Pat Goss and Jeff Mory, both long prominent in Chicago golf, are busy guys.

Goss is director of golf at Northwestern, head coach of the NU men’s team and the swing coach of Luke Donald. Mory is director of golf at Conway Farms, the Lake Forest course that includes Donald among its members. It will host the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship in September.

Mory’s pupils include University of Iowa golfers Vince India and Brad Hopfinger – the Illinois State Amateur champions of 2010 and 2011, respectively.

In one way or another Goss and Mory have worked together for over 20 years, and now they’re collaborating again – with a relatively new program that isn’t yet as high-profile as Goss’ NU golf program or Mory’s world-class golf club.

In 2011 the two co-founded the Wildcat Golf Academy in an effort to fill a need in junior golf. Goss describes the Academy as “the first NCAA-legal sports club for golf.’’ Sports clubs are common in other sports, like volleyball and soccer, but it wasn’t so easy to get similar opportunities for golfers. Lots of paperwork needed to be done, but it was all worthwhile.

“There’s a huge demand for us to work with junior golfers,’’ said Goss, “but it was hard for me because it’s against NCAA rules to give private lessons to a high school boy. This program is NCAA approved. It’s the only program of its kind in the country.’’

Mory, an Illinois high school champion in 1982, was the Northwestern men’s coach from 1990-97. During that period he was the Big Ten coach-of-the-year in 1994. Goss was, at first, one of his NU players.

In 1992 Goss became Mory’s assistant and took over as head coach when Mory moved to Conway Farms. The Wildcats have won four Big Ten titles and 32 tournaments in Goss’ 18 seasons. His players have won seven Big Ten individual titles – Scott Rowe (1995), Jonathan Loosemore (1996), Donald (2000 and 2001), Chris Wilson (2006), Eric Chun (2009) and David Lipsky (2010).

Coinciding with their success in their other jobs, Goss and Mory broadened their scope by creating the Wildcat Golf Academy.

“We felt something was missing for junior golfers,’’ said Goss. “If they’re going to improve this is the direction to go.’’

The Wildcat Golf Academy is a year-around program. Budding golfers don’t need to head to warm weather climates in the winter. They can get what they need to grow their skills in the north suburbs. Academy members work at the Luke Donald Practice Facility at The Glen Club in Glenview in the spring, summer and fall and use either the Gleacher Golf Center, located in the landmark Patten Gymnasium, or the all-purpose Trienens Center on NU’s Evanston campus in the winter.

Patten is famous for being the site of the first NCAA basketball tournament in 1939. The Gleacher Center, which opened as part of a renovation in 1987, is historic as well. It was the first facility of its kind in college golf with its 2,000-square foot pitching and putting green and adjacent sand trap. The Trienens Center can be netted like a dome for golf and has enough room for pitch shots.

Goal of the Academy is to develop highly motivated junior golfers who have the desire to compete at the highest level locally, regionally and nationally. The same teaching principles that Goss and Mory have used on their other jobs are utilized in the Academy, but the staff is much larger than just the two co-founders.

The Academy has three levels. Sam McKenney handles the juniors, youngsters who start at age 10 and must have taken lessons before they enroll. McKenney is an assistant coach for both men’s and women’s teams at Northwestern and also a teaching professional at Knollwood Club in Lake Forest.

Goss and Mory oversee the other two levels – academy and elite — with a staff of well-qualified instructors. They include David Inglis, assistant coach of the NU men’s team; Beth Miller, assist for the NU women’s squad; Conway Farms assistants Harlan Chemers and Jamie Fischer; Dan Massello, assistant professional at Evanston Golf Club; and Daniel Gray, assistant at Skokie.

While the Academy is for “highly motivated’’ players, Goss admits “there are different levels of commitment within the group.’’

The junior level is geared for kids to learn in a fun manner. The academy is for fifth graders and up and the elite is where students work in small groups twice a week directly with Goss and Mory. Fitness training is also included, directed by Cory Puyear – Northwestern’s strength and conditioning specialist who also works with golfers on the pro tours. Participants must live within 50 miles of the Evanston.

The Wildcat Golf Academy has quadrupled in size since its first sessions but the most interesting aspect is the summer-to-winter ratio.

