The biggest event on Chicago’s golf calendar for 2016 is off. At least the UL International Crown won’t be held as planned at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.
According to a surprise announcement by the Ladies Professional Golf Assn., the LPGA and Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich “mutually agreed’’ that the event won’t go on as scheduled next July 21-24. Rich could not be reached for comment and no reason was given for the decision.
The LPGA announcement said the Florida-based organized organization is in the process of “finalizing a new venue’’ for the 2016 Crown.
Rich played a major role in the creation of the unique global team competition, the first finals of which were played at Cave’s Valley near Baltimore in 2014. The event, which involves top players from the top five women’s golf nations, is to be held every two years and the 2018 staging will be played in Korea.
Whether it will return to Rich Harvest after that is uncertain. According to the LPGA “both parties remain open to future LPGA opportunities at Rich Harvest Farms.’’
Rich Harvest hosted the 2009 Solheim Cup matches, pitting the women’s teams from the U.S. and Europe. It was a rousing success, and Rich initiated discussions about a different style team event with LPGA commissioner Mike Whan immediately afterwards.
When the Crown was unveiled both the Cave’s Valley site for 2014 and Rich Harvest were announced as host venues. Rich has called the Crown “my legacy.’’
Rich Harvest has been Chicago’s most active tournament course thanks to Rich’s involvement. This season the private venue hosted both the Palmer Cup matches, between college stars from the U.S. and Europe, and the Western Amateur championship.
The Diversey Driving Range is a Chicago landmark, no doubt about that. There are bigger ranges around the country. Some also might be considered more beautiful, or more elaborate, but few – if any – have as much history or are as popular as this facility that has withstood the tests of time. Chris Otis has enjoyed a successful career teaching golf at Diversey Range.
Diversey was built between 1911 and 1913 as a six-hole golf course most notable for having tin can cups. It was eventually expanded to nine holes and Illinois governor Edward Dunne presided over the official dedication ceremonies on Sept. 9, 1916.
The many golf enthusiasts in the Lincoln Park area supported the course, even with many others going up around the city and suburbs. One of the best, a nine-holer first called Waveland and then renamed Marovitz in honor of a local political figure, opened just a half-mile away in 1932.
Diversey’s layout, however, took a beating during World War II, and by the late 1940s most of the land was converted from a golf course to one of the very first stand-alone practice ranges in the United States. Never has its popularity waned.
Chris Otis, who has given golf lessons at Diversey for 32 years, knows why.
“Location. Location. Location,’’ said Otis. “Where else are you going to go? Diversey has no competition whatsoever, and never will. Plus, it’s one of the best places in the city to come and watch people.’’ Situated in the midst of skyscrapers, Diversey Range has become a haven for Chicago golf enthusiasts.
Diversity, surrounded by high-rises, adjoins busy Lake Shore Drive and the boats of Lake Michigan dock near the entrance. Chicago doesn’t have any locations left to match this one for a golf facility.
The range was self-operated until 1993, then KemperSports – a management firm based in the suburb of Northbrook – took over on a privatization agreement. KemperSports, which has since bolstered its portfolio nationally and even internationally, operated all the Chicago Park District facilities (the range plus four nine-holers and one 18-hole course) through 2008.
Diversey’s capacity was doubled with the creation of a double-deck range while KemperSports was in charge, and lighting was also added to allow for nighttime use. That only increased the demand for practice opportunities, and wear and tear became increasingly obvious in the late Kemper years. The balls would stick in mud after heavy rains, and they continued to accumulate until the Park District installed artificial turf on the range in 2008.
Billy Casper Golf took over management of the range and Park District courses on Jan. 1, 2009. Two years ago two synthetic putting greens were added to the Diversey facility, supplementing a nearby miniature course that was already thriving.
Jered Wieland, Billy Casper Golf’s general manager for all the Chicago Park District facilities, knew he had a good thing going at Diversey.
“It’s been an incredible draw forever,’’ said Wieland. “It’s got a prime location, and there aren’t many locations inside the city for people to practice golf. It’s a real popular attraction.’’
“We go through over 10 million balls in a season,’’ said Otis, “and there’s always 60,000 on reserve. On weekend people stand three-deep to get in, and on Saturdays and Sundays when the weather is nice people will wait in line from 9 a.m. all day long. Our people behind the desk work like a bartender on St. Patrick’s Day. They never stop doing transactions.’’
There’s no grass hitting areas, but Diversey apparently doesn’t need them. All the hitting is done off mats and there are players who can drive beyond the friendly confines of the range. It takes quite a poke, though. Wieland said the back fence, about 30 feet high, is about 300 yards from the hitting bays.
That’s enough for most players, and all types have taken advantage of the facilities. They have included celebrity types like Michael Jordan, Mike Ditka and Jonathan Toews — captain of the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks who hit balls almost daily when his team was making its playoff run.
Diversey remains open year-around. Only the lower deck is used in the winter, when it’s partially enclosed and heat lamps are installed. During the non-winter months the facility opens before sunrise and closes after sunset seven days a week. Some people like to hit balls at 7 a.m., before they go to work. Others beat balls until closing at about 11 p.m.
Bunkers at 50, 100, 150 and 175 yards provide yardage guidelines for golfers who pay $10 for a small bucket (50 balls) or $16 for a large one (100 balls). Discount cards are available for regulars, seniors and juniors. Otis is among six instructors from the Chicagoland Golf Academy to cover teaching needs and First Tee of Chicago operates on the premises.
For those teaching pros, organized by director of instruction John McCartin, the setup is ideal.
