stranahan, who was also a top-ranked powerlifter and a competitor in 102 marathons, the CDGA Amateur has had but seven repeat champions in the last 68 years. The last to win back-to-back was present day tour player Joe Affrunti of Crystal Lake in 2000 and 2001.

By 1954 Stranahan opted to turn professional and a year later the CDGA reverted back to the original tournament name and limited entries to members of CDGA clubs. The field is now determined largely through area-wide qualifying rounds, four of which were held for this year’s tournament.

Low man in those four qualifiers was Mistwood’s Paul Sclimm, who shot 4-under-par 66 at Innsbruck, in Merrillville, Ind.

The finals offer a stern physical test. There’ll be 36 holes of stroke play on Monday to determine 16 qualifiers for the match play conclusion to the tournament. Two rounds of match play will be held on Tuesday (JUNE 28) with the semifinals next Wednesday (JUNE 29) and the 36-hole championship match on June 30.

Most likely contenders for the title are three promising young players – Jordan Fahel, of Mt. Hawley, in Peoria; Brendan O’Reilly, of Butterfield, in Oak Brook; and Michigan State golfer Charlie Netzel, of LaGrange. Fahel won the title in 2014. O’Reilly was the Illinois State Junior champion in 2013 and 2014 and Netzel reached the match play portion of the 2013 and 2015 CDGA Amateurs.

Veteran contenders are headed by Exmoor’s Kyle Nathan, who won the CDGA Mid-Amateur at match play this year; two-time Illinois State Amateur champion Todd Mitchell, of Bloomington; and Glen View’s Blake Johnson, the tourney runner-up in 2013 and 2014.

Chappell wins Women’s State Am

Lauren Chappell, of Charleston, defeated Northwestern-bound Louise McCulloch of Wilmette 3 and 2 in a battle of 17-years olds in the title match of last week’s 83rd Illinois Women’s State Amateur at Forest Hills, in Rockford.

McCullouch eliminated Sabrina Bonanno, of Norridge, 1-up in the semifinals while Chappell defeated Schaumburg’s Kris Yoo 2 and 1. Bonanno was the tourney medalist, shooting a 74.

Arlington Lakes to re-open

Closed for 13 months, Arlington Lakes — the Arlington Heights Park District’s 18-hole course – has scheduled a July 1 grand opening.

The original course, designed by David Gill, opened in 1979. The renovated version called for a re-routing, in which the two nines were reversed to allow for the playing of three- and six-hole loops at certain times. The number of bunkers was also reduced from 106 to 37 and nine greens were rebuilt under the direction of architect Mike Benkusky.

Arlington Lakes will be a par-68 course built on 90 acres. The renovation was a $2.4 million project that included re-modeling of the clubhouse.

Enter Golf360TV

Dave Lockhart, creator of The Golf Scene and GolfChicagoTV in previous years, will unveil a new TV show on July 3. Called Golf360TV, it’ll be carried on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

Jill Carlson will host the show, which will run four times in July, and Chris DeLira will share producer duties with Lockhart.

Donald, Streelman join two Illini for another tough U.S. Open at Oakmont

Brian Campbell, the top player on Illinois’ golf team in 2015, was on hand to help former teammates Nick Hardy and Charlie Danielson celebrate after both qualified for the U.S. Open at last week’s sectional qualifier in Ohio.

Campbell didn’t make it into this year’s Open, which tees off on Thursday at Oakmont in suburban Pittsburgh, but he knows what America’s biggest championship is all about. Last year Campbell finished as low amateur (in a tie for 27th place) when the Open was played at Chambers Bay in Oregon.

Hardy, a Northbrook resident who just completed his sophomore season at Illinois, also qualified for the finals at Chambers Bay and survived the 36-hole cut before finishing in a tie for 52nd. This week he’ll try to duplicate that feat – and finish even higher — after being the medalist in his sectional qualifier.

Campbell and Hardy both played in last week’s Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe. Rookie pro Campbell tied for ninth place while Hardy, the only amateur in the field for the Web.com Tour stop, didn’t survive the 36-hole cut. Hardy’s shortcoming aat Ivanhoe might be understandable, what with the tourney falling between the emotion-packed sectional qualifying and the U.S. Open proper.

“It was definitely a quick turn-around,’’ said Hardy. “It was hard to not look ahead to the U.S. Open, but I told myself I had to focus. I prepared fine for that tournament, but I just didn’t bring it.’’

He hopes for a better performance at Oakmont, which Hardy described as “the hardest course anyone’s ever played’’ before making the trip to Pennslyvania.

“I’ll just try to not be intimidated,’’ said Hardy. “Everyone’s got to deal with the same things.’’

Hardy and Danielson are amateurs going against the world’s best professionals, that group including defending champion Jordan Spieth and veteran Chicago area touring pros Kevin Streelman and Luke Donald. Streelman and Donald also survived sectional qualifiers.

Campbell, improving steadily as a touring pro, thinks Hardy will hold his own again though – at 20 – he’ll be one of the youngest in the field.

“To qualify two years in a row shows how special he is,’’ said Campbell. “It’s all about getting down and dirty, and that’s how we do it at Illinois. My advice to Nick Hardy would just `be who you are.’ He was a great player coming to Illinois and he’ll only get better. I’d just tell him to relax a little. He can get a little hyper and get a little crazy.’’

Hardy will retain his caddie of last year’s Open, former Glenbrook North teammate Eric Markus, for bag-toting needs at Oakmont.

Senior moments

Exmoor, in Highland Park, has been named the site for the Constellation Senior Players Championship in 2018. It’ll be the first time a Champions Tour major has been played in the Chicago area since 1997, when Olympia Fields hosted the U.S. Senior Open with Australian Graham Marsh emerging as the champion.

The Western Golf Association will add managerial duties for that event to its usual role with the BMW Championship, Western Amateur and Western Junior events. The Western Amateur was to be played at Exmoor in 2018, but it’ll now be moved to another, so far undisclosed, date.

Another senior major might be looking for a new course as well. Kitchen-
Aid, the Michigan-based sponsor of the Senior PGA Championship, has been under pressure from political activists to move the tournament from Trump National in Washington D.C. That’s the scheduled tourney site for 2017.

In the last five years the Senior PGA has been Midwest based, with three stagings at Harbor Shores in Michigan and others at Bellerive in St. Louis and French Lick in Indiana. The tourney is to return to Harbor Shores in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024.

Here and there

Last year the Illinois Women’s State Amateur was rained out for the first time in its 82-year history. The IWGA hope for better luck this week at Forest Hills in Rockford. The 18-hole stroke play portion was Tuesday and the low 32 advanced to the championship flight for matches that run through Friday.

The UL International Crown, the LPGA global team competition to be played at Merit Club from July 20-24, is in need of volunteers. “We had hoped to get to 800; now we’re hoping to get to 650,’’ said tournament director Drew Blass. Blass also has opening for two teams in the 32-team tourney pro-am.

The Western Golf Association Junior Championship will begin a four-day run on Monday at Red Run in Royal Oak, Mich. First held in 1914, it’s the oldest national junior tournament.