Author: lenz

Donald is getting his Ryder Cup captaincy after all

The Zach Johnson (left)-Luke Donald Ryder Cup captaincy matchup is finally official.

Luke Donald, always the gentleman, badly wanted to captain the European Ryder Cup team but feared his chances were gone after Sweden’s Henrik Stenson was selected on July 20.

Donald, a member of four Ryder Cup teams and a vice captain for two others, wasn’t even named a vice captain for the matches in Rome in 2023.  The Euros were going to have Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari as the helpers for Stenson.

Now Donald, the former Northwestern star and long-time resident and supporter of golf in Chicago, is back in business.  He was officially named the European Ryder Cup captain on Monday after a tumultuous few days for Stenson.

Stenson was removed from the captaincy after he joined the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Tour, then hinted at taking legal action against the DP World Tour – the European PGA circuit — for his removal.  Stenson regained his focus in time to win last week’s LIV event in Bedminster, N.J., however, and that meant a huge payday in his first event on the new circuit.  He received $4 million for the individual win and another $375,000 for being part of the runner-up team in a separate competitive category.

Donald, while finishing in an eight-way tie for 49th place in the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit on Sunday, didn’t confirm his captaincy until Monday’s announcement but did quip that – if selected – he “wouldn’t pull a Henrik.’’ He offered more thoughts on that after his selection was announced.

“I was surprised (Stenson) put his name forward if his plan was to go to LIV,’’ said Donald. “I hate to talk about rumors, but rumors are that he’d been in contact with the rival tours – whatever they were – and he was very interested.  Everyone knew that.  They (the European tour) obviously took his word that he wasn’t going to do that.  We all have to sign a clause or contract saying that we won’t have anything to do with LIV.’’

Donald, 44 and struggling with his game the last few years, was offered a job on the LIV broadcast team but turned it down.  He did, though, say he’d keep Bjorn and Molinari as his vice captains.

Given his age and earlier success as a player, Donald would seem a good candidate to jump to the better paying LIV Tour.  He was the world’s No. 1-ranked player for 56 weeks, but that was a decade ago.

While he never won a major title, he did have top-10 finishes in the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and British Open and notched 17 professional victories. While still an amateur he won the 2000 Chicago Open by six strokes against a field of professionals.

While a Florida resident now, Donald maintained a home in the Chicago area for many years after his graduation from Northwestern and he has been a major supporter of the Wildcats’ golf program and the First Tee of Greater Chicago.

Donald, interestingly, finished in a tie for 49th on Sunday with – among others – Zach Johnson, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain.  Donald’s captaincy will initially be more challenging than Johnson’s.

The PGA Tour indefinitely suspended all LIV Tour participants on Feb. 28 but the DP World Tour only fined its players who competed on the rival circuit. They included European Ryder Cup mainstays Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Stenson.  Will they be able to play on Donald’s team?

“That’s something that’s certainly up in the air,’’ said Donald.  “There’s no real clarity now, and there’s some legal action going on.’’

He’s convinced those issues will be resolved and is “so excited and truly honored’’ to finally be Europe’s captain.

“I’m really looking forward to the next 14 months and getting my team ready for Rome,’’ said Donald.

 

 

 

 

 

Another big women’s week at French Lick — but this one is different

The players have changed, but enthusiasm for women’s golf still runs high at French Lick.

FRENCH LICK, Indiana – It’s transition time for women golfers at Indiana’s premier golf resort.

It’s hard to imagine any golf facility doing more for the women’s game in the last decade than this southern Indiana resort has been willing to step forward for two pro circuits — The Legends for players who have reached their 45th birthday and the Epson (formerly the Symetra) for future Ladies PGA Tour stars.

“We’ve been a long-term supporter of women’s golf,’’ said French Lick long-time director of golf Dave Harner.  “There’s been a lot of opportunities here for the ladies to play.’’

That’s putting it mildly.

French Lick, best known for being the boyhood home of basketball legend Larry Bird, was in a revival mode after its oldest course – the Donald Ross – underwent a renovation while construction on its newest one – the spiffy Pete Dye Course – was wrapping up.

