Author: lenz

CDGA’s date changes will streamline Chicago golf calendar

There are two major changes coming to amateur golf in the Chicago area for 2013. Both involve scheduling, and both represent improvements from the way things were.

For starters, the Chicago District Golf Assn. made one major schedule change, as well as a few others. The big one has the men’s 83rd Illinois State Amateur leaving its longstanding August spot on the calendar and moving to July 16-18. It’ll be contested at Aldeen, in Rockford.

The Illinois Mid-Amateur and Illinois Public Links are also moving back in the schedule, and that’s good, too.

Secondly, on the women’s side, the 80th staging of the Illinois Women’s Amateur is getting a slightly later date and a rare appearance in the Chicago Area. It’ll be played at Cantigny, in Wheaton, from June 25-28. That puts it closer to the only other big event in women’s golf for Illinois players. The 18th Illinois Women’s Open, which will get a July 31 start at Mistwood in Romeoville, is expected to have an amateur-dominated field again.

These changes have been generally – but not universally – well-received. Let’s have a look at them both.

In moving back the State Amateur the CDGA staff felt it was easing the burden on its top players. The U.S. Amateur was in August, too, and that put two of their primary events close together. In fact, they were held on back-to-back weeks in 2012.

Now the U.S. Am is Aug. 12-18, in Brookline, Mass. – roughly a month after the Illinois Amateur champion is determined.

“It’s a good thing,’’ said Dave Ryan, the Taylorville veteran who was the CDGA’s Player-of-the-Year in 2012. “For a lot of kids (the State Am) was up against the U.S. Amateur, and it was hard for them to get to both.’’

From a non-contestant standpoint, the schedule changes are good because they create a month of golf excitement in Illinois rather than spacing out the events, as has been the case in the past. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic is the week before the Illinois Amateur and the Illinois Open is the week after.

Quinn Prchal, the surprise winner of last year’s State Am, isn’t quite as convinced.

“It does appear that in 2013 most of the Illinois and Amateur tournaments are concentrated within a fewer number of weeks,’’ he said. “I imagine that scheduling golf tournaments is challenging.’’

He plans on defending his Illinois Amateur title “unless I qualify for the USGA Public Links.’’ That national championship is July 14-20 at Laurel Valley, in Pennsylvania.

Prchal became one of youngest State Am champions in history when he took the title at Kokopelli, in Marion, at 18 — just a few months after his high school graduation. He’s now a freshman at Princeton. The engineering student earned a starting spot on the Princeton team and had one individual top-10 finish (the Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Ga.) and one team win (the Ivy League Match Play Championship, held on Princeton’s course) as his collegiate golf career got off to a promising start.

Ryan, conversely, may be the oldest-ever CDGA Player-of-the-Year, having won the honor at age 58. Now a year older, he spent much of the winter playing recreational golf in Scottsdale, Ariz. The lone exception was his participation in an April two-man team event at Whisper Rock, the prestigious club that includes such pro stars as Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples (as well as Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman) among its members.

Though he will continue his busy tournament schedule within Illinois, Ryan isn’t predicting another Player-of-the-Year season.

“I’m starting to feel aches and pains I’ve never felt before,’’ said Ryan, “and last year will be a tough act to follow. I got lucky last year. It was unusual for someone my age to do that.’’

Ryan expects to play in virtually the same events he played in during the 2012 season with one exception. He’ll skip the 94th CDGA Amateur (June 24-27 at Edgewood Valley, in LaGrange) to play in a qualifying round for the U.S. Senior Open on June 24 at Ruth Lake, in Hinsdale.

But he likes the other, less-high profile schedule adjustments made by the CDGA, those involving the Illinois Mid-Amateur (now Aug. 27-28 at Flossmoor) and the Illinois Public Links (now July 8-9 at Bowes Creek in Elgin). The Mid-Am was in April and the Public Links in May in 2012.

“Those were good moves because (they avoided) the spring weather,’’ said Ryan. “We had snow one time at the Public Links.’’

