Jerry Rich has become the most ambitious golf tournament promoter in Chicago, there’s no doubt about that.

The owner of Rich Harvest Farms, Rich has provided a steady diet of top-level competition at his sparkling Sugar Grove layout ever since the LPGA’s Solheim Cup was contested there in 2009.

This year, though, Rich has outdone himself. He’s hosting two big events, the first of which is this week’s Palmer Cup matches between the top college players from the United States and Europe. The Western Golf Association’s Western Amateur arrives Aug. 3-9 and at least one player will be prominent in both.

Beau Hossler, a 20-year old junior at the University of Texas, earned a berth on the U.S. team in the Palmer Cup by virtue of the event’s point standings and he is also the defending champion in the 113th Western Amateur, having won last year at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club.

Hossler looks on the chance to play Rich Harvest twice in competition as a highlight of his summer.

“I’ve heard it’s incredible,’’ said Hossler, “and I’ll get some preparation for the Western there as well.’’

The Palmer Cup, organized by the legendary Arnold Palmer in 1997 at his Bay Hill club in Florida, has been contested at various sites in both the U.S. and Europe. The Europeans won 18 ½-11 ½ last year at Walton Heath in England, but the U.S. leads the series 9-8-1.

Hossler is one of six Palmer Cup players in the top 10 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The Palmer Cup starts his summer season, which also includes the California Amateur, Southern California Amateur, Porter Cup, Western and U.S. Amateur. He believes he’s a better player than he was when he won at Beverly.

“I’ve really improved my ball-striking as a whole,’’ he said. “I’ve gotten a lot better with the driver, and I need to work on my full wedge game. It was a bit off my last semester (at Texas).’’
The European team will be headed by Spain’s Jon Rahm, the No. 1-ranked amateur and a student at Arizona State. One of his teammates will be Belgium’s Thomas Detry, who sparked Illinois to the semifinals of the match play portion of the NCAA tournament last week. Detry tied for third in the individual NCAA standings and will play in the Palmer Cup for the second straight year. He was 3-1 in his matches for Europe last summer.

Georgia Tech’s Bruce Heppler will coach the 12-player U.S. team that also includes Georgia’s Lee McCoy, Stanford’s Maverick McNealy, Vanderbilt’s Hunter Stewart, Alabama’s Robby Shelton and Florida State’s Jack Maguire off the event point standings. Jean Van De Velde will coach the European side.

Opening ceremonies will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Foursome matches start at 7:30 a.m. on Friday and four ball matches at 1:30 p.m. Singles matches begin at 8:30 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday. There is no admission charge.

Donald heads U.S. Open qualifiers

Luke Donald, once the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer, survived Monday’s sectional qualify day for the U.S. Open on one of his home courses — Bear Trap in Florida. He’ll lead six Illinois golfers into next week’s Open at Chambers Bay in Washington.

Donald, with former Northwestern coach Pat Goss as his caddie, shared medalist honors at Bear Trap with Glen Ellyn’s Andy Pope, a Web.com Tour player. Three present or past University of Illinois golfers also qualified. Nick Hardy, the freshman from Northbrook, and senior Brian Campbell – both members of this year’s NCAA semifinalist team – advanced as did alum D.A. Points.

Also headed to Chambers Bay is Michael Davan, the 2012 Chicago District Amateur champion from Hoopeston. He was low man at the Springfield, Ohio, sectional.

Here and there

Kemper Lakes is welcoming big tournaments again following the completion of a three-year bunker renovation conducted by Libertyville architect Rick Jacobson. The Kildeer club hosted the 1989 PGA Championship, six Champions Tour events, four Grand Slams of Golf, the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship before becoming a private facility in 2007. General manager John Hosteland has announced the `Restore the Roar’ initiative in hopes of bringing big events back.

Northwestern has awarded Emily Fletcher, three-time Big Ten coach-of-the-year, a contract extension. Her Wildcats won the Big Ten title this season and finished 10th in the NCAA tournament.

Illinois men’s coach Mike Small, who took his Illini to the NCAA tournament for the eighth straight year, was named one of six winners of the Dave Williams National Coach of the Year award.

The Chicago-based Women’s Western Golf Assn. will hold its 115th Amateur championship at Nashville Golf & Athletic Club in Brentwood, Tenn., beginning on Monday (JUNE 15). Nine Illinois players are entered in the six-day event including Naperville’s Bing Singhsumalee and Crystal Lake’s Lexie Harkins, the Illinois Women’s Amateur titlists of the last two years.

The Illinois PGA hosts an Illinois Open qualifier at Turnberry in Lakewood on Thursday and will hold the second of six stroke play events at Blackberry Oaks in Bristol next Monday.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct Illinois State Amateur qualifiers at the University of Illinois course in Savoy and Kankakee Elks on Wednesday, PrairieView in Byron and Effingham Country Club on Thursday and Lake Bluff next Monday.

