Last Sunday’s conclusion of the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open created a time of reflection for Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti, whose last appearance on golf’s premier circuit was at that tournament in 2011.

For Affrunti, a former Illinois Open champion and University of Illinois graduate, the last year has been difficult – and that’s putting it mildly. He became one of the few Chicago golfers in the last four decades to earn a coveted PGA Tour card in 2010, thanks to his showing on the Nationwide Tour. A shoulder injury, though, has prevented him from demonstrating his talents on the biggest stage in golf.

Affrunti played in six PGA Tour events last year, making the cut in two. He was never healthy, and was eventually diagnosed with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required surgery last June. Affrunti has been rehabbing ever since. Two weeks ago he played his first 18-hole round, though he had to pick up on some holes.

“It’s been a real slow process, in part because I played on it too long,’’ said Affrunti, who has been practicing at TPC-Sawgrass, the Florida course that will host The Players Championship next month. He’s still a PGA Tour member, but is on a major medical exemption that will continue for awhile.

“I determine when I come back,’’ said Affrunti. “They allow you five Nationwide rehabilitation starts. I expect to make some of those in August or September, then go to Q-School in hopes of improving my status.’’

Even with Tour membership, it’s tough to get into tournaments and Affrunti will have seven months to earn enough money to keep his card once he returns to the circuit. He doesn’t want to rush things, and doesn’t expect to play in a PGA Tour event until 2013.

“The shoulder is coming along,’’ said Affrunti. “I ice it three-four times a day. I’ve played nine holes lots of times, but it’s a little sporadic where the ball goes.’’

Kemper expands its focus

Kemper Sports has been a big player in Chicago golf since 1978, but this season the Northbrook-based group that had managed seven Chicago golf facilities has taken on two notable additional projects. Two of Chicago’s oldest public facilities are now getting the Kemper influence with new personnel in place.

Rick Walrath has taken charge as general manager and head professional at Deerpath, the only public course in Lake Forest. The city-owned facility opened in 1927 and operates near three of Chicago’s premier private clubs – Onwentsia, Knollwood and Conway Farms.

“Deerpath is unique,’’ said Walrath, a former head pro at Wynstone in Barrington and assistant at Crystal Lake Country Club. “Well over 50 percent of our players are walkers. That’s very unusual in this day and age.’’

Fox Lake Lake Country Club, which opened in 1925, is one of the few family-owned courses left in the area. The Petrungaro family has owned this 18-holer, which also received a new GM-head pro in Vince Juarez. He had a similar role at Antioch Golf Club.

Kemper has also brought in a new GM at Highland Park Country Club, with Randy Farber moving over from Bolingbrook.

Here and there

A big weekend is ahead for Big Ten golfers. For the first time the men’s and women’s conference championships will be held at the same site – French Lick Resort in southern Indiana. The men will compete at the Pete Dye Course and the women at the Donald Ross Course. Competition runs Friday-Sunday. French Lick will also host both tourneys in 2013 and 2014.…. TaylorMade, Nike and Wilson will display their equipment at Deerpath’s Demo Day from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday….The Illinois PGA’s assistants and senior players begin their tournament seasons on Monday (APRIL 30). The assistants are at Northmoor in Highland Park and the seniors at Golf Club of Illinois in Algonquin…The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct its first qualifiers for the Illinois Mid-Amateur Championship at Village Greens of Woodridge on Monday and Balmoral Woods in Crete on Tuesday.

Cog Hill is off the PGA Tour calendar for only the second time since 1991 this year, but that won’t keep owner Frank Jemsek from tweaking his Dubsdread layout that hosted both the Western Open and BMW Championship.

Jemsek opened the premier course on his 72-hole Lemont complex last week with some minor changes. The fifth hole, which played as a par-4 for the PGA Tour stars, is now being played as a 507-yard par-5 from the back tees and the long, tight ninth hole has been shortened from the 613 yards it played for the pros to a maximum of 586. Both changes were made to answer complaints from PGA staffers, who felt No. 5 was too long for a par-4 and No. 9 was too long regardless of its par.

More significant changes will come down the road, with controversial architect Rees Jones still in charge. His $5.2 million renovation of the course in 2008 was widely criticized by PGA Tour players, a big reason the Western Golf Assn. moved the BMW Championship to Conway Farms in Lake Forest when it returns to Chicago in 2013.

“One reason we chose Rees was because he could enhance what the original architects (Joe Lee and Dick Wilson) did,’’ said Jemsek. “It’s a huge advantage having the same guy coming in so you get the same feeling.’’

