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IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Woods won’t have White Eagle record for long

Sooner rather than later one of Tiger Woods’ longest-standing course records will be broken. I suspect it won’t take long. Curtis Malm just needs to find someone willing to play the championship tees with him at White Eagle Golf Club.

No one plays back there these days on White Eagle’s Red-White rotation of nines that comprise its championship course. (Another course record of 64 was set by member Ron Potter in 1998 using the regular tees).

Woods was still an amateur in the mid-1990s when he shot 4-under-par 68 while in town to play in the Western Open. Malm, the Illinois PGA Player-of-the-Year the last two seasons, became White Eagle’s head professional last winter and certainly has the game to take Woods’ name off the record books – and you can be sure he’ll be trying to do just that.

White Eagle players face a shot towards the clubhouse to finish their rounds.
In the meantime, White Eagle is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It’s a vibrant private club located in Naperville on the Aurora border that has a tournament history that shouldn’t be forgotten.

The club was created amidst cornfields for its opening in 1989. Just three years later its Red-White nines were used for the LPGA Chicago Sun-Times Shootout. The tourney was first held the year before at Oak Brook Golf Club, when Martha Nause produced one of the greatest finishes in LPGA history to win the title.

Nause finished birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle, holing out from the fairway on the last hole to beat Kris Monaghan by one stroke in the LPGA’s first return to Chicago in 18 years. The LPGA had a Chicago stop in its first season of 1950, but was a very sporadic visitor after that. Though the U.S. Women’s Open was played at LaGrange Country Club in 1974 and 1981, the last LPGA Tour stop before the Sun-Times Shootout was in 1973 – the Child & Family Service Open at Midlane, in Wadsworth.

As exciting as Nause’s win at Oak Brook was, the tourney profile was definitely elevated by the move to White Eagle – the first Arnold Palmer-designed course in Illinois.

White Eagle hosted in 1992, when Dottie Mochrie won the title. (She was married then, but later assumed her maiden name of Pepper and went on to a career as a top TV golf analyst).

The Sun-Times’ role as title sponsor ended after the 1993 tourney, won by a relative unknown in Cindy Schreyer, and Peter Fleming – best known as John McEnroe’s doubles partner on the tennis circuit – was the leader in keeping the event alive in 1994. The tourney was renamed the Chicago Challenge, and Jane Geddes was the champion.

Sponsorship was hard to come by after that, but the successful three-year run at White Eagle led to Chicago getting the U.S. Women’s Open again in 2000 (Karrie Wood winning at the Merit Club in Libertyville) and another LPGA Tour stop. The Kellogg-Keebler Classic was played at Stonebridge, in Aurora, from 2002-04 and it had high-profile champions in Annika Sorenstam (2002, 2003) and Webb (2004).

White Eagle hasn’t needed big tournaments to thrive since then. It added its Blue nine in 1996, making it one of the few private facilities in Chicago with more than 18 holes. A few years ago a golf simulator was added for use in the winter. The club has 75 players in its busy junior program, a caddie program that employs 40-45 youngsters, clay courts for tennis buffs and a swimming program that has participants from beyond the club membership.

The Chicago District Golf Association’s Sunshine Through Golf program also is a six-week visitor during the summer and the club hosts about 80 weddings and 20 corporate outings each year.

Malm’s arrival suggests a significant competitive event might be in the club’s future again, but only time will tell. For now club leadership is planning a renovation process that will strictly focus on enhancing the golf experiences for its members and guests. Part of the 25th anniversary celebration included an outing that featured Greg Huigens (photo below at right), who was both the men’s champion and men’s senior champion at White Eagle in 2013. Joining us the the celebration outing are Chicagoland Golf publisher Val Russell (left) and club historian Chip Wagner (second from left).

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Tweaking is almost done at Erin Hills

Erin Hills has undergone more than its share of tweaks in its brief history, but interest in the layout 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee has never wavered. In fact, enthusiasm for the course has grown with each of the changes made since the opening in 2006.

It’s good news, though, that the alterations are just about done.

“Except for the practice putting green we’re pretty much where we want to be for the U.S. Open,’’ said Jim Reinhart, ‘’ general chairman for the national championship’s first-ever staging in Wisconsin in 2017.

Erin Hills’ new third green isn’t short on pin placements after what figures to be the last big tweak to the course in preparation for the 2017 U.S. Open.
Reinhart, president of the Wisconsin State Golf Assn., was also general chairman of the 2011 U.S. Amateur played at Erin Hills. He likes the progress that’s been made since then. Work on the course began in 2004 under the direction of architects Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten, and Erin Hills became the first course awarded a USA championship (the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links) before it even opened for play.

None of the events staged so far will have the impact the Open will have, of course. Recent U.S. Opens have had an economic impact on its area of between $120 and $160 million. Erin Hills is excited about its upcoming time in the sun – and is already looking behind 2017.

“We’ve seen tremendous building in and around the golf course,’’ said Reinhart. “We’re proud of where we’ve come from and where’s we’re at today. We certainly hope this is just the beginning for U.S. Opens at Erin Hills. We don’t look on this as a one-and-done opportunity.’’

