The John Deere Classic wasn’t always the John Deere Classic. Illinois’ only visit from the PGA Tour in 2014 had a modest beginning. For starters, it was called the Quad Cities Open and was only a satellite event on the circuit in 1971. That first event was played on 6501-yard Crow Valley Country Club in…
Author: lenz
Troyanovich, the 2012 champion, could be first Mistwood player to win IWO
July will be a huge tournament month for Chicago’s best golfers, but especially for the women. The biggest spectator event for the women comes first – the new International Crown at Caves Valley in Owings Mills, Md., from July 21-27. This is big for Chicago in particular, because the international team event’s second staging –…
JDC playoff win provided a career breakthrough for Spieth
The only PGA Tour event in Illinois is coming up next week, and that means the return of Jordan Spieth. His victory in the John Deere Classic last year was one of the best feel-good stories in golf last year. Spieth was just 19 when he survived a five-hole playoff with 2012 champion Zach Johnson…
IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Tweaking is almost done at Erin Hills
Erin Hills has undergone more than its share of tweaks in its brief history, but interest in the layout 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee has never wavered. In fact, enthusiasm for the course has grown with each of the changes made since the opening in 2006. It’s good news, though, that the alterations are just…
MISSION HILLS: Thoughts about my walk down memory lane
I found this interesting. My introduction to golf came at age 11 when my mother took me to Mission Hills, then a 27-hole public facility in Northbrook, IL., along with another mother and her son, who was about my age. We still lived on the northwest side of Chicago then and didn’t move to Palatine…
Newly-opened Medinah No. 1 might be more popular than No. 3 layout
Medinah Country Club has seen it all in its 90 years of existence – three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, three Western Opens, the last Ryder Cup in September of 2012. Virtually all the big events were held on Medinah’s No. 3 course, and that eventually became a problem. The demands for member and guest…
ENCOMPASS: Cochran’s 64 was the best at North Shore
It may have been too little too late, but Russ Cochran took more than a mediocre paycheck away from the Encompass Championship on Sunday. The left-handed golfer claimed the tournament 18-hole record with an 8-under-par 64. The previous low round in the Champions Tour event was 65 posted by 2013 champion Craig Stadler and Bob…
U.S. Senior Open hopefuls head to Village Links of Glen Ellyn
The Champions Tour players didn’t all leave town after the Encompass Championship concluded. Many in Sunday’s field stayed around for Monday’s sectional qualifying round for the U.S. Senior Open at Village Links of Glen Ellyn. Ninety players will battle for six spots in the Senior Open proper, to be held at Oak Tree in Edmond,…
ENCOMPASS: North Shore is a good place for two Tripletts
Kirk Triplett wasn’t excited about his Saturday round in the Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, even though it was a good one. Triplett, an early starter, posted his second straight 5-under-par 67 and his 10-under 134 is three strokes behind leader Tom Lehman entering Sunday’s final round. “If you drive the…
ENCOMPASS: Perry couldn’t keep up U.S. Open momentum in Round 1
Kenny Perry won the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup last year and was the circuit’s only player in action last week when he tied for 28th in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, N.C. At 53 he was the oldest player to make the cut at the Open, but he wasn’t so good in his return…