Last year was an unusual one, and not just because Ryan was the CDGA Player-of-the-Year. Though he won that award, he wasn’t Player-of-the-Year in the Senior ranks. That honor went to Lake Bluff’s Curtis Skinner, who accumulated enough points with his runner-up finish in the U.S. Senior Amateur.

That extraordinary tournament showing won’t lead to Skinner playing more locally, so the schedule changes “won’t affect me at all.’’

“If I had more time I would play in more of the state stuff,’’ said Skinner, “but Match Play events take up significant time, and amateur golf can be very expensive.’’

Especially if you have to travel to do it. By virtue of his showing at U.S. Senior Am, Skinner, now 55, earned spots in the U.S. Senior Open in July in Nebraska and U.S. Amateur as well as a return to U.S. Senior Amateur, in North Carolina.

His biggest focus will be on the U.S. Senior Open, where he missed the cut by one shot in 2011 when he made bogey on the last hole of the second round.

On the women’s front, the Illinois Women’s Golf Assn. could get another Northwestern vs. Illinois final again at Cantigny, assuming the college stars from both schools enter again. Elizabeth Szokol, now an NU freshman, won the 2012 title match over Michelle Mayer, now an Illini sophomore, at Ravisloe, in Homewood.

With IWGA leadership largely coming from Downstate, the Illinois Women’s Amateur was generally played away from the Chicago area. Last year was a rare exception, and in moving to Cantigny for this year the women will decide their champion on a course that has already hosted the men’s State Amateur three times.

Getting the chance to play Cantigny was a big reason for the date change, according to IWGA president Karen Tillett of Springfield. Cantigny was booked earlier in June.

“We’ve never had it this late before,’’ she said. “We were fortunate to get into Cantigny.’’

The IWGA will host its 34th Junior tournament July 30-31 at the University of Illinois’ course in Savoy and its 44th Senior tournament Sept. 17-19 at The Den at
Fox Creek in Bloomington. The Senior event will also include a Hall of Fame induction for the IWGA. Renee Sloan, the University of Illinois coach, will become on the fourth inductee into that Hall, which was created in 2008.

Affrunti’s finally playing again after shoulder rehab

Finally there’s some good news involving Joe Affrunti, the Crystal Lake golfer who suffered a serious shoulder injury months after earning his PGA Tour card.

Affrunti earned the right to play on golf’s premier circuit by finishing in the top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list in 2010. In June of 2011, however, he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required major surgery and lengthy rehabilitation time.

At least now he’s playing again. On a medical exemption with the PGA Tour, Affrunti is competing on the Web.com circuit again. He made the cut in two of his four starts, earning $4,500. This week’s South Georgia Classic will be the fifth and last Web.com start he’s allowed as part of medical exemption procedures. Then where he plays will be determined on a week to week basis.

“It’s confusing,’’ he said. “I get five medical starts to see how I’m feeling, then I can enter a (PGA Tour) event. I’m allowed 14 starts on the PGA Tour, but I still have to (be eligible to) get in (the tournaments). I won’t get in all 14 until next year.’’

As a low qualifier off the Web.com circuit, his eligibility for PGA Tour events is extremely limited. He was, for instance, only the 14th alternate for last week’s Heritage Classic.

“My first tournament back will probably be in Memphis (St. Jude Classic in June),’’ said Affrunti, “but I can play on the Web.com as long as my (PGA Tour qualifying) number doesn’t come up.’’

Affrunti played at Illinois and won the 2004 Illinois Open at The Glen Club before earning his playing privileges on the pro circuits. Injuries, though, have slowed a promising career. He had major wrist surgery before the shoulder flareup.

“I don’t think I”ll ever be 100 percent,’’ he said. “My wrist surgery was five years ago, and it still acts up. With the shoulder I went a long time without playing. The rehab took a lot longer than I thought it would, and I’ve had trouble being consistent. But you never know when you’ll have good weeks, when your games will come around. The more you play, the more comfortable you feel.’’

An Illini-NU duel?

