Wheaton’s Jenna Pearson can become only the second player to win the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open three times when the 18th annual tournament begins today at Mistwood in Romeoville.

“I’m definitely hoping to be in that category,’’ said Pearson, who plays on the LPGA’s Symetra (formerly Futures) Tour. She captured the IWO as an amateur in 2006 and as a professional last year. Only Burr Ridge’s Kerry Postillion, who is also in this week’s field, has three IWO victories. Postillion won the title in 1996, 1997 and 1999.

Pearson is one of four players to win the tourney twice, the others being Emily Gilley, Nicole Jeray and Aimee Neff. Gilley and Neff join Postillion as the only back-to-back champions. Pearson missed her first chance at that when she lost an epic 10-hole playoff to Libertyville amateur Nicole Schachner in 2007.

That playoff — longest in an Illinois golf tournament — was conducted entirely on a par-5 third hole, which was radically re-designed by Michigan architect Ray Hearn since last year’s IWO.

“I liked the original hole. I had a lot of practice on it,’’ quipped Pearson, “but I wasn’t sad to see it leave.’’

Hearn’s re-design – the renovated course re-opened two months ago – was most notable for its 19 new sod-wall bunkers that give the course a European flavor. Pearson, who played the new layout for the first time last week, applauded the changes.

“I like what was done,’’ she said. “The changes made on the course have improved it. Some of the bunkers will make players think more, and the course will be more challenging.’’

Pearson went to the finals of the LPGA qualifying school last fall but couldn’t qualify for the big tour. Since then she’s struggled after making some swing changes, but she’ll have a steadying influence at the IWO. Her mother Laura, who carried her bag for both her IWO victories, will again be Pearson’s caddie.

This year’s 80-player field will compete over 54 holes, with a cut after 36. The champion will receive $15,000 from a professionals’ purse of about $15,000.

Small ready to compete again

Illinois coach Mike Small will compete in the Colorado Open this week as will Eric Meierdierks, loser to Max Scodro in last week’s Illinois Open playoff. For Small getting back in action as a player is essential.

“I haven’t played much, and I need reps,’’ said Small, who has the PGA Championship at South Carolina’s Kiawah course coming up next month. “The Illinois Open was only my second multi-day event since last year. I’ve always been a coach first and a player second, and with (the NCAA) tournament, recruiting and camps I haven’t had time to play that much. I need to play before the PGA.’’

Small, a four-time Illinois Open champion, is coming off his worst showing in that event – a tie for 26th. He’s made one previous appearance in Colorado’s Open, losing the title in a playoff in 2008.

This year’s PGA will mark Small’s 12th appearance in a major championship and his ninth in the PGA. He qualified by finishing fourth in June’s Professional Players National Championship.

Here and there

The 156 players competing the 110th Western Amateur get their final practice rounds on Monday at Exmoor, in Highland Park. After two days of stroke play qualifying the top 16 will decide the prestigious title in three days of match play competition….Last week’s big national amateur event, New York’s Porter Cup, ended with Georgia Tech’s Rusty Werensky dethroning Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers, and both will be in the field at Exmoor Rodgers finished third in the Porter Cup. The Western Am has drawn four of the top six players in the world rankings.….Mike Natale won the 108th Chicago City Amateur at Jackson Park last week….The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct qualifiers for the U.S. Amateur on Thursday at Crestwicke, in Bloomington, and next Monday at both Bull Valley, in Woodstock, and Edgewood Valley, in LaGrange….The Illinois PGA will honor veteran professionals Jim Sobb of Ivanhoe and Doug Bauman of Biltmore at its Senior Masters tournament Monday at Onwentsia, in Lake Forest.

KOHLER, Wis. – Blackwolf Run was where women’s golf took a dramatic turn back in 1998. That’s where Se Ri Pak, a South Korean player, captured one of the most dramatic U.S. Women’s Opens ever. Her win in the biggest tournament in women’s golf triggered a huge influx of players from her country onto the Ladies PGA Tour.

Only nine players from the 1998 field at Blackwolf are back for this 67th U.S. Women’s Open, which tees off today, and Pak is one of them.

Pak defeated 20-year-old amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn in a 20-hole playoff for the title in ’98. Chuasiriporn took a brief fling as a touring pro but didn’t like it. She’s now a nurse in Richmond, Va., and hasn’t played golf in five years. Pak’s impact on the sport, though, has gotten bigger and bigger over the years.

Because of what Pak did, as the first successful Korean player on the women’s circuit, more Korean parents encouraged their daughters to take up golf. Now about 40 compete on the LPGA circuit and many are quite successful. So Yeon Ryu, another Korean, is this week’s defending champion and 28 Koreans are in the field.

“I guess I opened the door for them, as nobody even had tried before,’’ said Pak after a practice round here. “I gave them more confidence about their move forward. I decided to move to the U.S. and play the LPGA Tour. I wanted to be No. 1. My dream was here, on the LPGA Tour. Now they are trying to make their dreams comes true.’’