A great season came to an end for the University of Illinois men’s team on Tuesday as the Illini were eliminated by Southern California in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament at Concession Club in Bradenton, Fla.

The Illini were Big Ten champions, won their NCAA regional tournament and were the top team in the stroke play portion of the NCAA finals, meaning Illinois was the top-seeded team in the eight-team match play finals. USC will meet Louisiana State for the NCAA championship on Wednesday.

Illinois’ players are far from done competing, however. Four of coach Mike Small’s five players survived the 18-hole local qualifying rounds for the U.S. Open. Brian Campbell, Thomas Detry, Charlie Danielson and freshman Nick Hardy will compete on Monday for berths in the U.S. Open proper.

As challenging as the NCAA finals have been for those collegians, the U.S. Open sectionals will be even more pressure-packed. Over 9,000 entered the Open, which will be played at Chambers Bay, a Washington club operated by Chicago-based KemperSports, from June 18-21. The field was whittled dramatically at the local eliminations, two of which were held in the Chicago area, but the real tension comes in the sectionals.

Most of the 156-man starting field at Chambers Bay will be filled through Monday’s 36-hole eliminations on what has long been dubbed “the Longest Day in Golf.’’

The Illini players be tested against much more than college competition, regardless of which sectional they compete in. Plenty of established players will be trying to qualify for the Open on Monday. Former world No. 1 Luke Donald, for instance, hopes to survive a sectional at Bears Club, a Florida facility of which he is a member.

Kevin Streelman, D.A. Points and Steve Stricker are in the usually loaded field in Columbus, Ohio, because they’ll be in the area to play in the PGA Tour’s Memorial tournament. Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, Vijay Singh, Ben Curtis and Stewart Cink – all winners of major championships – also need to survive sectionals to get to this U.S. Open.

Defending JDC champ lauds Spieth

Brian Harman visited TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis this week to prepare for his title defense in next month’s John Deere Classic. When he returns for the July 9-12 tourney the spotlight will shift to Masters champion Jordan Spieth, but that doesn’t bother the lesser known Harman.

“(Spieth) is extremely popular,’’ said Harman, who is also in the U.S. Opens sectional shootouts on Monday.. “He makes every putt he looks at, and he’s great for the game because he cares about (the PGA) Tour. He’s not out chasing a bunch of appearance fees all over the world.’’

Other top players have done that during JDC week in past years, since the tourney falls the week before the British Open. Another who remains loyal to the JDC winner Stricker, a three-time winner. He’ll play in this year’s tourney, but made other news on Monday at the same time Harman was addressing the Quad Cities media.

Stricker will host the American Family Insurance Championship, a new event on the Champions Tour, in 2016 even though he can’t play in the June 22-26 event at University Ridge in Madison, Wis.. Stricker won’t turn 50, a requirement for Champions Tour players, until 2017 but he will play in two pro-ams during the new tourney’s championship week.

Here and there

The stars of the Illinois PGA will bid for their third straight victory over the best amateurs in the Chicago District Golf Association on Wednesday (TODAY) in the 54th Radix Cup matches at Oak Park Country Club in River Forest. The IPGA leads the series 34-17-2. First of six two-man team matches tees off at 12:30 p.m.

Doug Bauman, head professional at Biltmore in Barrington, repeated as champion of the IPGA PGA Senior Match Play tournament with a 1-up victory over Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff.

Arlington Lakes closes for a year-long renovation after the Arlington Amateur concludes on Sunday.

The first of nine state-wide qualifying rounds for the Illinois State Amateur championship wil be played at Fox Bend in Oswego on Monday (JUNE 8). Finals are July 14-16 at Panther Creek in Springfield.

Two Illinois amateurs, Taylorville’s Dave Ryan and Inverness’ Mike Rice, lost out to Sonny Skinner of Sylvester, Ga., for the last of two qualifying berths for the U.S. Senior Open in a sudden death playoff. Chien Soon Lu of Pomona, Calif., shot 69 at Barrington Hills to earn medalist honors by three strokes.

Last week’s Senior PGA Championship in French Lick, Ind., was a big deal, but hardly a season-ender for the best 50-and-over players. Now they’ll compete much closer to home.

Barrington Hills hosts a sectional qualifier for the 36th U.S. Senior Open on Wednesday, and Gary Hallberg will head the field. Though he’s long been a Colorado resident, Hallberg grew up in Barrington before enjoying a successful career as a touring pro.

He’s one of the few players to have victories on the Web.com, PGA and Champions Tours and he qualified for all four rounds at French Lick, finishing in a tie for 58th place that earned him $5,058. Though he now plays a limited tournament schedule Hallberg, 58, has made the cut in all five of his starts this season.

Getting through Senior Open qualifying, though, will be a tough task. As was the case in last week’s U.S. Women’s Open sectional, there’ll only be two spots in the finals offered at Barrington Hills and 82 players are scheduled to compete.