Jemsek anticipates Jones eventually altering the No. 1 hole with the removal of some bunkers on the right side of the fairway and building a new tee box that will shorten the par-5 15th. He also wants Jones to re-design the seldom-used alternate hole for the par-3 second. Jones will devise a plan for those upgrades later this year, and Jemsek said the work would be done “down the line…..We’d like to have a little money in the bank first.’’

He downplayed the pros’ complaints of the last two years.

“Some things that they dislike now will go away over time,’’ said Jemsek. “It’s a great golf course, certainly a wonderful course.’’

Ryder Cup fever, Scottish-style

The next Ryder Cup will be contested at Medinah in September, but that didn’t keep the event’s host country in 2014 from coming to Chicago for promotional purposes last week. Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for culture and external affairs, was on hand to launch a design competition for one of the giant golf balls which will adorn Chicago’s streets in advance of the Medinah event.

Excitement for 2014, though, is already in full force in Scotland.

“Our objective is to host the best-ever Ryder Cup, and reinforce Scotland’s position as being the Home of Golf,’’ said Hyslop . “The Ryder Cup is regarded as the third biggest event on the sports calendar, behind only the football (soccer) World Cup and the Olympics. Scotland is the perfect stage for world-class events.’’

No question Scotland is big on golf. Last year the country hosted the Johnnie Walker Championship, Dunhill Links, Walker Cup matches, Women’s British Open, Barclay’s Scottish Open and Ladies Scottish Open.

Hyslop reported an unprecedented level of investment in commercial golf facilities in recent years ($400 million), and three more big resorts are in the works — Blairs Estate in Aberdeenshire ($180 million), DeVere West in Linton ($80 million) and Whitekirk in East Lothian ($25 million).

Here and there

Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, who qualified for the Illinois Open as a 15-year old last summer, finished second to Texan Branson Davis in the Goodman Networks Junior Championship last week in Bryan, Tex. Connor Black, the 2011 Western Golf Assn. Junior champion at Beverly in Chicago, was third…..Indian Lakes, in Bloomingdale, has scheduled two Demo Days. Callaway and Nike will show their products from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on April 29 and TaylorMade and Adams will do the same from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on May 6…..The Illinois PGA will conduct its Country Club of Decatur Classic on Monday (APRIL 23) and the Chicago District Golf Assn. opens its tournament season the following day with its Better Ball of Pairs competition at The Glen Club in Glenview….Medinah will host Illinois Patriot Golf Day on May 29, benefitting Illinois military families in need. The third annual event will be played primarily on the club’s No. 1 course, but No. 3 (the Ryder Cup venue) will also be used on a limited basis…. A celebrity charity event has been added to the Chicago calendar. The Chicago Legends Golf Classic is scheduled for Aug. 10 at Oak Brook Hills Marriott to raise funds for the Dr. Jeff Foundation, which helps parents with critically ill children.

Batavia-based Greg Martin has been one busy golf course architect within the Chicago area of late. Three of his public course projects are about to open for the season, and at least three others are in the works.

Martin handled two renovation projects last fall — the front nine at Fox Run in Elk Grove and the South nine at Arrowhead in Wheaton. Only the back nine at Fox Run has been playable so far this surprising spring, but the opening of the front is now scheduled for April 20.

The 27-hole Arrowhead facility has 18 of its 27 holes in operation. Martin has been working on that layout in nine-hole increments. He completed work on the East nine and did his work on the South last fall. That nine is to re-open in late April, with no date set yet. The West nine,which hasn’t been given the Martin touch yet, is now open, and Martin will do his work there in the fall.

Last fall he also did some tweaking at Settler’s Hill, in Batavia. That course is scheduled to open for the season around May 1.

Martin also expects to apply his talents at Wilmette, Mount Prospect, Prairie Bluff, in Lockport, and Oak Meadows, in Addison, in the near future. Oak Meadows will be the biggest project of the bunch. One of Chicago’s oldest public layouts, it was created as private Elmhurst Country Club in 1919 and assumed public status under its current name in 1986.

A charming layout that was the site of Ben Hogan’s victory in the 1941 Chicago Open, Oak Meadows has been hampered by flooding problems for years.

“We know we need to fix the golf course,’’ said Martin, whose firm was chosen from the 22 who applied for the job through the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. He isn’t sure how many of the present holes will remain, or if the adjoining East nine-holer will be incorporated into the re-design.