When Pak won the first of her 27 LPGA tournaments en route to a Hall of Fame career Ryu was 8 years old and wanted to be a violinist.

“At that moment golf was just my hobby and violin was my dream,’’ said Ryu. “Now violin is my hobby and golf is my dream job.’’

Ryu, who calls Pak “my hero,’’ won her title last year in a playoff with Hee Kyung Seo, another Korean, and Pak walked with both.

Pak gave Ryu some advice after both arrived here.

“She said don’t take too much practice at the golf course, because sometimes too much information makes you crazy,’’ said Ryu. “She said to keep low expectations and just trust yourself. I totally understand that.’’

Pak won’t likely contend this week on a course that is 500 yards longer than when she won. She dislocated her left shoulder in May. While her return to competition was sooner than expected, she hasn’t regained top form yet and last week she dropped out of an LPGA tourney in Arkansas, apparently because of dehydration.

Still chances are good a Korean, rather than an American, will win the title on Sunday, however. Only five Americans are ranked in the world’s top 20, and in the last 50 women’s majors American golfers won just nine times. Koreans, meanwhile, won 11 majors including five Women’s Opens since Pak’s victory.

The 67th U.S. Women’s Open, which tees of Thursday at Blackwolf Run, in Kohler, Wis., has two late qualifiers with Chicago connections.

Aimee Neff, winner of the Illinois Women’s Open in 2008 and 2009, and amateur Ashley Armstrong, a Notre Dame sophomore-to-be who won the 2011 Western Junior title, were promoted to the starting field in the last few days after earning first-alternate status in their sectional qualifiers.

Neff is from Carmel, Ind., but some of her best golfing moments came in Chicago. In addition to her two IWO wins at Mistwood, in Romeoville, Neff last college tournament for Michigan State came at Lakeshore Country Club, in Lake Forest, when her Spartans upset NCAA champion Purdue for the title in 2011.

A days later Neff turned pro and is playing on the LPGA’s satellite Symetra (formerly Futures) Tour. She is coming off a tie for fifth on Sunday in the Island Resort Championship in Michigan, a showing that boosted her from 36th to 22nd on the circuit’s season money list with $9,486 won in seven starts.

Armstrong, who lives in Flossmoor, will have Cog Hill assistant pro Garrett Chaussard as her caddie.

The Women’s Open will have its 72-hole run on the same course that hosted a memorable 1998 staging, when Korean Se Ri Pak won in a playoff. Pak is one of nine players from the ’98 championship in this week’s field. Another Korean, So Yeon Ryu, is the defending champion.

Last year’s tourney purse of $3.25 million was the largest in women’s golf . This week’s purse will be announced later this week.

JDC caddie change for Johnson

Zach Johnson is both a tournament board member and frequent contender at the John Deere Classic but Illinois’ lone PGA Tour stop of 2012 will be unusual for the former Masters champion. Damon Green, who was on Johnson’s bag for his last 173 tournaments, won’t be there when the JDC tees off on July 12 at TPC Deere Run.

Green qualified as a player for the U.S. Senior Open, which will be played on concurrent dates in Michigan so Mike Bender, a former PGA Tour player who is Johnson’s swing coach, will be his caddie at the JDC.

PGA regulars Nick Watney, K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang are the latest entries to the JDC, which will have 11 of the top 16 finishers at last week’s PGA Tour stop, the AT&T National.

PGA-bound again

University of Illinois coach Mike Small couldn’t claim his fourth title in the PGA Professionals National Championship in California last week but he did finished fourth, which qualified him for next month’s PGA Championship at Kiahwah in South Carolina.

The Illinois PGA had 14 members among the 312 qualifiers for the PGA Professionals tourney, with Small and David Paeglow the only ones to survive the 36-hole cut. Paeglow, head professional at Kishwaukee in DeKalb, finished in a tie for 60th.

Here and there

Northwestern women’s coach Emily Fletcher got a big boost when Canadian Nicole Zhang transferred to NU from Notre Dame. Zhang was the top-ranked freshman in the country last season for the Irish when she had six top-10 finishes and one tournament victory….Nicole Jeray, the long-time LPGA player from Berwyn, tied for second at the Island Resort Championship, a showing that boosted her from 25th to 12th on the Symetral Tour money list….Defending Illinois Open champion Philip Arouca tied for 34th in last week’s Windy City Open at Bolingbrook. Californian Chris Kilkenny won the Golfweek National Professional Tour event. Arouca had his best finish since suffering a wrist injury last fall….The Chicago District Golf Assn. hosts a U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier on Monday at Blackberry Oaks, in Bristol, as well as the first Illinois Amateur eliminations – Monday at Franklin County in downstate West Frankfort and Tuesday at both Sanctuary, in New Lenox, and Panther Creek, in Springfield…..Illinois PGA members get their last tuneup for the Illinois Open at the Ravisloe Classic, in Homewood, on Monday….Midtown Athletic Club, in Palatine, has scheduled a July 23 charity fundraiser at Kemper Lakes, in Long Grove, to benefit the Clearbook facility that provides treatment for people with developmental disabilities.

