The weather may not be ideal for Chicago area golfers yet, but – with the Masters just two weeks away – the local start can’t far off.
As for the Masters, which tees off April 10 at Georgia’s Augusta National, the season’s first major championship twill have at least a small Illinois presence. Two University of Illinois alums — Thomas Detry and Brian Campbell — won PGA Tour events this year and that gave them spots in the Masters field.
Chicago’s best PGA Tour player over the last two decades, Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, is out for a while. The 46-year veteran shook off a sub-par 2024 campaign by surviving the 36-hole in three of his four tournaments in January and February.
Then, he reported earlier this month, that he suffered a tear in his meniscus that will require surgery. Rehab will take a while, so Streelman’s tournament season will be a shortened one.
The other Chicago PGA Tour players, Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim and Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, need to win one of the two Texas events the next two weeks to get into the Masters field. Both are in this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, which tees off on Thursday.
Hardy’s been struggling, but Ghim has at least been steady. He has made six of eight cuts but his best finish is only a tie for 21st.
AUGUSTA-BOUND: While the player field is in limbo, a Chicago presence is assured as soon as tournament week begin with the national finals of the Drive Chip & Putt competition and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur – a 54-hole competition that concludes with the final round on the Augusta National course before the pros take over.
Four Illinois youngsters qualified for the 80-player Drive Chip & Putt at last year’s qualifier at TPC Deere Run — Plainfield’s Chloe Lee (Girls 12-13), Lockport’s Brielle Downer (Girls 7-9), Clarendon Hills’ Hudson Hodge (Boys 10-11) and Winnetka’s Jack Kemper (Boys 12-13).
Elise Lee and Lauryn Nguyen, both members of the Northwestern women’s team, were selected to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
KEMPER LAKES IN SPOTLIGHT: Once a frequent tournament site when it was a public facility, the now-private club in Kildeer is in for a big year. It’ll be the site of the Chicago District Golf Association’s Mid Amateur Championship in May and the Illinois PGA’s top competition, the Illinois Open, in August.
“We’ve made a lot of changes over the last dozen years,’’ said 20-year general manager John Hosteland, “and we’re very excited to work with those organizations to showcase some top amateur and professional golfers.’’
The Illinois Open will have a title sponsor the first time. That championship was firs officiaily started in 1950 but there were a few events under that name as early as 2023. The new title sponsor is Troon Golf, which is also the managing partner of Kemper Lakes.
Immediately following the Aug. 4-6 Illinois Open is the return of the LIV Tour to Bolingbrook Golf Club Aug. 8-10. The Saudi-back LIV circuit will be played in the Chicago area for the fourth straight year. Last year Jon Rahm was its champion.
SERIES STUFF: The Illinois PGA will unveil its newest offering on April 28. That’s when the first event of the Illinois PGA Open Series will be played at White Eagle, in Naperville.
The series will provide more competitive opportunities, with six tournaments on the schedule. After White Eagle comes Flossmoor on May 21, Hinsdale on June 9, Elgin Country Club on July 14, Aurora Country Club on July 28 and Bull Valley in Woodstock on Oct. 8.