Author: lenz

VALDOSTA, Ga.: Bob Spence wants to take Kinderlou Forest to a new level

VALDOSTA, Ga. – Bob Spence is about to hit the 60-year mark as a golf professional. Now his focus is on Kinderlou Forest, a stunning 18-holer just 16 miles from the Florida state line, but Chicago golfers should remember him well.

Spence, who turned pro in 1954 – a few months after graduating from high school, was the first director of golf at Kemper Lakes. The late Jim Kemper hired him in 1978 to direct the opening of the Long Grove course designed by Dick Nugent and Ken Killian. Kemper Lakes was an instant hit. It was the first public course to host a PGA Championship in 1989, a year in which Payne Stewart was crowned the champion.

Kemper also hosted a tournament on the Champions Tour for several years and was the site of a U.S. Women’s Amateur, the Grand Slam of Golf and 24 straight Illinois PGA Championships before an ownership change led to the facility going private.

Spence moved on, too. Prior to the Kemper experience he spent six years as an off-and-on PGA Tour player. Afterwards he established himself as a teacher, working with –among others — the famed Bob Toski, and an expert on course operations.

He enjoyed all those things, but found out that he loved course architecture more than anything else. Spence hooked up with Davis Love III to create Love Golf Designs in 1994. Kinderlou Forest, now celebrating its 10th anniversary under owner John Langdale (pictured below on right with Spence), was one of the first of the 20 courses that Spence built on Love’s behalf. It is most likely the best.

“We continued until the economy went bad,’’ said Spence. “Now (Love Golf Designs) is on hold, but Davis had a major desire to get into golf course architecture later in his career. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company started up again.’’

Love, of course, was the 1997 PGA champion and the losing U.S. captain in the dramatic Ryder Cup matches played at Medinah last September. He’s resumed his playing career and is also the host for the McGladrey Classic, a PGA Tour event played on his home course in Sea Island, Ga.

Kinderlou Forest has had a great first 10 seasons. Spence has declared it “better than Kemper Lakes’’ and isn’t so sure it isn’t the best course in Georgia – even though that state is home to legendary Augusta National, where the Masters tournament is played every April.

“There’s a lot of similarities between here and Kemper Lakes,’’ said Spence. “Both are great golf courses. Kemper Lakes has a lot of water and length. Kinderlou Forest doesn’t have as much water, but has variety in length and look on every hole.’’

Spence won’t designate a signature hole at Kinderlou, believing all 18 are special. The most striking visually, though, is the par-5 fourth, which features a large, deep cavern. You can play over it or around it. Either way, you don’t forget it.

The cavern, created when soil was needed to build a highway fronting the course, also extends in front of the tee at the par-3 fifth hole (see photo above).

The lack of houses on the property is another similarity between Kemper Lakes and Kinderlou. So is the personality of the owners. Langdale and his family have long been prominent in various business and political endeavors in south Georgia, just as Jim Kemper was prominent in the insurance world in Chicago.

“Jim Kemper was one of the most special people I’ve ever known,’’ said Spence. “He became a fatherly figure to me, helping my life in any way he could. John Langdale is the same way. He wanted a showplace for Lowndes County. He wanted to give back, just like Jim Kemper did at Kemper Lakes. I’ve been very fortunate to work with special people.’’

As was the case at Kemper Lakes, Spence moved on to other projects after Kinderlou Forest was up and running. Langdale brought him back six months ago to take Kinderlou Forest to a new level.

The first 10 years certainly weren’t bad. About 200 homes were built on the 4,000-acre property and the course, built on 600 of those acres, has already hosted a pro tour event (the Web. com Tour’s South Georgia Classic will be played there for the eighth time in April).

Kinderlou Forest, though, stands somewhat alone on the outskirts of Valdosta, a city of 54,000 and home to Valdosta State University and its 13,000 students. The weather makes golf an option year-around and overall living is affordable.

Kinderlou’s No. 13 has the feel of the famous courses at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

“We’re in the process of building it into a community, possibly a retirement community,’’ said Spence. “We’re trying to get people to come in here, and if they do they’ll want to stay.’’

Two Chicago area club professionals, Phil Benson and J. Anderson, have already brought groups from Chicago to check out what Kinderlou Forest has to offer.

As good as it is, Kinderlou Forest — at 7,474 yards from the tips –is no course for retirees, so a second — much shorter layout — will be needed. A lodge is also a consideration, though Kinderlou has townhome villas available for golfing guests and plenty of hotels are nearby. But space for more homes is abundant.

“If Kinderlou goes as planned we will have a lot of people coming from out of state, and a lot coming to retire,’’ said Spence. “It’s a great place to live. We’re building an atmosphere that you’d rather be here than anywhere else.’’

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: New Concession Cup will bring back good memories

BRADENTON, FL. – The Ryder Cup matches have produced plenty of drama over the years, but one of the most memorable events in the competition didn’t involve anyone hitting a shot.

It came in 1969 at England’s Royal Birkdale, in the final singles match between American Jack Nicklaus and England’s Tony Jacklin. Nicklaus conceded a two-foot putt to Jacklin, which resulted in their match being halved and the competition ending in a tie for the first time.

Nicklaus’ gesture was considered great sportsmanship in some quarters, but not in keeping with the competitive aspect of the event according to others – among them some of his U.S. teammates. The debate has raged on as the Ryder Cup – staged last September at Medinah with Europe winning in dramatic fashion – taking its place among the most popular team competitions in all of sports.