The Chicago sectional is one of 34 held nation-wide to whittle the field from 2,445 entries. Seventy-nine of those entrants are exempt from sectional qualifying, among them Senior PGA winner Colin Montgomerie, Hinsdale Champions Tour regular Jeff Sluman and Tom Lehman, who will defend his title at the Encompass Championship at North Shore in Glenview in July. The Senior Open finals are June 25-28 at Del Paso in Sacramento, Calif.

A present-day Barrington golfer, Doug Bauman, will spend the week making a title defense in the Illinois PGA Senior Match Play Championship at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff. Bauman, the long-time head professional at Biltmore in Barrington, won his first title in the tournament at Merit Club in Libertyville last year.

The IPGA Senior Match Play started on Tuesday and will conclude on Thursday when semifinal matches are scheduled to tee off at 8 a.m. and the championship match at 11 a.m.

A milestone win for Ehrgott

John Ehrgott, from Edwards near Peoria, captured the first Chicago District Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship conducted in a match play format last week. It had been a flighted tournament the previous 12 years.

Ehrgott cruised past Michael Natale of Indian Head Park 5 and 4 in the title match at Bowes Creek in Elgin. The win also made Ehrgott the first player to notch victories in both the Chicago District and Illinois State Mid-Amateur events.

In addition to the Senior Open sectional the CDGA will conducts its first qualifiers for the Chicago District Amateur this week. Eliminations will be held at both White Eagle in Naperville and Pontiac Elks on Thursday.

Here and there

The Arnold Palmer Cup will remain a men’s only match play battle between the U.S. and Europe when the competition is conducted at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove from June 12-14, but organizers have announced a change in format for 2018. Then an International side will replace the Europeans and both teams will include women players.

The NCAA Division I women’s tourney is winding down at Concession Club in Bradenton, Fl., and the men begin their six-day competition there on Friday with Illinois among the top contenders.

Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr. took a break from the PGA Tour to try to qualify for the U.S. Open at Iowa’s Harvester course. He shot 74 and is second alternate from that site to get into the sectional eliminations.

Golf Channel Academy is now in operation at Cog Hill in Lemont. Cog is one of 57 inaugural locations participating in the launch of the teaching program.

The Chicago Sky has scheduled its first charity tournament for June 15 at Wilmette. It’ll be a four-player scramble that will include a Beat the Pro closest-to-the-pin contest featuring LPGA veteran Nicole Jeray.

Arlington Lakes has announced a June 7 closing. That’s the last of the two-day Arlington Amateur and architect Mike Benkusky will then begin renovation work. The course is expected to re-open in June, 2016. Oak Meadows, in Addison, will close on July 6, setting the stage for a renovation supervised by architect Greg Martin that will likely be completed in the spring of 2017.

Jonathon Parsons has been named general manager at Schaumburg Golf Club.

Tom Lehman, a long-time star on the Champions Tour, had plenty on his mind when he visited North Shore Country Club in Glenview this week. He’ll defend his title in the Encompass Championship there in July.

Before the title defense, however, Lehman will compete in three major championships on the popular circuit for 50-and-over players.

Last week he tied for fifth in the first of the five Champions Tour majors, the Regions Tradition in Alabama. This week he’s in the Senior PGA Championship on the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind., and Lehman will also compete in two other designated majors – next month’s Constellation Senior Players Championship in Massachusetts and U.S. Senior Open in California — before returning to North Shore.

The majors are 72-hole tournaments. The Encompass is only 54, but Lehman, the only golfer to be named player of the year on three major tours (PGA, Champions and Web.com) believes North Shore makes the tournament special.

“It feels like a major, almost,’’ said Lehman. “I can’t think of many courses in the world that have what North Shore has in terms of tradition and ambiance.’’

It’ll be much different this week on the six-year old Dye Course at French Lick, which has already challenged the Senior PGA players in practice rounds this week.

Lehman didn’t check out the southern Indiana layout until Tuesday and didn’t go there with any negative thoughts.

“I love Pete Dye. I have a different take on Pete Dye courses than a lot of guys,’’ said Lehman. “I’ve always liked his courses and have always played well on them. When we get a chance to play on something like this one I look forward to it.’’

French Lick, roughly a five-hour drive from Chicago, hosted Walter Hagen’s win in the 1924 PGA Championship and was the site of two majors on the women’s tour – the LPGA Championships of 1959 and 1960. Those three tournaments were held on the resort’s Donald Ross Course. This week’s tourney will be the biggest event yet on the Dye Course.

In addition to his victory in the 1996 British Open Lehman has won three majors on the Champions Tour, among them the 2010 Senior PGA at Colorado Golf Club. Colin Montgomerie is defending champion this week, having won in last year’s staging at Harbor Shores in Michigan.

Hardy advances in U.S. Open

Illinois freshman Nick Hardy, from Northbrook, was the latest of four Illini golfers to earn a berth in U.S. Open sectional qualifying. Hardy advanced through Monday’s local qualifier at Flossmoor Country Club. Teammates Brian Campbell, Thomas Detry and Charlie Danielson survived earlier local eliminations.