The Big Ten men’s championship, which tees off Friday at French Lick Resort in Indiana, figures to be an all-Illinois affair with Northwestern trying to end Illinois’ run of four straight titles.

“We’ll go in seeded one-two,’’ said NU coach Pat Goss, whose Wildcats had a run of three straight Big Ten Match Play titles snapped by the Illini in February. “They have kids on their team who have experienced nothing but winning the Big Ten. That’ll give them a lot of confidence. If both of us get going we should have a fun battle.’’

NU tuned up by winning its Spring Invitational at The Glen Club. Illinois finished third in last week’s Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue.

The men’s tourney will be contested on French Lick’s Pete Dye Course when the conference women’s title will be decided at the nearby Donald Ross Course. Michigan State goes for a three-peat on the women’s side.

Did you know?

(BULLET) The full 18 holes of Elk Grove’s Fox Run course, renovated by Aurora architect Greg Martin, are expected to be available this weekend. Last Sunday’s grand re-opening outing was cancelled due to the heavy storms that forced the closing of many area courses.

(BULLET) Cog Hill, in Lemont, will hold a Demo Day from 9 a.m. -3 p.m. on Saturday.

(BULLET) The Illinois PGA holds its first stroke play event of the season on Monday at Bloomington Country Club. The IPGA Assistants Match Play Championship will also begin on that day at courses throughout the state.

(BULLET)) Flossmoor’s Ashley Armstrong won her second tournament of the collegiate season for Notre Dame, taking the Lady Jaguar Invitational at Augusta, Ga.

(BULLET) The Illinois Patriot Education Fund and the McCormick Foundation have joined forced in the staging of the May 28 Medinah Patriot Day outing. It’ll be played over the Nos. 2 and 3 courses at Medinah.

(BULLET) Mundelein-based GolfVisions has taken over management of Fyre Lake, a Jack Nicklaus-design near the Quad Cities.

LPGA schedule is finally working in Jeray’s favor

Berwyn golfer Nicole Jeray spent most of the winter in Augusta, Ga., and she had a pass to get into last week’s spectacular Masters tournament there. The Chicago area’s lone member of the Ladies PGA Tour, however, had more important things to do.

“I could have gotten in off my LPGA pass, ‘’ said Jeray. “I’ve been to the Masters numerous times, but now I prefer to watch on TV. Plus, I’ve got work to do for my own tournaments.’’

Hopefully that work will pay off starting this week, when Jeray’s tournament schedule dramatically picks up. It’s hard to improve your golf game in Chicago winters, so Jeray has been staying with her boyfriend and practicing at Jones Creek – a challenging Rees Jones design near the site of the Masters. When the weather improves her she’ll do her practicing back at Cog Hill, where Jones recently renovated the Dubsdread course, and work with her long-time swing instructor, Dr. Jim Suttie.

At 42 Jeray is among the oldest players on the women’s circuit. She qualified for the first time after her 1992 graduation from Northern Illinois University, where she won eight collegiate tournaments – an accomplishment that led to her being the youngest inductee into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

As a professional, however, things haven’t come so easily. Not only was the competition much stiffer, but Jeray has had to deal with narcolepsy – a sleep disorder. Still, she remains the only LPGA card member from Chicago since Medinah’s Deedee Lasker, who competed briefly in the 1970s.

Jeray’s dedication and determination is extraordinary. She has been on and off the premier women’s circuit several times and has been to its fall qualifying school 19 times.

“Kind of crazy, isn’t it,’’ she said. “My game is better than it’s ever been. A lot of the girls now are 18 years old, but I’m a mature player. I feel I can compete.’’

Lending credence to that belief is her standing in one of the LPGA’s more important statistical categories. She is second among all LPGA players in driving accuracy, having hit 86 percent of the fairways in her first three tournaments.

“I’m very straight. I just need to putt,’’ she said. “When I putt I make money. I’ve tried all kinds of putters. Now I’m holding one that I feel I can make anything with, so we’ll see.’’

