The golf version of the NCAA Championships tees off Friday at Rich Harvest Farms. The women go first in the competition that will keep the private layout in Sugar Grove a busy place until the last putt drops in the men’s tournament on May 31. Northwestern is the “home team’’ in the women’s competition. Coach…
Author: lenz
Stem-cell therapy gives golfer India a career boost
Deerfield’s Vince India has won the Illinois State Amateur and been runner-up in the Illinois Open. Now he’s poised to go on to bigger and better things thanks to his willingness to try stem-cell therapy to cure his ailing back. “Stem-cell therapy is in more of a clinical stage now,’’ said India, who has playing…
Billiter survives unusual final in Illinois PGA Match Play tourney
There was a sharp contrast between the players in Thursday’s final of the 66th Illinois PGA Match Play Championship at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer. Both Danny Mulhearn, the head professional at Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn, and Jim Billiter, in his first year as Kemper’s head man, were past champions of the event – but…
“Tommy’s Honour” is a must-see movie for all serious golfers
I suspected finding a theater to watch “Tommy’s Honour,’’ the newest golf-themed movie, might be difficult and I was right. The movie made its U.S. debut on April 14 when we were in the golf hotbed of Myrtle Beach, S.C. Much to my surprise, no theaters were showing it there. A few days later we…
Northwestern freshman paces U.S. Open local at Midlane
The first tee shot of 117th U.S. Open at Wisconsin’s Erin Hills course, is still five weeks away but the battle to get there got into full swing this week with one notable surprise. Northwestern freshman Everton Hawkins not only survived one of the local qualifying rounds, he was also the medalist. The U.S. Golf…
Schiene replaces Kaufmann as men’s coach at DePaul
Marty Schiene spent 15 seasons playing on the professional golf tours around the world, qualified for four U.S. Opens and won the Illinois Open three times. Now he’s landed a job that he calls “a dream come true.’’ Schiene will take over as head coach of the DePaul University men’s team at the end of…
Kemper awaits another IPGA Match Play, then will be a tour stop again
Kemper Lakes, for 28 years, has been a focal point for tournament golf in the Chicago area and it’ll again host the first big local tournament of the season this month. The 66th staging of the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship, however, will have some new looks. Within the last year Kemper Lakes has completed…
Pieters, Points are latest Illinois tour players who bear watching
We’ve always given the broadest definition to the pro golfers classified as “local players.’’ Players who resided a significant period of time in Illinois or attended college in the Prairie State all fit the criteria. After all, Illinois is a welcoming place for golf talent, and the more the merrier. Still, Luke Donald and Kevin…
NU, Illini women receive NCAA golf bids
Northwestern and Illinois were both selected to play in the NCAA women’s golf championship, the finals of which will be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove next month. To get to Rich Harvest, however, both teams must survive regional tournaments. Coach Emily Fletcher’s Northwestern team was awarded the No. 3 seed in a…
Women’s selection show marks the start of NCAA tourney coming to Rich Harvest
The NCAA golf championship started in 1898 but has been played in the Chicago area only four times. Olympia Fields hosted in 1931 and 1943; North Shore, in Glenview, was the site in 1936 and Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, was the host venue in 1997. All those finals were strictly for men’s teams. Women’s…