As a team the Illini are coming off a victory in last week’s NCAA Regional tourney at Sangamore Club in Noblesville, Ind., where Campbell was the medalist. The Illini will battle for the NCAA title at Concession Club in Florida beginning on May 29.

In addition to Hardy four other Chicago area players qualified for U.S. Open sectional play. Tim Streng of Arlington Heights, Peter Kindstrom of McHenry, amateur Kyle Nathan of Glenview and Chicago’s Clint Rice survived a local elimination at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake.

Here and there

Tournament director Mike Galeski announced four first-time participations in the Encompass Championship – Ian Woosnam, Marco Dawson, Jesper Parnevik and Jeff Maggert, winner of last week’s Regions Tradition. Celebrities who have committed to the team portion of the event include Brian Urlacher, Johnny Bench, Roger Clemens, Jermaine Dye, Mike Eruzione and Jeremy Roenick.

Club professionals Jim Sobb (Ivanhoe) and Leon McNair (Fox Bend in Oswego) and H. Chandler Egan, an amateur star in the early 1900s, have been selected as the next members of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies will be held in the fall at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Christina Foster, an amateur from Canada, was medalist in Monday’s U.S. Women’s Open sectional at Westmoreland in Wilmette. The only other qualifier for the July’s Women’s Open finals at Westmoreland was Elizabeth Nagel of DeWitt, Mich.

Pat Hickey is now on the teaching staff at Cantigny, in Wheaton. He had been working with Cantigny’s club-fitting and junior programs.

The Medinah Patriot Day outing is scheduled for Tuesday (MAY 26) on the club’s No. 2 course. Its playing spots sold out long ago but the C.H.A.M.P. Celebrity Pro-Am, on May 27 at Old Orchard in Mount Prospect, still has some playing spots available.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. Mid-Amateur Championship concludes its three-day run at Bowes Creek in Elgin on Wednesday and the Illinois Senior PGA Match Play Championship begins its three-day run at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff next Tuesday (MAY 26).

The long road to the U.S. Open tournaments begins this week, and the prospects couldn’t be brighter for the Northwestern women’s team.

Coach Emily Fletcher’s squad won its second Big Ten title in three years earlier this month and earned the school’s third straight berth in the NCAA finals with a runner-up finish in last week’s regional elimination in Raleigh, N.C.

The NCAA finals are May 22-27 at Concession Club in Bradenton, FL., but the sectional qualifiers for the 70th U.S. Women’s Open come up before that. Eight of the nation-wide 36-hole eliminations are on Monday (MAY 18) and one is at Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmette. Four of Fletcher’s top-six players – Hana Lee, Kacie Komoto, Suchaya Tangkamolprasert and Kaitlin Park – have entered the 80-player field that will send its top finishers to the July 9-12 finals at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.

“We leave it up to our players to sign up for the U.S. Women’s Open,’’ said Fletcher, “but for us it’s a great benefit that they’re playing at Westmoreland. We played our fall event, the Windy City Classic, there so we know that golf course.’’

Westmoreland is one of five Women’s Open sectional sites that have hosted previous USGA championships. Patty Berg won the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westmoreland in 1938. This year’s Women’s Open drew a record 1,873 entrants. They came from 49 states (only Maine was without an entry) and 54 foreign countries.

U.S. Women’s Open qualifying dates are set by the U.S. Golf Assn. and college players aren’t always able to compete in the sectional qualifiers. Last year, for instance, the Women’s Open sectionals were held during the NCAA regionals. This year, though, college stars could compete in both the NCAA finals and Women’s Open within a few weeks’ span.

That enticement wasn’t lost on the NU women. Only Fletcher’s two freshmen – Hannah Kim and Sarah Cho – bypassed the sectional. The only drawback to the four players participating in the sectional is that the team will make a later-than-usual departure for the NCAA finals. Instead of leaving for Florida on Monday of tournament week the team will depart on Wednesday.

Fletcher feels the chance for her players to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open outweighs the loss of practice time at Concession, a Jack Nicklaus design that will also host the men’s Division I finals starting on May 29.

“Our players are balancing a lot with the NCAAs, but this is a great opportunity for us,’’ said Fletcher. “We have a really talented group, and we’re real excited for this.’’

Men’s teams compete for NCAA berths at Concession starting on Thursday (MAY 14). Illinois, which has ruled the Big Ten six of the last seven years, is the No. 1 seed at a a three-day regional at Sangamore club in Noblesville, Ind. Twenty-four women’s teams have earned berths at Concession and 30 men’s teams will compete there.

Unlike the women, Chicago has no sectional qualifier for the men’s 115th U.S. Open. It’ll be played at Washington’s Chambers Bay course from June 18-21 with the 156 qualifiers determined after local and sectional eliminations whittle the field from 9,882 entrants nation-wide. That’s second largest in tournament history behind last year’s Open at Pinehurst, N.C., which drew 10,127 entrants.