The course has conducted media briefing days each year since being awarded its U.S. Open, and this year’s spotlight was put on Zach Reineking, the course superintendent who was on the job even before the course opened. He outlined the most recent changes, the biggest coming at the par-4 third hole, which is designed to play at 478 yards from the back tees. Reineking said No. 3 turned into a bigger project than originally planned.

“It started with a re-design of just the green,’’ he said.

This is the new fourth cottage, which adds to the lodging options at Erin Hills.

In the end, though, that putting surface wasn’t just re-designed to get more pin locations. It was also moved 18 yards to the right and three bunkers were added to protect it.

“Now it’s one of our better holes,’’ Reineking said.

Two new tees were added at No. 5, another was put it at No. 15 to create the possibility of a drive-able par-4 and still another was put in at No. 17 to create a different angle into the fairway.

“One reason the USGA liked Erin Hills was because (executive director) Mike Davis liked the flexibility of the golf course,’’ said Reinhart. “We also have the space (more than 652 acres) for the corporate setup, and we’re excited about the number of spectators we can have for 2017 (an estimated 45,000 per day). We’re one of the few places where you can have corporate hospitality right on the golf course, and we’re sure we’ll have a lot of that here.’’

Erin Hills now has many similarities with Pinehurst No. 2, which hosted both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open this year. That was the first time those big events were staged back-to-back on the same course and the experiment has generally been considered a success.

“We share a lot of the same philosophies as Pinehurst. We have very restricted irrigation,’’ said Reineking. “How we manage our course is very similar to Pinehurst. If we get rain, we get rain. If not we allow those fairways to burn out.’’

Pinehurst has its wire-grass in the rough areas. Erin Hills has 140 acres of unmowed fescue. In recent years 2,000 trees were removed, and that opened up more panoramic views.

“It’s been an evolutionary process,’’ said Reineking. “We’ve gone through several changes since 2006, and the next three years we’ll refine details for 2017.’’

General chairman Jim Reinhart updates the media on Erin Hills’ preparations for the 2017 U.S. Open. John Morrissett, the club’s competitions director, looks on.
John Morrissett, Erin Hills’ competitions director, said tickets would go on sale for the 2017 U.S. Open shortly after; the 2016 U.S. Open concludes at Chambers Bay, in University Place, Wash. Like Wisconsin in 2017, next year’s Open will break new ground, too. It’ll be the first time the national championship is played in the Pacific Northwest.

Two USGA staffers will move to Erin Hills this winter. By the end of 2015 there’ll be a recruitment for volunteers.

“Our U.S. Amateur needed 800,’’ said Morrissett. “The U.S. Open will need about 5,000. We’re fortunate in that we have an enthusiastic, experienced base of volunteers.’’

In the meantime, this future U.S. Open venue continues to attract curious golfers from throughout the world. They’ll be coming right up to the closing date on Oct. 26. It’s all part of the extraordinary golf boom that has engulfed the entire state of Wisconsin the last few years.

“We went from a golf wasteland to one of the premier destinations in American championship golf,’’ said Reinhart.

And that golf boom won’t be subsiding any time soon. Golfers will keep coming.

As far as Erin Hills is concerned, that led to the building of a fourth four-bedroom cottage on the premises that’s now available. Rooms start at $195, suites at $450 and cottages at $1,100. The 2014 green fee is $225 per player plus caddie fees ($50 per player plus a suggested gratuity of $45 per bag).

There’ll also be an event to whet the appetite for the spectator golf to come. Erin Hills will host the Wisconsin State Amateur in 2015.

Wisconsin’s golf boom really started at Blackwolf Run two decade ago

KOHLER, Wis. – What’s been going on in golf in Wisconsin is astonishing.

Another PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup coming to Whistling Straits. A U.S. Open on its way to Erin Hills. A Robert Trent Jones renovation of the famous Flower Hole at Sentry World. A new Mike Keiser resort, Sand Valley, with four courses to be built near Wisconsin Rapids.

That’s a ton of major development for a state with a short golf season, but the boom has been in the works for awhile.

Like, say, about 25 years.

With all due respect to the Lake Geneva resorts, Grand Geneva and Geneva National, the dramatic surge in golf development in the Badger state the last few years has roots to Herb Kohler’s decision to bring in architect Pete Dye. He designed the Blackwolf Run course at The American Club.

Elevated tee shots aren’t unusual at Blackwolf Run, and they can create some scenic challenges.

Blackwolf Run has changed a lot since the likes of Ernie Els and Greg Norman competed in the World Championships of Golf there from 1995-97. A year later the U.S. Women’s Open came to Blackwolf and produced an epic victory by Korean Se Ri Pak. That really set the stage for the influx of great Asian players on the LPGA Tour.

Then Kohler made the unusual decision to add another 18 holes at Blackwolf. Dye’s original 18 was named Best New Public Course for 1988 by Golf Digest. In expanding Kohler allowed the River and Meadow Valley nines to be put on different courses to create a 36-hole complex.

The move paid off. More championship golf came to Kohler when Whistling Straits became a reality and more came to other areas of Wisconsin once Kohler showed it could be done.