“Nothing’s off the table now,’’ he said. “Nos. 1, 2, 17 and 18 — those are great holes. We should keep them in some way.’’

Oak Meadows, which also lost its clubhouse in a fire several years ago, will remain in its current state for two years as design plans are finalized and work permits are acquired. Martin doesn’t expect the project to be completed until 2016.

“That reveals the complexity of the issue that exists,’’ he said. “We want to solve as many problems as we can.’’

Dubs set to open

Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course, a PGA Tour site every year but one since the Western Golf Assn. moved the Western Open there in 1991, opens for the season on Saturday (APRIL 14). The Lemont layout won’t host the pros this time, as the WGA moved September’s BMW Championship to Crooked Stick in Indianapolis. Jemsek Golf, though, has been working with both the PGA Tour and U.S. Golf Assn. in an effort to bring another high-profile competition to its 72-hole complex.

In the meantime, the Jemseks have altered the superintendent duties. Scott Pavalko, who joined the staff last year to ready Dubsdread for its last BMW Championship, will now also assume responsibility for the No. 2 course as well. The retiring Ken Lapp will oversee Nos. 1 and 3.

Here and there

The Illinois PGA has its Pro Pro competition scheduled for Monday at Chicago’s Harborside International….Dewey Lewis, who has taught and competed at Cog Hill for over 30 years, has been rewarded with emeritus status….The Downers Grove Golf Club will host the 36th annual Pine Hollow Open on April 28. Entries will be accepted through April 18….A Demo Day has been scheduled at Cog Hill on April 28….Cantigny, in Wheaton, has scheduled five Welcome to Golf clinics from adults and families. They’ll start in May.

Every few years, it seems, somebody in Butler National Golf Club’s membership suggests that the all-male facility may be willing to accept women as members, thereby making it possible for big-time golf to be played in Oak Brook again.
Citing “industry sources,’’ that same old story surfaced again in a Chicago newspaper this week. Such reports give the club, off the world golf stage since the Western Open moved to Cog Hill in 1991, a publicity boost, but that’s about all.
Until Butler’s membership takes a vote to allow women — and the measure passes — there’s no reason to give such reports any validity. And such a vote isn’t even in the works.
While Butler president Ed Gustafson has taken a no-comment stance on the latest report, a long-time Butler staff member who wished to remain anonymous told me “This is just another story that has come up before. It’s nothing new. It’s pure speculation. There’s not a story from our side.’’
And that well-placed staffer didn’t think such a vote would even be considered “for a long, long time.’’
Some historical perspective is in order here.
Butler’s opening in the early 1970s was big news. The super-tough layout provided a “permanent’’ home for the PGA Tour’s oldest tournament. The WGA moved the Western there in 1974, a year too early based on the course’s condition at the time. But the tourney was staged there for 17 years and produced some exciting championships.
No doubt some Butler members miss those good old days. Hosting the Western put their club in the spotlight. But, when PGA Tour and U.S. Golf Assn. then objected to its exclusionary membership policies, Butler gave up the Western after its 1990 staging and put itself out of contention for even bigger, more lucrative, events like the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Ryder Cup matches.
Cog Hill, in Lemont, became the Western Open site in 1991. Now Cog’s future as as a tournament site is in doubt, perhaps leading to the speculation that Butler might be in the running with the Western Golf Assn. to host the Western’s successor, the BMW Championship.
Cog Hill’s recent $5 million renovation wasn’t well-received by PGA Tour players, a group of whom rated the layout 46th of 52 tournament venues in a recent GolfWorld magazine poll. The BMW will be played at Crooked Stick near Indianapolis this year and might return to the Chicago area in 2013, but it’s highly unlikely the site would be Butler even then.
“If the membership policy changes the BMW Championship would be interested, because it’s a good golf course,’’ said Vince Pellegrino, the BMW tournament director. “But we’ve had no discussions with them and haven’t heard anything.’’
He called the recent report of a membership change of heart “the same thing we’ve heard before.’’
The BMW’s future, though, seems in limbo. Immediately after Cog Hill hosted the 2011 championship in September Pellegrino said an announcement of the site for the 2013 tourney would be made in a matter of weeks.
Four months have past, and Pellegrino said an announcement will have to wait at least another three-four weeks. Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, is the heavy favorite but Pellegrino said no deal has been done. Conway is the Chicago home course of Luke Donald, the world’s No. 1-ranked player.
Killing off the possibility of Chicago returning as an annual PGA Tour site, the WGA slated the 2014 BMW for Cherry Hills in Denver and a return to Chicago in 2015 is not sure thing, either. Harding Park, in San Francisco, is reportedly in the running for the tourney that year.
As for Butler’s return to the big-time, the membership issue is paramount. The club, though, did bring in a top architect, Tom Fazio, to renovate the course in 2005 and two prominent touring pros, Jeff Sluman and Mark Wilson, practice there.