Chicago has two 90-player 18-hole local eliminations for the men – Wednesday (MAY 13) at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake and Monday (MAY 18) at Flossmoor Country Club. Five players from each will advance to sectionals, the closest of which are in Ohio on May 25.

Here and there

The Illinois PGA Match Play tournament runs through Thursday at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove and Itasca will host a stroke play event on Monday.

Cog Hill, in Lemont, will host the Dubsdread Spring Classic, a four-player team event with an 8 a.m. shotgun start, on Saturday.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. Mid-Amateur Championship runs Monday through Wednesday at Bowes Creek in Elgin.

Former Chicago Wolves’ staffer John Golz is the new membership and marketing director at Kemper Lakes.

Now things get serious on the Chicago golf scene. The Illinois PGA conducts the first of its four major championships beginning on Monday at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove with Curtis Malm again the focal point.

Malm, in his second season as head professional at White Eagle in Naperville, will go after his fourth straight title in the 64th IPGA Match Play Championship. Another win would push him past Bill Ogden, the former pro at North Shore in Glenview who also won three straight times from 1970-72. Only Bob Harris, formerly of Sunset Ridge in Northfield, has the longest streak – six in a row from 1958 to 1963.

“It’d be nice to get one more,’’ said Malm. “Then it’d be `Let’s go get Mr. Harris.’ But obviously a lot of luck is involved.’’

Malm used his first two Match Play wins as a springboard to seasonal Player of the Year honors. That wasn’t the case last year, as Malm surrendered the honor to Medinah teaching professional Travis Johns. Johns, who won the Match Play title in 2010, was Malm’s victim in last year’s final match.

Adjusting to a new job – Malm had been a long-time assistant pro at St. Charles Country Club – probably hampered his bid for the Player of the Year three-peat. A missed cut at the Illinois Open in the immediate aftermath of a major club event at White Eagle derailed him in the Player of the Year point race.

“But I still had a chance going into the last event,’’ said Malm, who is dealing with another adjustment this season. He switched clubs – from TaylorMade to Callaway – in the offseason and settled for a tie for fifth in the IPGA’s first stroke play event of the season at Bloomington Country Club.

“The first competition is under my belt, so I should be ready for next week,’’ said Malm. Matches run Monday through Thursday, May 14, and Malm might have more competition than that.

U.S. Open local qualifying also starts next week with the Chicago District Golf Assn. conducting two eliminations. Malm hoped to play in the May 18 qualifier at Flossmoor Country Club but the field was full by the time he filed his entry. So, his only option was to enter the first of the locals – next Wednesday (May 13) at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake. His match play schedule at Kemper Lakes could prevent him from competing there.

A Patriot Day sellout at Medinah

Once again the sixth annual Patriot Day golf event had no trouble getting players. Event chairman and co-founder Mark Slaby said the May 26 event at Medinah Country Club sold out 50 days in advance and now has a waiting list for playing participants.

Registration, however, is still open for the opening ceremony and brunch and the post-round reception and other sponsorship opportunities are still available.

“We’re very humbled,’’ said Slaby. “Last year we raised about $140,000. This year $200,000 is our goal.’’

The event will be one of the last big ones held on Medinah’s No. 2 course. An original Tom Bendelow design from the 1920s, it’s targeted for a restoration that will be supervised by architect Rees Jones. Jones handled the last renovation of Medinah’s No. 3 course, which was done prior to the club hosting the 2012 Ryder Cup matches.

Here and there

Chris Ioriatti, teaching professional at Mistwood, has set the course record at the recently renovated Romeoville layout with a 9-under-par 63.

Lake Forest’s Brad Hopfinger, the reigning Illinois Open champion, made the cut for the fourth time in his last five starts as a rookie on the Web.com Tour. He tied for 26th – his second-best finish in eight starts – in last week’s United Leasing Championship in Indiana.

The University of Illinois men’s team was assigned the No. 1 seed for an NCAA regional tournament at Sangamore Club in Noblesville, Ind., on May 14-16. The Illini won last year’s regional at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove and also captured the Sagamore Preview last fall. The top five teams at Sangamore advance to the NCAA finals at Concession Club in Bradenton, FL

The Northwestern women’s team, which shared the Big Ten title, was named the No. 4 seed in an NCAA regional at the Lonnie Poole course in Raleigh, N.C.

John Daly will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the White Sox game against Cincinnati on Friday.

Joe Affrunti’s rookie season on the PGA Tour started in 2011. A year earlier the 2004 Illinois Open champion from Crystal Lake had earned his PGA Tour playing privileges off his performance on the satellite Web.com Tour.

Now, four years later, Affrunti’s rookie PGA season remains a work in progress. It all has to do with Affrunti’s bad luck and the PGA’s medical exemption policies.