Now – before the excitement of the 2015 PGA Championship, the 2017 U.S. Open, the opening of Keiser’s next project and the opening of a reported fifth course in the Kohler area — is a good time to spend some quality time where it all began. Blackwolf Run remains one of the nation’s premier golf destinations. A trip to Kohler shouldn’t center on rounds at Whistling Straits. Blackwolf Run remains a great place to play, even if big tournaments won’t be there for awhile.

The 2012 U.S. Women’s Open was its latest venture on golf’s big stage, and the original 18 was put back together for that event. Visitors won’t get to play the original layout, but the two separate 18s are just fine. So is the historic hotel and the adjacent Carriage House Annex with its spa, and the Horse & Plow restaurant remains a hot spot.

While quality remains, this season is unique. A lot of planning will be done, as Jason Mengel has set up headquarters to direct the 2015 PGA Championship and Michael Belot has returned to his home town as both general manager of Destination Kohler and vice chairman (behind David Kohler) of the PGA Championship.

Belot had spent time away, as director of the 2006 and 2009 PGA Championships and the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah and considered more roles with the PGA of America before heading home. His family moved to Kohler in 1978, when he was one year old, and he lived there until going off to college in 1996. Other family members have continued to live in the Kohler area.

“I had some great opportunities with the PGA after the Ryder Cup,’’ said Belot, “but I thought this would be a perfect fit. I have two young sons and would be re-locating every few years (had he remained with the PGA). This works out well for me personally and professionally.’’

He’s got a much bigger job now, with responsibility for all lodging, the Sports Core, nine restaurants and – among many other things – the proposed new course.

Though its location — on 247 acres of Kohler-owned land near the own of Wilson, 10 miles south of Whistling Straits — has been disclosed and Dye has been on the property, further details on the project are hush-hush at the moment. Plans were submitted to the Wilson planning commissioner on May 12, and Belot says “We’re just working through the process.’’

A visit to the site suggests some holes will be on Lake Michigan, as is the case with Whistling Straits.

At least a few holes of the proposed fifth course in the Kohler area will have views like this one of Lake Michigan.

The talking for now focuses on next year’s PGA. Mengel arrived last July after working as tournament director of the 2013 Senior PGA Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis.

“That’s a very good club and a good market,’’ he said. “We set all-time new corporate records there, and the 100th PGA will be there in 2018.’’

For now, though, Mengel’s concern is 2015, when Whistling Straits will host its third PGA in 11 years. He started selling corporate hospitality last September.

“Everything went absolutely fantastic,’’ he said. “We’ve seen wonderful support. Three chalet villages were on our initial plan, and we’ve already sold out two and have just one spot left in the third. We’re already talking expansion plans, and we’re only a year into it.’’

Ticket sales for 2015 will start on Aug. 11, the day after this year’s PGA concludes at Valhalla, in Louisville, but potential buyers have to register before then to hold their place in line for those tickets.

“The time to act is now,’’ Mengel said. Plans for the 2020 Ryder Cup underscore that. Buy a hospitality chalet now and you get the right of first refusal at the Ryder Cup five years later. Buy four Wanamaker Club tickets now, and you can bypass the ticket lottery for the Ryder Cup down the road.

Seventy-five percent of the volunteer positions have already been filled for the 2015 PGA, a testament to the good experiences many felt while working at the previous big events in the area.

Tournament director Jason Mengel is happy with the way preparations for the 2015 PGA Championship are progressing.
Mengel says this PGA won’t be quite like the others.

“The biggest difference is the commitment that Kohler Company and Pete Dye made to build our infrastructure out on the golf course. That will be the most visible difference,’’ Mengel said. “A lot of work will be done outside the ropes so we can build our infrastructure.’’

“This will be a huge difference,’’ chimed in Belot. “We’ve committed to changing the golf course. Some areas will be graded to accommodate corporate hospitality. Some of the views (from the hospitality venues) will overlook Lake Michigan. They’ll be spectacular.’’

Tweaking aside, Wisconsin still has plenty of enthusiasm for golf’s biggest events.

“It’s a great thing. It shows the love for golf in this state,’’ said Mengel, who grew up in Michigan. “We’ve seen the passion at the 2004 and 2010 PGAs. What an amazing market this is for golf.’’

Belot admits the Wisconsin golf is “truly remarkable.’’

“When you have tremendous courses like we have at Kohler people will be interested in playing them,’’ he said. “They’ll take advantage of the golf season that they do have, despite having such a short window to play.’’

The 2015 PGA is just the next step.

“Everything we’re doing is for 2015, but we’re keeping in mind the Ryder Cup,’’ said Belot. “It’ll be here before we know it.’’

This is American golf’s `other Augusta’

AUGUSTA, MI. – When you put Augusta and golf together you think of April, azaleas and the Masters tournament, right?

Well, that’d be understandable. Not all the great Augusta golf is played in Georgia, though. Check out Augusta, Michigan. Golf is pretty good there, too.

Vice president Tim Moskalic shows his eye-catching course at Yarrow Golf & Conference Resort.

This little town (population of only about 1,000) in southwest Michigan is the home of one of the premier families in the American golf industry as well as a unique resort/convention center complex that features one of that’s state’s premier courses. Put them together and you have the story of six courses just a few miles apart that create an ideal destination for group outings.