Fast forward over 40 years. Jacklin settled in this Florida community between Tampa and Sarasota and Nicklaus went on to do great things as a course architect while his playing career was winding down. That’s when their paths crossed again, for the building of The Concession – a dazzling but challenging course that will soon host an event of its own to further rekindle that Nicklaus-Jacklin moment from the past.

This time it was Jacklin making the gesture, an effort to boost the image of a course that he designed in collaboration with Nicklaus. The new event is The Concession Cup, which is certain to become a nice addition to the world golf calendar. It’s in keeping with how the club was created in the first place.

“Jack was being courted to build a golf course, and I approached him with this idea,’’ said Jacklin. “His conceding that putt was a big relief to me, and it’s become a famous moment. It’s brought up at all the Ryder Cups.’’

Jacklin suggested a course named in honor of Nicklaus’ famous concession. Nicklaus liked the idea and eight years ago The Concession was built with the two playing an exhibition match that drew several thousand spectators in January, 2006, as the highlight of its grand opening.

While the layout is a “Nicklaus Signature’’ course, its scorecard notes that it was designed “in association with Tony Jacklin.’’ That was a concession on Nicklaus’ part, too. Jacklin found the land and would have been content if that was the end of his role in the course’s creation but Nicklaus didn’t want that. Jacklin (left in photo above) and Nicklaus made it a collaborative effort.

“Jack has done thousands of golf courses and I’ve done several,’’ said Jacklin, “but we did this one together.’’

The club has embraced the concession of ‘69 by using silhouettes of Nicklaus and Jacklin in its logo – one of the most striking in golf (pictured above) – and the two will be honorary captains at this spring’s Concession Cup, a new team event that will bring together the top mid-amateur, senior and super senior players from the U.S. and Great Britain/Ireland.

Nicklaus’ courses are all super challenging, and The Concession is one of only 12 courses in the U.S. with a slope over 150. The 7,474-yard (from the back tees) layout has a slope of 155. It was built over 540 acres, an extremely large land usage for an 18-hole course.

The course will complete a three-year agreement to host the men’s Big Ten Match Play Championship this winter and will host the NCAA men’s and women’s championships in 2015. It tried to land the LPGA’s Solheim Cup but was unsuccessful. The creation of the Concession Cup, though, will elevate the club’s profile and create a competition that might eventually be incorporated into the U.S.Golf Assn. schedule.

“We’ve been striving through the years to attract attention to our place through tournaments,’’ said Jacklin. “That’s not an easy thing to do, but we’re all very excited about this one. It’ll be a massive event.’’

The biennial match play competition will bring together the best mid-amateur, senior and super senior players from the U.S. and Great Britain/Ireland two weeks after the next Masters. There’ll be a practice round and opening celebration gala on April 29, a charity amateur event on April 30, nine foursome matches on May 1, nine fourball matches on May 2 and 18 singles matches on May 3.

While the competitors on both teams won’t be announced for a few weeks, the U.S. team will include Nicklaus’ son Gary along with top amateurs Nathan Smith and Vinny Giles. Paul Azinger, former U.S. Ryder Cup captain and a Concession member, will be honorary chairman of the event and ex-PGA Tour player turned golf commentator Gary Koch will emcee the banquet. He’s a Concession member, too.

Still seeking members, The Concession was named the Best New Private Course in the U.S. by Golf Digest in 2006 and its practice facility is one of the best in the world. Tour players Brittany Lincicome, Hollis Stacy, Sandra Gal, Dicky Pride, Scott Hoch and Andy Bean use it regularly and famed instructor David Leadbetter has declared The Concession his “home away from home.’’ He’s worked with his top players and given lessons there.

In late January Concession Cup officials made their first player announcement. Vinny Giles (U.S.) and Garth McGimpsey (Great Britain-Ireland) will be playing captains.

First players on the U.S. squad are Doug Hanzel, Savannah, Ga.; Chip Lutz, Reading, Pa.; John “Spider” Miller, Bloomington, Ind.; Pat Tallent, Vienna, Va.; Paul Simpson, Raleigh, N.C.; Danny Yates, Atlanta; and George Zahringer, New York. First GB-I players named were Ian Brotherston, Maurise Kelly, Adrian Morrow, Arthur Pierse and Andrew Stracey.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Rich sees long run for International Crown — and at his course

Jerry Rich’s dream took its first big step towards reality immediately after the 2013 LPGA season concluded Sunday with Shanshan Feng’s victory in the CME Group Titleholders tourney at Tiburon in Naples, FL.

That was the last event in which countries could earn points for participation in next year’s inaugural International Crown event. Rich (pictured below) was a primary force behind the International Crown’s creation, and his Rich Harvest Farms facility in Sugar Grove, IL., will host the second staging of the innovative biannual team competition in 2016.

Rich hopes the International Crown will be played at Rich Harvest many times after that, but first things first.

The first International Crown will be at Caves Valley near Baltimore next July 24-27, and the eight countries that have earned berths there are South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Australia. That news shared the spotlight with Shanshan Feng’s winning of the $700,000 first prize at Tiburon – a prize twice that given the champion of the U.S. Women’s Open.

Rich was there to both see the Titleholders drama unfold and participate in the International Crown press conference with LPGA commissioner Mike Whan and top players from five of the countries who earned berths at Caves Valley. He described the announcement staged there as “magnificent.’’

“All the girls were so excited, but especially the Korean and Asian girls,’’ he said. “When you look at the top players in the world, 60 percent of them are from Asia. They’re so excited because they couldn’t get into the Solheim Cup.’’

The Solheim, staged successfully at Rich Harvest in 2009, matches players from only the U.S. and Europe. The International Crown will have eight four-player teams. The players will be decided on point standings after the Kraft Nabisco Championship ends on March 31.