“The offseason (winter) is become a critical time,’’ said Goss. “We do all the things we can’t do when the players are competing. The lowest number of our participants is in the summer, the highest in the winter. That’s the opposite of most teaching programs.’’

The effectiveness of the program is showing in tournament play, particularly in the Illinois Junior Golf Assn. events. Academy members like Bennett Cotton, Chip Savarie John Kryscio, Jason Paek, Blake Yaccino and Ethan Farnam have been among the very best in those competitions.

Remember those names. Could one of them emerge as the “next Luke Donald’’ in a few years? It’ll be interesting to find out.

Registration information is available at www.wildcatgolfacademy.com.

Owner Jim McWethy has made still another enhancement to his Mistwood golf club, in Romeoville, IL.

McWethy has announced that Dr. Jim Suttie has joined the teaching staff that will work out of Mistwood’s Performance Center.

Suttie said that the chance to work in the new state-of-the-art facility led to him ending his long relationship with Cog Hill, in Lemont.

“That was the overriding factor,’’ said McWethy. “I’ve always wanted to have a place like this. I couldn’t pass it up.’’

“We’re delighted to have him,’’ said McWethy. “It fits our goal of bringing absolutely top quality in every aspect of the game.’’

“We have the best equipment, and now we have the best as far as teaching is concerned,’’ said Dan Phillips, Mistwood’s director of golf. “This will set us apart as the place to come out, take lessons and work on your game.’’

Prior to Suttie’s arrival Mistwood added John Platt, the Illinois PGA’s teacher-of-the-year, in 2012 to its staff. The arrival of Suttie and Platt follow two years of facility work at Mistwood. Michigan architect Ray Hearn supervised a course renovation, which was highlighted by the construction of 20 striking sod-wall bunkers, and the indoor-outdoor Performance Center opened this spring to rave reviews. Suttie’s presence will make that busy place even busier now.

Suttie’s teaching career was highlighted by his selection at national teacher of the year by the PGA of America in 2000, but he was a recognized and respected instructor in the Chicago area long before that. He grew up in DeKalb, IL., and learned the game at Kishwaukee Country Club, where he once covered its 18 holes in a record 63.

A Northern Illinois University graduate in 1970, Suttie moved on to Middle Tennessee University to earn his doctorate degree in biomechanics. As part of his studies there he did his thesis on “A Biomechanical Comparison between Conventional Golf Swing Technique and a Unique Kinesthetic Feed Back Technique.’’

Prior to teaching full-time Suttie was a successful college coach, directing teams at Northwestern, Florida Gulf Coast and Eastern Kentucky. He was also in charge at Brevard, in Florida, where his prize pupil was former PGA champion and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger. The many PGA and LPGA players Suttie has worked with include Chicago tourists Kevin Streelman, Mark Wilson and Chip Beck.

Suttie’s Chicago area teaching stops include Medinah (1988-96), Cog Hill (1996-2002 and 2005-2013) and Green Garden, in Frankfort (2003-04).

He has also taken his teaching program on the road, with stints at Pine Needles and Southern Pines in North Carolina, Tamarisk in California and TwinEagles in Florida. He’ll continue to work at TwinEagles in the winter, but – in a departure from previous years – he’ll leave that facility in Naples to make periodic teaching visits to both Mistwood’s Performance Center and McQ’s, the McWethy-owned indoor facility in Bolingbrook.

The move won’t change his teaching clientele much, Suttie said.

“They’ve got serious technology here (at Mistwood),’’ said Suttie, “and the people who see me are real serious. They will come from everywhere. It doesn’t matter where I go, they will find me.’’

Big golf events used to be commonplace in Chicago. Now, not so much.

No U.S. Opens or PGA Championships are scheduled in these parts. The PGA Tour comes only every other year, for the BMW Championship. The LPGA and Buy.com Tour no longer make annual stops here. Only the Champions Tour, with its new Encompass Championship, offers that.

Enter Jerry Rich. His influence on the golf landscape is a broad one.

He built his own course, Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove – and it’s one of the best in the country. He’s also been a leader in growing the game, thanks to his non-profit Kids Golf Foundation that has impacted the lives of 150,000 youth since its founding in 1998. The respected caddie program at Rich Harvest has also helped in that regard.

Rich Harvest may be an ultra-private club, but Rich has used his course for numerous fundraisers, most notably the Bob Murphy Pro-Am that has been held the past 10 years.

