ORLANDO, FL. – The PGA of America has been holding its Merchandise Show for 62 years. In recent years it’s been generally overwhelming, frequently chaotic and always informative. It’s also, for many, a hint that spring – and the heart of the golf season –isn’t all that far away.

This year’s PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center drew the usual 40,000 attendees and had over 1,000 exhibitors. According to PGA estimates, if you walked through every mile of the show and checked out all the offerings relative to instruction, fashion, equipment and technology you would have covered about 10 miles.

All the major manufacturers, of course, were on hand to introduce their new product lines. So were plenty of others who hoped that their products would captivate the golf industry in the months ahead. Some will, some won’t.

This is my opportunity to reveal the products I found the most interesting – not necessarily the best. The bottom line is, these products underscore once again how inventive and innovative the people in the golf industry really are.

My favorite from this 2015 show was also among the best. GolfBoard was selected Best New Product of the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show, but it’s still fairly new as far as even hard-core golfers are concerned.

GolfBoard brings the concept of surfing to golf. You ride an electric board and it feels similar to snowboarding, surfing or skateboarding. The company calls it GolfBoarding and insists it isn’t difficult to learn. The GolfBoard carries one golfer, who is standing, and his bag. In short, you “surf the earth’’ when you take it on the course.

The device speeds up play and makes the player more active than he would be sitting in the traditional cart. Dave Weretka, long-time publisher of GolfChicago magazine is GolfBoard’s representative in the Chicago area.

SWING TRAINERS always underscore the creativity involved in golf. DST Golf introduced a warmup tool and practice club that is literally and figuratively “ahead of the curve.’’

PGA Master Professional Nigel Blenkarne demonstrated how to use what looks like a pitching wedge with a bent shaft. The bent shaft would make the club illegal, according to the Rules of Golf. For practice and warmup, though, it’s fine and Blenkarne said “some PGA guys are practicing with it.’’

In addition to the bent shaft, the club has a white line on the clubhead and a wide, flat sole angle that encourages the proper swing for chip shots. It forces you to be in the optimal impact position. DST also offers an 8-iron that is legal for competitive play.

Ray Rapcavage, a New Jersey resident who considers himself “a good amateur player,’’ brought along the Golf Swing Shirt – a striking orange pullover endorsed by three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and teaching guru Jimmy Ballard.

You put the Swing Shirt on over your own shirt, insert one arm at a time into the center sleeve and then head for the range. You may look and feel funny, but those who used the Swing Shirt on the huge circular practice range at Orange County National Golf Center felt they were striking the ball with body turn rather than the flipping of the hands, and the hands were always slightly ahead of the ball at impact. That resulted in a more reliable motion through the ball. At least one LPGA Tour player was intrigued enough by the product to take one home.

PUTTING also traditionally inspires new products. Ed Klein, of Aberdeen, Wash., didn’t come with a new putter. He came with a new grip that could catch on as the USGA’s ban on anchored putting closes in for 2016.

Klein’s product is the Arm-Lock Converter Putter Grip. You simply have a new (bigger) grip installed on your present putter. It comes in two models – round and flat – and fits any putter. Klein says either model will make you an arm-lock putter and eliminate the issues presented by anchored putting. The grip doesn’t require modifications to the loft of the putter but must be fitted properly.

Of course there are plenty of new putters on the market as well, the most unusual looking being produced by Cure – a company formed in 2013 by retired architect Steve Davis and Florida teaching pro Jeff Ryan.

Cure putters, which come in five models, feature a larger lightweight head with extreme heel/toe weighting. The creators claim that provides “unmatched stability, forgiveness and distance control.’’

BALL TECHNOLOGY may be more ongoing than any area in golf, and OnCore Golf has come out with “the world’s only hollow metal core golf ball.’’

The company, based in Buffalo, N.Y., claims it’s “the first major upgrade in golf ball design in decades.’’ The ball came out in 2009 but wasn’t approved by the U.S. Golf Assn. until last May.