Rich’s work on the International Crown started long before Whan announced its creation at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, FL., last January. Even before the event was made official Rich paid a visit to Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, a non-golfer who had been on the job only eight months, to alert him about what was coming.

“It was important that I met with him then because he hadn’t made a decision on the Sport Festival that had been held at McCormick Place for 10 years under Mayor (Richard) Daley,’’ said Rich. “When Mayor Daley retired the event wasn’t done for a couple years, and we tried to bring it back for our kids.’’

Emanuel was all for that, Rich said, but he told Rich “it was all about money….He said `You raise half, and I’ll raise the other half.’’

Then the conversation quickly shifted to the International Crown. Rich gave Emmanuel a sneak preview well ahead of the formal announcement.

“He was excited, because Chicago has one of the largest ethnic populations in the world.’’ said Rich. “He said `This is the Olympics we never got.’ I hadn’t thought of it like that. We talked about how we could work with the city to energize its ethnic base, and we’ve done that.’’

Rich has done much more on the International Crown since then, breaking mainly for trips to watch his alma mater – Northern Illinois – battle for more football glory. He wants the International Crown to be a fixture at Rich Harvest, and doesn’t think that’s out of the question.

“The last four-five months that’s really all I’ve been involved in,’’ he said. “We’ve had countless meetings with various corporations. Three or four have expressed major interest, and I’d like to have one title sponsor for the whole thing. I can’t say too much right now but there’s a Chicago company that really wants to hit the Asian market. We’ll have more meetings the second week of December.’’

Whan knows of Rich’s plans and has been non-committal. And Rich, while sticking to his desire for a long run at Rich Harvest, could see a departure at some point as well.

“If we keep it in Chicago we might run four tournaments there, then bring it to Asia for one year and then bring it back here (to Chicago),’’ said Rich. “We need this in Chicago, because Chicago doesn’t have anything right now. The people there stood behind us for our Solheim Cup and, if we play our cards right in 2016, we’ll knock everybody’s socks off.’’

NASHVILLE, Tenn.: Hosting LPGA tourneys has benefitted Hermitage

OLD HICKORY, Tenn. – Hermitage, a 36-hole public facility on the outskirts of Nashville, Tenn., isn’t the only club to see a longstanding pro golf tournament leave its premises or disappear altogether.

On the PGA Tour, En-Joie Country Club in Endicott, N.Y., hosted the B.C. Open for 34 years – the last in 2005. Warwick Hills, in Grand Blanc, Mich., welcomed the Buick Open for 31 years before leaving in 2009. Oakwood Country Club, in Coal Valley, IL., hosted a tournament now known as the John Deere Classic for 24 years, until 1999. And another Illinois course, Cog Hill in Lemont, was the site of two big-time championships – the Western Open and BMW Championship – for 20 years. The Western was discontinued, and the BMW Championship moved to Chicago’s north suburbs this year.

From the LPGA side, there’s The Rail course in Springfield, IL. It was an LPGA tournament site for 30 years, the last being in 2006.

Golf tournaments come and go. With the courses that host them, it’s not like that. Most all of those former tournament sites are still around. They go through an adjustment period, of course. Owners need to re-position their course in the marketplace and re-invent themselves. Some might even be better off without the annual hassle a big tournament inevitably brings.

“Not having a tournament allows you to have open play three more weeks of the year,’’ said Katherine Jemsek, president of the family-owned 72-hole Cog Hill public complex. “There’s less disruption for regular players. Players with permanent tee times usually had to take at least one week off plus the week of the tournament.’’

In reality, the effect of no longer hosting a big event varies from course to course.

“There’s not a transition,’’ said Jemsek. “You just go back to doing day to day business. It’s just that you don’t have the excitement gearing up for a big event.’’

Mike Eller, the Hermitage owner, has gone through it all. He got into big tournament mode early. His first course hosted one of the LPGA’s most popular stops, the Sara Lee Classic, from 1988-2002. Hermitage wasn’t even open when Eller consented to host the tournament.

“Craziest thing I ever did,’’ said Eller, who was on the 17th green conferring with an agronomist when a Sara Lee official called. That was back in 1986.

“He said `We’ve chosen you,’’’ recalled Eller. “I jumped up and down coming out of the clubhouse, then looked around and realized we hadn’t even mowed it yet.’’

A few courses have landed big events before their official opening in recent years, but it wasn’t the same at Hermitage.

“Now they can get six years to make a course right,’’ said Eller. “Ours was a scary situation, but we worked hard and I had a very, very generous partner.’’

The late Ray Danner, who passed away four years ago, was chief executive officer and chairman of the Shoney’s and Captain D’s restaurant chains. Danner had no reservations about taking on such a big project immediately.

“He said `This course will be all right or chances are I’ll go broke – and I’m not going broke,’’’ Eller recalled. “The putty wasn’t even dry (on the clubhouse) when (the LPGA) pulled their trailers in. We’re really, really good at being faced with situations. We view them as opportunities and love making them happen.’’

The Sara Lee Classic had some great champions – Nancy Lopez, Laura Davies, Meg Mallon (twice), Annika Sorenstam – and was a big deal annually in a community then lacking in professional sports of any kind. The tourney thrived until Sara Lee dropped its sponsorship after a 12-year run.

“Twelve years with one sponsor, that’s a long time,’’ said Eller. “Like everything else, there’s times when you need to take a breath of fresh air to try something else. Even when they took the tournament to another course for a year, that didn’t bother us really.’’