The point of this piece, though, is what Rich has been doing lately. That’s extraordinary, too.

In January he was in Florida to participate in the announcement of a new LPGA event – the International Crown – at the massive PGA Merchandise Show. Less than six months later Rich was at the forefront of another announcement, when Arnold Palmer reported that his Palmer Cup event would be played at Rich Harvest in 2015.

Life hasn’t been easy for Rich the past few years. He won his own battle with cancer in the months leading up to Rich Harvest hosting its biggest event so far – the 2009 Solheim Cup battle between the LPGA teams from the U.S. and Europe. Then, last month Rich lost his wife Betty after her lengthy battle with health problems.

Through all that Rich has worked behind the scenes to underscore his commitment to amateur golf and keep the big events coming.

The Solheim – which brought 120,000 spectators to Sugar Grove — may have provided the biggest boost to Rich Harvest’s international profile, but prior to that the course hosted the Western Junior Championship and Mid-American Conference Championship in 2003 and 2012 and the NCAA Division I Central Regional in 2007. (The latter will return to Rich Harvest in 2014).

Even with the Palmer Cup and International Crown on the horizon, Rich Harvest will be the site of two more Western Golf Assn. championships – the Western Amateur in 2015 and the Centennial Western Junior in 2017.

Make no mistake, though. The Palmer Cup will take the course’s impact on college golf to a higher level and the International Crown will be the biggest event yet on Rich Harvest’s calendar. Those events may seem a bit far down the road now, but they will merit periodic updates leading up to their stagings. Let this be the first one.

The Palmer Cup dates to 1997, when the legendary Arnold Palmer created an annual Ryder Cup-style competition between the college stars of the U.S. and Europe.

“A unique event – the 10 best Americans against the 10 best European-born (college) players,’’ said Rich. “Arnold wants to bring it to a whole new level and raise a little more money, because they don’t have the sponsors in Europe that we have here.’’

Former PGA of America president Jim Awtrey contacted Rich on Palmer’s behalf in the winter of 2012. An agreement to host the event was made this spring.

In landing a Palmer Cup Rich Harvest joins the list of famous layouts that have hosted the competition. Past venues in the U.S. include Baltusrol, Kiawah, Whistling Straits and Cherry Hills while the matches in Europe have been held at St. Andrews, Royal Liverpool, Ballybunion, Prestwick, Royal Portrush and Royal County Down.

Past participants in the matches include Luke Donald, Russell Henley Jonathan Byrd, Lucas Glover, Ben Curtis, Hunter Mahan, Graeme McDowell, Dustin Johnson and Bill Haas. So, count on the pro stars of the future coming to Rich Harvest in 2015.

Rich went right from the Palmer Cup announcement, made during the 20 1/2-9 ½ U.S. victory in this year’s Palmer Cup at Wilmington (Del.) Country Club in June, to Baltimore for more meetings on the International Crown. This will also be a biennial team event, with LPGA stars from eight countries competing. This first staging will be at Cave’s Valley in Maryland in 2014.

“It’s going to be huge, the biggest thing that ever happened to the LPGA,’’ said Rich. “I told Mike Whan (LPGA commissioner) that he has one of the greatest products in the world and that we had to create an event that would bring the great players in. This way the American public can start identifying with these girls.’’

The rosters for each country will be determined on a two-year point system, and competition for both player and country to qualify for the event will be intense. That’ll become more evident as the inaugural International Crown approaches and determination of the 32 players and eight countries is on the line.

Though he was prominent in the creation of the event Rich didn’t want to host the first one. He wanted additional time to develop data that would be helpful in staging the event long-term That led to Rich and his staff gathering information on 1,800 girls high school teams in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. They’ll play a prominent role prior to and during the event’s staging at Rich Harvest.

Rich has given me an inkling of the exciting things coming down the road regarding the International Crown, but we’ll leave the announcements to him and his capable staff. Suffice it to say, Rich Harvest’s first venture with the International Crown probably won’t be its last.

“We’re hoping we can keep the International Crown here forever,’’ Rich said. “Mike Whan gave me until the end of the year to find sponsors, and possibly Rich Harvest could do it. Chicago needs that event, and I’d rather have these (players from different countries) come to Chicago.’’