On years when she didn’t have LPGA privileges Jeray competed on the much less lucrative Symetra (formerly Futures) Tour. Her latest venture to Q-school was in December, when she tied for 17th among 122 finalists. It took her 90 holes of regulation play and five playoff holes to earn playing privileges in 2013.

Her current card, though, hasn’t gotten her into every tournament and she’s been in limbo the last four months. Just an alternate in the field for the season-opening tournament in Australia, she didn’t know she could play until a week before the event. She hurriedly made the long trip there, but missed the cut.

“I wasn’t prepared mentally or physically,’’ she said. “People were dropping out like flies, so I got in. Then at Phoenix I signed up for Monday qualifying and got in.’’

With an uncertain schedule Jeray has played in three of the year’s six events, missed the cut in all of them and hasn’t earned a dime yet. That could change starting this week, when her schedule solidifies. She’s playing the next three weeks – the Lotte Championship, which tees off Wednesday in Hawaii; the North Texas Shootout, April 25-28 in Dallas; and the Kingsmill Championship, May 2-5 in Virginia.

“It’s been frustrating. When I left Q-School I knew I’d get into a lot of events,’’ she said. “But from now on I should get into all of the full-field events the rest of the year.’’

Northwestern golfer breaks a Luke Donald record

Luke Donald was a three-time All-American and an NCAA champion for Northwestern before he went on to his brilliant career as a professional, which included his earning the status of the world’s No. 1 golfer.

One of Donald’s most cherished collegiate records went by the wayside on Tuesday when NU junior Jack Perry posted a 54-hole score of 200 in the two-day NU Spring Invitational at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Perry made 20 birdies and posted rounds of 67, 67 and 66 in winning the individual title by eight strokes over Boo Timko of Ohio State. Perry’s 16-under-par score bettered the NU record for a 54-hole tournament set by Donald at the 2001 U.S. Intercollegiates in Mexico and later tied by David Lipsky in a 2002 event in Greensboro, N.C.

NU coach Pat Goss didn’t want to tell Perry how close he was to the record while play was in progress.

“But I was cheering hard for him,’’ said Goss. “He played flawless all week. He’s been on the cusp of greatness.’’

“I had no idea I was aiming for that accolade (Donald’s record),’’ said Perry. “But obviously it’s a good perk for playing well. I thought the record would be about 185, given the type of player (Donald) is.’’

Goss’ Wildcats won the 14-team event by 12 shots over second place Ohio State, and his only disappointment was that Perry’s 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole didn’t drop. He needed it to shoot 199 – a milestone score at the collegiate level, where most tournaments are over 54 holes.

“One of my goals as a coach is to have a player shoot 199,’’ said Goss. “It seems like such a neat number.’’

“That would have been pretty cool,’’ admitted Perry, “but it was still a good two days. We practice here a lot in these weather conditions, so we were well prepared.’’

Much of that practice was done at the Luke Donald Outdoor Practice Facility, which Donald had built at The Glen Club strictly for use by the men’s and women’s teams at NU.

The two-day tournament was the first significant competition of the Chicago season and good preparation for the Wildcats, who will bid for the Big Ten Championships at French Lick, Ind., in two weeks.

Points should be tired, Streelman well-rest for the Masters

Luke Donald is just one of three Illinois players in their year’s Masters field. The other two – Kevin Streelman and D.A. Points – are in the field for the first time since making their tournament debuts in 2011.

Streelman (75-74) and Points (72-76) both failed to survive the 36-hole cut in their Masters debuts, and they’re coming into this one with different preparations.

Points should be tired. He qualified for the Masters by winning the Shell Houston Open two weeks ago. Rather than take a week off he opted to fulfill a commitment to play in the Valero Texas Open last week. He tied for 53rd place there – his sixth straight week of tournaments and his 11th event in the first three months of the year.

Streelman also played the week after his win, at last month’s Tampa Bay Championship, and tied for 21st at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He rested in Arizona the last two weeks while the tour was competing in Texas.

FIRST LOCAL EVENT: Donald’s coach, Pat Goss, will divide his attention between helping Donald and preparing his Northwestern men’s team for one of its biggest tournaments of the season.