Another Chicago golf season is almost history now. All that is left — except for the few recreational rounds remaining when weather permits — is the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. They’re coming up on Oct. 21 at The Glen Club in Glenview.

The Hall of Fame welcomed its first inductees in 1989. Classes were inducted annually until 1993 when inductions were made on a biennial basis. This year’s inductees include club professionals Steve Benson and Sherm Finger, superintendent Paul Voykin, and the late Bob Gardner, a legendary amateur who took on a variety of leadership roles as well.

Benson, who spent the bulk of his career at Hillcrest (now the Royal Country Club of Long Grove), and Finger, who was long based at Knollwood in Lake Forest, bring to 13 the number of club professionals included in the Hall, which is administered by the Illinois PGA and features photographic exhibits and memorabilia at The Glen Club. Voykin was the superintendent at Briarwood in Deerfield for 47 years.

Dukelow comes through

Rich Dukelow’s victory in last week’s Players Championship at Eagle Ridge in Galena also earned him the Illinois PGA’s player-of-the-year award.

Dukelow, 42, won the award for the first time, but he had previously been the Chicago District Golf Association player-of-the year in 1996, 1999 and 2001. In his last CDGA award season he captured the Illinois Amateur by nine strokes. The Players was the first big win in the club pro ranks for the teaching assistant at Cantigny in Wheaton, but he was the IPGA Assistants player-of-the-year in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

“I love teaching golf, but I still like to get out and compete against other professionals,” said Dukelow. “I’m thankful that Cantigny encourages me to do both and follow my dreams.”

Matt Slowinski, of Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn, was the IPGA Assistants player-of-theyear for this season and the Ivanhoe Club’s Jim Sobb won the award for senior pros.

Getting ready for Ryder Cup

With the 39th Ryder Cup matches still nearly a year away, the PGA of America has already done some fine-tuning on the big event coming to Medinah Country Club.

A walking tour of the course with managing director of tournaments and marketing Kerry Haigh revealed that the long, tough layout will be set up at 7,658 yards for the matches between the PGA stars from the U.S. and Europe with two of the four par-5s measuring more than 600 yards (No. 7 at 617 and No. 14 at 609).

Most interesting of the yardage determinations was at the new 15th. It’ll share a tee box with the par-4 12th hole, but Haigh could set the 15th at 391 yards or 308 yards. If the short tee box is used it’ll become driveable, though a pond guards the green on the right side. If that tee is used, No. 15 could be the most exciting hole of the competition.

Tickets will be scarce, and those who registered for the random drawing for individual tickets will learn how they fared sometime this week. The gallery will be limited to 40,000 per day.

“The PGA of America has seen record interest for the 2012 event, which has sold out many times over,” said Ryder Cup director Michael Belot. “That kind of response is a great testament to the last popularity of the Ryder Cup.”

Merger talk

John Kaczkowski, president of the Western Golf Association, was the featured speaker at the Women’s Western Golf Association fall meeting. The two longstanding organizations will join forces on Jan. 1, which could eventually produce some significant changes in tournament operations.

“We’ll work together on our amateur and junior tournaments next year, then see where it goes from there,” said Kaczkowski, who wouldn’t rule out a revival of the Women’s Western Open eventually. The WWGA discontinued that tournament, once a major tourney on the LPGA tour, after 1967.

Kaczkowski also said no decision has been made on a site for the 2012 BMW Championship. He expected a decision on that matter “in 30 to 60 days.”

Did you know?

The Chicago golf community has lost Bob Held, veteran teaching professional at Fresh Meadows in Hillside. He died suddenly last week. … The White Pines Golf Dome in Bensenville is scheduled to open on Nov. 1. … The Windy City Golf League will conclude its season on Sunday with the Arghe Isle Cup tournament at Arrowhead in Wheaton. … Tickets have just gone on sale for next year’s U.S. Women’s Open, to be played July 2-8 at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis.

Conway Farms, the home course of world No. 1 Luke Donald, remains the consensus favorite to land the 2013 BMW Championship, but the Lake Forest layout isn’t the only private facility Western Golf Association officials have checked out for the next time PGA tournament golf returns to Chicago.

