Andy Mickelson has an interesting dual role in the Illinois PGA Championship, which tees off today at a new site – Makray Memorial in Barrington.

Not only is Mickelson the defending champion, he’s also – as the Illinois Section’s tournament director — the key figure in the public course landing the state’s premier event for club professionals.

The IPGA Championship, which also is a qualifier for the PGA Professionals national finals, has been played primarily at private clubs since its debut in 1922.

Stonewall Orchard, a public facility in Grayslake, was part of a three-course rotation with privates Olympia Fields and Medinah when they divided hosting duties from 2005 to 2018.

Makray Memorial has an interesting history that dates back to 1953 but the open- to-the-public 18-holer has never hosted an event of the Illinois PGA’s stature. The Illinois State Junior has been held at Makray since 2007, and current PGA Tour member Doug Ghim set the coursre record of 65 in 2011 at that event.

The course was called Hillcrest Acres when it opened its doors. Paul Makray Sr. purchased the course in 1962 and renamed it Thunderbird. When Makray died in 1999 son Paul Makray Jr. and his siblings decided to completely re-design and rebuild the facility in honor of their father. It was closed in 2002.

“We moved two million cubic yards of dirt and brought in 100,000 truckloads in the re-construction process,’’ said Makray director of golf Don Habjan, who was on board for the last year of the Thunderbird days.

The course became Makray Memorial when it re-opened in 2004, and Paul Makray Jr. is now its sole owner. The 4,000 square foot clubhouse is one of the very best in the Chicago area and the 6,875-yard course has never been tested as thoroughly as it will be over the next three days.

The 54-hole tournament calls for 156 starters playing 18-hole rounds Monday and Tuesday before the low 50 and ties decide the champion on Wednesday.

Mickelson, the winner at Ivanhoe last year, has overseen a change of direction in IPGA tournament scheduling over the last few years that has also encompassed the Illinois Open and the Illinois Women’s Open. The Illinois Open has undergone format changes and the IWO has relaxed its residency requirements in an effort to get more players and encourage better competition. Selecting Makray was different.

“What inspired this change (for the IPGA Championship) was a combination of finding a good venue for tournament play — and this course definitely falls into that mix,’’ said Mickelson,  “and we needed one that was able to give us four days in the middle of August. We had to balance those two things together. The course is very demanding, and it’s going to be a fun event.’’

Mickelson was early in his days as director of golf at IWO base Mistwood, in Romeoville, when he won the PGA National Assistants Championship in 2015 and the Pebble Beach National Championship for TaylorMade club professionals in 2016.

His next big win came last year at Ivanhoe, but he won’t be the favorite this week. Frank Hohenadel, his head professional at Mistwood, might be. They go back to their high school days, when Mickelson was at Lincoln-Way and Hohenadel at Andrew.

“We’ve been very solid the last three-four years, playing some of the best golf of our lives,’’ said Mickelson, “but our PGA section is one of the strongest. That keeps you going.’’

Medinah’s Travis Johns, the 2019 champion; Brian Carroll of The Hawk Country Club in St. Charles, leader in the IPGA Player of the Year standings; and Blackberry Oaks teacher Roy Biancalana, coming off a win in the Illinois PGA Senior Championship, are also strong contenders.

And then, of course, there’s Mike Small. The University of Illinois men’s coach had ruled the section nine straight years until Hohenadel beat him at Medinah in 2011.  Small, now 56,  won four more titles after that, the last in 2020.

“He’s the best-ever in Illinois,’’ said Mickelson.  “He’s still a very special player who has no issues keeping up with the younger guys.’’

 

Very few golfers have earned membership on the PGA Tour without going through the nail-biting Qualifying School experience. Gary Hallberg, who grew up in Barrington, was the first to do it in 1980 when he needed to earn just $8,000 in a few late season tournaments to avoid Q-School.

Requirements have toughened over the years when such luminaries as Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth accomplished the feat.  Now Highwood’s Patrick Flavin is making a game attempt at it, and the next three weeks will determine whether he can get the job done.

Flavin’s route to make the PGA Tour has been more complicated, but it’ll be a great accomplishment if he succeeds. Just making it into the three-tournament Korn Ferry Tour Finals was a difficult feat in itself.

