The 2021 Chicago golf season should be remembered for much more than pandemic-related issues. Some extraordinary building was going on at clubs across the Chicago area, and it wasn’t all done on golf courses. Golf course renovations are commonplace annually, but this year the most noteworthy upgrading related to clubhouses. Two facilities – The Preserve…
Features
Palm Aire’s Champions Course re-opens on Dec. 1
SARASOTA, FL. – The Champions Course at Palm Aire Country Club was one of the more difficult courses in Florida, and it may still be. It will, however, have a much different look when it re-opens following an extensive $2 million renovation on December 1. The original…
Opening nears for Palm Aire’s `re-imagined’ Champions Course
SARASOTA, FL. — It’s getting exciting now. We’ll soon have a new golf course – or at least a “re-imagined’’ one – to look at while we’re enjoying either our early morning coffee or late afternoon beverage of choice from the lanai of our new home. The Champions Course, at Palm Aire Country Club, was…
Fullmer is WWGA’s Woman of Distinction
Sandra Fullmer lives in California, now but the Women’s Western Golf Association gave its top honor – its Woman of Distinction award – to her at the WWGA’s annual meeting on Thursday at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe. Fullmer was selected for the coveted award in 2020 but the annual meeting was canceled because…
DiscoverGolf teaching program is going from Illinois to Desert Mountain
The golf lessons that Richard Franklin offers aren’t for everybody. “Some people look at what we do and say it’s not even golf,’’ admitted Franklin, but he can live with that. Franklin, 38, calls himself “a game designer.’’ That’s what his group lessons are – a series of games for youngsters as young as 4…
This Nicklaus did indeed enjoy having the `Best Seat in the House’
Book reviews were once a regular thing for me, until I realized I hadn’t done one in quite awhile. It’s not because I haven’t kept up a steady diet of reading on a fairly wide variety of topics. I continued to have a book going at all times, virtually all of the non-fiction variety, but…
Florida’s Palm-Aire course gets a `refreshing’ from a Midwest perspective
SARASOTA, FL. – Mike Benkusky had worked basically in the Midwest throughout his career as a golf course architect. That’s not surprising, given that he grew up in Iowa, did his college work at Iowa State and then entered the architectural world under the tutelage of long-time Chicago-based architect Bob Lohman. In 2005 Benkusky opened…
My reflections on the career of architect Arthur Hills
I wish I could say that I knew Arthur Hills better than I really did. Our only in-depth meeting came in 1993, when – as a Chicago golf columnist – I was invited to the Grand Opening of one of his designs, called The Thoroughbred in Rothbury, Mich. I do know Hills’ work quite…
Frank Jemsek: A giant in the history of Chicago golf
Being the son of a famous father isn’t always easy. Frank Jemsek, however, had a famous father, Joe. He did many great things in golf, as both a player and course operator, and Frank has followed in his footsteps. Frank, who turned 80 in December, followed his father into the family business at the tender…
ING Media Awards honor four from LZOG partner sites
Friday was a big day for Len Ziehm on Golf and its partner websites. Four of us won Outstanding Achiever designations at the 23rd annual International Network of Golf Media Awards, which is part of the 68th PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. I was especially happy for my broadcast partner Rory Spears, who was honored…