Indeed, Hermitage did move on. That first course, now called General’s Retreat, was designed by Gary Baird. Now a Nashville resident, Baird came from California where he had worked for renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. for 12 years. Hermitage was Baird’s first start-to-finish project and – at 6,822 yards — has been a fine course for both men and women.

Shortly before the Sara Lee Classic’s demise Eller added a second 18-holer, named President’s Reserve. Designed by Atlanta architect Denis Griffiths on three times the land used for the original course, this layout played at 7,157 yards when it opened in 2000. Like its predecessor, Hermitage’s second course has no housing but it does have 45 acres of wetlands.

“The land there is totally different (from the first course). It feels like it’s in South Carolina,’’ said Eller. “It offers the people here something that they’d have to travel a long way to find.’’

Golfers have traveled a long way to find Hermitage.

“Our business is broken down to one-third local players, one-third tourists and one-third corporate outings,’’ said Eller.

Apparently they like Eller’s most unusual feature. He has 25 sheep grazing on the two courses.

“I like things that are different, but not too far off the wall,’’ he said. “I was playing at Whistling Straits (a Wisconsin course that hosted the 2004 and 2010 PGA Championships and the 2007 U.S. Senior Open) and a sheep breezed right by me. I thought, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. As soon as I got back home I started looking for some sheep.’’

He found some in eastern Tennessee and went with his wife to Virginia to pick up some more. The sheep have set Hermitage apart from other Tennessee courses, and they haven’t scared away tournament organizers, either.

In addition to the run of LPGA stops Hermitage has landed three national Executive Women’s Golf Assn. events on its original course and the LPGA Legends Tour staged its ISPS Handa Cup team event there this year. The layout, with its well-placed mounding, remains an excellent spectator course.

On the men’s side, Hermitage has hosted the Society of Seniors event and had feelers from the PGA Tour five years ago about holding a tournament on the newer course. Eller believes that’s still a possibility, but it’s not his primary focus for the future.

“Now we’re concentrating on adding a lodge,’’ he said. “There’s not a course in Nashville or in middle Tennessee that has one directly connected to a golf course. For that you’ve got to have 36 holes, and there’s not many of us around. We’ve got the property for it, and the perfect setting, too. It’d be great.’’

The return of the LPGA Legends is a possibility, too. The circuit for stars who have passed their 45th birthday contracted for one-year U.S. vs. the World weekend team match at Hermitage in October. It was deemed a success, and Eller told the post-tourney gathering that “It was such an honor to host….We love to have company, and you’re family. We hope we can do this again.’’

Hermitage took the Legends event at the last minute because Eller thought “this would really be fun.’’ It was — for the players, spectators and Hermitage staff.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed it until the tents started going up,’’ said Eller. “Then the ladies started coming in, and it felt great inside. It really did. They’re so approachable, and it’s amazing how they play. We’ve always had a great connection with women’s golf. It’s a natural here for us. It’s been a blessing.’’

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Malm takes his talents to White Eagle

The best player in the Illinois section of the PGA is moving.

Curtis Malm, the IPGA Player-of-the-Year in 2012 and 2013 while an assistant professional at St. Charles Country Club, has moved to White Eagle in Naperville as the head professional.

Malm, who spent five seasons at St. Charles, won the Illinois Open as an amateur in 2000 and blossomed in the IPGA ranks with back-to-back victories in the section’s Match Play Championship at Kemper Lakes in 2012 and 2013. He was the first player in 25 years to win that title in back-to-back years.

The 2013 season also saw Malm match the Elgin Country Club course record when he shot a 9-under-par 63 in an IPGA stroke play event.

Hinsdale is focus of CDGA centennial

The Chicago District Golf Assn. announced its tournament schedule for its 100th season on Tuesday with Hinsdale Golf Club appropriately in the spotlight during the organization’s centennial campaign.

Hinsdale was the home club of Francis S. Peabody, the first CDGA president and the man credited with getting 25 area clubs together for the purpose of organizing in 1914. Hinsdale will host the CDGA’s oldest event, the Chicago District Amateur, from June 23-26, and also the newest one – the season-ended Centennial Founders Club Championship on Oct. 16. The Founders Club event is a team competition.

The other most notable addition to the expanded 60-event schedule is the CDGA Par-3 Championship, to be held Sept. 8 at Lost Dunes in Bridgman, Mich. The event was held twice as a CDGA Foundation event but is now part of the tournament calendar.

Former IWO champion is retiring

Allison Fouch-Duncan, the Michigan golfer who won the 2010 Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood, in Romeoville, before moving on to the LPGA Tour, is retiring from the circuit.

She declared herself retired after a press conference to announce that her hometown of Grand Rapids had landed an LPGA tournament. The $1.5 million Meijer LPGA Classic will be played at Blythefield Country Club from Aug. 7-10, 2014. Fouch-Duncan is a member of the LPGA Executive Committee.

Did you know?

The Women’s Western Golf Assn. has set sites for its 2014 championships. The 114th Women’s Western Amateur will be June 23-24 at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club and the 88th Women’s Western Junior will be at Knollwood, in Granger, Ind., from July 28-Aug. 1. Knollwood will host the event for the fifth time. Lancaster, one of the nation’s oldest clubs, was designed by William Flynn. His credits include former U.S. Open venues Merion, Shinnecock Hills and Cherry Hills as well as the Glen View Club, home base of WWGA president Kimberly Shriver and several WWGA directors.

Dan Tully, superintendent at Kemper Lakes the past 14 years, is moving to nearby Twin Orchard in Long Grove and Randy Wahler, the superintendent at Knollwood, in Lake Forest, for 33 years, has announced his retirement.