“There was a little hesitation because of the technology involved,’’ said co-founder Curt Rogers. The creators claim it has perimeter weighting that leads to an increase in vertical spin and reduces a slice up to 30 percent.

ORLANDO, FL. — Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Good celebrated in 100th anniversary in 2014 and more good things could be coming down the road.

Wilson certainly has had the most entertaining TV ad campaign in golf the last few years. The latest version of the “Seriously!’’ ads, featuring Guy Johnson, made its debut on Golf Channel during the 62nd PGA Merchandise Show at Orange County Convention Center.

“It was shot in Arizona about four months ago,’’ said Tim Clarke, president of Wilson’s golf division. “It’s funny, our best one yet. Guy does a wonderful job articulating our brand. These ads have taken a life of their own.’’

Johnson has been featured in the campaign for four years. Clarke gave a sneak preview of the latest creation.

“This commercial is about Guy Johnson imposters,’’ said Clarke. “The reality is, there’s only one Guy Johnson just like there’s only one Duo golf ball – the original low compression ball.’’

Johnson was the focal point of Wilson’s section at the Demo Day, posing for pictures and signing autographs for visitors. Clarke wasn’t surprised by Johnson’s popularity.

“We had an LPGA player with him at the first PGA Show that we brought him to,’’ said Clarke, “and Guy had a bigger line for autographs. That shows the power of TV.’’

The Demo Day had 100 participating companies, more than 300 hitting bays and four practice greens. An estimated 6,000 attendees made the trek to the 42-acre circular range at Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge and more than 150,000 shots were taken during the day designed for testing new equipment.

Masters champion Bubba Watson had a crowd five-deep watching his ball-striking demonstration that kicked off the Demo Day. Wilson doesn’t have a player of his caliber in its growing stable of touring pros, but the company has re-signed Kevin Streelman to a multi-year contract and has added up-and-coming PGA players Troy Merritt and Brendan Steele to its other stars – European-based Padraig Harrington and Marcel Siem, Illinois coach Mike Small and PGA journeyman Ricky Barnes.

“Our first century had an exciting finish, with Streelman setting a birdie win (seven straight to close out his victory at Hartford), Siem winning in Europe and Padraig in Asia,’’ said Clarke. “But 2015 will be our best yet. Our product line is as good as we’ve ever had.’’

Given the economic climate of the last few years it’s understandable that golf course owners might be reluctant to take on expensive projects. That hasn’t been the case at Mistwood in Romeoville, however.

In the last three years owner Jim McWethy brought back Michigan architect Ray Hearn for a renovation of a course that he designed in 1998. The upgrading included a major remodeling of the practice range and the installation of 21 sod wall bunkers on the course.

And that wasn’t all.

While the course renovation necessitated the closing of the course for parts of 2012 and 2013 McWethy also ordered the building of a spiffy Performance Center. Like the work on the course, it didn’t come cheap.

And that wasn’t all.

Mistwood’s original clubhouse was dismantled in September and a new one is expected to be ready by next June. It’ll be a two-building structure – a restaurant and banquet facility in one building and pro shop, staff offices and men’s and women’s lockerrooms in the other. The two will be connected by a common basement that’ll be used as a storage area for carts and other essentials.

And, even that’s not all.

In the midst of the above work being done McWethy purchased the 10-year old Ditka Dome in nearby Bolingbrook. It had been an indoor practice range with a bar-restaurant. Now it’s much more than that, and more work is in progress there.

Throughout it all McWethy has politely declined to reveal the costs involved.

“I don’t want to give a number, but obviously it’s very significant,’’ he said.

That begs the question: why was McWethy willing to take on all these projects when the golf industry was – to put it mildly – not experiencing the best of times?

“The economy is not good and golf is an activity that is being challenged,’’ McWethy admitted. “It goes back to my fundamental belief that if you do a good job with every aspect of it, there’s still enough business out there. There’s still a lot of people playing golf.’’

But there’s some trepidation, too.

“Is this the best possible investment right now? No. Is it a good investment now? Yes. We can look either real smart or real dumb,’’ summed up McWethy. “We don’t know yet.’’