“People just flock here,’’ said Otis. “You can make your own hours, work as much as you want and you can actually get to know people as friends. You have a captive audience, and that makes it a lot more easy for people to learn.’’
There’s been a lot to celebrate at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville during these dwindling days of the Chicago golf season. First, one of its professionals — Brian Brodell — was named Illinois PGA Player of the Year last month while the club was preparing for the long-awaited opening of its new clubhouse.
Brodell beat out Jim Billiter, of Libertyville’s Merit Club, who won two of the IPGA’s four major titles. Billiter won the IPGA Match Play and IPGA Championship but didn’t play in the other two, the Illinois Open and IPGA Players Championship. Brodell didn’t win any of the majors, but still amassed enough points to edge Billiter in the Player of the Year race.
An even more surprising development happened over the weekend, however, when another member of Mistwood’s teaching staff — Andy Mickelson — captured the 39th National Car Rental PGA Assistant Championship on the Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL.
Mickelson, 34, had long struggled with the decision on whether or not to turn professional after finishing as runner-up in the 2011 Chicago District Amateur at Medinah.
After working as an apprentice at Mistwood Mickelson spent time on the Hooters Tour while working for a Lisle packaging company specializing in supply chain management. Then Mistwood invited him to return.
“I was working in a cubicle when I got the call,’’ said Mickelson. “This is what I am. I love the game of golf.’’
He especially enjoyed it last week when he posted a 16-under-par 272 score for 72 holes to post a two-stroke victory against assistant club professionals from around the country. Mickelson was only sixth in the Illinois PGA Assistants player-of-the-year race behind winner Brian Carroll of Royal Hawk in St. Charles and he didn’t have high hopes for a good showing in the national tournament.
“I just wanted to make it to the weekend (qualify for the final 36 holes),’’ said Mickelson. “That was my goal. I had a good year in our (Illinois) Section, but there was no way I saw myself winning. No way was I going to go 16-under for four days. I have not played a big four-round tournament in nearly 10 years.’’
Competing in the event for the first time Mickelson took charge with a second round 65 and was at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the second, third and fourth rounds. The win earned him $9,000 and a spot in next year’s PGA Professionals Championship.
“It was the biggest win I ever had,’’ said Mickelson. “It is just surreal. I am having trouble fathoming it, to be honest. All week I was in the mindset of shot-to-shot. I didn’t get ahead of myself. I just kept my head down.’’
NOTES: The Chicago area will have at least one less golf course in 2016. The City of Aurora closed its Fox Valley course on Sunday and won’t re-open it next year. Fox Valley was in operation for over 40 years.
University of Illinois sophomore Nick Hardy earned Player of the Year honors in the Chicago District Golf Assn. while Taylorville’s Dave Ryan was again the CDGA Senior Player of the Year.
The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, reported a record $8,734,000 was raised for 488 Quad City charities from this July’s tournament. That amount was a stunning $2.4 million more than was raised at last year’s JDC Classic.
Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb, an inductee into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame last month, was named the Illinois PGA Senior Player of the Year for the sixth time in the last 10 years.
The beauty of La Costa has been appreciated by golfers for half a century. CARLSBAD, California – Little-promoted fact: one of golf’s iconic tournament venues celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015.
La Costa, the Southern California site for 35 PGA Tour events and two LPGA tourneys, reached that milestone with the admitted realization that “things ain’t what these used to be.’’
The Mercedes Championship, also known as the Tournament of Champions, put La Costa in the world golf spotlight from 1969 to 1998 before relocating to Hawaii.
In its La Costa years the tourney was played on nine holes of the resort’s Champions course and nine on the Legends course. It became one of the most popular events on the PGA Tour every year, with a great list of champions that included Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
La Costa wasn’t without a big event for long after the Mercedes left. A year later the World Golf Championship’s Accenture Match Play Championship moved in. It stayed until 2006 (with the exception of a visit to Australia in 2001). Then that event moved to Arizona. La Costa is one golf resort that has demonstrated its staying power.
Losing those big ones was a blow to owners of the resort, which was immediately well received after original architects Dick Wilson and Joe Lee completed their work in in time for the facility’s opening in 1965. Wilson and Lee, who also created Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in the Chicago area during that time period, had a long run as successful designers but updating was clearly needed.
The courses were shut down for more than a year after the two PGA Tour events left. Architect Damian Pascuzzo, working with PGA Tour player and 1988 Tournament of Champions winner Steve Pate and consultant Jeff Brauer, eventually completed a major renovation in 2011.
Even before that renovation was completed La Costa had 18 holes ready for the debut of the LPGA’s Kia Classic. After being played at another California course, Industry Hills, in 2011, the Kia Classic was back in 2012 – but for the last three years it has been played at Aviara, another course in Carlsbad. Not only that, but the Women’s Tennis Association held one of its tournament at La Costa, but it’s gone now, too.
The biggest competition of the year at La Costa is a college tournament, hosted by the UCLA men’s team, but don’t be deceived by that. It may seem like La Costa’s days in the spotlight are over, but don’t believe it. I’m told a big tournament will be coming soon.
Things are happening behind the scenes.. That was evident during our visit. The shops, restaurants, tennis facilities and spa were busy and everyone – guests and staff – was in an upbeat mood. Interesting, lots of families – with children of all ages – were clearly having a good time. All that speaks well for La Costa’s future.
The return of a big tournament shouldn’t surprise anyone. The resort still has all the facilities necessary to take on such an event. In fact, it’s better equipped to hold a big one than some of the facilities hosting them now.