Emily Fletcher, the Big Ten women’s coach of the year in 2013, has landed two prize recruits from California. Sarah Cho and Hannah Kim are both ranked in the top 10 nationally on the Junior Golf Scoreboard. Cho is also ranked No. 1 in California and Kim is No. 3.

Jeff Perdew, general manager at Chicago Highlands, and two head professionals – Wade Gurysh of Knollwood and Nick Papadakes of Old Elm – have been elected to the IPGA board of directors.

Getting to Texas was a tough ride for Ghim

The top high school golfers from across the country made their college commitments this week in the NCAA’s early signing period. One of them earned his scholarship the hard way.

Doug Ghim, an Arlington Heights resident and senior at Buffalo Grove, landed a scholarship to traditional collegiate powerhouse Texas even though he didn’t play a round of high school golf the last three years.

“I don’t know if it’s unprecedented or not,’’ said Ghim moments before a ceremonial signing ceremony with his mother Susan and father Jeff (pictured above) at the Golf Nation indoor facility in Palatine. “I came out of nowhere. I had one great season and showed up at this level.’’

Ghim’s success came through American Junior Golf Assn. events rather than playing for Buffalo Grove. He played one season for the Bison, finishing third in the state meet as a freshman, then decided to go in a different direction.

As a sophomore he received a coveted invitation to one of the AJGA’s premier events – the Ping Invitational on Oklahoma State’s course in Stillwater.

“It was a difficult decision,’’ said Ghim. “In my freshman year I got invited to another invitational in Florida and gave it up. The Ping is one of the hardest to get in to. Everyone raves about it, but it overlapped with sectional qualifying for state.’’

Ghim thought it would be “insulting’’ to his high school teammates to leave the team at such a critical point in the season, so he spent the last three years competing solely in the big junior events across the country. It paid off when Texas, a school that produced such stars over the years as Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Justin Leonard and – most recently – Jordan Spieth, noticed him.

So did other strong golf schools, and Ghim visited Northwestern, Illinois and Duke before choosing the Longhorns.

“The big reason was the weather,’’ said Ghim, coached only by his father since he was 5 years old. “I wanted to go somewhere where I could work on my game year-around.’’

Ghim’s Korean-born father Jeff teaches mainly junior players at Golf Nation and a variety of other Chicago area locations. Taking the national, rather than local, route in his son’s development wasn’t easy.

“We’re not very rich,’’ admitted Doug. “I’m very proud of our story. I never had the nicest golf clubs or best outfits. The only golf balls I had were the ones my dad and I fished out of the water. It was intimidating going into tournaments. I had to work twice as hard as the other kids.’’

The Ghims don’t have a home course. They looked for the best deals and played lots of twilight golf at the area’s public courses. Sometimes they’d get invitations to play at private clubs, but most of Doug’s development came via travel that included frequent trips during the school year.

“I hope my story will show to other kids that aren’t as fortunate that – as long as you have the will – you can make it to one of these big universities,’’ said Ghim. “They’ll call you, and you won’t have to call them all the time.’’

While Ghim opted to leave the state, both Illinois and Northwestern went largely outside Illinois with their early recruits. The Illini signed Glenbrook North’s Nick Hardy along with two Indiana players – Dylan Meyer of Evansville and Colin Proctor of Anderson. NU landed Charles Wang, of Sarasota, FL., and Dylan Wu, of Medford, Ore.

GRAND TRAVERSE: Michigan mainstay takes season approach

ACME, Mich. – It’s not easy operating a golf resort in Michigan. There’s just so much competition. This golf-rich state has more public courses — over 700 — than any other state.

The best ones, though, are able to survive in the long term. Perhaps the best example is Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, six miles outside of Traverse City in a beautiful 900-acre setting on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay.

This facility opened in 1980 as the Grand Traverse Hilton and was an immediate hit. Jack Nicklaus designed The Bear course, which opened amidst much fanfare the day after Andy North won the U.S. Open at another Michigan course, Oakland Hills in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham. Grand Traverse’s operators took the extraordinary step of inviting the sizeable golf media contingent at Oakland Hills to come for a visit, and many accepted. They passed on glowing reports about the challenging layout.

A year later the resort opened a 17-story tower that overlooks The Bear and two other courses – The Wolverine, a Gary Player design that opened in 1999, and Spruce Run, a more sporty layout that pre-dates the resort. Designed by William Newcomb, it opened in 1979. The three courses operate out of one clubhouse and it’ll be Spruce Run that gets special attention next.

“We’re always trying to make improvements,’’ said Mike DeAgostino, the resort’s public relations manager since 1992, “and we’re about to start repaving the cart paths on Spruce Run. In the large scope of golf that’s not a big deal, but it is a several hundred thousand dollars project, and we’ll do it in three stages.’’

The Bear remains the resort’s crowned jewel. It was the Michigan Golf Course Owners Course of the Year in 2012 and among Golf Digest’s 10 Greatest Public Courses in 2013-14 – and those are just a few of the honors it has won over the years.

Even with such a great course Grand Traverse wasn’t exempt from financial struggles and ownership changes. It’s had four owners, the current one being the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. That group took over in 2003, made the place better and broadened its options.

Grand Traverse now has about 600 rooms, 86,000 square-feet of meeting space, an indoor water playground, a 100,000 square-foot health club, a private beach club, a variety of shops and boutiques and three full-service dining options. The most interesting of those, The Aerie Restaurant and Lounge, is located on the 16th floor of the hotel and isn’t to be missed. Its menu is intriguing as well as tasty, and the views spectacular.