On Monday, the day after the Masters, Goss’ Wildcats will host 13 other teams in the Kemper Sports Intercollegiate at The Glen Club in Glenview. It’ll be the first significant competition of the Chicago season and the Wildcats’ last tuneup for the Big Ten Championship April 26-28 at French Lick, Ind.

NU’s tournament has a big Illinois flavor, with the field also including DePaul, Loyola, Chicago State, Bradley, Northern Illinois, Illinois State and Western Illinois. Marquette, Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis, Dayton, Ohio, Ohio State and St. John’s round out the field for the event that calls for 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

IPGA DEBUT: First event of the Illinois PGA tournament season is Monday – the Spring Pro-Assistants team competition at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. opens its season on April 23 with the Better Ball of Pairs event at The Glen Club.

Donald has “special short game shot” ready for the Masters

Last year Luke Donald was the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer entering all four of the sport’s major championships. He was No. 1 for 55 weeks, and it was at the 2012 Masters that his duel for the top spot with Rory McIlroy started.

This year’s Masters begins Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club and Donald has dropped to No. 4 in the world (behind Tiger Woods, McIlroy and Justin Rose) and he hasn’t been having a Luke Donald type of year so far. The Northwestern graduate and long-time Chicago area resident had a tie for fourth as his best showing in four starts on the PGA Tour and he missed the cut the week at the European PGA Tour’s Maybank Malaysian Open.

That missed cut in his last tournament appearance was significant, as it was his first MC on the European circuit after surviving in his first 118 events.

Tweeting that he was “hugely disappointed,’’ Donald philosophized that “all good things come to an end eventually’’ and returned to his winter residence in Jupiter, FL., to prepare for the Masters.

His long-time Northwestern coach, Pat Goss, spent last weekend with Donald. Goss says the missed cut is no cause for concern and that Donald has “a special short game shot that he has worked on for Augusta….You won’t be able to miss it when he uses it!’’

But their Masters preparation hasn’t been easy. Donald and Goss were to meet at Augusta National last Thursday but bad weather there led to them hooking up in Florida instead. They went to Augusta for Friday and Saturday practice sessions and the Friday practice round lasted an unusually long 4 ½ hours with Donald playing by himself and hitting plenty of extra shots en route to the green.

“That’s an example of how important he thinks it is to figure out where you can miss it around the greens and how important short game and putting are at Augusta,’’ said Goss. On Saturday Donald practiced in the morning and played 18 holes with fellow competitor Matteo Manassero in the afternoon, then returned to Jupiter before returning to Augusta on Monday.

Donald conducted his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday and is excited to have his 3-year old daughter Elle be his caddy in Wednesday’s par-3 contest. After that it’s all business, as Donald tries again to claim his coveted first major title.

He’s come closest at the Masters – a tie for third in his first one in 2005. His third top-10 there in eight appearances came in a tie for fourth in 2011 but he tied for 32nd last April.

Donald’s tournament results this season aren’t encouraging, but there’s a reason. He initiated swing changes in the offseason in hopes of adding a reliable draw to his list of shot options, and swing tweaks frequently cause temporary setbacks in performance.

In is last extensive interview prior to this week Donald said he’s making progress with his swing change. His best U.S. tournament was his last one, a tie for fourth at the Tampa Bay Championship where he was the defending champion. Kevin Streelman won there, but Donald was pleased after a bogey-free weekend.

“I’ve made a lot of progress. My game is trending,’’ Donald said three weeks ago. “Hopefully I’m peaking at just the right time.’’

He skipped the PGA Tour’s Bay Hill Invitational the following week to go to Malaysia, a move that was due at least in part to the availability of appearance money. Donald, with over $28 million earned in American PGA tournaments alone, didn’t need it but there were other factors.

“I’ve struggled at Bay Hill. I don’t feel like the course suits my game very well,’’ said Donald, who rested during the Shell Houston Open and Valero Texas Open the past two weeks.

“I’ve never played that well at Houston, and I don’t know anything about Valero,’’ said Donald. “Certainly I didn’t want to take three weeks off before Augusta.’’