We’ll start with Yarrow Golf & Conference Resort. Its golf is good – an 18-holer designed by busy Michigan architect Ray Hearn in 2002. Hearn has either designed or worked on 25 courses in his home state (he lives in Holland, MI.) and has done quality work elsewhere. His renovations at two Chicago clubs – private Flossmoor Country Club and upscale public Mistwood – have drawn more attention lately but Yarrow is definitely one of Hearn’s best.

He gets your attention immediately with a highly-challenging 588-yard opening hole that has a bit of everything, most notably elevation changes and an undulating putting surface. Hearn wanted that to be No. 10 in his original plans, but ownership considerations eventually changed that.

Anyway, the rest of the course isn’t as intimidating and Hearn’s use of four other tee placements makes Yarrow suitable for players of all abilities. There’s lots of fun holes out there, but the layout is made for major competitions if played from the tips – 7,005 yards with a par of 72, rating of 72.4 and slope of 133.

Yarrow, though, is about more than golf. It has fine dining, 12 meeting rooms and 45 guest rooms spread over three separate buildings that make it a hub for company retreats and weddings. The staff is a friendly bunch, headed by resort vice president Tim Moskalic and general manager Toby Hilton.

In the same town of Augusta (or very close to it) is Gull Lake View Golf Club & Resort. For four decades the Scott family has owned and operated this multi-course conglomerate. There’s some prominent families in the American golf industry, starting with the Jemsek clan in Chicago, and the Scotts are right up there.

Gull Lake View has welcomed golfers for over 50 years.

Gull Lake View isn’t one place. Actually, it’s Gull Lake View Inc. and it embraces five courses owned by the Scotts. This family pioneered the golf destination business in Michigan, and that’s saying a lot since the state has over 800 public courses despite its relatively short playing season.

Golfers from outside southwest Michigan started playing Gull Lake View courses in 1963. That’s the year that Darl and Letha Scott opened the first nine holes of their first course. Darl had been a course superintendent for 21 years at Gull Lake Country Club before deciding to build a course of his own.

The proximity of Gull Lake View’s five courses — located between the bigger cities of Kalamazoo and Battle Creek — is a big plus. The conditioning on all of them is well above average. So is the variety of the layouts, and cost-wise it’s a friendly place as well. That formula has brought back many golfers for return visits over the years. If you want to play a lot of golf on a lot of different courses in a short period of time Gull Lake View is the place for you.

There are three bases of operation for the five courses. The Gull Lake View West and East courses are equipped with Fairway Villas and the Kendall Academy of instructors is also based there.

The Stonehedge South and North layouts are three miles down the road, and Bedford Valley is off the beaten path a bit – it’s officially in Battle Creek — but still within a short drive of the others. Each has its own bit of history.

Gull Lake View West was expanded to 18 holes in 1965. The adjoining East course, rated as high as the tenth best course in Michigan at one time, was completed in 1976 and the 64 Fairway Villa condos were opened a year later. All were designed and built by members of the Scott family.

The par-70 East is on the short side (6,059 yards) but is loaded with water hazards, hilly terrain and undulating greens. West is longer (6,330 yards) with a slightly higher rating (69.8) and slope (126).

Both the Stonehedge courses are still longer and more challenging. Stonehedge South, the third of the family’s courses, was designed by Charles Scott. This very scenic layout opened in 1988.
No. 4 came via purchase that same year. The family acquired Bedford Valley, a one-time private club with a course designed by Boston architect William Mitchell in 1965. This charming layout, much different from Augusta’s other courses, is the favorite for many visitors who have tested them all. It’s the longest (7,070 yards) with the highest rating (73.5) and slope (131).

Bedford Valley is proud of its long history as a tournament site.

Mitchell may not be the most well-known course designer but his resume includes two interesting tidbits. He’s credited with coining the term “executive course’’ (though Bedford Valley certainly isn’t one of those) and he also designed Rolling Hills Country Club in Florida. The renowned movie “Caddie Shack’’ would eventually be filmed there.

Bedford Valley has been the home of the Michigan Senior Open every year since 1996 and also has hosted the Michigan Open and the NCAA Division II national championship. Locals call this “The Big Course’’ because it has huge greens, large bunkers and fairways lined with large oak trees. An 8,400-square foot clubhouse was opened in 2008.

Last of the Gull Lake View courses to open was Stonehedge North. Designed by Charles and Jon Scott, it opened in 1995 with a unique mixture of holes – six par-5s, six par-4s and six par-3s. Like the South, it has some dramatic elevation changes amidst a forest setting.

Along with the courses there’s Cranes Pond, a 250-acre private gated golf community adjacent to the Gull View West course that includes a 54-acre lake, and The Woods at Stonehedge, a 40-acre community located on the Stonehedge South course.

SR. PGA: Murota, Tinning could keep a tradition going

BENTON HARBOR, MI. – Little known foreign players won the last two titles in the Senior PGA Championship, and that could happen again.

Japan’s Kiyoshi Murota shot the best score of Friday’s second, holing from off the green twice en route to a 6-under-par 65 – and is in a six-way tie for the lead at Harbor Shores. The other co-leaders included another unlikely candidate, Denmark’s Steen Tinning who shot 66. If either wins on Sunday they’d continue a trend started by England’s Roger Chapman, who won here in 2012, and Japan’s Kohki Idoki, the champion last year at Bellerive in St. Louis.