The resort needed a big event to showcase its new course, and the LPGA’s Legends Tour needed a big tournament.  It was a good marriage.

French Lick put the focus on the Legends Tour, which was only nominally a part of the LPGA at the time. It consisted  of women touring professionals who had hit their 45th birthday.  One of them, Jane Blalock, struggled to get a circuit started for her colleagues in 2000, but it took French Lick leadership to really get it done.

The Legends Championship, a 54-hole tournament with a $500,000 purse, made its debut in 2013 on the spectacular Pete Dye Course, and that wasn’t all.  The resort also established the Legends Hall of Fame in its West Baden Springs Hotel.

Lorie Kane was the Legends first champion followed by Laurie Rinker, Juli Inkster and Trish Johnson. In 2017 the Legends Championship was transitioned into the first major championship for senior women players.  It became the inaugural Senior LPGA Championship, and Johnson won again.

French Lick not only paid a substantial price to get television coverage but 2017 also marked the arrival of the Symetra Tour in town.  The young, budding LPGA stars competed in the Donald Ross Memorial tourney, held to celebrate the centennial of the oldest of the little town’s three courses. Three LPGA tourneys had been held there, including the 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championships.

The gardens at the West Baden Springs Hotel offer a stunning  lead-in for visitors to the Pete Dye Course.

Using the golf spotlight to benefit the Riley Children’s Hospital, French Lick also hosted Senior LPGA Championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and the Symetra’s Donald Ross Classic in from 2017-19 and 2021. Neither tournament was held in 2020 because of pandemic issues.

That was a big load for any golf facility to take on, so something had to give. It was “So long, Legends’’ and a big welcome back to the Epson Tour, which had taken over the title of the developmental circuit.

The Legends had a great run at French Lick, with some celebrated champions before departing.  Laura Davies followed Johnson as the winner of the Senior LPGA in in 2018, Helen Alfredsson was the champion in 2019 and Johnson won again last year.

Harner, in a final farewell to the senior stars, played in the pro-am prior to this year’s Senior LPGA at Salina Country Club, in Kansas.  Their circuit is now called The Legends of the LPGA but it’s in transition, too.  Blalock took a diminished role in the circuit’s operation when Jane Geddes was named executive director.  Geddes didn’t stay in that role very long, though, and now Linda Chen is the circuit’s executive director of business development.

Over the years the Legends have raised nearly $24 million for charity, and that number will grow with three more events on this year’s schedule – The Land O’ Lakes Classic in Minnesota this month, BJ/s Charity Classic in Massachusetts in September and the Rosie Jones Invitational in South Carolina in October. Those players also have a second major championship coming up with the U.S. Senior Women’s Open Aug. 25-28 at NCR in Dayton, Ohio.

The horse statue will greet the Epson players when they approach the entry to the Pete Dye Course.

This year’s Donald Ross Charity Classic won’t have the same big names in women’s golf in its field but will have the brightest young stars, headed by the season’s leading money-winner, Lucy Ly.

Previously known as the Futures and Symetra tours, the Epson has been around for 41 years but the tourney at French Lick will be something special.

Most significant is the prize money — $335,000, with $50,250 going to the champion.  It’s also a 72-hole event, a rarity on the women’s pro circuits, and has been designated as the Epson’s flagship eent, meaning it will offer more Rolex World Golf Rankings points than any tournament this season.

Two full-field pro-ams are on tap for Wednesday on the Pete Dye Course and the LPGA is livestreaming the last two rounds of the tournament.

“It’ll be big,’’ said Harner.  “It’s the biggest purse in their history.’’ The previous biggest purse was $300,000 in 2019 when the tourney was held at a layout on Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

Casey Danielson earned $37,500 for her win in last year’s event at French Lick.  That catapulted the former Stanford University golfer to the LPGA, but she’s coming back to French Lick to defend her title this week.