Since hitting his first shot as a PGA Tour member Affrunti played in 11 tournaments, earned $49,615, endured two major surgeries, changed residences from Florida to Arizona, got married and became the father of an 8-month old son and – most recently – grew a beard in support of his passion for hockey’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

And, his rookie season still isn’t over.

Affrunti, 33, made two cuts in his first six PGA starts in 2011 before suffering a torn labrum that required major surgery. He didn’t play in 2012 but made three cuts in five PGA starts in 2013. Then he was sidelined for hip surgery. The PGA allows its injured members to compete on the Web.com circuit for rehabilitation purposes and Affrunti made his five allotted starts there this year.

They didn’t go well – Affrunti missed the cut in all five – but he returned to the PGA Tour with an encouraging showing at last week’s Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Covering the first 36 holes in 4-under-par, he came up one shot short of qualifying for weekend play.

He isn’t qualified for the next two PGA Tour stops but expects to play in the Wells Fargo Championship, Byron Nelson Classic, St. Jude Classic, Travelers Championship, John Deere Classic, Canadian Open and Wyndham Classic. Affrunti will have to perform in those to keep his playing privileges.

“I’ll need to make about $500,000 to keep full status,’’ said Affrunti, “but that could be done in one tournament.’’

No question the injuries, and subsequent surgeries, took a toll on his game but Affrunti has found a physical therapist in Scottsdale that has helped him.

“I was working on a new swing change and my muscles didn’t work,’’ he said. “It’s been a long rehab, but I’m feeling fine. My game feels great, but I’ve struggled with scoring.’’

He’s not the only one. Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr. is in his rookie PGA Tour season as well and has missed eight straight cuts after a $100,000 payday for a tie for ninth in his second start back in November. Like Affrunti, Sainz missed the cut at New Orleans and will drop down to the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing Championship in Indiana this week before returning to the PGA at the Wells-Fargo event.

Illini, NU dominate Big Ten

Illinois captured the men’s title for the sixth time in seven years and Northwestern was co-champion in the women’s tournament at last week’s Big Ten championships in Indiana.

Both schools also had individual champions. Northbrook freshman Nick Hardy of Illinois shared the men’s title after posting a 4-under-par 284 score for 72 holes. Northwestern’s Sarah Cho was the women’s titlist with a 3-under-par 213 total for 54 holes. Thomas Detry of Illinois also won the Les Bolstad Award for posting the lowest stroke average (70.44) over the course of the season.

Here and there

Rarely do qualified players skip World Golf Championship events, but Luke Donald isn’t playing in this week’s WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship in San Francisco because it conflicts with his brother’s wedding.

Mistwood’s state-of-the-art Performance Center in Romeoville has earned more national recognition. Golf Digest included it among its Best 100 Club Fitters in America. Over 700 facilities were nominated. Last year Mistwood gained national honors for both its course renovation and practice range.

David Perkins of East Peoria was the champion at last week’s American Junior Golf Assn. Preseason Junior at Cantigny, in Wheaton, while Glenview’s Charlie Nikitas was top local player in fifth place. Megan Furtney, of South Elgin, was runner-up in the AJGA’s Junior All-Star event in Ohio.

Elmhurst’s Dan Gibbons is looking for players to participate in The Fighting Hunger Games, a 100-hole marathon to be played at Maple Meadows in Wood Dale on June 19 to fight hunger in DuPage County. The anticipated 36 entrants, who are expected to raise $2,500 apiece in pledges, will play in twosomes.

Registration is now open for the 28th annual Midwest Celebrity Pro-Am, benefitting Special Olympics Illinois Area 2. It’ll be held June 22 at Royal Fox in St. Charles.

Lake Forest-based Brunswick Corporation has had a rich history in producing sports equipment, starting with billiards tables back in 1845. Prominent in the bowling industry from 1890 until its exit last year, the company remains a leader in boating and fitness equipment as well as billiards and table tennis.

Brunswick’s latest venture is into golf, with an indoor putting green that was introduced to the Chicago market last week at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Indoor putting greens aren’t unusual, but the version that Brunswick is marketing as “The ONLY Green’’ has more features than its predecessors. It also has the backing of noted short game teaching guru Stan Utley, who has long worked with touring players Jay Haas and Sergio Garcia.

Utley says the green’s “surface and adjustability will flat out make you a better putter’’ and the company says that PGA Tour players Kevin Streelman, Matt Jones and Graham DeLaet have worked with it.

The green comes as a handcrafted piece of furniture that is available in six hardwood finishes. While there are six standard sizes, the smallest being two feet by eight feet, greens can customized to fit specific spatial needs. The largest custom-built version is now in Portland, Ore. – 12 feet by 24 feet. Prices range from $3,400 to $11,000.

Iowa resident Rockland Duffy developed the original version of the green in 1992. Utley purchased one from Duffy in 1998 and Tim Ummel of Scottsdale, Ariz., purchased the company in 2012 and hooked up exclusively with Brunwick for product development world-wide.