Donald, like McIlroy, is a member of both the PGA and European tours and playing in Malaysia helped him fulfill commitments in Europe. The absence of the pressure of being No. 1 helps, too.

“There are less people looking at me, less media attention with more on Rory and Tiger,’’ said Donald. “I can go about my business a little bit more.’’

Goss considers Donald’s game “very solid right now’’ and that the swing change won’t be a factor at the Masters.

“The key for him,’’ said Goss, “will be seeing some putts go in. We’ve worked a lot on his putting, and it is technically good. He just needs that confidence that comes from holing some putts.’’

NOTES: Mom’s putter revived Points’ career

Winfield’s Kevin Streelman wasn’t the only Illinois golfer earning a trip to the Masters in March. D.A. Points, the former University of Illinois golfer, also did it by winning the Shell Houston Open last Sunday.

Like Streelman, Points will be making his second Masters appearance next week; both missed the cut in 2011. Unlike Streelman, his recent victory wasn’t his first on the PGA Tour. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2011.

Since that win, though, Points had missed 17 of 25 cuts, including seven of nine this year. When he did survive the 36-hole cuts this season he finished just tied for 63rd and tied for 68th. At Houston, though, he birdied the first five holes en route to a first-round 64, then finished off the win with up-and-down pars on the last two holes on Sunday after enduring a three-hour rain delay.

The clincher was a 13-foot par-putt on the last hole, the last of many he made after putting a 25-year old Ping putter that his mother once used in his bag.

COG SETS THE PACE: First competitive events of the Chicago season will be Saturday and Sunday when Cog Hill conducts Spring Scrambles. They’ll be held on the Nos. 1 and 2 courses on Saturday and the Nos. 2 and 3 courses on Sunday. Entry fee is $60 per team.

The Lemont facility has three of its four courses open. No. 4, Dubsdread – long-time site of the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship, will open on April 13 with a $155 greens fee, cart included. The other Jemsek Golf facility, Pine Meadow in Mundelein, opens on Thursday.

READY TO GO: Course operators have been stymied by fluctuating temperatures this spring, but the following courses have announced their openings: Oak Meadows, Maple Meadows and Green Meadows, in WHERE; Settler’s Hill and Tanna Farms, in Geneva; Foxford Hills and Cary Country Club, in Cary; Zigfield Troy, in Woodridge; Chevy Chase, in Wheeling; Arlington Lakes, in Arlington Heights; Ravisloe, in Homewood; and Schaumburg Golf Club.

Cantigny, in Wheaton, is to open on Friday. Fox Run, in Elk Grove, has nine holes open and the back nine – renovated by Aurora architect Greg Martin, will hold a grand re-opening on April 21. Most courses will base their openings on the weather, so a call ahead is advised.

COMING SOON: Eagle Ridge, Illinois’ premier golf resort in Galena, will open its South course next Monday (APRIL 8), The General on April 15 and the East course on April 22. The North layout is open year-around.

French Lick Resort, in Indiana, will open its Golf Academy on Friday.

Streelman looks for a better result in his second Masters

Kevin Streelman may be the best feel-good story in golf these days, and maybe in all of sports.

Last month Streelman, who grew up in Winfield and built his golf game playing and working at both Cantigny and Arrowhead public courses in Wheaton, won the PGA Tour’s Tampa Bay Championship.

That got him into next week’s Masters, and it also improved the décor in the basement of his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Streelman made it to the Masters for the first time in 2011 after finishing in the top 30 on the PGA Tour’s FedEx standings in 2010. He missed the cut that time, but vowed he’d be back.

“When I left all I could think about was getting back,’’ he said. “In my basement I’ve got my first Masters invitation from 2011 framed, and I put up an empty frame next to it. I used it as motivation.’’

The motivation paid off when Streelman won his first tournament on the PGA Tour at Innisbrook’s Copperhead layout, a Florida course designed by long-time Chicago course architect Larry Packard. Packard, now 100 years old, was on hand for Streelman’s win and his son Roger was the designer at Cantigny, the 27-layout where Streelman worked to earn a college scholarship to Duke. This is where his story of extreme perseverance began.