More to the point, if big golf events are to be played here with any regularity Chicago needs the efforts of Jerry Rich to make it happen.

Clair Peterson, tournament director for the John Deere Classic, has felt blessed – and with good reason.

From 2009-2011 he had a very popular champion whose presence enhanced the interest in the JDC. Steve Stricker, from nearby Madison, Wis., tried to become only the fifth golfer in 140 years to win a major professional tournament four straight times last July. That made the 2012 JDC international news.

Stricker wasn’t successful in his bid for a four-peat, but the interest generated by his attempt led to the JDC raising a record $6.79 million for 493 local and regional charities. That dollar figure was a staggering $1.5 million over the previous high, and the PGA Tour presented the tourney with its Most Engaged Community Award for 2012.

Though Stricker won’t be playing for such a lofty spot in golf history, this year’s JDC – scheduled for July 8-14 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis — wil have a defending champion who is every bit as popular in the Quad Cities.

Zach Johnson dethroned Stricker, and no player is closer to the tournament than Johnson. He’s been a JDC board member since 2003 — his rookie season on the PGA Tour.

“We’ve had great story lines,’’ said Peterson, the tournament director since ’03. “Steve Stricker is a humble, hard-working guy who comes back for every media day. He made a tremendous title defense that wasn’t over until an hour before the finish on Sunday. And now we have Zach, a favorite son who has been with us through good and bad times. We couldn’t have scripted it any better.’’

Johnson’s connection with the tournament began the year before Peterson moved into his present position.

“In 2002 Zach, being from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had a network of investors that lobbied for us to give this kid a chance.’’

Johnson was given a sponsor’s exemption that year, but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut. He asked Johnson for an exemption the following year, when he was starting his career on the Nationwide Tour.

“He called me Mr. Peterson then, and I told him we should be on a first-name basis,’’ said Peterson. The exemption was granted, but Johnson missed the cut again. He did, however, blossom on the Nationwide (now Buy.com Tour) and wound up that circuit’s leading money-winner.

That feat earned Johnson his PGA Tour card, and Johnson invited him to become a JDC board member. Johnson, armed with a business degree from Drake University in DesMoines, Iowa, has retained that role ever since and never missed the tournament even when it might have been to his own detriment.

In 2007 Johnson won the Masters and could have picked up a very significant appearance fee to play in a European tournament the week of that year’s JDC. He chose to return to the Quad Cities instead.

Even before that Johnson went the extra mile to help the event that he regularly refers to as “my fifth major.’’ When Vijay Singh, the champion in 2003, declined to appear at media day for the 2004 tournament Johnson stepped in.

“We didn’t know what to do, so we asked Zach to take on that role. Now, 10 years later, there’s a good bookend to that story,’’ said Peterson. Johnson, as this year’s defending champion, gets the spotlight at the next media day event this month (JUNE).

As a board member Johnson has recruited top players to the Quad Cities, John Huh being one of them for this year. Johnson was also instrumental in Peterson’s wildly successful decision to hire a jet to take players directly from the Quad Cities to the British Open instead of increasing the tournament purse.

Johnson advised the JDC was to hire the jet because “it’d make the players’ life easier.’’ In so doing, it greatly improved the field at the Quad Cities in its traditional dates the week before the year’s third major championship across the pond. In 2011 South African Louis Oosthuizen prepared to defend his British title by playing in the JDC instead of resting or playing in a European event for a substantial appearance fee.

Oosthuizen enjoyed his Quad Cities experience so much in 2011 that he used his prize money to buy a John Deere tractor for his family farm in South Africa. This year he’s returning to the Quad Cities with his father and father-in-law so that they can get the same tour of the John Deere plant that he received.

Johnson, of course, is no longer a resident of Cedar Rapids. He and his family (wife Kim, sons Will and Wyatt and daughter Abby) live in Sea Pines, Ga., where the weather is more conducive to year-around golf. Johnson’s parents, though, still live in Cedar Rapids and he’s been able to maintain his duties with the JDC board despite his PGA Tour commitments.

“Our board has 37 people overall and the executive committee has about eight people,’’ explained Peterson. “We meet once a month before board meetings and Zach calls in. He couldn’t possible be there.’’

