The Illinois PGA’s Birdies for Charity event is one of those things that was good from the start and keeps getting better. That’ll be underscored again on Sept. 4 when the event is held for the eighth time at River Forest Country Club in Elmhurst. Birdies for Charity involves golf professionals playing 72 holes in…
Features
Jim Sobb is a golf professional with a great record as a player as well
Jim Sobb’s playing record speaks for itself. The 30-year director of golf at Ivanhoe Club won eight of the Illinois PGA’s four major tournaments, including the IPGA Championship three times. He also won nine of the section’s Senior majors, and this month he’ll go after his sixth title in the IPGA Senior Championship. He has…
After an array of upgrades historic Tam O’Shanter is thriving again
Six decades ago the Tam O’Shanter Country Club in suburban Chicago was among the most famous golf courses in the world. It was owned by George S. May back then, and May was a man far ahead of his time when it came to golf promotion. Tam O’Shanter opened in 1925. May took ownership in…
Did Patrick Flavin attempt a `Mission Impossible?’
Last year Highwood’s Patrick Flavin did something very special, winning both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open. No player had won both in the same year since David Ogrin did it in 1980. This year Flavin will try to do something even more special. He’ll try to repeat in both. No player has ever…
Aldeen’s French enjoys his reign as king of Illinois PGA Assistants
There are plenty of good players among the assistant professionals in the Illinois IPGA. That’s why Chris French’s domination of the 2017 Assistants Player of the Year race is so impressive. French, one of two assistants under director of golf operations Duncan Geddes at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, accumulated 3,139.9 points in last year’s…
Can Langer continue his domination in Senior Players tourney?
If ever there was a player who could dominate a tournament it’d be Bernhard Langer at the Constellation Senior Players Championship. The 60-year old German star won the tournament in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and finished second to Scott McCarron last year. Langer will try to get back on the winning side when the 36th…
North Carolina’s Balsam Mountain Preserve will knock it out of the park
There was never a doubt about the beauty of Balsam Mountain Preserve, a private club located in the hills of Western North Carolina. The abundant views of Doubletop Mountain made the site attractive to – among others — the Arnold Palmer Design company, which built one of the most visually stunning mountain courses in the…
This Illinois PGA pro is also in graduate school at Northwestern
A golf professional’s job is never an easy one. Some inevitably wind up working harder than others, however. And then there’s Tony Semonick. Semonick, 28, has worked on head professional Jim Sobb’s staff at Ivanhoe Club since his graduation from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., in 2012. His work days aren’t like any…
Exmoor hosts the next of bunched up Champions Tour major tourneys
While PGA Tour Champions has always been fun to cover, I’ve always felt there was one thing that was strange about it — the circuit’s designated major championships. Like the LPGA, the Champions circuit has designated five tournaments as major championships, while the PGA Tour has stuck to just four – the Masters, U.S. Open,…
Kemper Lakes’ Billiter seeks repeat as Illinois PGA Player of the Year
The Illinois PGA has been awarding its Bernardi Trophy to the section’s Player-of-the-Year for 46 years, and Jim Billiter has been a factor in two of the more interesting races. Understandably, more Bernardi points are available in the section’s four annual major championships – the IPGA Match Play, the Illinois Open, the IPGA Championship and…