“I saw it. I played on it, and I had to have it,’’ said Chris Clawson, president of Life Fitness and Brunswick Billiards. “It’s not just a great way to improve your game. It’s also a great, fun way to unwind with your family and friends.’’

Green speeds can be adjusted from 12.5 on the stimp meter down to 10. Contours can be adjusted as well, making a variety of uphill, downhill and breaking putts part of the experience. A putting course is marked on the surface to facilitate competitive as training efforts and a putter rack and scorecards are also available.

IJGA drops Chicago Open

The Illinois Junior Golf Assn. started its season in the usual manner, drawing 105 players last week at Sanctuary in New Lenox. The IJGA will conduct over 100 more events and expect over 2,000 boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 18 to compete this season, but the campaign will have a different ending.

Two years ago the IJGA revived the Chicago Open as a season-ending October fundraiser after its youth competitions were over. The 54-hole event, which included a pro-am, was played at Cantigny, in Wheaton, as a way to help young pros prepare for the Web.com Tour qualifying school. The event, however, didn’t generate sufficient charitable donations and the IJGA board dropped it from the schedule.

The Chicago Open, once part of a more informal PGA Tour, has had a rocky history. Last year marked the 25th staging, the first of which was in 1914. Its winners include Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Ken Venturi and Luke Donald. Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr., now in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, and Michigan mini-tour player Andy Ruthkoski were the champions at Cantigny.

Detry, Hossler in Palmer Cup

Illinois’ Thomas Detry and Beau Hossler, who won last year’s Western Amateur at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club, were among the selections for the Palmer Cup, a team event pitting the best collegiate players from the U.S. and Europe. The 19th version of the competition will be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove from June 12-14.

Hossler heads the U.S. team that includes Lee McCoy of Georgia, Ollie Schniederjans and Ander Albertson of Georgia Tech, Kyle Jones of Baylor, Maverick McNealy of Stanford, Hunter Stewart of Vanderbilt, Robbie Shelton of Alabama, Jack Maguire of Florida State and Carr Vernon of California State-Monterey Bay.

Detry, from Belgium, will make his second Palmer Cup appearance for the European side. Europe won last year’s competition but the U.S. holes a 9-8-1 edge in the series.

Here and there

The American Junior Golf Assn. Preaseason Junior will be played at Cantigny Friday through Sunday. It’ll involve 84 of the top junior players in the nation.

Northwestern has signed its third men’s recruit, Luke Miller of Venetia, Pa. He was a qualifier for last year’s U.S. Amateur.

The 39th annual Pine Hollow Open is on tap for Saturday at Downers Grove and Bloomington Country Club will be the site of the Illinois PGA’s first stroke play event of the season on Monday.

Consider the Chicago golf season in full swing – almost.

Of the area’s primary tournament venues only Conway Farms, the private facility in Lake Forest that will host the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship in September, isn’t taking golfers yet. It’s not expected to open until mid-May

The finishing touches are being put on a major facelift at Conway with the tournament’s return after a year’s absence presenting a cause for caption.

“They’re taking steps every year to make it better for the players as well as the spectators,’’ said Vince Pellegrino, tournament director for the Western Golf Assn.

The practice range has been expanded by 60 percent, all the greens have been re-grassed, and the cart paths widened, the parking lot has been expanded and the pro shop and caddie facilities upgraded as well. A second ticket gate has also been added at the No. 9 tee, all designed to make the site better when the PGA Tour returns.

Apparently the word is out. BMW ticket sales were up significantly even before Jordan Spieth’s dramatic victory in the Masters tournament on Sunday. Early ticket sales for the BMW Championship, which brings together the top 70 players for the third event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, are up 47 percent from the same time in 2013 – the last time the PGA Tour visited Chicago – and the sale of weekly badges to the Trophy Club hospitality tent have more than doubled.

Spieth is expected to compete in both of the PGA Tour’s Illinois stops this season. The other is July’s John Deere Classic in downstate Silvis. Spieth won his first PGA tournament at the JDC in 2013.

The BMW’s previous home base, Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in Lemont, welcomed players for the first time last weekend. There’s a new look on the staff side at Cog, as David Impastato is now director of golf, Randy Heinrich is manager of the Learning Center and Jim Hartnett is on board as Master Clubfitter. A new team event, the Dubsdread Spring Classic, has also been scheduled for May 16.

Mistwood, the Romeoville layout that annually hosts the Illinois Women’s Open, had its spiffy Performance Center open last week. The course is to open on Thursday but the new clubhouse, under construction since last August, isn’t expected to be ready for another four months.

Wisconsin’s two major tournament courses, Whistling Straits (this August’s PGA Championship site) and Erin Hills (2017 U.S. Open) aren’t open yet. Whistling opens April 24 and Erin Hills on May 11.

Illini expand facilities

The University of Illinois dedicated its Lauritzen/Wohlers Outdoor Practice Facility, which is adjacent to the J.G. Demirjian Indoor facility in Urbana. The combination of the two provides the men’s and women’s teams at the school with a model for collegiate programs nation-wide.