After captaining the Duke team Streelman put 400,000 miles on three cars criss-crossing the country in search of professional tournaments. Frequently sleeping in those cars, he wasn’t earning much money and at one point his would-be financial sponsors deserted him, leaving Streelman stranded in California without the money to get home on.

Frustrated, he applied for an assistant coaching job at Duke in 2003 and was one of two finalists. He didn’t get the job, which turned out a blessing – even if it took awhile.

Streelman married and settled in Arizona where he cleaned clubs on weekday mornings and resumed work as a caddie – a job he had performed at Wheaton’s Chicago Golf Club to earn money on summer breaks from Duke – on weekends.

This time Streelman did his bag-toting at Whisper Rock, a haven for PGA Tour players — Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples are among the members — in North Scottsdale. He used the money he earned over two years there, as well as Whisper Rock’s excellent practice facilities, to get his game sharp enough for the PGA Tour. Then, while he was playing in the Puerto Rico Open as a PGA rookie in 2008, Whisper Rock owner Greg Pryhus invited him to join the club.

Not only did Streelman go from caddie to club member, he immediately won the club championship.

That was a clear indication that hard work and dedication can pay off, and now Streelman’s career has taken still another upward turn thanks to the win at Tampa Bay. Even a week later the significance of it was hard to fathom.

“It hasn’t entirely sunk in,’’ said Streelman. “It means I belong out there. It has nothing to do with money or trophies. I just love the competition. Now my dream is to be in that position in a major.’’

It could be at this year’s Masters. Streelman felt he knew Augusta National well enough to pass on an early practice round. Instead he took a two-week rest break and won’t arrive at Augusta National until Sunday.

“In 2011 I spent a few weeks there in preparation for my first Masters, but this time I had played four weeks in a row and was really exhausted,’’ Streelman said. He feels rest and better planning will produce a better result in his second try.

“The first time I was overwhelmed,’’ he said. “There were a lot of distractions from family and friends and media requirements.’’

That first Masters was more like a party. Streelman and wife Courtney rented a big house, where they stayed with both sets of parents as well as some brothers and sisters.

“We even had some dogs,’’ said Streelman. “It was fun, but a very hectic week. This time they (family members) will be there again, but Courtney and I are going to get a house by ourselves.’’

It wouldn’t be surprising if Streelman, now 34 and the winner of $7 million in five seasons on tour, made another career jump by challenging at the Masters. Just earning his first PGA Tour win – a milestone that didn’t come until his 153rd start — will change his life, however. It qualified him for the PGA Championship, the World Golf Championship events and the big-money invitationals. He isn’t sure yet whether he’ll be in the U.S. and British Opens, but life as a champion will be better than life as a journeyman.

“I’m really excited, because this helps me with scheduling,’’ said Streelman, who didn’t consider his first win a big surprise. “I had a nice start to the season, and my stats were up from last year. It showed that I’d worked hard in the offseason.’’

KICKOFF AT CANTIGNY: Daily Herald columns will start April 3

The Daily Herald joined forces with the staff of the Cantigny Golf Academy in Wheaton to celebrate the start of another Chicago golf season.

Following introductions by Eileen Brown, the Herald’s director of Innovation and Audience Development, over 80 Daily Herald Total Access subscribers received a tour of the Academy from head professional Patrick Lynch and listened to a preview of the Chicago season presented by golf writers Mike Spellman and Len Ziehm and moderated by sports editor Tom Quinlan.

The March 25 event served as a lead-in to the third year of Ziehm’s weekly columns in the Herald, the first of which runs on April 3.

In addition to the presentations by Lynch, Spellman and Ziehm the golf fans tested their skills at Cantigny’s 10 indoor hitting bays, visited its video swing analysis and club-fitting studios and were given advice on golf-specific fitness training.

Cantigny plans to open its courses on April 5, weather permitting.

Here are some scenes from the kickoff event.

