BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – This really didn’t make much sense. Rocco Mediate had failed to break 70 in all 22 of his rounds on the Champions Tour this year – and the 50-and-over circuit is known for yielding much lower scores. Not only that, but Mediate had never won a major title on either the…
Author: lenz
Mediate keeps Senior PGA lead — but Montgomerie is closing in
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Rocco Mediate may be one of the more colorful players in professional golf, but – until this week’s 77th Senior PGA Championship – he had gone eight years without contending for a major title. Mediate, despite having a solid career, has never won one of golf’s big ones. In his last…
A new look for golf instruction at Grand Traverse
ACME, Michigan – The structural changes at Grand Traverse were made last year when owners of the 30-year old resort spent $7 million to renovate the tower that is the facility’s centerpiece. Grand Traverse has three courses on its 1,400 acres and the resort features 660 rooms, diverse restaurants and lounges and 49,000 square feet…
A big change is coming at Michigan’s Inn at Bay Harbor
BAY HARBOR, Michigan – This is anniversary time for Boyne Golf, the biggest golf course conglomerate in the Midwest. It has 10 courses among its three northern Michigan resorts and two are celebrating milestones in 2016. The Heather course at Boyne Highlands – the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that got the golf boom started…
Montgomerie goes for a three-peat in Senior PGA at Harbor Shores
As far as major championships go, this is a rare lean year in the Chicago area. Last year there was both the U.S. Amateur and the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship. The Amateur has come and gone and the BMW is taking a year away; it’ll be played at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis in September before…
Want something different? Try the Mackinac Island courses
MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan – There’s a lot of reasons why people take the 20-minute boat ride from Mackinaw City or St. Ignace to Mackinac Island from May through October every year. The Island is an interesting place. It’s different, and not just because of the boat ride required to get there. Visitors – up to…
Chicago’s new Web.com Tour event will be an upgrade from its predecessors
The PGA Tour is bringing its secondary circuit back to the Chicago area for the first time since 2008, but things have changed a lot since then. The Glen Club, in Glenview, hosted the LaSalle Bank (or Bank of America) Open on what was then called the Nationwide Tour through 2008 before sponsorship problems set…
HERE AND THERE: Boyne’s Heather course starts 50th anniversary season
Here’s the latest for golfers who like to travel: The Heather Course at Michigan’s Boyne Highlands Resort hit a milestone when it opened for the season on Friday the 13th. The 2016 campaign will mark the Heather’s 50th anniversary season. The Robert Trent Jones Sr. design was the first course at Boyne. Heather opened for…
Glen View’s Bauer wins IPGA Match Play title in a walk
Very few players in Illinois PGA tournaments walk their rounds. Kyle Bauer, the 11-year head pro at the Glen View club, is one who does. He doesn’t think it puts him at a competitive disadvantage, and Thursday he proved it. Bauer captured the 65th playing of the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship at Kemper Lakes…
NCAA tourneys could provide a bonanza for Illini, NU
The collegiate golf season reaches its climax in the next three weeks, and it could go down as one for ages as far as Illinois schools are concerned. Both the men’s and women’s teams at Northwestern qualified for the NCAA tournament and the Illinois men’s squad looms as one of the favorites for the national…