A true visionary who just turned 70, McWethy grew up in Palos Heights and has been a long-time resident of Downers Grove. He was involved in the Berry Bearing Co., which was started by his paternal grandfather and manufactured bearings and related products in Lyons until the family sold the company in 1992.

Almost immediately after the sale McWethy had an opportunity to get involved in golf and he took it.

While growing up he played, caddied and sold balls at the Navajo Hills course, which was eventually taken over by developers. His grandfather was both a president and club champion at Aurora Country Club but McWethy was never that good a player – though he did play on his high school and college teams. A member at both the Dunes Club in Michigan and Chicago Golf Club now, his handicap once reached six, but now he says it’s twice that.

“Golf was something I loved to do,’’ he said, and his inroad into the business side of the game developed when the owner of the headquarters building used by Berry Bearings, invited him to invest in a family-owned Michigan public course named Mistwood.

A year later that investment was expanded to include another Mistwood, the one in Romeoville that was soon to be built. McWethy became a seven percent investor in both courses and in 2003 he took over ownership of the Romeoville version, and that included hosting the Illinois Women’s Open. Both the course and tournament have blossomed under McWethy’s ownership and the extraordinary recent upgrades suggest that will continue.

“I love the game and take pride in doing things right,’’ he said. “That produces a tremendous feeling of satisfaction. Another twist to it is that it’s nice to be doing something by yourself. It makes you stand out in that respect.’’

The cost notwithstanding, McWethy admits to being “a little bit of a perfectionist’’ and believes the money spent will pay off in the long run.

“If you want something new, there’s not many places to go,’’ he said. “Every other course is kind of the same as it was 10, 15, 20 years ago. I see a little opportunity there. Our course is very popular now, and the people playing it are more serious golfers and come from greater distances to play it.’’

He envisions Mistwood becoming a golf destination (though he has no plans to add lodging to his to-do list) and he wants to host more significant competitions. His biggest concern now is “getting the word out.’’ To accomplish that he’s taken out ads on The Golf Channel and is also using billboard advertising.

“A lot of people still don’t know that there’s a treasure of a golf course sitting right here,’’ said McWethy, “but there’s still a lot of personal pride in doing something as well as it can be done. We wanted to build a great golf course, which we’ve done that. We have a Performance Center without peer and we’re building a clubhouse – the third piece of the puzzle. I don’t want to sound cocky, but we’ll have one of the finest golf facilities in the Chicago area.’’

And then what? Family considerations might play a part in what comes next, and neither his wife, son nor daughter is much into golf yet. McWethy says “we don’t anticipate buying another golf course,’’ but time will tell.

Chicago has never been rich in PGA Tour players over at least the last three decades, but there’ll be a new one on golf’s premier circuit in the 2014-15 season. Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr. earned his PGA Tour card by virtue of his play on the Web.com Tour this year.

Sainz, 28, barely made it through the complicated qualifying procedure that went into effect barely a year ago. First he had to make it into the top 75 money-winners in the Web.com’s regular season. Thanks largely to one strong tournament he finished in the No. 74 position.

That put him in the Web.com Finals, a four-tournament series that also included players ranked from 125-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings. The Web.com Tour offered PGA Tour cards to the top 25 on the regular season money list and the top 25 in the playoffs. Of the 50 who advanced Sainz ranked No. 49.

Between the regular season and playoff series in his rookie season on the Web.com Tour Sainz had but one top-10 finish and made only 11 cuts in 24 tournaments, yet he still earned playing privileges on the PGA Tour.

“You can look at it different ways,’’ said Sainz. “Getting there with just one top-10 is pretty amazing. Everyone judges you by the number of cuts you make, but really it’s all about how the tour is structured. It’s so top heavy with its money structure. There’s a huge disparity between finishing No. 1 and No. 75. That gives a guy like myself a chance to get to the next level.’’

Sainz’ road to the PGA Tour was a difficult one. He started dreaming about getting there while playing in Illinois Junior Golf Assn. tournaments when he was 15 years old. The dream seemed possible after his graduation from Elgin Larkin High School and a four-year college career at Mississippi State.