Last fall he couldn’t survive the second stage of the Korn Ferry’s three-stage qualifying school and basically had no tour to play on.  His options for the PGA Tour were Monday qualifiers, which usually meant finishing in the top four of about 200 hopefuls, or getting a sponsor’s exemption into big events and then playing well when those rare opportunities arose.

Immediately after the flop at Korn Ferry Q-School Flavin survived a Monday qualifier to land a spot in the PGA Tour’s Bermuda Open.  His father Mark hurried to the tournament site to work as his son’s caddie and they made a good team.  Patrick tied for 17^th and earned his first FedEx Cup points.

That success led to Flavin taking a rarely-used route to PGA Tour membership.  If he could earn enough FedEx points as a non-member of the PGA Tour to finish among the players ranked from 126 to 200 on the big circuit’s season-long  standings he would be eligible for the satellite circuit’s Korn Ferry Finals.

That meant scrounging for tournaments and, thanks to more good showings in Monday qualifiers, he made it into nine PGA Tour events and three Korn Ferry tournaments.  To supplement his schedule and earning potential Flavin also made three appearances on the PGA’s LatinoAmerica tour and one on the Canadian circuit.

“I played in basically everything I could play in the last couple years,’’ said Flavin before departing for the Boise Open, which tees off on Thursday (TOMORROW) to open the Korn Ferry Finals. “There was a lot of travel, and all of it wasn’t fun, but it all paid off.’’

He received a sponsor’s exemption to the John Deere Classic and tied for 10^th.  That finish gave him a spot in the following week’s Barbasol Championship, and he tied for 21^st there.  Those finishes meant more FedEx Cup points, to go along with earlier points gathered at the Puerto Rico Open (tie for 22^nd) and Corales Puntacana tourney in the Dominican Republic (tie for 54^th).

After Boise the Korn Ferry Finals go to Columbus, Ohio, and Evansville, Ind.  All are 72-hole events with 36-hole cuts and $1 million purses.  The top 25 on the point list over those three events go immediately to the PGA Tour, which starts its 2022-23 season the following week at the $7 million Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif.  The rest of the field is eligible for the 2023 Korn Ferry season, but there won’t be a tournament until after the New Year.

“It’s been hard not knowing where your next tournament is going to be, but now I’ve got three in a row.  That takes some weight off my shoulders,’’ said Flavin.  “I feel great.  I’m super confident.  I’m ready to take care of business.’’

Northbrook’s Nick Hardy is also in the Korn Ferry Finals, but he’d rather not be there.  As a PGA Tour rookie Hardy failed to finish in the top 125 in the FedEx standings.  To retain his PGA Tour card he’ll also have to finish in the top 25 in the Korn Ferry Finals.

At least Flavin and Hardy still have playoff golf in their immediate futures.  Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman and Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim made it into the FedEx Cup Playoffs but neither survived the 36-hole cut at last week’s St. Jude Classic in Memphis.  That eliminated both from the last two FedEx tournaments.

 

 

 

 

 

The renovation of the Settler’s Hill course in Batavia wasn’t easy – even for veteran Chicago area golf architect Greg Martin.

His recent or current area projects include The Preserve at Oak Meadows (Addison), Park Ridge Country Club, Fox Bend (Oswego), Arrowhead (Wheaton), Phillips Park (Aurora), Springbrook and Naperbrook (Naperville) and Wilmette Golf Club. Only The Preserve project is comparable to Settler’s Hill in terms of magnitude.

Work began in the fall of 2020 when the course was still open for play.  It was closed for all of 2021 and didn’t re-open until last week.  The long wait, though, was worth it. The Forest Preserve District of Kane County now has a course that is unlike any other in the Chicago area, if not the state of Illinois.

“It was a long journey,’’ said Martin. “Working with a landfill creates a little different challenge, and now all the holes are unique.  All have a personality.’’

Settler’s Hill was built with 13 holes on a landfill, and five on the edges of it.  That alone makes it unusual for Chicago courses.  Harborside, on Chicago’s South Side; Chicago Highlands, in Westchester; and Willow Hill (Northbrook) are also landfill projects but Settler’s Hill was one of the first.