And, don’t ever forget that equipment giants TaylorMade, Titleist, Cobra and Callaway are all based in the area. That should play into the course selection process for big tournaments. Those big, deep, fingered bunkers are the trademark of La Costa’s Champions course now.
As for the courses, the Champions layout is more tournament appropriate. In the redesign the Pascuzzo-Pate team put in 78 bunkers. They’re very steep, with many having fingers that make them look even bigger than they are. And, at 7,172 yards from the back tees, Champions is about 200 yards longer than the still respectable Legends layout. Legends was cart path only when we played it, having been re-opened for only two weeks after being closed four weeks to facilitate an overseeding project. Colorful flowers abound at La Costa — and not just on the golf courses.
La Costa’s membership appreciates the value of being a tournament site and the resort’s new owner, Omni, is taking an aggressive approach, too. The hotel chain assumed ownership two years ago. In October it announced a golf-for-free birthday promotion at its 11 golf destinations. In November it will bring in a new line of power carts that will have GPS capabilities at La Costa.
Dallas-based Omni has 60 hotels in the U.S., Canada and Mexico but all of its 360 golf holes are inside the U.S. border. California has another Omni golf facility,s at Rancho Las Palma. Florida also has two Omni golf resorts – Amelia Island Plantation and Orlando at Championsgate.
The others are Tucson National in Arizona, Grove Park Inn in North Carolina, Hilton Head Oceanfront in South Carolina, Interlocken Hotel in Colorado, Mount Washington in New Hampshire, Bedford Springs in Pennsylvania, Barton Creek in Texas and Homestead in Virginia.
Tournaments may have left La Costa for the time being, but golfers never did. It won’t be long before this long-popular resort is hosting the world’s best players again. Count on it.
Black mudhens decent upon La Costa each fall, and happily share the Legends course with golfers.
Monarch Beach’s golfers are encourages to bring their cameras to the No. 4 green.
DANA POINT, Calif. – Robert Trent Jones II has long been one of my favorite golf architects and our far-reaching tour of the Pacific Northwest already included rounds at two of his courses – Chambers Bay and Poppy Hills — that have been especially newsworthy lately.
For that reason I suspected a round at Monarch Beach Golf Links might be a letdown. After all, it was one of Jones’ first courses and came shortly after the annual fall overseeding program had begun.
There was no letdown, though. Jones has designed over 270 courses in over 40 countries and this early one – located roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Diego – is a testament to how well his courses have stood up over time.
Jones’ headquarters are in California (Palo Alto) and his design portfolio lists 31 courses created in his home state. Some are more decorated than Monarch Beach, but that shouldn’t detract from the longstanding popularity the course has attained.
Monarch Beach Golf Links is now part of the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort. The first nine holes of the course were built in 1983, the second in 1985. The resort didn’t open until 2001. After undergoing a $30 million renovation recently it’s certainly a luxury destination with its 400 rooms and assorted other amenities that are spread over 172 acres. Though in the overseeding process, the course provided the resort a dramatic backdrop.
The course, though, is more than a major part of the resort. It’s a major part of the community as well. We played with two 30-somethings, both avid local players. They reported that — factoring in the cost, conditioning and other amenities — Monarch Beach may be the best golf value in Orange County.
Assistant golf professional Jackie Kazarian said about 45,000 rounds are played at Monarch Beach annually, and they’re about one-third resort guests, one-third members and one-third community and tournaments. Only notable shortcoming is the absence of a practice range (there are some hitting bays with nets next to the putting green).
Jones’ task was to build an oceanfront course in the mid-1980s and he succeeded in creating what is now one of just 11 oceanfront courses on the West Coast. The dogleg left par-4 third hole provides the best view of the water, and that’s underscored by the fact that the course operators have posted a sign to encourage selfie picture-taking. Fountains, sculptures and distinctive architecture are all part of the St. Regis experience.
The par-70 layout is a bit on the quirky side, with back-to-back par-3s on the front nine and three par-3s coming after the third and last par-5 on the back side. The course is unofficially broken down into three segments. Holes 1-5 comprise the Ocean Loop, Nos. 6-9 are the Canyon area and Nos. 10-18 are the Home Stretch.
Golfers must contend with about strategically-placed 105 bunkers with lots of doglegs and elevation changes. Residential homes looming high above the course don’t come into play but do create a pleasant setting. Hiking trails intertwine with the cart paths in a few spots, but aren’t a distraction to the golfers.
Monarch Beach has had its moments in the spotlight. It hosted the Hyundai Team Matches in 2001 and 2002 and The Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella declared Monarch Beach “Best Ladies Golf Destination’’ in 2013. It was also listed among the Top 50 Women Friendly Courses, but don’t get the idea this is a layout that caters just to the ladies.
At 6,645 yards (with a rating of 72.5 and slope of 135) from the tips it’s not a long course, but it presents a fun challenge for players of all ability levels. There are four tee placements, the shortest being at 5,050 yards.
The third may be the prettiest (and no doubt the signature hole), but the seventh – a par-5 that stretches to 612 yards from the back tees – is a true No. 1 handicap hole. Not only is this dogleg left the longest hole on the course, it’s a strategic and mental challenge as well.
Best of the five quite good par-3s is the shortest one. No. 13, ranging from 90 to 155 yards, has water guarding the front, back and right side of the green. The view from the fifth floor of the St. Regis Hotel was stunning.
No. 17, Poppy Hills’ last of five par-3s, is one of many scenic holes on the back nine. CARMEL, Calif. – This was going to be just a short trip triggered by a relatively new development in a legendary golf area with, perhaps, a little nostalgia mixed in. Instead it turned out a lot more than that.