He turned pro after that and spent three seasons on the Canadian PGA Tour before surviving qualifying school for the Web.com Tour in the fall of 2013.

“It’s been a crazy learning experience for me,’’ he said. “I had the Canadian Tour to fall back on, but the travel was so different in the Web.com. It was a different culture, playing on different grasses. I was just trying to learn.’’

That wasn’t easy. His first tournaments were in Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Panama and Mexico before the schedule shifted to U.S. courses. His breakthrough came at the Price Cutter Charity Classic in Springfield, Mo., where he tied for second and won $44,550. That represented most of his regular season winnings.

The $67,897 that he earned in the regular season allowed him to keep playing in the postseason events, and his game came together while he was completing a grueling stretch of 14 tournaments in as many weeks. He had a tie for 19th and a tie for 12th in the first two tournaments in the Finals, then missed the cut by one stroke in the third.

With his card in serious jeopardy, Sainz got through the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship in a tie for 31st place. He had to sweat out a bogey on the last hole, but that finish was just good enough to move him to golf’s next level.

While making it to the PGA Tour is a giant step forward, keeping his card will be just as difficult. He’ll have to finish among the top 125 money winners and won’t have many tournaments to do it.

“My priority will get me into between 15 and 20 events,’’ he said. “It comes down to me being ready to play when I do get in. I have enough events, in my eyes, to make it. It might be harder for me, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.’’

He couldn’t get into the first tournament of the PGA Tour’s new season, the Frys.com Open, but that enabled him to get a much-needed rest. He didn’t play for 12 days before defending his title in the Chicago Open at Cantigny. Sainz didn’t win but finished in a strong tie for third as Andy Ruthkoski of Muskegon, Mich., won the title.

Still, the fall has been kind to Sainz in the past, and he expected to get into both the last two November tournaments — Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico — before the PGA Tour goes on its December break. Good showings in those events would get his PGA career off to a good start and would be reminiscent of how he got to the Web.com Tour just a year ago.

In a torrid late-season stretch in 2013 Sainz won a Canadian PGA Tour event, lost the Illinois Open title the next week in a playoff, won his Chicago Open and then survived the first Web.com qualifying school.

“I get better as the year goes on,’’ he said. “The fall is a great time to catch fire.’’

Chicago’s golf season may be in its final days as far as 2014 goes, but you wouldn’t know it by developments over the last few days.

On the PGA Tour Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman made a final-round charge in the Shriners Hospital for Children’s Open in Las Vegas on Sunday. Making five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine, Streelman took over the lead before third round leader Ben Martin rallied to overtake him.

Streelman shot 65 in the final round but wound up as the runnerup, two strokes behind Martin, who posted a 20-under-par 266 to claim his first PGA Tour victory.

Before Streelman made his charge the PGA’s Champions Tour announced a change in leadership. Greg McLaughlin took over as president of the 50-and-over circuit, replacing Mike Stevens. McLaughlin was the long-time tournament director of the Western Open before directing the Tiger Woods Foundation for 14 years.

The biggest news, though, was made on Sunday in Korea when the Ladies PGA Tour announced that Underwriters Laboratories will be the sponsor for its International Crown event.

UL, a premier global independent safety science company with a headquarters location in Northbrook, has been in operation since 1894 and has more than 11,000 employees world-wide. UL was an ambassador sponsor when the LPGA introduced its International Crown at Caves Valley in Owings Springs, Md., this season.

Jerry Rich, owner of Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, was a leader in the creation of the global team competition that was won by Spain in its first staging. The second staging will be at Rich Harvest, with the dates of July 18-24, 2016, revealed when UL’s involvement was announced.

Rich had hoped the International Crown would be based at his course, but LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said the third playing in 2018 would be in Korea – a country that has produced a number of top players on the LPGA circuit in recent years.

In making the announcement Whan declared that “Big is coming to Chicago,’’ but said a staging in Korea was appropriate as well.