Built on a site that had housed the County Farm and Home, Settler’s Hill was a nine-holer when it opened in 1988.  It became an 18-holer when designer Bob Lohmann unveiled his second nine in 1991.

Martin’s renovation features some startling elevation changes.  He likens the new design to “a roller coaster ride,’’ and that becomes obvious at the highest points – the tees at Nos. 13 and 17 and the green at No. 14.

There’s a drop of about 90 feet at No. 17, a dogleg par-5 that may be the biggest eye-catcher even though the drops are slightly longer on the other two holes.  There are also two new par-3s and the routing has changed to correct a problem with the original design.  Neither nine started or finished at the clubhouse on that one.

“We took a great property that just needed a little care and thought,’’ said Martin.  “We moved a couple holes around and opened up some views to give it more of a prairie look.’’

While the course is open, the $6.8 million project isn’t finished. The original clubhouse – located in an old barn – will house the pro shop until the new clubhouse is finished next year.  The old barn will be transformed into a banquet facility. A new four-hole short course is ready for youth play now and a new practice range is also available.

FED EX PLAYOFFS TEE OFF: Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman and Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim are in the 125-man field for the first of the three tournaments in the PGA Tour’s season-ending playoff series.  First event tees off on Thursday in Memphis.

Neither Streelman nor Ghim survived the 36-hole cut in last week’s Wyndham Championship and they’ll need strong showings in Memphis to qualify for the second playoff event – the BMW Championship in Delaware. Only the top 70 in the season-long point race after the Memphis stop will advance to the BMW Championship. Streelman goes to Memphis at No. 83 and Ghim at No. 114.

HERE AND THERE:  Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich has confirmed that two of his course’s greens have been affected by poa annua but says they’ll be ready when the controversial new LIV Tour visits Sept. 16-18. Rich also reports that  “Corporate and general admission ticket sales are going crazy.’’

Last week’s local tournament schedule had four big events going head-to-head.  This week the Chicago District Four-Ball Championship, which concludes its three-day run today at Chicago’s Ridgemoor course, is the lone attraction.

Two of Chicago most prominent course superintendents, Mike Bavier and Luke Cella, have joined forces on the fourth printing of a recently-published book  “Practical Golf Course Maintenance – the Art of Green Keeping’’ (Wiley & Sons Publishing, Hoboken, N.J.)  “It’s not a technical book, unlike past editions,’’ said Cella, executive director of the Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents.  “It reflects all the new rules of golf, and all the photos have been updated.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luke Donald, always the gentleman, badly wanted to captain the European Ryder Cup team but feared his chances were gone after Sweden’s Henrik Stenson was selected on July 20.

Donald, a member of four Ryder Cup teams and a vice captain for two others, wasn’t even named a vice captain for the matches in Rome in 2023.  The Euros were going to have Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari as the helpers for Stenson.

Now Donald, the former Northwestern star and long-time resident and supporter of golf in Chicago, is back in business.  He was officially named the European Ryder Cup captain on Monday after a tumultuous few days for Stenson.

Stenson was removed from the captaincy after he joined the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Tour, then hinted at taking legal action against the DP World Tour – the European PGA circuit — for his removal.  Stenson regained his focus in time to win last week’s LIV event in Bedminster, N.J., however, and that meant a huge payday in his first event on the new circuit.  He received $4 million for the individual win and another $375,000 for being part of the runner-up team in a separate competitive category.

Donald, while finishing in an eight-way tie for 49^th place in the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit on Sunday, didn’t confirm his captaincy until Monday’s announcement but did quip that – if selected – he “wouldn’t pull a Henrik.’’ He offered more thoughts on that after his selection was announced.

“I was surprised (Stenson) put his name forward if his plan was to go to LIV,’’ said Donald. “I hate to talk about rumors, but rumors are that he’d been in contact with the rival tours – whatever they were – and he was very interested.  Everyone knew that.  They (the European tour) obviously took his word that he wasn’t going to do that.  We all have to sign a clause or contract saying that we won’t have anything to do with LIV.’’

Donald, 44 and struggling with his game the last few years, was offered a job on the LIV broadcast team but turned it down.  He did, though, say he’d keep Bjorn and Molinari as his vice captains.

Given his age and earlier success as a player, Donald would seem a good candidate to jump to the better paying LIV Tour.  He was the world’s No. 1-ranked player for 56 weeks, but that was a decade ago.