The present leaderboard, though, isn’t filled with golfing unknowns. Joining Murota and Tinning at the top are Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie and Bart Bryant. All hit the 36-hole stop at 4-under-par 138.

Watson, Langer and Montgomerie formed the showcase threesome of the first two rounds and traded hot stretches. Langer and Watson shots 68s on Friday and Montgomerie had 69.

“All three of us played well,’’ said Watson, “and the course played a little easier (than it did in Thursday’s first round). They had the tees up on several holes, so it was a kinder, friendlier Harbor Shores today.’’

“Tom had a great finish (tie for sixth) in the Regions Tradition and Langer’s always there,’’ said Montgomerie. “I felt if I was equal or around them after two days I would be quite happy. I was, and I am.’’

The Senior PGA, celebrating its 75th anniversary, comes a week after the Champions Tour’s first major of the season, the Regions Tradition in Alabama. Kenny Perry won there – his third major title on the 50-and-over circuit – but shot 75 Friday and barely made the cut.

IPGA MATCH PLAY: Malm notches three-peat; Harris is next target

Curtis Malm hadn’t even been born when Bill Ogden won three straight Illinois PGA Match Play titles from 1970-72. That’s the last time any player scored a three-peat in the section’s first of four major championships.

Malm ended that dryspell when he took a 1-up victory over Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns in the 63rd playing of the championship (MAY 12-15) at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.
The record for most consecutive wins in the tourney is still a ways off for Malm. Bob Harris, the only other player to three-eat, won six in a row in the 1950s.

The IPGA Match Play tourney finally has a dominant player again following Curtis Malm’s three-peat at Kemper Lakes.

Malm, though, was delighted with his third straight win and hopes to parlay it into a third straight IPGA player-of-the-year award. Only two other players have been three-peaters in the player of the year race – Hillcrest’s Steve Benson (1980-82) and Aurora’s Bob Ackerman (1987-89). Malm will also try to make history in the second major of the year, July’s Illinois Open at The Glen Club. He won that tournament as an amateur in 2000, and only three players have won that title as both an amateur and a pro.

Rick Ten Broeck did it first, and in usual fashion. He was the champion as a pro in 1973 at Barrington Hills, then won again after regaining his amateur status in 1981. Gary Hallberg, the veteran tour player, was the winner as an amateur in 1977 and as a pro in 1982. Gary Pinns, who also played on the PGA Tour, took the Open as an amateur in 1978 and won it four more times as a pro (1985, 1986, 1988, 1990).

Malm has some work to do before joining that select company but his latest Match Play victory was special, in that it came in his first major since becoming head professional at White Eagle in Naperville. He was an assistant at St. Charles Country Club the previous two years, and he anticipated a tough task in his three-peat bid.

“That weighed heavily on my mindset,’’ said Malm. “When you have the opportunity to do something special, that adds a little motivation and excitement.’’

He came through by winning six matches over four days, the last two in cold (40-degree temperatures), windy weather and occasional rain.

“It was brutal,’’ said Malm, “and I didn’t play my best. But you battle through the ups and downs. That’s the way it should be.’’

He had Mistwood teaching pro Chris Ioriatti 4-down with four holes to play in the morning semifinals on the final day, but Ioriatti won the next three holes before Malm closed him out on the 18th.

“Way more drama than I wanted,’’ Malm admitted. But more was to come in the title match against Johns, the tourney’s 2010 champion.

Johns was 2-up after eight holes, but Malm fought back and their duel was all square at the 18th tee. Both players hit solid drives and good approaches on the par-4, Johns’ stopping 18 feet from the cup and Malm’s 12 feet.

After John’s left-to-right breaker barely missed Malm knocked in the winner. Johns also had a tense semifinal match. He holed two shots from off the green to force extra holes against Conway Farms’ new head pro, Matt Slowinski, but needed a 12-footer on the second hole of sudden death go earn his berth in the final.

Rich Harvest is good site for Illini to earn a return to NCAA finals

Jerry Rich makes no bones about it. The biggest event he’ll ever host at his Rich Harvest Farms course in Sugar Grove is the International Crown, which won’t arrive until 2016.

Rich calls that new LPGA international team event “my legacy,’’ but that doesn’t mean that Rich Harvest won’t take on other big events. Five, both before and after the Crown, are already scheduled. Next up is the men’s NCAA Central Regional, which begins its three-day 54-hole run on Thursday.

The Northern Intercollegiate, hosted by Northern Illinois University, will be played at Rich Harvest in September and the 2015 season features both the Palmer Cup, an international team match for college players, and the Western Amateur. After Rich Harvest’s first International Crown – Rich hopes for many more after that — the ultra-private club will host the 100th playing of the Western Golf Association’s Junior Championship in 2017.

Rich Harvest is hosting an NCAA regional for the second time this week, and coach Mike Small’s Illinois team will be in the spotlight. The Illini are the No. 2 seed behind California in the 13-team field. Illinois, making its seventh straight NCAA appearance, is one of six Big Ten teams hoping to earn a place the NCAA finals at Prairie Dunes in Kansas from May 23-28.