But he has learned to play TPC Deere Run over the years. He finished second to Stricker in 2009 tied for third in 2011 before his breakthrough win last year. It came in a two-hole playoff with Troy Matteson, the clinching birdie coming when Johnson hit a 6-iron from 193 yards on the No. 18 hole to within inches of the cup.

That was Johnson’s ninth win on the PGA Tour. Stricker wound up fifth, tied with Luke Guthrie – another University of Illinois golfer who got into the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption. Stricker, though he’s playing a very limited schedule, will be back in the JDC field.

“I wasn’t surprised he wanted a limited schedule,’’ said Peterson. “He is focused first and foremost on his family, and being away from home so much truly bothered him. Financially he has been very successful, and making that decision took the pressure off him. He goes out when he wants, when he’s healthy and refreshed.’’

Even on a limited schedule Stricker has been very competitive in the tournaments he has played in. Maybe a Johnson-Stricker duel at TPC Deere Run will be in the offing. In the Quad Cities there couldn’t be anything better.

There are two major changes coming to amateur golf in the Chicago area for 2013. Both involve scheduling, and both represent improvements from the way things were.

For starters, the Chicago District Golf Assn. made one major schedule change, as well as a few others. The big one has the men’s 83rd Illinois State Amateur leaving its longstanding August spot on the calendar and moving to July 16-18. It’ll be contested at Aldeen, in Rockford.

The Illinois Mid-Amateur and Illinois Public Links are also moving back in the schedule, and that’s good, too.

Secondly, on the women’s side, the 80th staging of the Illinois Women’s Amateur is getting a slightly later date and a rare appearance in the Chicago Area. It’ll be played at Cantigny, in Wheaton, from June 25-28. That puts it closer to the only other big event in women’s golf for Illinois players. The 18th Illinois Women’s Open, which will get a July 31 start at Mistwood in Romeoville, is expected to have an amateur-dominated field again.

These changes have been generally – but not universally – well-received. Let’s have a look at them both.

In moving back the State Amateur the CDGA staff felt it was easing the burden on its top players. The U.S. Amateur was in August, too, and that put two of their primary events close together. In fact, they were held on back-to-back weeks in 2012.

Now the U.S. Am is Aug. 12-18, in Brookline, Mass. – roughly a month after the Illinois Amateur champion is determined.

“It’s a good thing,’’ said Dave Ryan, the Taylorville veteran who was the CDGA’s Player-of-the-Year in 2012. “For a lot of kids (the State Am) was up against the U.S. Amateur, and it was hard for them to get to both.’’

From a non-contestant standpoint, the schedule changes are good because they create a month of golf excitement in Illinois rather than spacing out the events, as has been the case in the past. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic is the week before the Illinois Amateur and the Illinois Open is the week after.

Quinn Prchal, the surprise winner of last year’s State Am, isn’t quite as convinced.

“It does appear that in 2013 most of the Illinois and Amateur tournaments are concentrated within a fewer number of weeks,’’ he said. “I imagine that scheduling golf tournaments is challenging.’’

He plans on defending his Illinois Amateur title “unless I qualify for the USGA Public Links.’’ That national championship is July 14-20 at Laurel Valley, in Pennsylvania.

Prchal became one of youngest State Am champions in history when he took the title at Kokopelli, in Marion, at 18 — just a few months after his high school graduation. He’s now a freshman at Princeton. The engineering student earned a starting spot on the Princeton team and had one individual top-10 finish (the Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Ga.) and one team win (the Ivy League Match Play Championship, held on Princeton’s course) as his collegiate golf career got off to a promising start.

Ryan, conversely, may be the oldest-ever CDGA Player-of-the-Year, having won the honor at age 58. Now a year older, he spent much of the winter playing recreational golf in Scottsdale, Ariz. The lone exception was his participation in an April two-man team event at Whisper Rock, the prestigious club that includes such pro stars as Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples (as well as Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman) among its members.

Though he will continue his busy tournament schedule within Illinois, Ryan isn’t predicting another Player-of-the-Year season.

“I’m starting to feel aches and pains I’ve never felt before,’’ said Ryan, “and last year will be a tough act to follow. I got lucky last year. It was unusual for someone my age to do that.’’

Ryan expects to play in virtually the same events he played in during the 2012 season with one exception. He’ll skip the 94th CDGA Amateur (June 24-27 at Edgewood Valley, in LaGrange) to play in a qualifying round for the U.S. Senior Open on June 24 at Ruth Lake, in Hinsdale.