While he never won a major title, he did have top-10 finishes in the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and British Open and notched 17 professional victories. While still an amateur he won the 2000 Chicago Open by six strokes against a field of professionals.

While a Florida resident now, Donald maintained a home in the Chicago area for many years after his graduation from Northwestern and he has been a major supporter of the Wildcats’ golf program and the First Tee of Greater Chicago.

Donald, interestingly, finished in a tie for 49^th on Sunday with – among others – Zach Johnson, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain.  Donald’s captaincy will initially be more challenging than Johnson’s.

The PGA Tour indefinitely suspended all LIV Tour participants on Feb. 28 but the DP World Tour only fined its players who competed on the rival circuit. They included European Ryder Cup mainstays Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Stenson.  Will they be able to play on Donald’s team?

“That’s something that’s certainly up in the air,’’ said Donald.  “There’s no real clarity now, and there’s some legal action going on.’’

He’s convinced those issues will be resolved and is “so excited and truly honored’’ to finally be Europe’s captain.

“I’m really looking forward to the next 14 months and getting my team ready for Rome,’’ said Donald.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The controversial LIV Tour Invitational Series’  stop in Chicago is closing in. The Saudi-backed circuit holds its third tournament starting on Friday at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey, and the fourth –called The International — is in Boston from Sept. 2-4.

Then it’s on to Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, from Sept. 16-18 in what looms as the highest profile competition of the Chicago golf season. The LIV Tour may include many more big-name players by that time, since it falls after the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Since the last LIV stop — the circuit’s American debut at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon — the circuit has added Henrik Stenson, Jason Kokrak, Charles Howell and Paul Casey to its roster and gained more notoriety when Stenson was stripped of his captaincy of the European Ryder Cup team because of his defection.

More PGA Tour players are expected to make the jump after the FedEx Cup Playoffs end on Aug. 28.

Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich sent some of his staff members to Pumpkin Ridge and liked the reports they brought back.

“If our tournament turns out anything like that one Illinois golf fans are in for a real treat,’’ Rich said in his latest report to friends of Rich Harvest.

Rich also addressed a question that has been posed frequently since he joined the LIV Tour in his first venture into men’s professional golf.  A most successful LPGA team event, the Solheim Cup, was staged at Rich Harvest in 2009 and many big amateur events have also been held there.

So, why did Rich get involved with the Saudi circuit?

“The answer is simple and obvious: The Kids Golf Foundation,’’ said Rich.  “Every event I host at Rich Harvest Farms supports the Foundation and their mission of bringing golf into the lives of children and providing them with opportunities for personal growth and career enhancement.’’

LIV tournaments are different than PGA Tour events. They’re limited to 48 players, and they play 54 holes using a shotgun start. There’s also a team component to each event and prize money is significantly higher than it is in PGA Tour events.

The Bedminster event will have the Navy parachute team skydiving onto the course to start play each day. Gates there will open three hours before the first tee time to enable spectators to participate in other onsite activities.  General admission is $75 per day.

FED EX COUNTDOWN:  All the Chicago-connected players on the PGA Tour are in this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit for a very good reason.  They only have two tournaments left to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The top 125 on the season-long point list qualify for the first of the lucrative postseason events and Kevin Streelman (No. 82), Northwestern alum David Lipsky (90) and Doug Ghim (111) are inside the cutline now. Nick Hardy is the best of the others at No. 138 with only the Wyndham Championship left after the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Ghim helped his cause at last week’s 3-M Classic, finishing in a tie for 16^th, but he was in a tie for third after three rounds before dropping down the leaderboard with a 77 on Sunday.

HERE AND THERE: The 73^rd Illinois Open starts on Monday at White Eagle, in Naperville.  The host site was hit hard by a tornado over the weekend, forcing a closing of the course.  Over 50 trees went down and a scoreboard and tent were destroyed. The club plans to re-open for an outing on Thursday,  and the Illinois Open is expected to go on as scheduled. The Last Chance Qualifier  event is today on the Prairie Course at Countryside, in Mundelein.

With Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest drenched by six inches of rain the Illinois PGA Senior Masters was canceled on Monday. Plans to reschedule are in the works.