By far the biggest month of the golf season in the Midwest begins in just a few days. July offers the U.S. Women’s Open at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin and the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities , followed by the two state opens for Illinois golfers and the start of the Western Amateur at Exmoor in Highland Park.

None is bigger than the John Deere Classic, which spotlights Steve Stricker’s bid to become the fourth PGA Tour player to win a tournament four straight years. Only Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen and Tiger Woods have done that – and Woods did it twice.

Stricker won’t be the whole show in the PGA Tour’s only Illinois top in 2012, however. JDC director Clair Peterson’s latest entry report showed that the customary dates the week before the British Open won’t hurt his field in the least.

Forty players who competed in the U.S. Open will tee off at TPC at Deere Run on July 12 and at least 20 qualifiers for the British will have their final tuneup for the year’s third major championship there before jumping on the jet that Peterson has chartered the last five years to get players directly to British site Royal Lytham & St. Annes in England.

Stars from the U.S. Open coming to the Quad Cities include Michael Thompson, who tied for second; Kevin Chappel and John Senden, who tied for 10th; and Jordan Spieth, who was low amateur at the Olympic Club.

In addition the JDC field includes the winners of eight PGA Tour stops this year and 24 from the last two seasons.

“We’re very excited with how the field is shaping up,’’ said Peterson. “Our fans are guaranteed to see not only players who are stars of the future; they’ll also see players who have proven themselves on golf’s greatest stages.’’

Women in waiting

The U.S. Women’s Open, which tees off on July 5, might have two players with Chicago connections in its starting field.

Notre Dame sophomore Ashley Armstrong, from Flossmoor, is first alternate out of the sectional qualifier in St. Louis, and Aimee Neff, the Michigan State alum who won the Illinois Women’s Open in 2008 and 2009, is first alternate from Chicago’s sectional, which was played at Big Foot in Fontana, Wis. They were among a record 1,364 entries, which included players from 47 states and 44 other countries.

The U.S. Golf Assn. doesn’t reveal the order of advancement for alternates of sectional qualifying rounds. Both Armstrong and Neff might have to wait until the first day of competition before knowing if they’re in the field.

A battle to end all battles

The Chicago-based Women’s Western Golf Assn. had a match for the record books at its 112th Amateur championship last week in Monroe, Mich. Mary Michael Maggio and Asia Adell went 13 extra holes in the Round of 16. The longest matches in the U.S. Golf Assn. records were nine extra holes in women’s championships and 10 in men’s.

The Women’s Western Amateur final was memorable, too – a battle of sisters in which Ariya Jutanugarn beat Moryia 2 and 1. Ariya won the U.S. Girls Junior crown at Olympia Fields last year.

Here and there

The match play portion of the 93rd Chicago District Amateur runs through Friday at Cantigny in Wheaton. ….Pam Tyska has retired after coaching Northern Illinois’ women’s team for 26 seasons…..Fourteen Illinois PGA members are in the Professional Players National Championship, which concludes today in California….Northwestern’s Eric Chun was given honorable mention All-America status after ending his senior season with a 71.38 stroke average. That’s fifth-best in NU history behind three of Luke Donald’s seasons in Evanston and one by Jess Daley in 2000….Illinois had NCAA champion Thomas Pieters on the All-American first team and Luke Guthrie on the second team. Guthrie, is the fourth Illini players to be selected multiple times, behind Stricker (1987-89), James Lepp (2002-03) and Scott Langley (2009-11)….Last of the seven qualifiers for the July 16-18 Illinois Open is Thursday at downstate Effingham Country Club.…Adam Wood of Zionsville, Ind., won the first of the Western Golf Association’s three championships of 2012. He took the Western Junior by four shots at Country Club of Florida last week…. Oakley has joined sponsors for the Illinois Open and will also be presenting sponsor of the Aug. 20 stroke play event at Schaumburg and the Nov. 3-7 pro-am at Georgia’s Reynolds Plantation resort.

For over three decades Illinois club professionals dominated their amateur counterparts. Those days are apparently over.

Last week the Chicago District Golf Association’s amateur stars beat the Illinois PGA’s best 11 ½-6 ½ in the 51st Radix Cup matches at Oak Park Country Club. That was the CDGA’s fourth win in five years in the competition, though the IPGA has a 32-17-2 edge in the rivalry.

With the team event over, both the CDGA and IPGA are preparing for their biggest championships and for Philip Arouca, the defending champion in the IPGA’s Illinois Open, that’s a big task.