The Pebble Beach-Carmel area is well known in golf circles. Pebble Beach Golf Links may be the nation’s most famous course, thanks to its being the site of Bing Crosby’s longstanding pro-am – a fixture on the PGA Tour schedule. I was there twice to report on U.S. Opens, the last of which in 2010 was the last assignment in my most satisfying 41-year career covering sports for the Chicago Sun-Times.
But my visits in the past didn’t compare to this one, when the plan was largely to check out the renovation at Poppy Hills, one of the many golf options in the Pebble Beach area. The course – within a short distance of Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Cypress Point and Spanish Bay on the spectacular 17-Mile Drive along the coast of the Pacific Ocean – had been closed for over a year to accommodate an extensive renovation supervised by course designer Robert Trent Jones II. Poppy Hills had most unusual hole markers.
Poppy Hills, though not as well known outside of California as its golfing neighbors, deserves its own recognition. It was the first course owned and operated by a golf association in the U.S. when it opened in 1986. The Northern California Golf Association is headquartered there and uses Poppy Hills as its home tournament course.
Jones designed the course and it’s been a staple of golf in that area ever since. In pre-renovation times it co-hosted the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from 1991-2009. Now it’s a site for the Nature Valley First Tee Open on the Champions Tour.
While the Jones 13-month renovation project centered on water conservation and improving irrigation and drainage, the finished product was a completely different course than what it had been. The present version is more wide-open with no rough. The rating and slope have also gone down (from 74.4 to 73.5 and from 140 to 135 from the back tees). Such reductions are a rarity in a renovation. Usually the numbers go up.
In this one, though, Jones created a firm, fast, fun course with great greens. We found it a delightful playing experience.
The renovation was significant but didn’t turn out the overwhelming focus of this visit. We didn’t opt for a golf-focused lodging destination, and what a smart move that was!
Staying off-course on road trips isn’t unusual for any golf aficionado. There are usually other options around the popular golf destinations, but the Carmel area offers so much more than other places. Carmel Country Inn was a cheerful, friendly place.
In Carmel we opted for a bed-and-breakfast, and the Carmel Country Inn was a charming place with a most helpful staff. We learned about the best restaurants (here it was the Flying Fish Grill and Grasing’s), the wine-tastings (there were many options in a package deal), the shopping options, the art galleries, the beach and the other attractions.
In addition to Poppy Hills and all the downtown shops we made visits to Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch and the nearby Carmel Mission that has artifacts dating to the 1700s.
In a three-day stay, that isn’t usually possible. It was here, though.
Carmel is unusual with its Cotswold style of architecture. This community has a lot to offer in a very condensed area . We walked almost everywhere. Mission Ranch was about a 10-minute drive and Poppy Hills about 15-20-minutes from the bed and breakfast.
The 17-Mile Drive is also an auto jaunt always worth taking. You get the beautiful views enjoyed by so many for so long with the golf connection still prevalent.
Make no mistake, though. Golf is important here. That became immediately evident as soon as we checked in at Poppy Hills. We couldn’t get an earlier tee time because a big outing had been previously scheduled. No problem. We teed off at 2:10 p.m. with the understanding that getting in all 18 holes might be a problem.
We got through 16 holes with plenty of daylight. No. 17 was a par-3, so that wasn’t much of a problem, either. No. 18 – a par-5 – was another matter but by this time there was no option. The course was good enough where we had to finish it all. We did, sort of. It was hard to find our balls on around the No. 18 green, but we did get in. And then the restaurant stayed open until 8 p.m. – another big plus – and the service was friendly and the food good – another plus.
Staying off course on a golf trip isn’t always a good idea – and we rarely do it – but at this location it was exactly the right thing to do. Very, very few destinations offer as much golf as the Pebble Beach-Carmel area, but you can get much more than golf there as well. A trip to Carmel isn’t complete with a spectacular view from the 17-Mile Drive.
You never get tired of ocean-front views, like this one on Bandon’s Pacific Dunes course. BANDON, Oregon – There’s definitely a lot to say about Bandon Dunes, the very unique multi-course facility on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. In short, though, it has most everything.
There’s four quality walking-only 18-holers, a 55-acre practice range, the 100,000-square foot Punchbowl putting course, a 13-hole par-3 layout called Bandon Preserve that was chosen as Best U.S. Short Course by Golf Digest magazine, one of the biggest caddie programs in the United States, dining at six restaurants and lounges, a variety of comfortable lodging and – one of the many factors that separates Bandon Dunes from other American resorts – everything is so close together.
You could easily drive your car from one place to another (as we did), but if you don’t want to do that there’s a shuttle system that works just fine.
Bandon Dunes was created by Chicago’s Mike Keiser, who took it on after his unique but much more modest Dunes Club in Michigan emerged a success. Now Keiser is planning another Bandon-type facility, Sand Valley in Wisconsin, but that’s a topic for another day. Beware of “the Whammer.” The out-of-the-way box is no longer a Bandon Dunes secret.
For now we’ll delve into Bandon and its variety of offerings. This resort is well-conceived, well-run, well-presented and well-received. In fact, none may do it better. The resort’s logo — “Golf As It Was Meant To Be’’ – fits to a tee.
There’s one touchy subject for those who run the place, though. They shy away from citing one of its courses as better than another. Most such multi-course facilities have a designated championship course and then one (or a few) others.
Bandon considers its four courses as equals, and prices them that way. The equality contention was underscored when the U.S. Golf Association recently awarded the resort the 2020 U.S. Amateur. The resort got the prestigious tournament – its sixth USGA championship — but the two 18-holers necessary to its staging have yet to be designated. Any of the four could be chosen, since they’ve all hosted at least one previous USGA event.