The Phillips Park course, in Aurora, unveiled two new simulators in its pro shop this week.

Glen Ellyn’s Andy Pope, who had a long career on the Korn Tour while qualifying for five U.S. Opens, is no longer on that circuit, but he captured the Florida Open title last week.

 

 

 

 

A year ago a costly bogey on the 17^th hole at Mistwood, in Romeoville, prevented Hinsdale’s Mac McClear from winning the Illinois State Amateur title.  He wound up in a three-man playoff for the crown, with Crystal Lake’s Ethan Farnam repeating as the tourney’s champion.

That setback didn’t hold back the University of Iowa junior this time.  He was in control most of the way en route to a three-stroke victory over Tommy Kuhl, a fifth-year senior at Illinois from downstate Morton.  They were the only players under par for the 72-hole test at Westmoreland Country Club, in Wilmette.

“It was a long time coming, but this really feels good,’’ said McClear. “Last year didn’t stay in my head. I played well, but Mistwood wasn’t my favorite course.  I liked this one better.  I didn’t like Mistwood’s water.  This was definitely my kind of course.’’

Windy weather the last two days hampered the scoring when the tourney was played on a North Shore course for the first time in its rich history.  McClear shot 68-77 in Thursday’s 36-hole climax to the 91^st annual championship while Kuhl went 68-75.  McClear posted 5-under-par 283 for the four rounds.

McClear, who won the Big Ten individual title last year, owned a five-stroke lead after Thursday’s morning round, but that advantage was gone after he hit the back nine in the afternoon.

Only Kuhl presented a challenge.  He pulled even with McClear, but then made three bogeys early on the final nine when his rival got hot.

“From 10 to 15 I really played good.  I almost birdied five of those six holes,’’ said McClear.  He was up six shots with three holes to play but then threatened to give that lead away, too.

A triple bogey seven at No. 16 brought Kuhl within two shots, but McClear also made a bogey at the 17^th.  Playing one group behind Kuhl, McClear watched his rival make double bogey on the 18^th and nursed his way through the final hole to secure the victory.

The loss left Kuhl nearly in tears.

“I wanted this tournament.  It was one of my goals,’’ he said.  “I just got beat by a better man.’’

They’ll meet two more times before returning to their college teams.  McClear and Kuhl both qualified for the Western Amateur, coming up Aug. 1-6 at Exmoor, in Highland Park . Then the U.S. Amateur will conclude their summer seasons.

 

 

The biggest of the local tournaments come fast and furious now.

They all started on Tuesday when the 122^nd Women’s Western Amateur and 91st Illinois State Amateur took center stage.  The Women’s Western Golf Association  event, which has been held without interruption since 1901, is at Sunset Ridge, in Northfield, through Saturday.  The Illinois Am concludes its three-day run on Thursday at Westmoreland, in Wilmette.

The Women’s Western Amateur has both finalists from last year returning.  Marissa Wenzler, from Dayton, Ohio, and the University of Kentucky, needed 20 holes to beat Maddison Hinson-Toldchard, of Australia and Ohio State, at Park Ridge Country Club.

Wenzler will try to become the tourney’s first repeat champion since Meredith Duncan in 2000-2001. She’ll be competing with 119 others in two rounds of stroke play qualifying before the field is cut to 32 finalists for matches that conclude on Saturday.

The field includes players from 13 countries and 27 states.  The tourney has been based in the Chicago area since 2017.

Meanwhile, the Illinois State Amateur will be played on the North Shore for the first time.  The eliminations started with 577 entrants, the most since 2016, and 136 will compete at Westmoreland.  The full field plays 36 holes before the field is cut to the low 35 and ties for a 36-hole wrapup on Thursday.

Last year’s State Am won’t have a defending champion, since Crystal Lake’s Ethan Farnam has turned pro.  The left-handed player won in both 2019 and 2021, with the 2020 version canceled because of pandemic concerns.

Farnam’s win last year came in a three-man playoff with Jordan Less and Mac McClear.  Less also turned pro but McClear will be back.  The Hinsdale resident was the Illinois State Junior champion in 2019 and the Big Ten titlist while playing for Iowa in 2021.