“The Republic of Korea has clearly demonstrated their support for the LPGA by hosting 18 different tournaments over the years with tremendous fan support,’’ Whan said. “It made perfect sense that the first time we take the International Crown out of the U.S. was to a country with so many dedicated fans who support women’s golf.’’

Rich’s private layout has become Chicago’s best tournament venue in recent years. The biggest event there so far was the 2009 Solheim Cup matches between the LPGA stars of the U.S. and Europe. The Western Amateur and Palmer Cup, a prestigious team competition for collegiate players, will be played at Rich Harvest in 2015 before the International Crown makes its appearance.

Sure, there’s plenty of golf to be played in the Chicago area for a few more weeks but the Chicago Open will be it as far as big-time competition goes. It begins with a pro-am on Oct. 3 and the three-day, 54-hole tournament proper tees off on Oct. 5, with everything again going on at Cantigny, in Wheaton.

The Chicago Open has had a checkered past. Marty Schiene, the men’s coach at Chicago State University and a former PGA Tour player, triggered the creation of the present version when he was the Illinois Junior Golf Assn. president in 2013. He envisioned the event as both a fundraiser for the Illinois Junior Golf Assn. and a tuneup for players preparing for the Web.com Tour qualifying school, which offers playing privileges on the PGA Tour’s satellite circuit for the 2014-15 season.

That wasn’t always the scenario for the Chicago Open, a tournament which has a history dating to 1914 – the year the Chicago District Golf Assn. was founded.

The first tournament called the Chicago Open was held at Chicago Golf Club and was won by Bob Gardner, a Hinsdale Golf Club member who beat a field of 18 others – all members of CDGA clubs. At times the Chicago Open was considered a stop on what we know now as the PGA Tour, with its champions including Macdonald Smith (1926), Johnny Farrell (1927), Abe Espinosa (1928), Gene Sarazen (1937), Sam Snead (1938), Ben Hogan (1941, 1942 and 1947), Byron Nelson (1945 and 1946), Bobby Locke (1948) and Ken Venturi (1958 and 1959).

During those years the tourney participants also included such notables as Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour, Johnny Revolta, Billy Casper, Gary Player and even the legendary Bobby Jones.

The names of the champions weren’t so lustrous in the other years, though Luke Donald – still a college boy at Northwestern – was the winner in 2000.

In all there have been 24 tournaments called the Chicago Open, so this year’s version represents the tourney’s 25th anniversary and it’ll be played at Cantigny, which is also celebrating its 25th season. There’s some symmetry there.

The IJGA, formed in 1967, conducts over 100 events annually for golfers between the ages of 8 and 18. The organization revived the tournament last year after an 18-year absence during Schiene’s presidency, and it blossomed into the primary fundraiser for the IJGA. The revival event, also held at Cantigny, offered a $50,000 purse. This year’s Chicago Open will be similar to that one, when players from 18 states and three foreign countries were among the entrants.

Given the change in stature, the last Chicago Open had a fitting champion. Carlos Sainz Jr., from Elgin, was an alumnus of IJGA events. He has hopes of playing on the PGA, and last year’s event helped him progress towards that goal. Sainz, who is scheduled to defend his title, comes in as a much more seasoned player this time.

His game blossomed at the right time in 2013, when he won an event on the Canadian PGA Tour and lost the Illinois Open title in a playoff before winning the Chicago Open. He did it by making five birdies in the first seven holes of the final round en route to posting a 68. That gave him a 6-under-par 210 for the 54 holes and a two-stroke advantage on runner-up Matt Thompson of Marshall, Mich. That provided a springboard to the good things that happened shortly after that.

Sainz went on to earn playing privileges on the Web.com Tour in the aftermath of his Chicago Open victory and, after struggling for most of his rookie season, came on strong at the end earn a place in the Web.com Tour Finals, which offered 25 berths on the PGA Tour for the 2015 season. The Finals concluded on Sept. 21.

In addition to Sainz this year’s early entrants included Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach who won the Illinois PGA Championship for a record 11th time in August, and Australia-born Mark Hensby, who has already scored an Illinois slam of sorts. Hensby won the Illinois State Amateur in 1994, the Illinois Open in 1996 and the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic at downstate Silvis in 2004.