Cog Hill, the public facility in Lemont that has hosted the PGA Tour stop since 1991, remains in the running and other sites that have been given varying degrees of consideration include The Glen Club in Glenview, Merit Club in Libertyville, Chicago Highlands in Westchester and North Shore Country Club in Glenview.

And another most interesting contender surfaced last week when Butterfield Country Club officials revealed that a contingent of PGA and WGA officials had an eight-hour visit to their 27-hole layout in Oak Brook in late August.

Butterfield, always considered one of the area’s better private facilities since its opening in 1922, has never hosted a significant tournament. Now, though, its willingness to do that is changing following the most extensive renovations performed in recent years.

Hampered by drainage problems, Butterfield’s members went 22 months without use of their golf course while architect Steve Smyers supervised a project that included the creation of more than three acres of ponds, the moving of 280,000 cubic yards of earth, the removal of 500 trees and the planting of 300 new trees — all accomplished in difficult economic times.

Though reluctant to put a cost figure on the project, Butterfield grounds chairman Paul Moreschi said that “Not a blade of grass was untouched. … It had to be the most expansive renovation a private club has ever undertaken.”

Cog Hill’s 2008 renovation of the Dubsdread course that has hosted the BMW cost $5.2 million. Butterfield’s was significantly more than that. The three nines re-opened in June of 2010, and the membership was given time to adjust to a more challenging course. Not all liked it, but the new version has elevated Butterfield’s stature — a fact underscored by the PGA visit.

“Our old course was really pretty, but not as strong as Medinah, Beverly or Olympia Fields,” said Moreschi. “When you go through something this big, you want your course to stand up to those courses.”

Butterfield’s does, and the general membership appears receptive to hosting big tournaments now. Its tournament scorecard shows a course that can play a hefty 7,780 yards, though it’s played much shorter than that normally.

“To get that long there would have to be a big event,” said Moreschi. “That wasn’t high on our priority list, but I got the impression (the PGA visitors) liked it as a potential site for the BMW in the future. It’d be a compliment if we were asked.”

Smyers’ work was well-received in a similar, but much less extensive, renovation of Olympia Fields’ South course. Butterfield’s attractiveness as a tournament site is also enhanced by its central suburban location and its 27 holes, which would provide more space for tournament-related features.

First Super champion

Jerry Moody, an assistant professional at Rolling Green in Arlington Heights, captured the first Illinois Super Seniors Open at Pine Meadow in Mundelein. He shot 1-over-par 73, then defeated Joel Hirsch with a par on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.

Bill Erfurth, the former Skokie Country Club professional, shot 74 to miss the playoff by a shot. At 82 he was the oldest player in the field.

Did you know?

Alex Lederhausen, a senior from Hinsdale, became Northwestern’s first Big Ten player-of-the-week in women’s golf since 2007. She was honored for her fourth-place showing in New Mexico’s tournament . … Alan Hill, who had been first assistant superintendent at Ruth Lake in Hinsdale, is now the head superintendent at Klein Creek in Winfield. … The Chicago District Golf Association tournament season came to an end when the Central Illinois team beat its Chicago Area counterparts in the Prairie State Challenge at Midlothian and the Lost Duns team of Kevin Gratkowski and John Smollen won the Better Ball of Pairs title at Bull Valley in Woodstock last week. … Patrick Polvin of Indian Head Park won the Palmer Flight at the Golf Channel National Championship at PGA West in California. … Char McLear of McHenry, Tanya Olson of Naperville and Laura Carson of Lake Bluff are representing Illinois in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship in Savannah, Ga. The tourney, which had teams from all states except New Hampshire, started Tuesday and concludes Thursday. It’s the last tournament on the USGA calendar for 2011.

Medinah Country Club, plagued by course conditioning issues last month, received glowing reviews as next year’s site for the Ryder Cup matches. Top players from the U.S. and Europe will battle on the club’s No. 3 course next Sept. 25-30.

The club and PGA of America celebrated the one-year countdown to the next Ryder Cup this week, with the captains of both teams lauding Medinah.

“I can’t imagine a better place for this,” said Europe’s Jose Maria Olazabal. “The facilities are extraordinary, and the last four holes will be very interesting. It’s the perfect host venue.”

“An incredible place to have a tournament,” said Davis Love III, the U.S. captain. “You look at that golf course every day, and it looks like a major championship is ready to happen.”