COUNTRY CREEK: Kenny Perry’s home course is a breath of fresh air

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Squeezing in a fast nine holes is a good way to break up a long driving trip. It doesn’t cut severely into the mileage covered and certainly is refreshing.

On our last winter trip we indulged in that practice twice – and with goals in mind. We’d never played golf in Tennessee or Kentucky. Now we have. In both cases we checked out courses in the southern-most part of those states.

Hillcrest Country Club is a private nine-holer in Pulaski, Tenn., just over the Alabama border but about 15 miles off Interstate 65. While it’s a private facility, with a nice dining room and tennis courts, its members told me that golfers from out of the area are welcome. That’s apparently how we got on the course on a nice Sunday afternoon in February with temperatures in the high-50s – and for fees of $15 and with a cart, no less.

Winter tees were in use and much of the grass was dormant. Still, it was golf and Hillcrest’s members were proud of what they have. They enjoyed not only the course but the big driving range as well. While Hillcrest was a long way from the courses we enjoy in season in Illinois or in the winter in Florida, it was still fun, challenging and well worth the stop.

Even more so – on all counts – was Kenny Perry’s Country Creek, the site for our Kentucky golf debut. It’s a few miles over the Tennessee line and about 35 miles from Nashville, Tenn.

Perry, a solid PGA Tour player now competing mainly on the Champions Tour, grew up in Franklin, went to college at Western Kentucky in nearby Bowling Green and feels so strongly about his home state that he took extraordinary steps to qualify for the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2008, when the matches against the Europeans were played at Valhalla in Louisville.

That year Perry caught flak for skipping the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open because he thought he could pile up more Ryder Cup points playing a different schedule. As it turned out, he was right. He earned a spot on the U.S. team and helped the Americans win for the first time since 1999.

It was long before that, though, when Perry decided to create an 18-hole course for his fellow residents of Franklin. The course, which can been seen off Interstate 65, opened in 1995. Its mailing address is 1075 Kenny Perry Drive and the compact pro shop/ clubhouse is filled with his memorabilia.

Perry’s daughter Lesslye came up with the Country Creek name, and Perry has called the course “a dream come true.’’ The layout includes some barns (shown below) left from the days before the land was a golf course.

Though Perry isn’t one of the many tour players who have dabbled regularly in course architecture, he did design Country Creek. I became interested in visiting the place after being one of Perry’s partners in the first pro-am of the 2007 BMW Championship, the FedEx Cup playoff event then played at Cog Hill.

That was one of my most memorable days covering golf. It started with a one-on-one interview with PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem in the morning, then the afternoon round with Perry that included me sinking a 50-foot birdie putt. The pro-am round was rained out after 10 holes but Perry, pleasant on the course, was even nicer during the rain delay – a true class act.

Anyway, I had covered Perry’s bid for the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla, when he lost the title to Mark Brooks in a playoff and, of course, followed his unusual game plan to play in the Ryder Cup. Part of it included winning John Deere Classic, another event that I covered up close and personal.

Business obligations took me to Nashville several times a year for awhile, and I stopped by Country Creek for a few minutes on one occasion just to see what Country Creek looked like. It was too cold for anybody to play that day, but not on this most recent trip. Players were lined up to tee off on this chilly but sunny Monday in February, and the $13 greens fee (for seniors with cart for nine holes) might have been part of the enticement.

Maybe Perry should take another stab at course design. His first venture in his hometown has been well received, especially by the locals. They find it especially beautiful in the spring when the flowering is in bloom, but even in the winter the greens were in good shape.

Country Creek, which measures 6,633 yards from the tips, is on the short side for championship play but each hole was a fun challenge – especially the par-3 eighth over water. A steep hill fronts the green, and you’d better hit it all the way to the putting surface (a carry of 119, 137 or 199 yards, depending on the tee you choose) or your ball will roll back down the hill and into the drink. Mine came close to doing that.

Closing in on its second decade, Country Creek is a worthy contribution by Perry to his home town, and its worth a look by occasional visitors as well.