Small tied for eighth in last year’s Chicago Open and will squeeze a tournament appearance in between his coaching duties with the nationally-ranked Illini. The only other Chicago are player in the top 10 last year was Libertyville’s Michael Schachner, who tied for fourth. That’s an indicative of the widespread quality in the field that can be expected again at Cantigny.

The IJGA scheduled five qualifying rounds to supplement the field of invitees and exempted players. First was held at Milwaukee’s Brown Deer course, former site of the PGA Tour’s Greater Milwaukee Open.

Others were at Metamora Fields, the central Illinois course that hosts the Illinois PGA Players Championship, and Village Links of Glen Ellyn, long-time site of Western Open Monday qualifiers. The final two were played at Lake Michigan Hills, in Benton Harbor, Mich., and Makray Memorial, in Barrington.

The pro-am is Friday, Oct. 3. The following day a free junior walking clinic will be conducted amidst afternoon practice rounds. The 54-hole tourney will be conducted over the next three days.

As was the case last year, many of the Chicago Open participants will try to do what Sainz did in 2013 – use the event as a springboard to a good showing at the Web.com Tour Q-School. The first stage of the Q-School begins on Oct.7, the second stage on Nov. 11 and the finals are Dec. 11-16 at Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

WEST POINT, MS. – Juli Inkster’s biggest year in a stellar golf career came in 1999 when she won the U.S. Women’s Open, the LPGA Championship and three other tournaments while also qualifying for the Hall of Fame.

There’s nothing wrong with looking back fondly on a year like that 15 years later, and Inkster had no better place to do it than Old Waverly Golf Club. That’s where she won the first of her two U.S. Women’s Opens and the fourth of her seven major championships.

Her win at Old Waverly came by a whopping five-stroke margin, but she hadn’t been back since then until this week. The reason she’s back now is to make her debut on the LPGA Legends Tour. That circuit, for players who have reached their 45th birthday, holds its premier team event, the ISPS Handa Cup, on Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s always great to come back to fond memories,’’ said Inkster from a spot overlooking the 18th green. “When they invited me to play I was ecstatic to come back.’’

She played the course in Friday’s Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Pro-Am and will be part of the best ball and alternate shot team matches on Saturday in partnership with Meg Mallon and a singles match on Sunday. She hopes to help the U.S. team regain the Handa Cup from the World team – the winner for the first time last year at Hermitage in Nashville, Tenn.

“There’ll be some good golf played, and a lot of laughs,’’ said Inkster. “We’re playing the course shorter (than in 1999) but the routing is still the same. It’s amazing how many holes you remember and how many you don’t remember.’’

Now 54, Inkster is winding down her career on the main LPGA circuit but is hardly in retirement mode despite owning 31 LPGA titles and earning more than $13 million on the circuit.

“I’m the Solheim Cup captain for 2015, so that’s going to keep me busy,’’ she said. “I’m doing a little TV (broadcasting), too, so that’s going to keep me busy. Plus, I’ll probably play 10 (LPGA tournaments). I like to keep at it and watch the girls for the Solheim. I’m in a perfect place in my life right now.’’

Inkster has played in 12 LPGA tournaments this year with one still to go. In between she was a TV reporter during the International Crown – the new global team event that made its debut at Caves Valley in Maryland. It’s the biggest new thing in the sport, for men or women on any tour.

“It went great,’’ said Inkster, “but it needs a little tweaking. Picking three players (for each qualifying team) in March was a little early. Maybe pick two of them in March and then a wild card later. But overall the event was a big success.’’

She’s also hopeful a U.S. Women’s Senior Open is on the horizon. The U.S. Golf Assn. is considering it.

“They should do it. I don’t know why they haven’t,’’ said Inkster. “At least they’re talking, and I hope it comes to fruition.’’

WEST POINT, MS. – One of America’s premier golf families has a dilemma this week. In what is most likely an historical first, the family’s two most prominent golfijng members will be playing in major international team competitions at the same time.