Maybe favoritism should be avoided, but golfers aren’t that way. They don’t see all courses as equal, and one of the fun parts of the game is discussing the strong points and shortcomings of each one. I’d be remiss to not do that here, after a five-night four-course fall visit.
I don’t give much credibility to the various course rankings put out annually by the golf industry publications, but many do. So, for the record, here’s what happened in 2014:
Golf Magazine had all four Bandon courses ranked in its top 49 U.S. courses. Golf Digest had all four in the top 74 of its Top 100 in the U.S. and all in the top 14 of its Top 100 U.S. Public Courses. Golfweek had all four in the top 22 of its Best Modern Courses. Pacific Dunes was the top-ranked Bandon course in all those polls.
I’m entitled to my opinion as well, and I’ll give it to you – but you’ll have to wait. Here’s my thoughts on the courses – given in the order in which they were played.
Flashes of yellow form a stunning backdrop on the No. 17 hole at Pacific Dunes.
PACIFIC DUNES: Our first tee time was on what we were told was the best, most beautiful and toughest of the layouts. We caught it on an extremely windy day, but it was certainly playable and lots of fun. The views of the Pacific were plentiful and stunning.
One thing that set this round apart from all others that we’ve played was that we were told it was permissible to use your push/pull carts on the greens – something that can be done on all the Bandon courses. We didn’t really feel comfortable doing that at first, but the greens were hard and we couldn’t discern any damage being done to the putting surfaces. It was also certainly a convenience in getting around the courses.
The layout, designed by Tom Doak and opened in 2001 as the resort’s second course, was unusual in that there were four par-3s on the back nine. (The layout is still a par-71). Interestingly, the most memorable of the short holes on the course didn’t offer an ocean view. On No. 17 you hit towards a stunning background of gold wildflowers. The bench behind Bandon Trails’ No. 14 tee marks the spot where Mike Keiser decided to build his Bandon Dunes Resort.
BANDON TRAILS: The creation by the design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw opened in 2005 – a par-71 that measures only 6,765 yards from the back tees. It’s much different than Pacific Dunes in that there are no striking ocean views. The most notable features are the liberal use of manzanita, particularly at the par-3 fifth hole, and the abundance of elevated tees. They gave lots of holes a special look from the outset.
Bandon Preserve, the par-3 course, adjoins this layout and offers the best opportunity to play extra holes on the same day.
Most notable spot on the course, though, is the long passageway to the No. 14 tee. Behind the back tee on that hole is a bench where Keiser got his first dramatic view of the property that would become the Bandon Dunes Resort. It was also the spot where Keiser had his epiphany: this would be where he’d build his next golf facility. Given developments of subsequent years, this spot should be looked on as hallowed ground in the golf world.
Even on a foggy day the approach to Bandon Dunes’ No. 16 hole is definitely memorable.
BANDON DUNES: This was the first course built on the property, in 1999. Scotland’s David McLay Kidd, still shy of his 30th birthday, was the architect, and our first thought was that it didn’t quite measure up to the first two layouts we played. Then again, we really didn’t see it all because fog had set in just before teeoff and we had trouble seeing the holes we were playing for quite awhile. This deer had no fear of golfers.
Anyway, this one had its charms. There was more animal interaction on this layout than the others. Three deer greeted us at No. 3, getting close enough to startle us. They weren’t afraid of golfers, that’s for sure. Later a squirrel seemed on the brink of jumping on my shoe.
A couple footnotes: No. 12 – a par-3 – was the first hole built on the property and No. 13 is the only hole on any of the courses without a bunker. And No. 16, a short par-4 requiring a tee shot over a ravine and an uphill approach with one of the best ocean views, wound up my most memorable hole of the 72 we played.
And then there was “the Whammer.’’ The caddie in our group alerted me that a “secret’’ hole had been dug long ago near a tree to the right of the No. 10 fairway. Though it was covered, it stirred my curiosity. So, over I went, lifted the cover and found an assortment of odds and ends including a bottle of scotch. Some Bandon devotees apparently created the hole during an early outing and it has grown into the stuff of legends.
The use of wooden planks gave Old MacDonald’s bunkers a distinctive look.
OLD MACDONALD: The resort’s newest course – Old MacDonald opened in 2010 – is much different than the others. It came off a joint design effort by Doak and Jim Urbina and the name came from Charles Blair MacDonald, creator of America’s first 18-hole course at the Chicago Golf Club in 1892. MacDonald was the first man to describe himself as a golf course architect, and he did plenty of other courses. This dead tree is a landmark on several holes at Old MacDonald.
Old MacDonald is no replica of any of his other courses but more a tribute to his design work overall. The fairways are huge and so are the greens. In fact, at 250,000 square feet, Old MacDonald has the largest greens complex in the world.
Funny thing about Old MacDonald – or maybe it’s just me. I had easily my best shot-making round on this layout, but also had my highest score on the four Bandon layouts.
The greens are the thing here. Sometimes it feels like you’re too much at the mercy of the fickle slopes that are all over the course. That’s when things aren’t going your way. When the ball is bouncing right you get the most exhilarating feeling possible on any of the four layouts.
Experienced caddies are a nice amenity most anywhere but they are a borderline necessity here for first-time players. We didn’t use them, and they would have definitely come in handy in determining the proper target lines – especially on some of the blind shots that were more prevalent on this course than on any of the others.