Arouca won last year’s Illinois Open at Hawthorn Woods Country Club but won’t defend there. After four years at Hawthorn Woods the IPGA is taking the championship back to The Glen Club in Glenview, with the 54-hole showdown coming July 16-18.

Normally a defender would prefer going for a repeat on the same course. Not so for Arouca. The Wilmette resident caddied at The Glen Club, played in two Illinois Opens there and has joined his father as a member for the last three years. He was “absolutely ecstatic’’ when he heard about the venue switch.

Arouca hasn’t been so happy about his health since his biggest win of 2011. He developed a stress fracture in his right wrist during the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying school last fall, forcing him to not touch a club for five weeks. He’s resuming competition this week in a National Pro Golf Tour event at Michigan’s Treetops course. That mini-circuit has been Arouca’s playground since the last Illinois Open and will remain that way until the shooting starts at The Glen.

Last year that tour held small regional tournaments in the Chicago area, with Arouca winning at Highlands of Elgin and finishing second at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Over the next three weeks he’ll play in 72-hole $150,000 events the circuit is staging at Treetops, Bolingbrook and Brickyard Crossing in Indianapolis.

“The wrist pain at the end of last year wasn’t much fun, and it’s been a struggle lately,’’ he said, “but I’m real excited to finally have a good solid event schedule.’’

Amateurs were medalists at the first three qualifiers for the Illinois Open. Bloomington’s Alex Burge was best in the first qualifier with a 67 at Bloomington Country Club. Another amateur, Dan Strawbridge from Roselle, was low man at Deerfield with a 68 and still another, Joe Willis of Lake Forest, matched pro Tommy Bliefnick of Decatur for low round at Bull Valley in Woodstock. Both carded 70s.

The last four qualifiers are Wednesday (JUNE 20) at Lincolnshire, Monday (JUNE 25) at Inverness, Tuesday (JUNE 26) at Highlands of Elgin and June 28 at Effingham Country Club.

More changes for CDGA Amateur

Last year the 36-hole final of the CDGA Amateur was played on a different course than all the previous matches because the opportunity to play Medinah No. 3 was deemed too good an opportunity to pass up. September’s Ryder Cup venue produced a stirring climax to the historic championship, Bloomington’s Kyle English outlasting El Paso’s Andy Mickelson over 37 holes.

This year the tourney is making another unusual change for its 93rd staging at Cantigny in Wheaton. Departing from its traditional Monday-Thursday scheduling for the second straight year, the event will start next Tuesday and there will be another refinement with the 36-hole stroke play qualifying will be spread over two days. Match play for the 16 finalists will start next Wednesday afternoon – shortly after the second stroke play qualifying round.

As was the case last year, the scheduling change was made because outings were previously scheduled at Cantigny, the first public facility to host the CDGA Amateur since Pine Meadow, in Mundelein, co-hosted with Medinah in 1991. English and Mickelson are both entered, with English hoping to become the first repeat winner since Joe Affrunti in 2000 and 2001.

Here and there

Luke Donald’s fourth annual Taste of the First Tee fundraiser will be held Wednesday (JUNE 20) at Northern Trust’s headquarters in Chicago. PGA Tour stars Steve Stricker and Mark Wilson will also participate…..The Bears beat the Packers 10-2 in Monday’s Rivalry Cup at Medinah’s No. 3 layout…..Chalet, in Cary, and Chapel Hill, in McHenry, have been added to GolfVisions’ Player Pass program….Crane’s Landing, in Lincolnshire, and Willow Crest, in Oak Brook, are among the courses joining in the Fairways-Fore-Freedom program initiated by Marriott Golf to provide active, reserve and retired military personnel with both free and discounted golf opportunities….The Chicago qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Public Links tourney is at Oak Grove, in Harvard, on Wednesday…..Deerpath, in Lake Forest, will host the Illinois PGA Junior boys and girls championships Wednesday and Thursday (JUNE 20-21).

Kevin Streelman’s golf game may be peaking at just the right time.

The PGA Tour player from Winfield got into this week’s U.S. Open with an extraordinary nine holes in last week’s 36-hole sectional qualifier in Columbus. After shooting a 71 in the first 18, played at Scioto – Jack Nicklaus’ home course as a youth, Streelman exploded with a 30 on the front nine of his second 18, played at Ohio State University’s well-respected Scarlett course.

That burst made the final nine easy as Streelman finished third in the toughest of the 13 sectionals held across the country. The field at Columbus was filled with PGA Tour players, who chose to qualify there because of its proximity to the circuit’s Memorial tournament.

Streelman will be paired with D.A. Points, the former University of Illinois golfer from Pekin, and Korean Dong-Hwan Lee, who will be playing in the tournament for the first time, in the first two rounds. They start off the No. 1 tee at San Francisco’s Olympic Club at 12:05 p.m. (Chicago time) on Thursday. Streelman played the Olympic Club about five years ago when he was toiling on the mini-tours.