Sweetwater American Bistro and Jack’s Sports Bar offer more casual dining and the Clubhouse Grille and Marketplace coffee shop are other possibilities.

In the winter there’s cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and sleigh rides available on the property. The state-of-the-art spa is inviting with its hydrotherapy, body wraps, massages, facials, manicures and pedicures. There are also two casinos nearby.

The Turtle Creek Casino, four miles away, is within sight of Grand Traverse and complimentary shuttles are available. Turtle Creek has a 54,000 square-foot gaming floor with more than 40 gaming tables, a poker room, 1,300 slots and a newly-opened high limit area. The Leelanau Sands Casino, 25 miles away, is also an option.

There isn’t an “off season’’ for golfers at Grand Traverse, though. Golf remains a year-around activity because its 2,000 square-foot Golf Academy can be transformed into a Winter Golf Center that has three heated, indoor-outdoor hitting bays equipped with mirrors and motion-capture technology for swing analysis.

It also has a notable man in charge. Scott Hebert, head professional and director of instruction at the resort, won both the Michigan Open and Michigan PGA title six times and was the 2008 PGA Professional National champion. He doesn’t take the winter off.

“If you think about it, (the winter) is the best time of the year to make a swing change,’’ said Hebert. “You can make a lasting change. Do it in the winter. Work on it, and you don’t have that pressure of the next matches where you want to win and you slip back to what you were doing wrong in the first place.’’

Junior golf instruction is a big thing year-around at Grand Traverse, but all sorts of adult groups can also find the Winter Golf Center a worthwhile stopover. Clinics, practice sessions, lessons, club-fitting seminars, equipment demonstrations, long drive contests and indoor league competition are all possible on the GC2-powered Golf Simulator by Foresight Sports.

“A great amenity to have,’’ said Hebert. “It’s not just a video game. It’s a great simulator where you can work on almost every aspect of your game.’’

The simulator also offers options on the social side.

“A group can come in for a little team building, have a closest-to-the-pin contest on the simulator, have a little clinic or even a meeting in a different kind of atmosphere than a conference room,’’ said Hebert. “We have a lot of events here. I see who the winners are, and they’re the same people who have come through in the winter. They have a jump on everybody when the courses open.’’

Hebert expanded his teaching staff this year, adding Randy Ernst and Adam Roades to his lead instructor, Terry Crick. Ernst’s background includes experience as a caddie on the pro tours. Crick had been general manager at a course in Florida before deciding that the golf climate in Michigan was preferable.

Tom McGee is the director of golf and Paul Galligan the director of golf and grounds. Hebert, McGee and Galligan combined have over 70 years of golf management experience.

Traverse City has been labeled “the Taj Mahal of Michigan Golf’’ and “the Pebble Beach of the Midwest,’’ with Grand Traverse’s courses among 17 championship layouts in a 60-mile radius that includes four resorts.

The Bear, still the toughest course in the area, was strangely bypassed as a site for pro tour events. A Senior PGA Tour event, the now defunct Ameritech Senior Open, was played there in 1990 before moving to Chicago. The Michigan Open was played on The Bear for 28 years, but left in 2008.

Perhaps the most popular event at Grand Traverse now comes every September, when hockey’s Detroit Red Wings mix in a golf fundraiser with their preseason training.

Otherwise, Grand Traverse is interested in holding a big pro event – but only if it makes good business sense.

“There’s no longer any big tournaments in Michigan,’’ admitted DeAgostino. “The economic downturn a few years ago caused the pro tours to turn away from Michigan.’’

The PGA Tour’s Buick Open ended a long run at Warwick Hills in the Detroit area and two Champions Tour stops no longer call Michigan home. The Senior PGA Championship, though, was held at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor in 2012 and will return in 2014.

“We’d welcome the Michigan PGA looking at us for another tournament,’’ said DeAgostino, but he admits Grand Traverse may be located too far away from major population centers to attract the PGA Tour.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Streelman will be part of U.S. effort in World Cup

The team of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland gave the U.S. its first victory in 11 years in the last staging of the World Cup of Golf. Now Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman will be part of the U.S. title defense.

The World Cup, first played in 1953, is a two-man team competition with players chosen off the World Rankings. Kuchar got his spot on the defending champion team with a No. 8 ranking after No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 3 Phil Mickelson and No. 7 Steve Stricker turned it down.

Jack Nicklaus was the featured guest at the Western Golf Association’s third annual Green Coat Gala at the Peninsula Chicago Hotel. The sold-out black tie event raised over $900,00 for the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Kuchar got Streelman as his partner after higher-ranked Americans Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Kevin Bradley, Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, Bill Haas and Rickie Fowler didn’t want to play. Woodland’s ranking has slipped to 81st, so he wasn’t a viable partner this time.

For Streelman, ranked 37th, the opportunity could be both prestigious and profitable. A format change has the biennial competition being played at 72 holes of stroke play with a $7 million purse.

Despite the flock of U.S. rejections, the World Cup will have a star-studded field for its Nov. 21-24 staging at Royal Melbourne in Australia. In the last World Cup, in 2011 in China, the Kuchar-Woodland team held off England’s Ian Poulter and Justin Rose and Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka for the title.

Still undecided

Not all of Chicago’s player-of-the-year races are over. The Illinois PGA Senior Player-of-the-Year is still up for grabs since the final event offering points, the Senior PGA Professionals National Championship in Virginia, had to be postponed because of weather issues.

Biltmore’s Doug Bauman has a comfortable lead over Glencoe’s Bill Sakas and Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb going into the last tournament.