FINALLY, OUR RANKINGS: No. 1 – Pacific Dunes, because you can’t beat the views; No. 2 – Old MacDonald, because it was so different (though I’m no fan of the blind shots presented there); No. 3 – Bandon Trails, at least in part because there were more holes to play at this stop with the adjoining par-3 also available; and No. 4 – Bandon Dunes, because it’s hard to judge something you can’t see. Fog ruled the day when we played there.
Does it really matter if one course is “better’’ than another? Certainly not if you’re at Bandon Dunes. This resort has an abundance of riches. The message entering the Bandon Dunes pro shop sets the proper tone for the golf that is played there.
Big-time women’s golf has come to Chicago only sporadically over the years. Now that’s about to change.
Next year the UL International Crown comes to Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. In 2017 the new KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be played at Olympia Fields, and then in 2018 that same big championship will come to Kemper Lakes in Kildeer, marking that club’s return as a world-class tournament venue.
All three events merit international attention, and the sudden recognition of Chicago as a gathering point for the world’s best women players won’t likely stop there. The LPGA’s satellite Symetra Tour, for instance, has already extended overtures to Mistwood, in Romeoville, about hosting one of its tournaments.
The Mistwood hierarchy, however, already puts on a significant more regional women’s event – the Illinois Women’s Open, which will be played for the 22nd time in 2016 – so the decision to add another big event or alter the popular IWO will require considerable deliberation.
There’s no deliberating about the significance of the three events coming our way in the next three years, however. They’re all on par with Chicago’s biggest women’s tournaments of the distant past.
The Women’s Western Open was major amateur event beginning in 1930, before the LPGA’s creation in 1950, and it continued as an LPGA major until it was discontinued after the 1967 playing. In was contested in the Chicago area 14 times.
Since then the big women’s individual championships in these parts were the U.S. Women’s Opens of 1974 (won by Sandra Haynie), 1981 (won by Pat Bradley) and 2000 (won by Karrie Webb). The first two were played at LaGrange Country Club, while Webb’s win came at Merit Club, in Libertyville.
The return to the women’s big-time events comes with a team competition. The International Crown is pretty much the brainchild of Rich Harvest owner Jerry Rich, long a supporter of the women’s game. He welcomed the Solheim Cup in 2009, and Rich Harvest produced one of the best-received competitions ever between the U.S. and Europe.
The success of that event encouraged Rich to venture into unchartered territory. He approached Mike Whan, commissioner of the LPGA Tour, about creating a new team competition that would also involve the circuit’s abundantly talented Asian players. Whan saw the same need for such an event as Rich did, and the first International Crown was played at Cave’s Valley in Maryland in 2014.
Next year’s July 19-24 event at Rich Harvest will be bigger, better – and could be much different because Spain, winner of the first Crown, isn’t qualified for the second yet.
The top eight countries on the Rolex World Ranking on April 4 will be in the next International Crown. Spain is currently ranked ninth, behind – in order – Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and England. Each country will have four players on its team, but the players won’t be finalized until the individual world rankings are announced on June 13.
Though the teams and players won’t be determined until the spring, weekly tickets are already on sale and volunteer registration is open, both by visiting www.ULCROWN.com.
As if that event isn’t big enough, the newest – and most exciting – major championship for women will follow the International Crown to town on successive years. That became a reality with a stunning August announcement by the PGA of America the day before the PGA Championship was played at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Usually the PGA of America and LPGA, as well as the PGA Tour and U.S. Golf Assn. announce their tournament sites at least five years in advance and Chicago had been largely out of the mix in recent years.
All that changed when the PGA of America announced that its newest event, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, will be held at Olympia Fields in 2017 and Kemper Lakes, in Hawthorn Woods, in 2018. Olympia Fields and Kemper Lakes are roughly 60 miles apart.
The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is part of a new partnership between the PGA of America and LPGA. It was held for the first time this year at Westchester Country Club in New York and it’ll be played at Sahalee, in Washington, in 2016.
Inbee Park has won the event the last three years. It had long been known as the LPGA Championship since its first staging in 1955. Usually events of such prominence are either held annually at the same site or are moved around the country. Playing back-to-back at different courses in the same geographical area is highly unusual.
“I know that those two clubs will do an incredible job hosting the major championship for the women,’’ said Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer for the PGA of America. “This will be a special moment in time for the LPGA and women’s golf in the Chicago area.’’
“There could be some great efficiencies in going to Chicago in back to back years,’’ offered Pete Bevacqua, chief executive officer of the PGA of America. “The clubs obviously have a great relationship working together to make sure that we deliver a wonderful experience in 2017, and that same group of people, plus more, can come out and experience it again in 2018. We can use that really to the advantage of the championship.’’
The women will also be playing on courses that have already hosted men’s professional majors. Olympia Fields most recently hosted the men’s U.S. Open in 2003 and Kemper Lakes hosted the PGA Championship in 1989. Both are private clubs, but Kemper was a public venue when the late Payne Stewart won the PGA there.
Olympia also hosted this year’s U.S. Amateur but has hosted just one big women’s event – the 1933 Women’s Western Open, won by Chicago amateur June Beebe. Olympia has a more recent connection with the women’s game, however, since LPGA Hall of Famer Carol Mann honed her skills while growing up at the club.
The biggest women’s event played at Kemper Lakes came in its public phase. The 92nd U.S. Women’s Amateur was played there in 1992 and future Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam was the runner-up to Vicki Goetze in that one. Prior to turning private Kemper was a busy tournament site, hosting events on the Champions Tour and the Grand Slam of Golf as well as being the site of the Illinois PGA Championship for 24 straight years. As a private club Kemper’s lone tournament venture came in hosting the IPGA Match Play Championship each spring.