This week’s tournament doubleheader leads into the two state opens, the women’s coming July 25-26 at Mistwood, in Romeoville, and the men’s Aug. 1-3 at White Eagle, in Naperville.  The men’s version of the Western Amateur overlaps with the men’s Illinois Open.  It’ll be held Aug. 1-6 at Exmoor, in Highland Park.

HONOREES:  The Illinois Junior Golf Association will hold its first-ever Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Monday (JULY 25) at Cantigny, in Wheaton. The six-member inaugural induction class is headed by PGA Tour veteran Kevin Streelman, who got his start in golf at Cantigny and played in many IJGA competitions.

Ed Stevenson, president of the IJGA board of directors, announced the other inductees.  They included Mike Spinello, who founded the organization in 1967 and led it on a volunteer basis through 1986, and John and Jean Barney.  John was the IJGA’s first executive director and the Barneys were IJGA volunteer for 23 years.

Completing the class is Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek; long-time board member Blue Kinander Kelly of Wheaton; and decorated Glen Ellyn golf instructor Dan Kochevar, founder of the DuPage County Junior Classic.

HERE AND THERE:  Bob Malpede and Kevin Fitzgerald will be the honorees when members of the Illinois PGA gather at Onwentsia, in Lake Forest, for their Senior Masters tournament on Monday (JULY 25).

Heritage Oaks, in Northbrook, hosted two U.S. Golf Association qualifiers in the same day last week.  Lake Bluff’s Curtis Skinner, Chicago’s Daniel Brassil and Peoria’s Tim Sheppard advanced to the U.S. Senior Amateur and Lake Forest’s Jamie Fischer moved on to the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

TrueSpec Golf, which specializes in custom club fitting and club building, will open its Geneva location at the Impasto Golf Academy on Aug. 2.

Stephen Geisz has been named general manager at Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa, in Galena.  He had been GM at Grand Harbor Resort, in Dubuque, Ia., since 2007.

 

 

 

 

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Eagle Ridge, Illinois’ only full-fledged golf resort in Galena, is marking the 25^th anniversary of its premier course, The General, in an unusual way.  Call it a “Celebration Restoration.’’

Not only is The General one of the very best courses in the state, it’s also the most different.  No 18-holer in Illinois has the 280 feet of. elevation changes that The General has.  It’s a course that isn’t suitable for walking, but its views are unmatched.

John Schlaman was the director of golf at Eagle Ridge when The General was under construction. Schlaman, who would later direct the operation at Prairie Landing in West Chicago, is back now as head of the resort’s South Course.

“Building The General was obviously difficult,’’ recalled Schlaman.  “What I remember most was the fire in the hole. For a lot of that course we had to dynamite stuff to create different routings. We also struggled with seeding on the 17^th hole.  It’d wash out and had to had to be re-seeded.’’

That happened several times, to the dismay of its two architects, two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North and the late Roger Packard, who also worked on two of the resort’s other three courses.

Playing The General was always a memorable experience, but the course was never ideal.  The nines were flipped after Mark Klausner took over ownership of the resort in 2019 and brought in Mike Weiler as director of golf. That was a big change, and more recently Weiler has uncovered two “mystery tees.’’  They were there when North and Packard did their work but disappeared from the scorecard seven years ago.

Now, rather honor the reputation The General has built over 25 years, the Eagle Ridge leadership is focusing more on a restoration project centering on those “mystery tees.’’

“We’re not so much celebrating as we are upgrading,’’ said Weiler.

Sam Marzahl was hired as The General’s superintendent two years ago, and he’s tackled a cleanup project encompassing the “mystery tees’’ that will lengthen Nos. 6 and 8. Other tees have been added and the end result may add as many as 400 yards to the layout from the back tees.

Klausner, meanwhile, brought in Moline-based John Deere Co. for a much-needed replacement of maintenance equipment that was at least nine years old under the previous ownership.

“A three-year deal for $1 million a year,’’ said Klausner.  “They’ve been super people to work with, and they teach us how to use the new equipment.’’

Klausner has also ordered an expansion of The Highlands restaurant, the moving of the Village Store and the creation of a new, very upscale Stonedrift Spa.  It’s scheduled to open in mid-September.