The outdoor version, inspired by the practice range at Augusta National, was a $6 million project — over $2 million going toward facilities plus a $3.5 million endowment to support the annual operations.

Here and there

Chicago’s longest-standing golf radio show, Golfers on Golf, will make its season debut at 9 a.m. on Sunday (APRIL 19) over WSBC (1240-AM) and WCFJ (1470-AM). The show, featuring Rory Spears, Mike Munro, Ed Stevenson and Bill Berger, is entering its 20th season.

Mistwood’s Andy Mickelson and Chris Ioriatti carded a 7-under-par 65 to win the Illinois PGA’s season opening Pro-Assistant Championship on Monday at Naperville Country Club. The IPGA will hold another team event next Monday, the Pro-Pro Scramble at Chicago’s Harborside International.

Pheasant Run Resort, in St. Charles, will host its Spring Scramble on Saturday and will also host a qualifier for the World Golf Scramble on May 30. Meanwhile, Cog Hill will hold its Tee It Forward Scramble on Course 3 on Sunday.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will open its tournament season with three April qualifiers for its Mid-Amateur Championship. They’ll be held April 23 at Coyote Creek in Bartonville, April 27 at Village Greens of Woodridge and April 30 at Bridges of Poplar Creek in Hoffman Estates.

The golf season must really be upon us now. The Masters tournament – a sure sign of spring – is just a week away and two of Illinois’ PGA Tour players are assured spots in the field.

Kevin Streelman got in by virtue of his dramatic win – a record seven straight birdies to finish his final round — at the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Ct., last June. Luke Donald is in because he was in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings at the end of 2014. The world’s No. 1 player for 56 weeks in 2011 and 2012, however, has some work ahead if he’s to remain among the invitees for 2016.

Donald finished 2014 as No. 34 in the rankings and has steadily dropped. Augusta National’s membership also extends invitations to players who are in the top 50 a week before that year’s Masters and – after four players were added to the field on Monday – Donald’s ranking was down to No. 50. The former Northwestern star tied for third in the 2005 Masters but was one shot off the cut line after 36 holes last year.

Streelman, who made the cut last year but settled for a tie for 42nd place after struggling in with a 79 in the final round, is in the field for this week’s Shell Houston Open – the last event to determine Masters qualifiers. It tees off on Thursday with Donald sitting out.

Other local Masters hopefuls D.A. Points and Mark Wilson will also be competing. Both former Masters contestants need to win to get into this year’s field, and Points proved it could be done. He got into the 2013 Masters by winning at Houston.

Assuming Tiger Woods enters and the Houston winner isn’t already among the qualifiers this Masters could have 101 players – the biggest field since 1966. That isn’t likely, though.

The qualifiers include four injured players – Kevin Stadler (wrist), Graham McDowell (ankle), Brooks Koepka (ribs) and Steve Stricker (back). Stricker underwent back surgery after his last tournament appearance in December. Stadler has been idle since January and McDowell and Koepka withdrew from the last two tournaments because of their injuries. They could bypass the Masters as well.

Woods is still trying to regain form after recovering from back problems. He won’t play at Houston but could join the Masters field as late as his April 9 tee time. The Masters has no entry deadline for its qualifiers.

Miller leaving Illinois PGA

The Illinois PGA is looking for a new executive director. Michael Miller, who has held that post the past 20 years, will leave on May 1 to become executive director of the PGA of America’s Southwest Section. New IPGA president Jim Opp said the section is in no hurry to find a replacement for Miller.

Miller, 52, is only the third executive director in Illinois PGA history. The first, Ken Boyce, served from 1976-88. Vance Redfern took over until 1995 when Miller, his assistant, replaced him. Miller, who started with the IPGA as tournament director, has been with the section for 27 years.

“Leaving was a difficult decision because this has pretty much been my whole career,’’ said Miller. “But this will be the next stage of my career – a bigger section with a little different culture. And the climate change doesn’t hurt, either.’’

The Southwest Section, which encompasses all of Arizona and part of Nevada including Las Vegas, has more members and covers a bigger geographical area than the Illinois Section. Its membership is much heavier on the resort side than Illinois and junior golf is a huge priority. The Southwest conducts over 60 youth events.

They’re Augusta-bound

Masters week officially starts on Monday with practice rounds, but the club will again host the finals of the Drive, Putt and Chip competition on Sunday. The nation-wide competition for youngsters in the 7-15 age category was a big hit in its debut last year, and this year’s 80 finalists include three from the Chicago area.

Effie Perakis of Glenview is among the 10 finalists in the Girls 7-9 division. Inverness’ Caroline Smith made it in the Girls 12-13 division and Sugar Grove’s Jimmy Morton will compete in the Boys 14-15 competition.

Masters week also triggers golf promotions at Chicago locations. One of the biggest will be at Libertyville Sports Complex, which will hold its fourth annual Green Jacket Week of special offers and events beginning on Monday.