OK, so the 2014-15 PGA Tour season is over. You want more? No problem. You don’t have to wait long, thanks to the circuit’s decision to go with a split season just like the National Hockey League and National Basketball Assn. have done for years and years.
Last season ended with the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which finished up when the last putt dropped at The Tour Championship in Atlanta.
This season starts with the Frys.com Open on Oct. 15 at Silverado’s North Course in Napa, Calif., with Sangmoon Bae the defending champion. It won’t have a weak field, either, if for no other reason than Rory McIlroy has entered. McIlroy will be making his first appearance in the $6 million event, and Tiger Woods would have been there, too, had he not opted for more back surgery. He had to withdraw after announcing that he would compete in the event.
What used to be the PGA’s Fall Series doesn’t end there, either. The Shriners Hospital for Children’s Open in Las Vegas and the CIMB Classic in Malaysia also have October dates and the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico and the McGladrey Classic in Georgia will be played in November.
And in December there’s those unofficial events – Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in Florida and the Franklin Templeton Shootout in Florida – along with some of the overseas exhibitions. They traditionally draw the top players who are ready to get their games in shape for the flood of weekly events that begin in January. Jordan Spieth, for instance, believes his “offseason’’ wins in the Australian Open and Hero World Challenge started him on his way to his banner season that included wins in the Masters and U.S. Open. He plans to be back at those two unofficial events this year.
As you can see, tournament golf doesn’t stop these days – not even in the dead of winter. To me, that’s a good thing.
What isn’t so good is what happens to the schedule after the new year – July in particular. The Masters is still in early April (7-10 in 2016), The Players Championship is sill in mid-May (12-15) and the U.S. Open is still in mid-June (16-19 at frequent site Oakmont in Pennyslvania).
July, though, is the heart of the golf season in Chicago, and in 2016 it will also be the heart of the golf season world-wide. A good thing? I don’t think so.
The British Open will be played at Royal Troon from July 14-17, the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey is the next week and the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in New Jersey, is the week after that. Bunching up the big ones like that only takes some of the luster away from each of them.
That change in scheduling, of course, was due to the Summer Olympics. It’s great that golf is back as an Olympic sport for the first time since 1904, but I’m not so sure that epic development should have come at the expense of the tournaments that have been in the forefront for decades.
Why couldn’t the Olympic organizers have chosen their dates, the countries participating in golf determine their players and the competition go on from there? The PGA Tour could have continued with business as usual and, if some of the other tournaments lose a top player or two to the Olympics, so be it. The PGA Tour schedule didn’t need to be revamped just because of one new tournament, even one that admittedly will have global interest.
The major affected the most, of course, is the PGA Championship. It is traditionally played in mid-August, and the Olympics golf competition is Aug. 11-14. It wouldn’t have made much sense to play the PGA opposite the Olympics, since too many top players would likely prefer to play in Brazil.
Instead the John Deere Classic was put opposite the Olympics. JDC director Clair Peterson, citing his desire to be a “good partner’’ with the PGA Tour, took the decision gracefully. The JDC has thrived in its July dates, especially after Peterson made the brainchild move to hire a jet that would take JDC players directly to the following week’s British Open.
Now there won’t be any jet, and the JDC will likely be without its defending champion. Spieth is a shoo-in to be on the U.S. team in Brazil.
Given the local support the JDC traditionally enjoys, I suspect TPC Deere Run will still be a crowded, exciting place even with the Olympics being shown on television at the same time. One aspect of the JDC scheduling even intrigues me.
As part of pitting the JDC opposite the Olympics the PGA Tour granted Peterson some extra sponsor’s exemptions. Who will he invite? Who knows, but Peterson has consistently used them wisely. Spieth was just one of the many young stars who received an invite to the JDC as a young player and later demonstrated loyalty to the event. Perhaps the difficult scheduling in 2016 will turn out a blessing in disguise for Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop down the road. At least I hope so.
The impact of scheduling around the Olympics doesn’t end there, however. The FedEx Cup Playoffs will lose some of their edge as well.
Only two tournaments – the JDC and Wyndham Classic – will be played between the Olympics and The Barclays, first event of the Playoffs. Players in the Olympics – the top stars in the game – have to rest some time. They could well skip those two regular season stops and might even choose to skip a playoff event as well. Players like Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia have done that, even with the huge prize money offered in the playoff events.
Things will be back to normal come September, when the BMW Championship returns from Sept. 8-11 at Crooked Stick in Indiana. That’s the site in between two stagings at Conway Farms in Lake Forest.
Again big events are bunched up at least in part because of the addition of the Olympics. The season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta follows the BMW Championship and before September is out the Ryder Cup begins, on Sept. 30 at Hazeltine in Minnesota. That’s a lot of big-time golf in a condensed period of time. Will it be too much to sustain golf’s mass appeal? We’ll soon find out.
Puget Sound provides a stunning backdrop for golfers playing at Chambers Bay.
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – At the start of 2015 Chambers Bay was viewed as an exciting new venue for June’s U.S. Open. Four months after Jordan Spieth’s victory in one of the most dramatic finishes to that championship the course is viewed differently.
Now, four months later, it still has the historical benefits from being a major championship site, but it’s even more a travel destination than it was before Dustin Johnson three-putted the last green from 12 feet to give Spieth his second major title.
Chambers looks a lot different than it did during the U.S. Open, the first ever held in the Pacific Northwest. The corporate hospitality tents are gone, of course, but the beating the course took from welcoming 280,000 visitors in that one week is still evident. The visitors are still coming, though. They’re coming strictly to play now. General manager Matt Allen has seen it all at Chambers Bay.