The “Celebration Restoration’’ and spa opening will follow The Legends Dream Big Charity Golf Tournament, the highest profile event in resort history coming up on Aug. 10.  That celebrity-filled outing is one of the lead-ins to the following night’s Field of Dreams game between the Cubs and Cincinnati Reds in Dyersville, Ia., about an hour’s drive away.

COMING UP:  Northbrook’s Heritage Oaks, in its first season, will host two national qualifiers in the same day on Wednesday.  U.S. Senior Amateur hopefuls (among them former Blackhawks’ player and general manager Dale Tallon) will compete in the morning and the U.S. Women’s Senior Open candidates will battle in the afternoon.

Two of the biggest amateur tournaments of the year are on tap for next week. The Women’s Western Amateur begins its six-day run on Monday at Sunset Ridge, in Northfield, and the 91st Illinois State Amateur is Tuesday through Thursday at Westmoreland, in Wilmette….The Women’s Western, held annually without interruption since 1901, calls for 36 holes of qualifying for the 120 starters, then three days of match play for the 32 survivors….The State Am won’t have a defending champion.  Last year’s title went to Ethan Farnam in a playoff with Jordan Les.  Both have since turned professional.

 

Golf’s celebrity events to benefit charitable causes used to be commonplace, especially in Chicago.  In fact, Chicago had one of the first really big ones – the Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities event.

It returns to the Chicago calendar for the first time in three years on Thursday, July 14, at Twin Orchard Country Club in Long Grove, but the 51^st staging of the outing won’t be as big as it had been. The event was canceled because of pandemic concerns the last two years.

“It’s almost like starting over,’’ said Gene Hiser, who had been on the roster of both the Cubs and White Sox during his playing days. “Usually we rented both courses (Twin Orchard has two 18-holers), but we didn’t think we could pack both of them after being off for two years. If we oversell we can go back to two courses next year.’’

That would be nice, given that the event has raised over $18 million for cancer research over the years thanks to the involvement of many Chicago sports stars  and philanthropic-minded golfers.

Marv Samuel, a former player with the St. Louis Browns is considered the founder of the event but he had considerable help from Billy Pierce, the White Sox’ ace left-handed pitcher, and Chicago sportswriter Jim Enright.

Hiser, a Cubs’  outfielder from 1970-76 before he was sold to the White Sox, has been involved for 48 years.  He joined the effort in the early years when Midlothian, a private club in Chicago’s South suburbs, was the host venue.  The first event made only $1,000 for charity, but was hitting between $250,000 to $300,000 annually before the two-year hiatus.

Beneficiaries this year are Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Children’s Oncology Services and the One Step at a Time Camp in Wisconsin. The outing is “a project’’ of the White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks, Wolves and “Chicago Press Media.’’

There were lots of golf charity events after the Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities started and pro athletes from all sports loved to participate.  Hiser, in his post-baseball career, remembers playing in 42 such golf charity events one year. An outing  every Monday from April through October was his basic routine then.

“Now we’ve lost a lot of celebrities,’’ said Hiser, who had 70 on his call list at one time and now has about 45 former players.  “Some have passed away.  Others can’t play anymore.’’

Athletes from sports other than baseball were welcome in the Baseball Charities event.

“The problem is that some got greedy.  They wanted money to play,’’ said Hiser.  “We’ve never paid anybody to play.  We want to get the local Chicago residents.’’

Next week’s batch includes Randy Hundley, Ron Kittle, Carlos May, Paul Popovich, Eric Soderholm, Tim Stoddard and Buzz Capra.  There’ll be a memorabilia auction and dinner following the golf.

A MULHEARN MOMENT:  Danny Mulhearn, long-time head professional at Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn, and his son Zachary, a sophomore at St. Thomas University in Minnesota, were in the spotlight at two big Chicago area tournaments last week and both came up with runner-up finishes.

Danny was the first-round leader in the Illinois Senior Open at The Preserve at Oak Meadows, but University of Illinois men’s coach Mike Small overhauled him in the final round. Small has won the Illinois PGA Championship 13 times and the Illinois Open four times, but this was his first victory in the Illinois Senior Open.

Meanwhile, Zachary was working his way through the field in the 102^nd Chicago District Amateur at Glen Flora in Waukegan until he ran into Chicago’s Charlie Waddell in the 36-hole final.  Waddell won that one 6 and 4 for his first victory in a CDGA-sanctioned event.