Last year Illinois was fifth in the stroke play portion of the finals and second in the match play conclusion, losing the last match to Alabama after knocking off top-ranked Cal in the semifinals. This year Cal is No. 4 nationally and Illinois No. 8. Illinois is 10-1 this season vs. teams in the Rich Harvest field, and the top five teams advance to Prairie Dunes.

The Illini, however, were deprived of their sixth straight Big Ten title two weeks ago at Indiana’s French Lick Resort when unranked Minnesota took the crown. Illinois is the only Big Ten team at Rich Harvest, the other five being scattered among the other five regionals nation-wide. Northwestern will bid for a finals berth in San Antonio, TX.

Despite coming up short in the conference tournament the Illini dominated the league awards handed out last week. Junior Brian Campbell was named Big Ten player-of-the-year and sophomore teammates Charlie Danielson and Thomas Detry joined him among the six first-team selections.

Notre Dame’s Niall Platt will also compete at Rich Harvest. He was one of five individual selections, and the top one will earn a spot at Prairie Dunes.

Perry, Scodro advance

Northwestern star Jack Perry and 2012 Illinois Open champion Max Scodro were among the five survivors of Monday’s U.S. Open local qualifying round at Knollwood in Lake Forest. Perry shared medalist honors with Andrew Hansen of Mequon, Wis. Both shot 4-under-par 68s.

For the second straight year there won’t be a sectional qualifier in the Chicago area so the local players who made it through the last two weeks of local qualifiers will have to bid for spots in the finals on Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina elsewhere

Chicago’s qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Open is Monday (MAY 19) with 71 players competing over 36 holes at Indian Hill in Winnetka. The U.S. Women’s Open doesn’t have local qualifiers so the Indian Hill survivors will advance directly to Pinehurst.

The men’s U.S. Open is June 12-15 and the U.S. Women’s Open is June 17-20. This is the first year both will be played on the same course on successive weeks.

Here and there

The Northwestern women’s team earned its second straight berth in the NCAA finals by finishing eighth among 24 teams at the West Regional in Suncadia, Wash. The finals are in Tulsa, Okla., May 20-23.

The 23rd Illinois State Amateur Public Links Championship concludes Wednesday MAY14 at Chicago’s Harborside International and the 13th Chicago District Senior Amateur begins at three-day run on Monday MAY 19 at Calumet Country Club in Homewood.

The 63rd Illinois PGA Match Play Championship concludes Thursday at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove, and Glencoe will host the second IPGA stroke play event of the season on MondayMAY 19.

A June 27 date has been set for the second Golf for Child Classic at Ruffled Feathers in Lemont. The event benefits CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Will County.

NU, Illini will defend titles in Big Ten golf at French Lick

Illinois and Northwestern have become perennial contenders for the men’s and women’s golf titles in the Big Ten Conference, and that’ll again be the case when collegiate postseason play begins this weekend.

The NU women shared last year’s Big Ten title and are the highest-ranked conference team (No. 12) in the national polls. Last year coach Emily Fletcher’s team shared the title with Purdue – NU’s first-ever Big Ten crown in women’s golf. This year’s team has no seniors and will defend on a different course starting on Friday.

French Lick Resort, in southern Indiana, hosted both the Big Ten men’s and women’s championships the last two years with the men competing on the newer, more difficult Pete Dye Course and the women on the history-rich Donald Ross Course. This time the tourneys won’t be held on the same weekend, so the women’s event is being moved to the Dye layout and will run through Sunday.

Illinois, runner-up in last year’s NCAA tournament and ranked No. 8 nationally this season, goes after its sixth straight title in the men’s tournament on the same course May 2-4. The Illini may have a tough time defending after finishing second behind league rival Iowa in last weekend’s Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue.

Individuals on both the Illinois and Northwestern men’s teams picked up major honors last week. Illinois’ Thomas Detry was named to the 10-man European team for the Palmer Cup matches – a Ryder Cup style team event for collegians. He’s the third Illini golfer selected, following Scott Langley (2010) and Thomas Pieters (2011). NU’s Jack Perry was named among five finalists for the Byron Nelson Award, which goes to the top player in the Golf Coaches Assn. of America.

NU coach Pat Goss also announced the signing of a major recruit. The Wildcats landed Sam Triplett, son of veteran touring pro Kirk Triplett. In addition to frequently working as his father’s caddie, Sam was the Ping Junior Match Play champion in 2012 and led Brophy Prep to the Arizona state high school championship in 2011. He’ll arrive in Evanston in the fall.

Two teams shoot 65 in IPGA opener

Bad weather cancelled the first tournament on the Illinois PGA schedule, but Monday’s Pro-Pro event at Chicago’s Harborside International was plenty competitive.

Chris Ioriatti, of Mistwood in Romeoville, and Frank Hohenadel of Midlothian posted a 7-under-par 65 to share honors with the downstate team of T.A. Hazlep of Lakeside, in Bloomington, and J.T. Thompson, of Deer Park in Ogelsby. Both teams played on Harborside’s Starboard course. The Port layout was also used in the event.