While Keegan Bradley will be trying to help the U.S. team regain the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland his aunt, World Golf Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, will be trying to help the U.S. regain the ISPS Handa Cup at Old Waverly.

“It’s very exciting,’’ said Pat Bradley who – like Keegan – was on the losing side the last time the team competitions were held. “I’m trying to figure out how he’s going to find time to watch his aunt at the Handa Cup.’’

Keegan will certainly have more trouble following his aunt’s performance than Pat will have following Keegan’s.

“The nice thing about the Ryder Cup is, they (the TV networks) will be playing it all night long, so I can catch up on him,’’ said Pat.

Pat Bradley, 53, was the only daughter among the six children of Richard and Kay Bradley. Her father was an avid golfer while she was growing up in Massachusetts and one of her brothers, Mark, became a PGA professional in Wyoming.

Pat won 31 tournaments on the LPGA tour including six major titles. Keegan, Mark’s son, won the PGA Championship in 2011 – his rookie season on the PGA Tour – and took the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in 2012. The Bradleys were selected National Golf Family of the Year in 1989 by the National Golf Foundation,

Both Keegan, 28, and Pat are known as fierce competitors, which adds to their enthusiasm for what’s ahead in the next few days. Ryder Cup matches begin on Friday and Handa Cup matches, for members of the LPGA Legends Tour, tee off on Saturday. Both competitions conclude on Sunday.

“It’s an exciting moment,’’ said Pat. “It is history – the Ryder Cup and Handa Cup. I’m thrilled to be here, thrilled to be part of the Handa Cup. I know Keegan is thrilled to be part of the Ryder Cup. It’ll be fun, and we’ll work hard.’’

Though Keegan was a star on the losing U.S. side at Medinah in 2012, he needed an invitation from U.S. captain Tom Watson to make this year’s Ryder Cup.

“He was worried,’’ said Pat. “He was hoping, and did everything in his power to be there. I’m happy Tom picked him. Keegan’s a great match player. He gets that competition, and he and Phil (Mickelson) made an exceptional team in the last Ryder Cup. Everybody’s sitting on the edge of their seats looking forward to see how Phil and Keegan come out of the box.’’

They’ll team up in the fourth match of the morning session at Gleneagles. Pat’s partner for Saturday’s team matches at Old Waverly hasn’t been announced.

“I’ve got to concentrate on what I’m doing and play hard for my partner and for the Handa Cup,’’ she said.

As exciting as this first International Crown figures to be, the second staging in 2016 could well be even more eye-catching. It’ll be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL., 46 miles west of Chicago.

Rich Harvest is a much different place than Caves Valley. The ultra-private club has only 100 members. The facility is spread over 1,820 acres and includes a private car museum, miles of horseback-riding trails and three lakes stocked for fishing.

At the center of it all, though, is a beautiful golf course that didn’t have all 18 holes open until 17 years ago but is already an established tournament venue. Owner Jerry Rich has wanted it that way. Not only did he design the course and build it over a 10-year period, he was at the forefront in the creation of the International Crown – the showcase event at his very special place.

Simply put, Rich is a visionary with a passion for golf, the women’s version in particular.

“I want to create a legacy,’’ he said. “Bobby Jones created the Masters, so we can create the International Crown. I had long decided that I wanted to stay in women’s golf. It’s the type of product I wanted to be involved in.’’

Rich Harvest continues to be Chicago’s most active tournament venue. This year it hosted the men’s NCAA Central Regional in May and will host the Northern Intercollegiate, nearby Northern Illinois University’s showcase event, in September. In 2015 Rich Harvest will welcome the Western Amateur and Palmer Cup events and in 2017 it’ll be the site of the Western Golf Association’s 100th staging of the Western Junior Championship. Rich is making his biggest impact on the women’s side, however.

His involvement officially began in 2004, when he started a five-year project that resulted in Rich Harvest hosting one of the most successful Solheim Cups ever in 2009. The U.S. team came out the winner, but the staging was even more important. The event drew 120,00 spectators and averaged about 30,000 on days when the matches were in progress.