Conditions on all three Medinah courses deteriorated with heavy rains and extreme heat in July and August, but they’ve improved dramatically in the last two weeks.

“We made it through,” said superintendent Curtis Tyrrell. “Now we’re in excellent shape, and we’re confident where we stand. We’ll be ready for next year.”

Super Seniors set to go

There’ll be only 30 players, just seven of them professionals, in Wednesday’s first Illinois Super Seniors Open at Pine Meadow in Mundelein, but at least it’s a start.

The brainchild of Pine Meadow head professional Dennis Johnsen, the tourney was created for pros and amateurs 65 and older. Oldest to enter was Bill Erfurth, 82, the former head pro at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe. He won the regular Illinois Open in 1975 and became the first player to shoot his age in that event when he was 73.

Now he has his sights set on being the first champion of the Super Seniors event, but he’ll have to beat similarly established players such as pros Gary Groh and Steve Dunning and amateurs Bill Shean, Joel Hirsch and John Seehausen to do it.

Randy Hundley, the former Cubs’ catcher, is also among the entries who will begin play at 8 a.m.

The entry count didn’t disappoint Johnsen, who hopes both the Chicago District Golf Assn. and Illinois PGA will embrace the event in 2012.

“I consider it a success, because I’ve been told the first (U.S.) Senior Open only had roughly 40 players,” said Johnsen. “There is already talk of a Super Seniors Tour for pros and amateurs in future years.”

Tense times at Eagle Ridge

The Illinois PGA’s player-of-the-year might be decided at the last of the section’s four major tourneys — the IPGA Players Championship — next Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 3-4) at Eagle Ridge in Galena.

Assistant pros Rich Dukelow of Cantigny and Brian Brown of Naperville are one-two in the point standings, but looming behind them are Ivanhoe Club’s Jim Sobb, who has won four major titles in either regular or senior section events this year; Twin Lakes’ Travis Johns, last year’s player-of-the-year; and Glen Oak’s Matt Slowinski, already the IPGA Assistants player-of-the-year and runner-up in the IPGA Championship.

A long shot is Curtis Malm, the former Illinois Open champion who is now an assistant at St. Charles. He’s in his first year of eligibility for the player-of-the-year award.

While the bulk of the remaining available player-of-the-year points will be awarded at Eagle Ridge, the winner won’t be announced until two one-day stroke plays are completed later in the month.

Senior moments

Kewanee’s Tom Miler won last week’s 25th Illinois Senior Amateur at Effingham Country Club, depriving runner-up Tom Studer of Joliet from becoming the first three-time winner of the event.

Studer won in 2007 and 2008. Taylorville’s Dave Ryan finished third to clinch the Chicago District Golf Assn. senior player-of-the-year award for the third straight year.

The Illinois Women’s Golf Assn. also staged its 42nd senior tournament, with Chicago’s Mary Kay Thanos-Zordani winning by five strokes over Char McLear of McHenry and defending champion Roberta Sentel of Marion at Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley.

Did you know?

Jason Rasmussen won the IPGA Assistants Match Play title last week, meaning all three of the section’s match play trophies for 2011 are at the Ivanhoe Club. Head pro Jim Sobb won both the regular and senior title. … The CDGA concludes its tournament season on Thursday with the Prairie State Challenge at Midlothian Country Club. It matches the top seniors from the Chicago area against their counterparts from Central Illinois. Tom Miler and Dave Ryan will be heading the Central Illinois team. … The Weekly Challenge Tour concludes its season with its Tournament of Champions on Monday (Oct. 3) at Bull Valley in Woodstock. … Neighboring Cary courses Foxford Hills and Chalet Hills, rivals at the start of the season, are now both managed by GolfVisions. Foxford is owned by the Cary Park District while Chalet Hills went into foreclosure. GolfVisions plans to preserve its value in preparation an eventual sale.

An announcement won’t likely come for a few weeks, but the BMW Championship figures to be played in the north suburbs when it returns to the Chicago area in 2013.

The tourney’s 20-year run by Cog Hill Golf & Country Club figures to come to an end after complaints by three high-profile players. Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Luke Donald all were critical of the Lemont layout in one way or another during last week’s BMW, and their opinions carry weight with both the event sponsor and organizer, the Western Golf Association.

Donald, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, said WGA members have already consulted him about where to play after the 2012 tourney is held at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis.

“They’ve looked at a bunch of different courses, and they’ve come to me and kind of narrowed it down to a few,” said Donald.