“It was just for fun, but I love that golf course,’’ said Streelman as he prepared for a practice round with Bubba Watson and Aaron Baddeley in Phoenix last week. “That course is very demanding, and this Open will be unique because the course is so difficult going out. The first eight-nine holes are the most difficult but you can make birdies coming in.’’

Streelman is in the biggest U.S. championship for the third time and survived the 36-hole cut the first two times. His best finish, though, was a tie for 53rd in his first Open – also in California, at Torrey Pines – in 2008.

“I led that one after the first round,’’ he said. “This will be my seventh major (championship). They’re a little different kind of pressure, and you get more comfortable each time you do it.’

On the home front

While the U.S. Open owns the golf spotlight this week, there will be two big events going on locally. The 79th Illinois Women’s Amateur makes a rare Chicago area appearance at Ravisloe in Homewood, and the 51st Radix Cup matches are on tap at Oak Park Country Club.

The women’s event started with a qualifying round on Tuesday and match play competition will run through Friday. Wednesday’s Radix Cup is a team event pitting the top players in the Illinois PGA against the top amateurs in the Chicago District Golf Assn. The pros hold a 32-16-2 edge in the series.

Kemper Lakes changes membership policy

Kemper Lakes, which hosted the 1989 PGA Championship during its start as a public facility, has announced a market-based pricing program that allows current members to offer their memberships for sale to new members at a price driven by market demand.

“It’s an incredible program that achieves all our objectives,’’ said general manager Janet Dobson. “We can garner new members during a slow period, we can introduce new members into the club and it allows current members who need to retire from the club the chance to do so without a waiting period.’’

Face value of a membership is $50,000. Membership director Steve Kashul said that initial sales under the new program were trading at 15 percent of the stated price with three currently available for $7,500.

Here and there

Luke Guthrie, who won the individual Big Ten title for Illinois this season and tied for 19th in the Memphis St. Jude Classic on Sunday in his professional debut, has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to next month’s John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities. Also accepting invites were college freshman stars Patrick Rodgers of Stanford and Jordan Spieth of Texas….Mistwood’s recently-renovated course in Romeoville opens to the public on Friday (JUNE 15). Though the course will be in full operation, work around the new learning center will be evident and the parking lot is being doubled in size, to accommodate 240 cars. A stoplight is also being installed at the course entrance to facilitate an expected heavier traffic flow….Scott Langley, the former NCAA champion for Illinois, gets the honor of hitting the first tee shot off the No. 1 tee at the U.S. Open on Thursday….The Champions Tour may be returning to Chicago for the first time since 2002. Though no announcement has been made, the circuit is expected to bring its Tampa Bay event to either North Shore Country Club in Glenview or Evanston Golf Club in Skokie starting in 2013…..The First Tee of Greater Chicago begins its program at Cog Hill, in Lemont, on Friday (JUNE 15)….Illinois Open qualifying resumes at Bull Valley in Woodstock on Thursday (JUNE 14).

Stacked sod-wall bunkers are an extreme rarity at Chicago courses, but they won’t be as much a mystery after owner Jim McWethy re-opens his Mistwood course in Romeoville. That’ll happen for the course’s members and permanent tee time holders on Saturday (JUNE 2).

Michigan-based course architect Ray Hearn incorporated 19 such bunkers into his new design, and he admits that the new bunkers will overshadow the numerous other changes he made at the public facility that annually hosts the Illinois Women’s Open.

“Nothing comes close to the glory of these stacked sod-wall bunkers,’’ he said. “In Chicago you want to set yourself apart, and this alone will do it. There’s nothing like this at any other Chicago course.’’

Hearn believes two other courses have stacked sod-wall bunkers, the main one being Conway Farms in Lake Forest. The site of the 2013 BMW Championship on the PGA Tour, Conway has three such bunkers. Another course – Hearn isn’t sure which one – has one.

Overall, Hearn substantially toughened and lengthened the course. The old version measured 6,701 yards, and the new one is 7,028 from the very back tees, some of which won’t be used all that much. The slope increased from 140 to 144 and the rating from 73.0 to 74.7 when Chicago District Golf Assn. officials made their visit to the new layout.

The course, which will open to the general public in mid-June, will produce a new challenge for the Illinois Women’s Open entrants, who will compete in the traditional 54-hole competition on July 25-27.

U.S. Open enters sectional stage

Village Links of Glen Ellyn will host Chicago’s sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open on Monday. The 48-man field will send its top finishers to the U.S. Open proper at Olympic Club in San Francisco, but the number of berths available hasn’t been determined yet.

PGA Tour players Tom Pernice and Tim Herron and Illinois coach Mike Small are the biggest names in the Village Links field, but Burr Ridge’s Bennett Blakeman bears watching, too. He qualified for the 2010 U.S. Open as an amateur and the 2011 version as a professional.