The two champion twosomes edged five two-man teams that posted 66. One of them featured two-time IPGA player-of-the-year Curtis Malm, who was playing in his first event representing White Eagle in Naperville. He had been an assistant at St. Charles Country Club before changing jobs in the offseason. Malm’s partner was Tim Dunn, of Naperbrook in Naperville.

Here and there

The Encompass Championship, the only pro tour event scheduled this season in the Chicago area, has selected four new charity beneficiaries for its June 16-22 Champions Tour stop at North Shore Country Club in Glenview – the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, Junior Achievement of Illinois, First Tee of Greater Chicago and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Illinois.

Cog Hill, in Lemont, will host Chicago’s largest outdoor demo day of the season from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday. All the major equipment companies will display their products and free range balls will be available for visitors who wish to test clubs.

First Tee will hold an open house at one of its new locations, at Harborside International, from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday.

Palatine Hills held dedication ceremonies for its new clubhouse on Tuesday.

One of Chicago’s longest-standing recreational events, the 38th Pine Hollow Open, will be played Saturday at Downers Grove Golf Club.

Mistwood, the Romeoville home of the Illinois Women’s Open tourney, opens on Friday. This will be the course’s first full season since the completion of its two-year renovation.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Georgia’s Summer Grove course could be called Jemsek South

NEWNAN, Ga. – It’s no secret that the Jemseks are the first family of golf in Chicago. In fact, it’s been that way for a long time.

A cheery welcome greets golfers when they arrive at Summer Grove.

It all started when Joe Jemsek purchased St. Andrews, in West Chicago in the 1930s. He later bought Cog Hill, in Lemont, and expanded it from 36 to its present 72 holes. The Jemseks are now three generations deep in Chicago golf. For years the family operated Glenwoodie, in Glenwood, and – in addition to Cog Hill and St. Andrews – the Jemseks also operate Pine Meadow, in Mundelein.

But the family’s golf involvement isn’t limited to the Chicago area. Though it’s not widely known, the Jemseks also have a course in Georgia – and it’s one that in some ways has more family involvement than the Chicago layouts.

Frank, Joe’s son, and his wife Pat considered building a course in Florida as a possible retirement retreat in the late 1990s. Negotiations on a location there fell through, but another opportunity – in the Atlanta, Ga., suburb of Newnan – materialized on land near the home of long-time family friend Rocky Roquemore, a Georgia course architect.
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Another Joe Jemsek, the original Joe’s grandfather and Frank’s son, took on this project.

“I used to play on that property,’’ then-budding course architect Joe T. Jemsek said, “and I was in college in Boca (Raton, FL) then. It was a great site.’’

He was playing on the golf team at Lynn University while working towards a business degree and the project, now known as Summer Grove Golf Club, provided a chance to get involved in course design. Joining forces with Jeff Burton, Roquemore’s partner, Jemsek lived on and off the construction site for about 18 months.

The affable John Mahle has been checking in golfers at Summer Grove since the course opened in 1999.

Summer Grove opened in November of 1999 with a par-72 course that has five tee placements and measures 6,954 yards from the tips. The signature holes play around a big lake and the most fun holes are four short par-4s. From the tournament tees the course has a 73.4 rating and 132 slope.

“My first design was a pretty fun experience,’’ said Jemsek, who also worked as an intern for Joe Lee, designer of Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course, when he was in college. Summer Grove was immediately well received. Golf Digest magazine named it among its Top Ten Best New Affordable Courses in 2000.

After Jemsek finished his work his sister Katherine moved to Newnan and was Summer Grove’s general manager for 18 months. She’s now the president at Cog Hill and Joe has his own course architecture business, Jemsek Golf Services, which operates out of a Chicago office.

Summer Grove’s clubhouse blends in well with an upscale golf community.

Only Summer Grove carries Joe’s name as a designer but he’s worked on courses worldwide — 90 of them in 29 countries. He spent seven years working with the famed Dye family of designers – father Pete and wife Alice in Indiana, Perry in Denver and P.C. in Ohio – before opting to go off on his own.

He’s specialized in renovations, generally doing about two a year. Among the best known are Windermere in Florida and Glen Lake in Alabama. He also has done some work in course management.

Presently Jemsek is doing a renovation of Caujaral Club in Colombia and recently broke ground on a new practice range at a 36-hole facility in suburban New Orleans.

The elevated tee at No. 18 sets up a scenic finishing hole.

The work at Summer Grove, though, isn’t done. The Jemseks sold the upscale public layout to the Canongate group, which operates some nearby private courses, in August, 2005 and then reacquired the layout in February, 2013. Joe and Katherine were on the site for three months in the spring of 2013 to “re-launch’’ the golf course. It’s now a semi-public facility with about 100 members.

Summer Grove has a much different look than it did when the Jemseks first took over the 250-acre property and built a course that wanders through native dogwoods and pine trees, preserved wetlands and wildlife habitats. There’s now 2,350 homes in the general area of Summer Grove.

Women’s events will trigger busiest year for French Lick

By Len Ziehm

FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Golf’s newest Hall of Fame has been slow in developing since Dave Harner, director of golf at French Lick Resort, announced plans for the LPGA Legends Hall of Fame last September.