One is Conway Farms Golf Club, a private facility in Lake Forest that includes Donald among its members. A Tom Fazio design, Conway has been a frequent site for big amateur events, but has yet to host a pro tournament. Donald is pushing hard for its selection.

“It’d be a great venue,” said Donald. “Obviously being a little more north of Chicago, it’ll attract a few more fans. The players will love it, and hopefully it goes there in 2013.”

Another possibility might be North Shore Country Club, a much older private facility, in Glenview. The WGA was impressed by its members’ support of this summer’s Western Amateur.

“(Conway) has more than North Shore,” Donald said.

Still another course possibly in the mix is the new Chicago Highlands course in Westchester. Its central location is a plus. John Baxter, managing partner of the facility, was at Cog Hill during the BMW and declared “I want this tournament.”

Chicago Highlands hasn’t been tournament-tested, but it has more available space for big-tournament necessities than Conway Farms or North Shore.

Points plans ahead

D.A. Points, the University of Illinois graduate who won his first PGA Tour event this year at Pebble Beach, didn’t qualify for this week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. He was never a factor at the BMW, but is among many players who had no objection to the tournament returning to Cog Hill.

“But maybe that’s not in the cards,” said Points. “Everybody wants to move to the north side. I just hope they find some place that is a good depiction of what Chicago golf is all about. There’s probably 50 quality courses in the Chicago area that could host a tournament, but BMW needs space.”

Points feels that requirement rules out most of the courses except for Cog Hill, the sprawling Olympia Fields Country Club and Medinah Country Club, site of next year’s Ryder Cup matches.

“Olympia is pretty far south, so that might deter the Tour from going there, and Medinah always has got a plate-full (of big events),” Points said.

With his FedEx playoffs over, Points expects to finish his season with four tournaments in a row, beginning with the McGladrey and Disney events in the PGA’s Fall Series. He’ll wrap up his season with tournaments in Malaysia and China.

“I won this year, and that was a huge step,” said Points. “But I was disappointed the way the rest of the year went. I had one top-10 after that, and that’s not good enough.”

Did you know?

WGA president John Kaczkowski said BMW has donated more than $9 million to the Evans Scholars Foundation since replacing the Western Open in 2007. … The University of Illinois men’s team, ranked 13th nationally but without head coach Mike Small, tied with Notre Dame for eighth place behind champion Stanford in the Olympia Fields Fighting Illini Invitational last weekend. Small was playing for the U.S. team in the PGA Cup matches against Europe’s top club pros in California. … Veteran club pros Gary Groh and Steve Dunning have joined Bill Erfurth, Joel Hirsch, Bill Shean and John Seehausen as leading contenders in the first Illinois Super Seniors Open at Pine Meadow in Mundelein on Sept. 28. Entry deadline for that event is Wednesday (Sept. 21). … The Illinois Women’s Golf Assn. finishes off its Senior Amateur Wednesday and Thursday at Oakwood, the Coal Valley course that once hosted a PGA Tour stop.

The Illinois PGA senior stars beat their Chicago District Golf Assn. counterparts 7-5 in the 22nd Thompson Cup matches at Chicago’s Ridge Country Club last week.

The IPGA has its sixth stroke play event of the year on Monday at Westmoreland in Wilmette. … The men’s Illinois Senior Amateur concludes Wednesday (Sept. 21) at Effingham Country Club and the CDGA’s 40th Husband-Wife Championship is Thursday at Ruth Lake in Hinsdale. … Last of the Weekly Challenge Tour’s four major championships is Saturday at Balmoral Woods in Crete.

The PGA Tour’s BMW Championship will be heavy on Illinois talent when it tees off Thursday at Cog Hill in Lemont.

World No. 1 Luke Donald is fourth in the FedEx Cup point standings, with Steve Stricker eighth, Mark Wilson 17th and D.A. Points 49th.

FedExCup Top 10 leaders

Here’s a look at the point standings as the FedExCup moves to the third round with the Top 70 players advancing to the BMW Championship at Cog Hill in Lemont this week:

Rank, Player (Points) Money

1. Webb Simpson (4,711) $5,301,043

2. Dustin Johnson (3,814) $4,150,841

3. Matt Kuchar (3,124) $3,970,142

4. Luke Donald (2,875) $5,034,548

5. Brandt Snedeker (2,869) $3,336,895

6. Jason Day (2,357) $3,670,687

7. Nick Watney (2,291) $4,614,229

8. Steve Stricker (2,205) $3,816,785

9. Chez Reavie (2,088) $1,904,267

10. Phil Mickelson (2,040) $3,518,208

Local notables

17. Mark Wilson (1,748) $2,957,232

49. D.A. Points (1,055) $2,006,463

Did not advance to the third playoff event:

72. Kevin Streelman (770) $1,113,080

Donald went to Northwestern and Stricker and Points to Illinois. Wilson lives in Elmhurst and does the bulk of his practicing at Cog Hill.

