A great season came to an end for the University of Illinois men’s team on Tuesday as the Illini were eliminated by Southern California in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament at Concession Club in Bradenton, Fla. The Illini were Big Ten champions, won their NCAA regional tournament and were the top team in the…
Author: lenz
Greenbrier, Homestead, Bay Hill, Pinehurst — What a winter it was!
What have you done golf-wise since dropping your last putt in the Chicago area in 2014? Not as much as me, I’ll bet. This has been an extraordinary “offseason.’’ It began in November when we made a series of golf/travel-writing stops – a few days here, a few days there — at some very choice…
More changing of the guard for the Illinois PGA
Call it a changing of the guard, or just a transition. I’ve always thought that change was generally a good thing, and there’s certainly been plenty of that going on within the Chicago golf community in the last few months. It started with the departure of Michael Miller, long-time executive director of the Illinois PGA…
Staff departures put Illinois PGA in limbo
The Illinois PGA is in limbo heading into the first big month of the Chicago golf season. There’s no doubt about that. Two key staffers, Jared Nowak and Lauren Moy, left the section during the winter and executive director Michael Miller replaced them both. Robert Duke took Nowak’s place as tournament director and Catherine Wagner…
Public golfers can experience a Donald Ross creation at Ravisloe
I guess you can learn something every day. I thought I knew a bit about Donald Ross, the famed golf designer, but I didn’t realize he had designed only one public course in Illinois. That course is Ravisloe in Homewood, which went public when Claude Gendreau purchased the club in 2009. Cheryl Justak, publisher of…
Medinah will restore — not renovate — this Bendelow course
For reasons that have long escaped me, Tom Bendelow is still not in the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was the course architect that, perhaps more than any other, got golf started in the United States. That’s especially evident in the Chicago area. Bendelow’s name has been on about 800 courses that were built…
Medinah Patriot Day outing was something special
There doesn’t seem to be nearly as many golf charity events as there once was, but the Medinah Patriot Day outing certainly isn’t having any problems. In fact, after six years, it’s growing big-time. I was among the 140 golfers that participated in Tuesday’s event on Medinah’s No. 2 course. Jim Cornelison highlighted the pre-golf…
Hallberg in Senior Open qualifier; IPGA competes at Shoreacres
Last week’s Senior PGA Championship in French Lick, Ind., was a big deal, but hardly a season-ender for the best 50-and-over players. Now they’ll compete much closer to home. Barrington Hills hosts a sectional qualifier for the 36th U.S. Senior Open on Wednesday, and Gary Hallberg will head the field. Though he’s long been a…
Sluman’s charge comes up short against Montgomerie
FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Hinsdale’s Jeff Sluman made a run at the title in the final round of the 76th Senior PGA Championship on Sunday. After making five birdies in his first 10 holes Sluman even thought he had a chance to catch front-runner Colin Montgomerie. “I just played excellent golf, which you have to…
Another Montgomerie-Langer duel in Senior PGA finale
FRENCH LICK, Ind. – The Senior PGA Championship has been played for 75 years and only four players have successfully defended a title. Colin Montgomerie could be the fifth on Sunday. The Scotsman enjoyed a solid career on the European and PGA Tours but never won a major title. That changed when he joined the…