The Don Drasler Assistants Player-of-the-Year went to Glen Oak’s Matt Slowinski, and he beat out the section’s overall player-of-the-year for the honor. St. Charles assistant Curtis Malm repeated as the winner of the top award, but ranked only fifth in the assistants standings. Crestwicke’s Kyle English, Midlothian’s Frank Hohenadel and Twin Lakes’ Michael Smith ranked 2-3-4 behind Slowinski.

Did you know?

The biggest money tournaments of 2014 will be the PGA Championship and The Players Championship. Both will have purses of $10 million. The PGA was boosted by $2 million and The Players by $500,000 over 2013 in recent announcements.

Andy Pope, of Glen Ellyn, and Michael Schachner, of Libertyville, survived the first stage of the new qualifying school for the PGA’s Web.com Tour. Pope was low man at Grasslands in Lakeland, FL., and Schachner tied for 18th at The Woodlands in Texas. The first of six second stage eliminations begins Nov. 12 and the finals are Dec. 12-17 in LaQuinta, Calif.

The John Deere Classic raised over $6 million for charity for the second straight year. The 2013 numbers for July’s PGA Tour stop at TPC Deere Run near the Quad Cities showed $6.32 million raised for 464 local and regional charities.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will celebrate its centennial in 2014. Details for the celebration will come soon, probably around Nov. 19 when the season’s full schedule. will be announced. In the meantime the CDGA is offering membership incentives, with 16 prize drawings scheduled for members during the offseason.

HANDA CUP: World Legends finally beat U.S. on eighth try

OLD HICKORY, Tenn. – It took eight tries, but the LPGA Legends Tour finally witnessed a breakthrough in its premier team event on Sunday.

The Legends’ U.S.-born players had won the ISPS Handa Cup six straight times and retained it last year after the matches ended in a 24-24 tie at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla. Now the cherished Cup is finally in the hands of the World team, consisting of Legends players who were born internationally. And they were in the mood to celebrate (see picture, below).

They took a 14-10 lead into Sunday’s 12 singles matches at Hermitage Golf Club on the outskirts of Nashville en route to a 27-21 victory. They even threatened to make this staging a runaway after Beth Daniel of the U.S. outlasted England’s Laura Davies in what turned out to be the best match of the day.

Daniel won the first match before the World team took charge. A repeat of last year’s tie was assured with five matches still on the course, but it took a 30-foot birdie putt by Australian Jan Stephenson in the next-to-the-last match of the day to assure the World team its long-awaited victory.

“It took a few years for the World team to practice and get better and better and better,’’ said captain Pia Nilsson of Sweden. “We were a team this week, and the passion was so strong. This is just going to make this competition even better, to grow in the future.’’

JoAnne Carner, the first U.S. captain to lose, took the defeat in stride.

“Sometimes you hate to lose, but the way the World team played this week I have no repercussions whatsoever,’’ she said. “They just outplayed us.’’

Nilsson declared Davies her first player out in singles for good reason. She was devastating in Saturday’s best ball and alternate shot matches, going 6-under-par and 5-under-par with partner Trish Johnson to win both. Carner countered with Daniel, who proved every bit up to Davies’ challenge.

Davies made birdies on the second, third and fourth holes but lost the lead at the turn, as Daniel played her front side in 4-under. She was 2-up, and 6-under for the day, going to No. 18 – a 334-yard par-4. The long-hitting Davies then drove the green, leaving her an eagle putt to potentially even the stroke play match.

“Laura would have carried that drive 300 yards,’’ marveled Daniel, “and that wasn’t even downwind.’’ The big drive came off a crosswind, uphill tee shot.


Davies missed her eagle putt, finishing the match at 5-under. Daniel salvaged par for the win to complete the match that took only 3 hours 9 minutes.

“It was like a boxing match out there – really good golf shots and a lot of fun,’’ said Daniel. Though she had a 12-5-2 Handa Cup record prior to Sunday, Daniel doesn’t compete as much as Davies these days. Carner still wanted her out first for the U.S.

“I felt a lot of responsibility,’’ admitted Daniel. “Coming here, I didn’t feel my game was that good but I kind of found it on Saturday when I played really well. JoAnne had the confidence to put me out first. She just said `you’re playing awesome,’’ and I felt honored she picked me. I’m just happy to have found my game for two days. I’m always grateful when that happens.’’

The momentum from Daniel’s big win disappeared quickly, though. Rosie Jones lost her first Handa Cup match in five years, falling to Trish Johnson in the second match. Johnson was just as hot as Daniel, also going 6-under.

The tension started building after Mieko Nomura’s rout of Pat Bradley gave the World a 24-14 advantage, meaning one more point would seal the win. Never was the tension greater than when Nancy Scranton and Liselotte Neumann hit the 18th green.

Scranton hit a great approach to four feet and needed the birdie putt to win the match. She lipped it out. Then Neumann needed to hole a par putt from the same distance to clinch the Cup for the World team. She missed, too. That gave Scranton the win and Cindy Figg-Currier won the next match for the U.S. to make it 24-20.

The last two matches on the course were all even at that point, but Stephenson’s uphill, breaking putt on the 18th ended the suspense against Sherri Turner and Gail Graham and Betsy King tied in the meaningless final match. That left the U.S. squad (pictured above) a loser for the first time.

No site has been announced for next year’s Handa Cup, though Hermitage owner Mike Eller said “We love company…We hope we can do it again.’’

And the players certainly seemed receptive to returning to the course that hosted the LPGA’s Sara Lee Classic from 1988-2002. Next event on the Legends’ schedule also has a Handa connection. The ISPS Handa Open Championship will be held Nov. 8-10 at Innisbrook Resort near Tampa, Fla.