One local, though, is notably absent from the 70-man field. Kevin Streelman, raised in Winfield, uses Cog Hill’s Dr. Jim Suttie as his swing coach. Streelman just missed the top 70, standing 72nd on the FedEx point list.

“I was disappointed not to get in,” said Streelman. “I tried my best. I knew I had to make the cut in Boston (he missed by four shots at the Deutsche Bank Championship after rounds of 75-72), but I had a poor putting round.”

There’s no feeling sorry for Streelman, though. He’s already assured his fourth straight year with over $1 million in winnings and will play in three Fall Series events — Las Vegas, Sea Island and Disney World — to pad his winnings and, hopefully, win his first PGA title.

“I was disappointed not to get into Chicago, but I’ve got three more chances to win a golf tournament,” said Streelman. “It’s nice to have your job secure, but that’s not why I do it. I do it to win.”

You may be seeing more of Streelman before the Fall Series starts. He has been seen in Golf Channel commercials with Senior PGA star Tom Lehman promoting a mentoring program. That may lead into more TV exposure soon.

“I’m not sure where they’re going with that,” said Streelman. “We filmed three to four hours during the Colonial (tourney),” said Streelman. “Tom and I are close friends off the course and in Bible studies. He’s like a big brother to me.”

Pro-am changes

In past years the BMW Championship and its predecessor, the Western Open, staged the Chick Evans Pro-Am on the day before the tournament proper teed off. The Evans Pro-Am was moved to Monday this year, however, and Wednesday’s offering will honor the late Gardner Heidrick.

Heidrick, a Hinsdale Golf Club member, played in the first Evans Pro-Am in 1963 and was a participant for 30 years. The bigger of the pro-ams will honor Heidrick’s lifelong commitment to the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Wednesday’s final tuneup before the $8 million, 72-hole main event includes two celebrity-types: Adrian Grenier, one of the stars of “Entourage”, the HBO series that just ended its long run, and Ricky Berens, is a former U.S. Olympian in swimming.

Another U.S. Olympian, 17-year old table tennis whiz Grant Li, will take on some of the PGA Tour players in their last day of relaxation today. BMW has another new attraction planned for Saturday, when the Notre Dame-Michigan State football game will be shown on big screens on the 18th hole and at the first hole of Cog’s No. 2 course.

More honors for Dubsdread

Golf Magazine has included Cog Hill’s Dubsdread layout in its biennial list of Top 100 courses. Listed No. 89, it’s the first time Dubs has been so honored since the Rees Jones renovation of 2008.

“This is one of the industry’s toughest lists to get on because it combines public, private and resort courses,” said Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek.

Dubs is the only public facility of the five Illinois courses on the list. Chicago Golf Club, in Wheaton, is 15th, Shoreacres in Lake Forest is 36th, Medinah’s No. 3 course is 37th and Olympia Fields’ North course is 86th.

Did you know?

Luke Donald is designing his first course, called Ba Na Hills in Vietnam. … Top seniors from the Illinois PGA and Chicago District Golf Association will square off in the Thompson Cup matches on Friday at Chicago’s Ridge Country Club. … The new Illinois Super Seniors Open at Pine Meadow in Mundelein on Sept. 28 has already drawn entries from such notables as pro Bill Erfurth and amateurs Joel Hirsch, Bill Shean and John Seehausen. … The Olympia Fields Fighting Illini Invitational is Friday through Sunday on Olympia’s North course. Illini coach Mike Small, who played in Monday’s Evans Pro-Am, won’t be guiding his team. He’ll be in California playing for the U.S. team in the PGA Cup matches against club pros from Europe.

The 25th Illinois Senior Amateur runs Monday-Wednesday at downstate Effingham Country Club. … The Weekly Challenge Tour visits Golf Club of Illinois in Algonquin on Saturday. … The U.S. Golf Association has issued a call for volunteers for the next U.S. Women’s Open, to be played at Wisconsin’s Blackwolf Run on July 2-8, 2012.