Others in the field include Brad Benjamin, the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, and four ex-Illinois Amateur winners – Gary March (1986), Zach Barlow (2008), Vince India (2010) and Brad Hopfinger (2011). India will hit the first tee shot in the 36-hole elimination at 7 a.m. The second round begins at noon.

Switching stations

The Golfers on Golf radio show begins its 15th season on June 3, but it’ll have a different time slot and be heard on two stations instead of one.

The new home base is WSBC (1240-AM) and the show will be simulcast on WCFJ (1470-AM). It had been broadcast at 6 p.m. on Mondays of WJJG (1530-AM). Now it’ll be heard from 10-ll a.m. on Sundays. Mike Munro, Ed Stevenson, Bill Berger and Rory Spears will all return as the on-air talent for a 17-week run that will conclude on Sept. 23.

Here and there

Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, a former Arizona State golfer, won last week’s nearest sectional qualifier for next month’s U.S. Women’s Open at Wisconsin’s Blackwolf Run course by 11 shots. Only two from that sectional, held at Big Foot in Fontana, WI., qualified to play at Blackwolf Run, with Purdue’s Junthima Gulyanamitta beating ex-Illinois Women’s Open champion Aimee Neff in a playoff for the second spot….Medinah Patriot Day, a benefit for Illinois military families, will be held on Tuesday over the club’s Nos. 1 and 3 courses…..Kewanee’s Tom Miler added the CDGA Senior Amateur to his title collection this summer last week. He had previously won the Illinois State Public Links tourney. Taylorville’s Dave Ryan finished second in both….Entry deadline is 5 p.m. Friday for the Illinois Open. All professionals and amateurs with handicaps of 10 or less are eligible to compete in one of the seven qualifying rounds for the July 16-18 tourney proper at The Glen Club in Glenview….New management has decided to rename what was the Crystal Lake Golf Learning Center, located across the street from the Prairie Isle course. It’s now Fore Seasons Golf Learning Center…..Chuck Mills, North Chicago High School’s first football coach, will join his players from the 1955 team at an outing June 8 at Glen Flora in Waukegan.

This is an unusual year for big-time tournament golf in Chicago. Only September’s Ryder Cup at Medinah is on the calendar, but five other big-time events are within a short drive.

The first of those is the 73rd Senior PGA Championship, one of the majors on the Champions Tour. It begins a 72-hole run on Thursday at the spiffy new Harbor Shores resort course in Benton Harbor, Mich.

The field will have a touch of Chicago flavor. Mike Harrigan, the former Medinah pro who has been teaching at Chicago’s Diversey Range and the Players Club of Chicago in Justice, qualified for the starting field off a 17th-place showing in the Senior PGA Club Professionals tourney last October in Virginia and Billy Rosinia, the pro at Flagg Creek in Countryside, qualified off the alternate’s list last week.

Their opponents will include long-established stars like Freddie Couples, Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer, Kenny Perry and Hale Irwin. Last year’s winner, Tom Watson, won’t defend his title because of a pinched nerve in his wrist, but Harrigan and Rosinia will obviously be in some select company.

Harrigan, 63, never was a touring pro but this will be his fourth time in the Senior PGA and he also qualified for three U.S. Senior Opens. He survived the cut in the 2000 Senior PGA at Florida’s PGA National in a tourney shortened to 54 holes by weather problems.

“I just want to continue to compete,’’ said Harrigan, who spends nearly half of each year living in Jupiter, FL. “I’ve heard Harbor Shores is a great golf course. I’m looking forward to it.’’

Harbor Shores is a Jack Nicklaus design that opened to rave reviews in 2009 and was awarded two Senior PGA Championship before it was even completely open. The tourney will return to Harbor Shores in 2014.

Harrigan keeps his game sharp in Florida, where he plays at The Fox Club in Stuart. Its members include 15-20 touring or club pros and some top-ranked amateurs. He believes last year’s qualifying tournament will help his chances this week. He qualified at Creighton Farms, a course also designed by Nicklaus.

“I understand it’s very similar to Harbor Shores,’’ said Harrigan. “It was very difficult, with very undulating greens. I thought they were impossible.’’

More big tournaments will follow the Senior PGA at reasonably nearby courses. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, in the Quad Cities, is the only other one in Illinois but the U.S. Women’s Open will be played in Kohler, WI., the U.S. Senior Open in Orion, MI., and the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship in Indianapolis.

Illini in finals again

Illinois, which won the Big Ten championship the last four years, will compete in the NCAA finals for the fifth straight year. The Illini, thanks to a second-place finish in the Oklahoma regional, will be in the field at California’s prestigious Riviera course. The tourney begins a six-day run there on Tuesday (MAY 29).