But he likes the other, less-high profile schedule adjustments made by the CDGA, those involving the Illinois Mid-Amateur (now Aug. 27-28 at Flossmoor) and the Illinois Public Links (now July 8-9 at Bowes Creek in Elgin). The Mid-Am was in April and the Public Links in May in 2012.

“Those were good moves because (they avoided) the spring weather,’’ said Ryan. “We had snow one time at the Public Links.’’

Last year was an unusual one, and not just because Ryan was the CDGA Player-of-the-Year. Though he won that award, he wasn’t Player-of-the-Year in the Senior ranks. That honor went to Lake Bluff’s Curtis Skinner, who accumulated enough points with his runner-up finish in the U.S. Senior Amateur.

That extraordinary tournament showing won’t lead to Skinner playing more locally, so the schedule changes “won’t affect me at all.’’

“If I had more time I would play in more of the state stuff,’’ said Skinner, “but Match Play events take up significant time, and amateur golf can be very expensive.’’

Especially if you have to travel to do it. By virtue of his showing at U.S. Senior Am, Skinner, now 55, earned spots in the U.S. Senior Open in July in Nebraska and U.S. Amateur as well as a return to U.S. Senior Amateur, in North Carolina.

His biggest focus will be on the U.S. Senior Open, where he missed the cut by one shot in 2011 when he made bogey on the last hole of the second round.

On the women’s front, the Illinois Women’s Golf Assn. could get another Northwestern vs. Illinois final again at Cantigny, assuming the college stars from both schools enter again. Elizabeth Szokol, now an NU freshman, won the 2012 title match over Michelle Mayer, now an Illini sophomore, at Ravisloe, in Homewood.

With IWGA leadership largely coming from Downstate, the Illinois Women’s Amateur was generally played away from the Chicago area. Last year was a rare exception, and in moving to Cantigny for this year the women will decide their champion on a course that has already hosted the men’s State Amateur three times.

Getting the chance to play Cantigny was a big reason for the date change, according to IWGA president Karen Tillett of Springfield. Cantigny was booked earlier in June.

“We’ve never had it this late before,’’ she said. “We were fortunate to get into Cantigny.’’

The IWGA will host its 34th Junior tournament July 30-31 at the University of Illinois’ course in Savoy and its 44th Senior tournament Sept. 17-19 at The Den at
Fox Creek in Bloomington. The Senior event will also include a Hall of Fame induction for the IWGA. Renee Sloan, the University of Illinois coach, will become on the fourth inductee into that Hall, which was created in 2008.

Luke Donald is just one of three Illinois players in their year’s Masters field. The other two – Kevin Streelman and D.A. Points – are in the field for the first time since making their tournament debuts in 2011.

Streelman (75-74) and Points (72-76) both failed to survive the 36-hole cut in their Masters debuts, and they’re coming into this one with different preparations.

Points should be tired. He qualified for the Masters by winning the Shell Houston Open two weeks ago. Rather than take a week off he opted to fulfill a commitment to play in the Valero Texas Open last week. He tied for 53rd place there – his sixth straight week of tournaments and his 11th event in the first three months of the year.

Streelman also played the week after his win, at last month’s Tampa Bay Championship, and tied for 21st at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He rested in Arizona the last two weeks while the tour was competing in Texas.

FIRST LOCAL EVENT: Donald’s coach, Pat Goss, will divide his attention between helping Donald and preparing his Northwestern men’s team for one of its biggest tournaments of the season.

On Monday, the day after the Masters, Goss’ Wildcats will host 13 other teams in the Kemper Sports Intercollegiate at The Glen Club in Glenview. It’ll be the first significant competition of the Chicago season and the Wildcats’ last tuneup for the Big Ten Championship April 26-28 at French Lick, Ind.

NU’s tournament has a big Illinois flavor, with the field also including DePaul, Loyola, Chicago State, Bradley, Northern Illinois, Illinois State and Western Illinois. Marquette, Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis, Dayton, Ohio, Ohio State and St. John’s round out the field for the event that calls for 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

IPGA DEBUT: First event of the Illinois PGA tournament season is Monday – the Spring Pro-Assistants team competition at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. opens its season on April 23 with the Better Ball of Pairs event at The Glen Club.