The success of that Solheim Cup only whetted Rich’s appetite for something even more significant. The International Crown fits that bill. He’s hopeful the event will find a permanent home at Rich Harvest; the 2016 event is just a starter.

“I contacted (LPGA commissioner) Mike Whan after the Solheim Cup,’’ said Rich. “I told him `You’ve got the greatest product in the world,’ but the Solheim Cup didn’t have the greatest players in women’s golf; they’re from Asia. We had to create something new and different, an event that would bring them into the competition.’’

Whan agreed, and a format for the International Crown was developed. Whan, however, wanted to get the Crown going in 2014 and Rich wasn’t ready for that. He needed time to develop related junior programs and organize a promotional effort even more elaborate than his Solheim Cup received.

Rich hired seven staffers two years ago. They began contacting high school and college girls’ teams and built a large database of contacts in 240 communities within 40 miles of Rich Harvest.

More important, though, the staffers alerted the Chicago consulates based in Chicago about the International Crown. All countries competing in this year’s International Crown have consulates based there, and about 30 attended an October luncheon at a Chicago restaurant. They were receptive, and there’ll be more contact with those groups as the second International Crown approaches.

“There will be only four Americans playing, so we’ve got to energize the ethnic bases,’’ said Rich. “We’ve got to get 1,000 or 2,000 out each day from the other countries. When Golf Channel shows it, that’ll making this thing really blossom. We don’t know how many total spectators we’ll get, but we should be able to match or exceed the number we had at the Solheim Cup.’’

Rich isn’t reluctant about declaring Chicago “the greatest city in the world,’’ and an ideal area for the Crown because of the global nature of its large population. There are, for instance, 50,000 Koreans living in the Chicago area. They’re sure to be excited about seeing their golf stars compete, especially after attending this year’s Watch Parties that the Rich Harvest staff has organized at various locations during the inaugural International Crown. The first Crown will be televised in 170 countries, so many more people world-wide will know about it by the time the matches begin at Rich Harvest.

Rich already invited the top Asian players on the LPGA Tour to visit Rich Harvest anytime over the next two years. None have seen the place yet, but they’ll be impressed once they get there.

The course, always among the best conditioned in the country, has consistently been listed in the elite Golf Digest rankings of America’s Top 100 Greatest Courses. It has state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor practice facilities in addition to 29 suites on the property. Rich Harvest is also home to the Kids Golf Foundation of Illinois, which has impacted the lives of over 100,000 youth since its inception in 1998.

Players on both the U.S. and European teams stayed in cottages on the property during Solheim Cup, but that won’t be the case in 2016. The 32 players will be housed at a luxury hotel 10 minutes from the course. The three estate houses on the course, which comprise 50 rooms, will house those with ambassador packages. There will be eight of them, each coming in at the $400,000 level and offering a variety of perks in addition to the on-course lodging.

The bulk of the other golf fans attending will find it easier to get to the course than those attending the Solheim did. Due to the popularity of the event, the Solheim had a 10-mile traffic backup at one point on the first day of the matches, but that problem won’t likely happen again. Roads were widened and a round-about built near the course to facilitate traffic flow. Alternate routes to the course have also been devised.

A diverse gallery is assured for the second International Crown. Chicago’s ethnic communities are expected to turn out in large numbers, but Rich is just as happy to predict “there’ll be a lot of young people here.’’

The youngsters will have more to watch than the competitive matches. A 5,000-square foot Kids Pavilion will include special stations to interest both the youth and adult visitors.

“It’ll be a learning experience. That’s all part of it,’’ said Rich.

Once Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel heard about plans for the International Crown he told Rich that “It’s the Olympics we didn’t get.’’

The city’s bid to host that premier international competition was rejected, but the International Crown promises to be a suitable replacement. And, if Rich has his way, it’ll be a long-lasting one.

“It’ll be huge – the biggest thing to ever hit golf,’’ Rich predicted. That remains to be seen – but no one’s arguing with him about it.