Northwestern also qualified for the NCAA tourney but finished eighth in the Kentucky regional and failed to reach the finals.

A shot for the ages

St. Charles Country Club assistant Curtis Malm won last week’s 61st Illinois PGA Match Play title at Kemper Lakes in Hawthorn Woods. He made Rich Dukelow, an assistant at Cantigny in Wheaton and the reigning IPGA player-of-the-year, the losing finalist for the second straight year, but the section’s first major tournament of the season may be best remembered for the dramatic shot Jason Lee hit to end a second-round playoff.

Lee, the head pro at Chicago’s Ridgemoor Country Club and the tourney’s 2001 champion, holed a hybrid shot from 225 yards for double eagle to eliminate Kevin Rafferty of Dick’s Sporting Goods-Vernon Hills in 22 holes.

Here and there

Steve Stricker, who will bid for a fourth straight title at the John Deere Classic in July, played a round at The Glen Club in Glenview last week…..Pete Jordan, who played the PGA Tour for several years after developing his game at Medinah, was the caddie for J.J. Henry during the golfer’s bid for the Byron Nelson title last week….. The Illinois Women’s Open will return to its July dates (July 25-27) after being pushed back to August last year to accommodate a renovation project. Mistwood owner Jim McWethy has set June 1 for the course’s re-opening…..Settler’s Hill, in Geneva, re-opened on Tuesday following a lengthy renovation….Ivanhoe pro Jim Sobb couldn’t defend his Illinois PGA Match Play title last week at Kemper Lakes but he’ll go for a three-peat in the senior version of the tournament beginning Tuesday (MAY 29) at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff….The Chicago District Senior Amateur concludes a three-day run at Rockford Country Club on Thursday….First qualifier for the CDGA Amateur is Tuesday (MAY 29) at Royal Country Club of Long Grove. Glenwoodie, in Glenwood, will also host qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links tournament on that day.

For two years now Jim Sobb has been the man whenever the Illinois PGA holds a match play tournament. This year, though, his reign can to an abrupt halt.

The Ivanhoe pro won the section’s senior match play title in 2010 and 2011, was runner-up in the regular match play in 2010 and became the first player to sweep both titles last spring. To do it he had to win five matches in three days in the senior event and six in three days in the regular version.

Sobb, 56, tried to do it again on the same courses where he pulled off his historic sweep. He got by his first match Tuesday in the IPGA regular match play event at Kemper Lakes in Hawthorn Woods, edging 68th-seeded Jeremy Anderson, assistant at Twin Orchard in Long Grove, by a 1-up margin. But three-time winner Doug Bauman, from Biltmore Country Club in Barrington, eliminated Sobb 5 and 4 in his second match.

The 62nd annual tourney – first of the IPGA’s four major tourneys of the season — runs through Thursday.

The tourney started with 116 players, with the entrants seeded according to last year’s Bernardi point standings that determined the IPGA player-of-the-year. Sobb is the No. 4 seed and drew a first-round bye. Top-seeded Rich Dukelow of Cantigny, in Wheaton, also drew a first-round bye before winning his first match 5 and 4 over Michael Campbell of Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

“I’m sure everybody will be after me, but a couple things in my favor is that I’ve played these courses so many times,’’ said Sobb, who beat Dukelow 3 and 2 in last year’s final. While a Sobb title defense is now impossible, Dukelow advanced to the semifinals.

Last year the senior and regular match play competitions were held on successive weeks. This year the senior version is again at Shoreacres, in Lake Bluff, but on May 29-31 so Sobb will get some welcome rest before seeking his three-peat there.

ND golfer leads U.S. Open survivors

Notre Dame golfer Max Scodro, of Chicago, carded a 7-under-par 65 to earn medalist honors at Monday’s 90-player U.S. Open local qualifier at Schaumburg Golf Club.

Others qualifying for sectional play were Jack Perry of Evanston (67), former Illinois Amateur and Northwestern golfer Ravi Patel, Hinsdale’s Brett Tomfohrde and Libertyville’s Michael Schachner (all at 68) and Glencoe’s Jason Shapiro (69).

Most figure to bid for spots in the U.S. Open proper at a June 4 sectional elimination at Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

Cantigny’s “Double Jeopardy’’ ready soon

The frequently controversial 555-yard No. 2 hole on the Woodside course of the 27-hole Cantigny complex will re-open May 25. Erosion problems along the banks of a stream that lined the fairway of that hole, dubbed “Double Jeopardy,’’ forced closing of the entire nine.

Rick Jacobson’s design firm, in Libertyville, supervised the re-contouring of the fairway and that eliminated the blind second shot that had been required previously.

“We made a good hole even better,’’ said Cantigny executive director Mike Nass. “It was a hard decision to take Woodside out of play for so long…For fairness and playability, this is a huge step forward.’’