The facility, to be located off the lobby of the West Baden Springs Hotel in this little southern Indiana town, is still vacant though Harner has no doubts that the Hall will be a major attraction when the Legends Championship returns to French Lick’s Pete Dye Course from Aug. 15-17.

The indoor facility at Valley Links is French Lick’s teaching facility when the weather prevents outdoor play.

“We’d like to do a timeline on women’s golf at French Lick,’’ said Harner, who has been gathering memorabilia for the Hall. “I’ve bought a lot of pictures from the 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championships and we’ve invited all the ladies to send memorabilia. Sandra Hayne sent a pair of golf shoes, Kathy Whitworth sent a putter and Donna Caponi a trophy.’’

French Lick’s history, though, is extraordinary on the women’s side and needs more in its Hall of Fame exhibit. The resort is well-stocked with art of the early 1900s and one, still unidentified, woman is prominent from the days when French Lick was one of the country’s most prominent vacation hotspots.

“We’ve got eight-10 pictures from around 1907 to 1915, a time when you didn’t see many women in golf, and this same lady is in every one of them,’’ said Harner, who would like to find out who this mystery woman is.

In subsequent years French Lick was an LPGA tournament site. It hosted a tour event in 1958 and the LPGA Championships of 1959 and 1960 before a tumbling economy eventually put the resort on the brink of closing. Louise Suggs won the tour stop in ‘58 and Betsy Rawls and Mickey Wright won the LPGA Championships. They were the first inductees into the Legends Hall last year along with Jan Stephenson and Whitworth, the ceremonies coming in conjunction with the Legends Championship won by Lorie Kane.

The first Hall selections were obvious, though there were no big tournaments at French Lick for over four decades. Women still made use of the French Lick fairways, though.

Springs Valley, the town’s high school, was known for its basketball teams thanks to the talents of Larry Bird. It didn’t have a girls golf team, but three of the town’s residents – Libby and Kelly Akers and Angie Mills – earned Division I college scholarships in the 1980s. Libby is now Libby Pancake, and the wife of Tony Pancake – the head pro at Crooked Stick, Indiana’s prominent tournament venue near Indianapolis.

Libby played at Arizona State, Kelly at Southern Methodist and Mills at Indiana. They’ll also be part of the Legends Hall’s timeline, but there’s some suspense about who will be in the next class of inductees.

Who is this woman? She’s pictured frequently on French Lick courses from 1907-15, and director of golf Dave Harner would like to know who she is.

“It’ll be decided by the Legends board and us, and there’s been no discussion yet,’’ said Harner. “There are so many deserving women. Jane Blalock started the Legends Tour; she would be a natural. Nancy Lopez does more for women’s golf today even though she’s not playing on the LPGA Tour. Then there’s Rosie Jones, Joanne Carner, Carol Mann, Sandra Palmer.’’

The list of candidates goes on. In the meantime, the Legends’ second visit to French Lick will immediately follow the Alice Dye Invitational. The Dye course will also be used for the Big Ten women’s tournament for the first time on April 25-27. The last two years it was played on the Donald Ross Course.

French Lick originally had two 18-holers, the Donald Ross (or Hills) course and the Valley Links, as well as the one of the nation’s first par-3 courses. The Valley was closed in 2005 to make way for a casino and was rebuilt as a nine-holer honoring legendary designer Tom Bendelow and the teaching academy.

The featured layout is now the Dye Course, which has hosted the Professional Players National Championship and will welcome the Big Ten men’s tournament again this spring (May 2-4). It’ll also get French Lick’s first U.S. Golf Assn. national event when the USGA Men’s Team Championship comes from Sept. 30-Oct. 2.

“We’re excited to get that one and hope the USGA sees fit to use us again,’’ said Harner.

Chances are it will, as French Lick will get even more attention in 2015 when the Senior PGA Championship is played there.

The Ross Course will host the Indiana Southern Open, one of the four annual majors for the Indiana PGA, and the Monday qualifying round for the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing Championship, which will be played at Victoria National. French Lick will also host an Evans Scholars fundraiser for the Western Golf Assn.

Instruction manager Mike Kerby has been teaching at French Lick since 1987.

In the meantime golf instruction manager Mike Kerby and head professional Adam Marshall got the Academy program going for another season after the winter’s 30 inches of snowfall had melted. They toiled at the Valley Links indoor facility during the cold weather with Kerby additionally operating a club-fitting facility. He’s been teaching at French Lick since 1987.

Moving outdoors, they offer a unique program on a practice facility honored two years running by Golf Range Magazine.

“We feel our Academy is unique because most academies are structured,’’ said Kerby. “You arrive at 8 a.m., work on the range, have lunch and then go play. Here we try to build the Academy to suit (our students’ time frame because there’s so many other things to do. We’re regimented to the point where we’ll cover certain things, but we’re not scheduled so tightly where –if we get behind a few minutes – it’ll throw everything off.’’

Kerby has a maximum student to teacher ratio of 4 to 1 for three-day, three-night stays that feature five hours of instruction per day, unlimited golf on the Valley Links and Donald Ross courses and unlimited range and practice facility usage. Students can take a break from the instruction sessions whenever they want and can play their rounds before or after their instruction sessions.