HERE ARE SUNDAY’S SINGLES RESULTS.

Beth Daniel, U.S., def. Laura Davies; Trish Johnson, World, def. Rosie Jones; Cindy Rarick, U.S., def. Jenny Lidback; Helen Alfredsson, World, def. Barb Mucha; Alison Nicholas, World, def. Nancy Lopez; Lorie Kane, World, def. Christa Johnson; Mieko Nomura, World, def. Pat Bradley; Laurie Rinker, U.S., def. Jane Crafter; Nancy Scranton, U.S., def. Liselotte Neumann; Cindy Figg-Currier, U.S., def. Alicia Dibos; Jan Stephenson, U.S., def. Sherri Turner; Gail Graham, World, and Betsy King, U.S., tied.

HANDA CUP: Jones wins twice, but U.S. trails after Day 1

OLD HICKORY – Some golf history could be made on Sunday at the LPGA Legends Tour’s ISPS Handa Cup.

The World team was winless in the first seven stagings of the team competition that matches LPGA players 45 and over from the U.S. against their Legends counterparts who were born internationally. The U.S. won the first six meetings and last year’s ended in a 24-24 tie at the Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla.

This eighth staging, at Hermitage Golf Club on the outskirts of Nashville, could have a much different result based on what transpired in Saturday’s 12 team matches. The World team opened a 14-10 lead and just needs to protect it in Sunday’s 12 singles matches. Each match is worth two points.

Saturday’s opening day of the competition saw the World team play the U.S. to a 6-6 standoff in the morning best ball matches and then dominate in the afternoon alternate shot battles.

The U.S. won only one match in the afternoon, that one coming from the team of Rosie Jones and Beth Daniel. Jones-Daniel also won in the morning, as Jones continued her reign as the dominant individual in the team competition. The two wins on Saturday gave Jones a lifetime 17-3-2 record in Handa Cup matches. No other player on either team has won more than 13 times.

“I’ve just had good partners,’’ said Jones. “Team events make me knuckle down. I try to putt well in all of them and try to not make any mistakes.’’

Jones has won with a variety of partners over the years and believes her last loss was five years ago. Her partners prior to Daniel were usually Patty Sheehan or Sherri Steinhauer.

“Both couldn’t be here this year,’’ said Jones, “but they can put me with anybody who can tolerate my short drives. Beth Daniel this week is hitting the ball really good. She’s 30 yards closer (to the green) than I normally would be, so it’s easier for me to hit wedges in.’’

Daniel is no slouch in Handa Cup play, either. She has a 12-5-2 record. Like Jones, she’s not used to seeing her U.S. team trail in the competition.

“I was kind of surprised,’’ said Jones. “But we have 24 points out there. That’s what we’ve got to bank on.’’

The U.S. will get a dose of reality in the first singles match, at 9 a.m. on Sunday when Daniel faces long-hitting Laura Davies. Davies sparked the World team on Saturday while playing with Trish Johnson. The duo from England was 5-under-par in best ball and a staggering 6-under in alternate shot en route to winning both times.

Their morning match was the first of the competition and opponents Pat Bradley and Betsy King took charge for the U.S. early with birdies on the first three holes. Davies-Johnson rallied back, however, and got the win when Davies rolled in a 20-foot downhill birdie putt on the final hole.

After Saturday’s matches were over World team captain Pia Nilsson quickly made Davies the first player to go off in singles on Sunday. Daniel will be a tough opponent. Jones will try to keep her winning streak going in the second singles match against Johnson, Davies’ partner on Saturday.

Davies is the only player on the World team to win a title in the Sara Lee Classic, an LPGA stop at Hermitage from 1988-2002. Davies won that event in 1994. The only other players in this Handa Cup to win the Sara Lee Classic didn’t do so well on Saturday. Nancy Lopez (1991) and Barb Mucha (1998) were paired in both the best ball and alternate shot formats and were losers in both.

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

Morning best ball: Laura Davies-Trish Johnson, World, def. Pat Bradley-Betsy King; Lorie Kane-Alicia Dibos, World, def. Nancy Lopez-Barb Mucha; Sherri Turner-Laurie Rinker, U.S., def. Liselotte Neumann-Jane Crafter; Cindy Figg-Currier-Christa Johnson, U.S., def. Gail Graham-Jenny Lidback; Helen Alfredsson-Jan Stephenson, World, def. Nancy Scranton-Cindy Rarick; Beth Daniel-Rose Jones, U.S., def. Alison Nicholas-Mieko Nomura.

Afternoon alternate shot: Davies-Johnson, World, def. Turner-Rinker; Neumann-Dibos, World, def. Bradley-King; Figg-Currier-Christa Johnson, U.S., tied with Kane-Graham; Alfredsson-Nicholas def. Lopez-Mucha; Daniel-Jones def. Crafter-Nomura; Scranton-Rarick tied with Lidback-Stephenson.

SUNDAY’S SINGLES MATCHES

9 a.m. – Daniel vs. Davies; 9:10 – Jones vs. Trish Johnson; 9:20 – Rarick vs. Lidback; 9:30 – Mucha vs. Alfredsson; 9:40 – Lopez vs. Nicholas; 9:50 – Christa Johnson vs. Kane; 10 a.m. – Bradley vs. Nomura; 10:10 – Rinker vs. Crafter; 10:20 – Scranton vs. Neumann; 10:30 – Figg-Currier vs. Dibos; 10:40 – Turner vs. Stephenson; 10:50 – King vs. Graham.