The Illinois State Amateur was played for the 85th time in July, and this time it was more than a golf tournament. It was a showcase. If nothing else, we should take away one thing from this State Am: the state of amateur golf in Illinois is at its highest level in many, many years….
Author: lenz
Illinois Open benefitted from new format
Strange? Memorable? Different? Those are all apt descriptions for the 66th playing of the Illinois Open. My first year covering the Illinois Open was in 1975 – the last year in which the Illinois PGA and Chicago District Golf Assn. were joint managers of the event — and I’ve been to virtually every championship since…
IWO’s youngest-ever champion wins by five
Madasyn Pettersen, at 15, was the youngest player in the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood, in Romeoville. She was also the best – and by a long shot. Pettersen, who enters her sophomore year at Auburn High School in Rockford in the fall, finished off the 54-hole competition with a 66 and won…
HERE AND THERE: Harbor Shores’ impact has been positive — and far-reaching
From the beginning the building of Harbor Shores was a feel-good thing. Creating a beautiful, upscale golf destination could only be an enhancement for an economically depressed area in southwestern Michigan. Well, the building of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores course wasn’t all that long ago – it opened in 2010 – but the changes…
BMW spectators will benefit the most from Conway changes
The Western Golf Association’s premier tournament, the BMW Championship, is still nearly two months away, but the WGA showed off the improvements coming for the third tournament of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs Tourney site Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, underwent an extensive renovation since hosting the event in 2013 and spectators — 130,000…
Cooke’s Illinois Open win was an emotional runaway
David Cooke’s victory in the 66th Illinois Open was a run-away. His five-shot victory at Royal Melbourne, in Long Grove, was the biggest since Gary Hallberg’s triumph in 1977. Though the tourney lacked suspense, it was loaded with emotion and another historical touch. Cooke was the first amateur to win the title since Brad Benjamin…
BMW spectators will benefit most from Conway Farms changes
The Western Golf Association’s premier tournament, the BMW Championship, is still nearly two months away, but the WGA showed off the improvements coming for the third tournament of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs Tourney site Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, underwent an extensive renovation since hosting the event in 2013 and spectators — 130,000…
Moline’s Lawrence starts Illinois Open with a record 62
Monday turned out a big day for the golfers at Conway Farms – but an even bigger one for David Lawrence. The Moline golfer shot a 9-under-par 62 at Royal Melbourne in Long Grove. That’s the lowest round in the 66-year history of the Illinois Open. Lawrence, who has been playing golf’s mini-tour since attending…
Medinah’s Tee-K Kelly wins Illinois Amateur again
SPRINGFIELD, IL. – A year ago Naperville’s Ray Knoll and Northbrook’s Nick Hardy battled through four playoff holes before Knoll won the Illinois State Amateur title. Knoll couldn’t repeat this year, and Hardy didn’t win, either, but nobody played better than those two during this year’s final round at Panther Creek Country Club on Thursday….
Hopefully men’s Illinois Amateur will have better luck weather-wise than women’s did
The longstanding major golf championships for Illinois’ best players will be coming fast and furious now. First up was the 82nd, rain-shortened Illinois Women’s Amateur at Illini Country Club in Springfield. This week the state’s best men are in the same city, but at Panther Creek Country Club, to decide the winner of the 85th…