There’s a different perception of Chambers in the aftermath of the big event. There was an aura of mystery about it before the Open. Now that the game’s best players have dealt with it there’s more an anticipation to learn what this place is all about. Chambers Bay was a good story to tell before the Open; it’s an even better one now.
This is a county-owned walking-only golf course. Caddies aren’t mandatory (though they’d be helpful on the 7 ½-mile jaunt that includes the equivalent of 13 floors in elevation). Staffers are assigned to various spots on the course to help the players in various ways and facilitate play, but there’s much more to the Chambers Bay experience.
For one thing, there’s no definition between the greens and the fairways — an extreme rarity in the U.S. courses. A train regularly runs along the outskirts of the course, which offers stunning water views of Puget Sound.
For historical perspective there’s the remnants of the sand and gravel storage bins that dominated the property a couple decades before it became a golf course. Now they give the course a Stonehenge look. A three-mile walking/biking trails winds through the course, much like Scotland’s storied St. Andrews, but golfers aren’t impacted by it at all. The same for a dog park. Chambers Bay is a benefit to its community, not just to the golfers. The Lone Fir behind the green at the par-3 15th hole is a Chambers landmark.
Unlike most every other U.S. Open venue, there’s no big clubhouse. The pro shop is relatively small (but certainly adequate). Players are taken from it to the range and first tee via a shuttle, and a trailer houses the snack shop, where you claim your push cart or hook up with your caddie. It’s a friendly setting that becomes even more enjoyable as you meander through the course.
It’s a course like no other – at least in the United States — and we enjoyed exploring those differences. You frequently putt from great distances. To play well you have to cope with the many undulations, on the fairways as well as the greens. The fairways are huge – No. 13 was the widest ever at a U.S. Open – and the rough isn’t so penal that it scares you. The two of us, both very avid but ordinary recreational players, lost only one ball between us while playing with two Chambers veterans – general manager Matt Allen and assistant professional Ryan Young.
The U.S. Open didn’t always present Chambers Bay in a favorable light, which created a mind-boggling dilemma for Allen.
“As time passes you reflect on the good and the bad, and you see that globally it was an unqualified success,’’ said Allen. “But in the moment you would see the energy and the excitement at the same time when players in the media center were losing their minds about the putting greens.’’
The conditioning of the greens were a problem, no doubt about it. Allen attributes it to record heat in May and June, and it continued for two months after the tournament. That made recovery from the Open more difficult. Still, recreational play resumed the Friday after the last putt dropped and Chambers Bay returned to being a great asset to its community but with a higher profile.
“You’ve got to go back to Hazeltine (the Minnesota club that hosted the 1970 U.S. Open, won by Britain’s Tony Jacklin) as the last time the U.S. Open was played on a new course,’’ said Allen. “Players didn’t universally accept Hazeltine, either.’’
But Hazeltine survived to host another U.S. Open and as well as a PGA Championship, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open. It will also be the site of next year’s Ryder Cup matches.
Chamber Bays’ story is a bit different. The course was built by Pierce County with the intention of landing a U.S. Open. That was an extraordinary mission, with lots of parties involved. Among the key ones were John Landenburg, a Pierce County executive who convinced local politicians to to spend $20 million on the project; Robert Trent Jones Jr., the architect; Chicago-based KemperSports, which manages the facility; and the U.S. Golf Assn.
They worked together to get the course open in 2007, the accolades poured in immediately and by 2010 Chambers was hosting a U.S. Amateur. The 2015 U.S. Open made Chambers the only course built in the last 50 years and the first with links-style architecture to host the tournament. Remnants of abandoned sand and gravel holding bins provide a Stonehenge look along the No. 18 fairway.
Add to it the fact that Chambers’ No. 12 hole yielded the most eagles in U.S. Open history, and you have a lot of golf history made in a very short time frame. Allen has been at Chambers almost from the beginning so his perspective is noteworthy.
After completing his studies at Oregon he was – at age 21 — named the tournament and course rating director for the Oregon Golf Assn. Now a 17-year employee of KemperSports, he moved to Oregon’s then up-and-coming Bandon Dunes Resort in 1999 as assistant general manager and has been GM at Chambers for seven years. He recorded every Open-related telecast, but hasn’t gotten through Day 1 in viewing it all yet.
“For those of us on the grounds it certainly exceeded expectations,’’ he said. “The feedback we’ve gotten from others is how much more enjoyable it was watching a U.S. Open where you see (the world’s top players) having to think their way around the golf course the way everyone else does.’’ Trains run beside the course throughout the day, adding to the Chambers’ charm.
He expects Chambers Bay to return to as a major tournament venue at some point, but it’ll be tough to top what’s happened there already.
“We can top it by bringing the Open back in 10-12 years and doing it better,’’ Allen said. “Meanwhile, we’ll just continue to cement our championship pedigree.’’
And accommodate curious players. There’s a lot more of them now. Allen said Chambers drew players from only 12 states in the late summer months of 2014 as the Open was closing in. In the three months after this Open, though, players from 57 different states or countries have teed off there. One from France was playing during our visit.
“We’ll see that traffic for a long time to come,’’ Allen predicted.
Chambers is now even offering a unique golf package in conjunction with Tacoma’s Hotel Murano and two nearby facilities – The Home Course in DuPont and Gold Mountain in Bremerton. The Home Course was Chambers’ alternate course in the 2010 U.S. Amateur and hosted the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Gold Mountain hosted the 2006 U.S. Public Links and 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur.