Here and there

The recently-sold Ditka Sports Dome, in Bolingbrook, will re-open Saturday, but strictly as a restaurant, now called McQ’s. The indoor golf area is being renovated and the first shots won’t be hit there until November….Acquiring Ryder Cup tickets might still be possible, assuming you’re willing to buy at least four tickets to the May 24-27 Senior PGA Championship at Michigan’s Harbor Shores course. For details contact www.RyderCupAdmin@pgahq.com…..The fourth annual Sunshine Marathon, a fundraiser for the Chicago District Golf Assn. charity arm, is Saturday at the Zigfield Troy course in Woodridge….A record 1,364 players entered the July 5-8 U.S. Women’s Open at Wisconsin’s Blackwolf Run. They range from 11-year old Californian Elizabeth Wang to Arizona resident Bobbi Lancaster, 61….A new Chicago company, NewSpin Golf, is about to introduce SwingSmart, a game improvement tool that provides instant information on key elements of the swing….Kewanee’s Tim Miler was the champion in the rain-shortened Illinois Public Links Championship at George Dunne National in Tinley Park….The 54-hole Illinois Mid-Amateur concludes today (WEDNESDAY) at Flossmoor.

Monday’s rains forced the Illinois Public Links Championship to be reduced from 36 to 18 holes, but the bad weather didn’t hamper the first of two local qualifying rounds for the U.S. Open – the first significant competition of this Chicago golf season.

Northwestern student Sam Chien, an amateur, and Iowa alum Brad Hopfinger, winner of last year’s Illinois Amateur who in his ninth month as a professional, shared medalist honors with 3-under-par 69s at Inverness, and Illinois coach Mike Small also advanced to sectional play by shooting a 70.

Deer Park’s Greg Conrad matched Small’s score and Wisconsin resident Andy Hansen and Bennett Blakeman of Burr Ridge also qualified for sectional play through a sudden death playoff. Blakeman, qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, the first as an amateur and last year as a pro.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will host the second local qualifier on Monday at Schaumburg Golf Club. Most of the survivors of the 90-player eliminations are expected to bid for berths in the Open proper in the June 4 sectional elimination at Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

According to the U.S. Golf Assn. over 9,000 filed entries for this U.S. Open, the finals of which will feature 156 players competing at Olympic Club in San Francisco June 14-17.

Illini head local NCAA invitees

Small, who has guided Illinois to four straight Big Ten championships, got more good news this week when his Illini were assigned the seventh seed among 14 teams in an NCAA regional tournament at Norman, Okla. Loyola, like the Illini a conference champion, had the 14th seed there.

Northwestern, an NCAA qualifier for the 13th time in coach Pat Goss’ 16 seasons, was the ninth seed among 14 teams in a regional at Bowling Green, Ky., while Notre Dame was the 11th seed of 13 teams at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Teaching pros on the move

Joe Bosco, who co-founded the Green To Tee Academy with Peter Donahue in 1991, has opened his own instructional operation at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Donahue, meanwhile, will take the Green To Tee teaching staff to Highland Park Country Club. The Academy had been based at Glencoe since 2004.

In addition to opening his own teaching program, Bosco will team up with Mike Adams, who has taught numerous pro tour players, on a Foundation for Achievement program that consists of four-hour sessions at The Glen on May 21 and 22. Bosco and Adams will also host a Teach the Teacher Workshop for Illinois PGA professionals on May 22 at The Glen.

Silver Lake range to open

The 45-hole Silver Lake facility in Orland Park will hold the ribbon cutting for its new practice range at 11 a.m. on Friday. Long drive champion Joe Hajduch will be featured at the ceremonies.

Silver Lake has operated without a range since its opening in 1927. The new range will be located near the No. 9 hole on the North course, and that hole has been reduced to a par-3 to accommodate the range construction.

Here and there

Luke Donald’s fourth annual Taste of the First Tee fundraiser has been scheduled for June 20 at Northern Trust’s headquarters in downtown Chicago. Fellow PGA Tour stars Steve Stricker and Mark Wilson will also participate….The rain-shortened Illinois Public Links tourney wrap up Tuesday with 18 holes at the George Dunne National course in Tinley Park…..The Northwestern women’s team is the 15th seed in the 24-team NCAA East Regional, which begins a three-day run Thursday at State College, Pa…..GolfVisions has added Chapel Hill, in McHenry, to its Chicago area portfolio….The Crystal Lake Golf Learning Center, which is located across the street from the Prairie Isle course in Prairie Grove, has undergone an ownership change with Eric Pelfresne the new general manager….Erin Hills, a future U.S. Open site in Wisconsin, opens for the season on Thursday (MAY 10)…..Lemont’s Cog Hill has scheduled a two-person scramble tournament for May 19 on the No. 1 course…..Settler’s Hill, in Batavia, has set a May 22 opening. It’s been closed to accommodate a Waste Management renovation.