“I can’t think of how many I’ve played in, going back to junior golf,’’ said Waddell, a Shoreacres member.  “I’m 37, and I’ve got grey hairs coming in and guys are probably thinking `I can run this guy over.  But I just wear them down a bit.  It can be pretty frustrating for the younger players.’’

The CDGA’s biggest event, the Illinois State Amateur, is coming up July 19-21 at Westmoreland, in Wilmette.

 

 

 

SILVIS, IL. — “Magic Happens Here’’ has been the promotional motto for the John Deere Classic the last few years, and – from a Chicago player perspective – it certainly was pertinent during Sunday’s final round.

Yes, J.T. Poston won the tournament wire-to-wire – the first to do that since David Frost in 1992.

Poston, winning for the second time in six PGA Tour seasons, was 21-under 263 in his three-shot victory, but the buzz was the loudest for the early starters.  Three of the four Chicago-connected players who survived the 36-hole cut were in the fourth, fifth and sixth twosomes to tee off at TPC Deere Run, but they were ready to make birdies.

Northwestern alum Dylan Wu, Northbrook PGA Tour rookie Nick Hardy and Wheaton veteran Kevin Streelman, though far down the leaderboard going into the final 18 holes of the $7.1 million championship, improved their status in a hurry.

Wu shot 66 and climbed 26 places for a tie for 43rd in the standings.  Hardy did better, making two eagles en route to shooting a 64 that improved his position by a whopping 31 spots to a tie for 30th and Streelman not only shot 66 and climbed 16 spots to a tie for 41st, but he also made a hole-in-one.

And then there was Highwood hopeful Patrick Flavin, who got into the field on a sponsor’s exemption.  He’s using Monday qualifiers and what exemptions come to his way in an effort to earn PGA Tour membership.

Flavin was tied for 30th after 54 holes, drew U.S. Ryder Cup champion Zach Johnson as his final round playing partner and responded with a 66.  That put him in sixth place before a bogey on the last led to him finishing in a tie for 10th. That  finish was still good enough to put him in this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky.

“To play great was awesome,’’ said Flavin.  “It meant a lot to me, and it was so cool to play with Zach Johnson. He’s a small guy that I can see myself in, plus he’s a John Deere legend.’’

“I felt I was in his way at times,’’ quipped Johnson, who struggled in with a 74 while preparing to play in the British Open in two weeks at St. Andrews.

Flavin laughed when he heard that.

“Your first step in making the Ryder Cup team is playing well in front of your captain,’’ deadpanned Flavin to a chorus of laughter.  He has no hopes of making Johnson’s Ryder Cup team but called his finish “a huge step’’  in his goal of reaching the Korn Ferry Finals.’’

That ride will continue a while longer.  Flavin needs to finish in the top 25 of the season-ending playoff series on the PGA’s alternate tour to get his membership on the big tour in 2022-23. Sunday’s showing was a big help, and it negated the need for him to play in Monday’s qualifier for the Barbasol.

Hardy, meanwhile, will take a well-deserved week off after playing five straight weeks, the last two producing a tie for 14^th at the U.S. Open and tie for eighth in The Travelers in Connecticut.

“I got a good rest last night, and just felt ready,’’ said Hardy, “I’ve gained confidence.  There’s no doubt I should be among the most confident players in the world right now.  I’ve been playing great golf, but I’ve got to be smart about rest.  When you’re playing against the best in the world you can’t play at 80 percent.  You’ve got to play at full bore.’’

Streelman, 43, holed a 6-iron from 187 yards on the 12^th hole.  It was his second ace on the PGA Tour and 14^th overall, the first coming when he was a 13-year old playing with his brother at the Nordic Hills course in Itasca. Streelman will join Flavin in Kentucky even though he did succeed – as the 16^th alternate two weeks ago – to land a spot in the Scottish Open.

“It was a tough call, but I would have to race to O’Hare and I don’t really have the right clothes for the trip,’’ said Streelman.

As for the champion, Poston birdied the first three holes to open a seven-stroke lead, but it was cut to one before his next birdie locked up the $1,278,000 first prize as well as his first trip to the British Open.