Erynne Lee, in 2017; Stephanie Kono (2018) and Patty Tavatanakit (2019), were other winners of the Donald Ross tourney.  They’ll find a much different atmosphere and challenge when they take to the Pete Dye Course.

A couple young stars to watch include 17-year old rookie phenom Alex Pano and Jaravee Boonchant, who arrived last week from  her native Thailand.  Even without a practice round on the tournament course Boonchant was a seven-shot winner in the Illinois Women’s Open immediately after arriving in the United States. She went on to finish a strong tie for 13th on Sunday in the Epson Tour’s Firekeepers tournament in Michigan.

The Firekeepers had a surprise champion in Xiaowen Yin, who won in a playoff with Gina Kim.  Yin, who won $30,000, came into the tournament at No. 24 on the season money list while Kim was No. 6.

“The Pete Dye Course has a tradition of hosting major championship golf,’’ said Mike Nichols, chief business officer of LPGA Qualifying Tours.  “By elevating the tournament experience for the Epson Tour, French Lick Resort has set an example for our current and future partners of how we can ally to support these professional athletes chasing their dreams.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIV Tourney should boost Kids Golf Foundation at Rich Harvest Farms

 

The controversial LIV Tour Invitational Series’  stop in Chicago is closing in. The Saudi-backed circuit holds its third tournament starting on Friday at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey, and the fourth –called The International — is in Boston from Sept. 2-4.

Then it’s on to Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, from Sept. 16-18 in what looms as the highest profile competition of the Chicago golf season. The LIV Tour may include many more big-name players by that time, since it falls after the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Since the last LIV stop — the circuit’s American debut at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon — the circuit has added Henrik Stenson, Jason Kokrak, Charles Howell and Paul Casey to its roster and gained more notoriety when Stenson was stripped of his captaincy of the European Ryder Cup team because of his defection.

More PGA Tour players are expected to make the jump after the FedEx Cup Playoffs end on Aug. 28.

Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich sent some of his staff members to Pumpkin Ridge and liked the reports they brought back.

“If our tournament turns out anything like that one Illinois golf fans are in for a real treat,’’ Rich said in his latest report to friends of Rich Harvest.

Rich also addressed a question that has been posed frequently since he joined the LIV Tour in his first venture into men’s professional golf.  A most successful LPGA team event, the Solheim Cup, was staged at Rich Harvest in 2009 and many big amateur events have also been held there.

So, why did Rich get involved with the Saudi circuit?

“The answer is simple and obvious: The Kids Golf Foundation,’’ said Rich.  “Every event I host at Rich Harvest Farms supports the Foundation and their mission of bringing golf into the lives of children and providing them with opportunities for personal growth and career enhancement.’’

LIV tournaments are different than PGA Tour events. They’re limited to 48 players, and they play 54 holes using a shotgun start. There’s also a team component to each event and prize money is significantly higher than it is in PGA Tour events.

The Bedminster event will have the Navy parachute team skydiving onto the course to start play each day. Gates there will open three hours before the first tee time to enable spectators to participate in other onsite activities.  General admission is $75 per day.

FED EX COUNTDOWN:  All the Chicago-connected players on the PGA Tour are in this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit for a very good reason.  They only have two tournaments left to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The top 125 on the season-long point list qualify for the first of the lucrative postseason events and Kevin Streelman (No. 82), Northwestern alum David Lipsky (90) and Doug Ghim (111) are inside the cutline now. Nick Hardy is the best of the others at No. 138 with only the Wyndham Championship left after the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Ghim helped his cause at last week’s 3-M Classic, finishing in a tie for 16th, but he was in a tie for third after three rounds before dropping down the leaderboard with a 77 on Sunday.

HERE AND THERE: The 73rd Illinois Open starts on Monday at White Eagle, in Naperville.  The host site was hit hard by a tornado over the weekend, forcing a closing of the course.  Over 50 trees went down and a scoreboard and tent were destroyed. The club plans to re-open for an outing on Thursday,  and the Illinois Open is expected to go on as scheduled. The Last Chance Qualifier  event is today on the Prairie Course at Countryside, in Mundelein.

With Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest drenched by six inches of rain the Illinois PGA Senior Masters was canceled on Monday. Plans to reschedule are in the works.

The Phillips Park course, in Aurora, unveiled two new simulators in its pro shop this week.

Glen Ellyn’s Andy Pope, who had a long career on the Korn Tour while qualifying for five U.S. Opens, is no longer on that circuit, but he captured the Florida Open title last week.

 

 

 

 

Thailand golfer wins Illinois Women’s Open with hot back nine

Jaravee Boonchant of caddie Boone Chammony made a winning team in the Illinois Women’s Open.

The 27th version of the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open turned into one of the more unusual ones on Tuesday.  It all turned on great approaches to the No. 10 green by the only two players who seriously contender for the title on the Mistwood course in Romeoville.

Amateur Addison Klonowski stuck her approach on the short par-4 to within inches of the flagstick, then playing partner Jaravee Boonchant rattled her’s off the flagstick.  After Boonchant’s  ball hit Klonowski’s ball both marked their balls and made their birdie putts.  They both felt that the weird turn of events was the key to Boonchant’s seven-stroke victory.

Boonchant made five back-nine birdies en route to a closing 67, and Klonowski – a high school senior who lives in Naples, FL. – was convinced she couldn’t keep up after that. As it turned out, she couldn’t.

“There was nothing I could do.  She was making everything,’’ said Klonowski, who used the IWO as preparation for next week’s PGA Junior Championship at Cog Hill.  “I just tried to stay in my own game and stay composed.’’

“On the back nine I got momentum,’’ said Boonchant, who turned professional last summer and won her first tournament in America at Mistwood. She’s from Thailand and didn’t get to Chicago until Sunday.

That meant she couldn’t get in a practice round at Mistwood, but she still played the course in 7-under-par 137 in the event’s new 36-hole format. She was the only player to finish under par and her margin of victory tied the second largest in IWO history.  Emily Collins won by nine in 2014.

Both Boonchant and Klonowski have only remote ties to Chicago.  Klonowski’s father is from Downers Grove, and she’s been a summer visitor to Chicago in an effort to avoid the Florida heat. This, however, was her first IWO appearance.

Boonchant, like Klonowski, also spends most of her time in America in Florida.  She stays in Orlando while she is preparing for events on the LPGA’s Epson (formerly Symetra) Tour.

“I have a host family in Chicago, and they signed me up for this tournament,’’ said Boonchant.  She used a Mistwood member, Boone Chommany, as her caddie and the victory earned her $5,000.

As has been the case in recent years, the field was dominated by amateurs.  There were 17 of them in the final nine threesomes on the final day. Nicole Jeray, an LPGA veteran who now teaches at Mistwood, tied for 25th.

Jeray had a strong showing – a tie for 15th – on Sunday in the Senior LPGA Championship in Kansas. A two-time IWO champion, she spent Monday night as a guest speaker in the Illinois Junior Golf Association’s first Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at Cantigny, in Wheaton, in between her rounds in the IWO.

Low amateur Addison Klonowski (left) and Jaravee Boonchart were the big winners at Mistwood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

McClear proves the best golfer in first Illinois Amateur on the North Shore

A year ago a costly bogey on the 17th hole at Mistwood, in Romeoville, prevented Hinsdale’s Mac McClear from winning the Illinois State Amateur title.  He wound up in a three-man playoff for the crown, with Crystal Lake’s Ethan Farnam repeating as the tourney’s champion.

That setback didn’t hold back the University of Iowa junior this time.  He was in control most of the way en route to a three-stroke victory over Tommy Kuhl, a fifth-year senior at Illinois from downstate Morton.  They were the only players under par for the 72-hole test at Westmoreland Country Club, in Wilmette.

“It was a long time coming, but this really feels good,’’ said McClear. “Last year didn’t stay in my head. I played well, but Mistwood wasn’t my favorite course.  I liked this one better.  I didn’t like Mistwood’s water.  This was definitely my kind of course.’’

Windy weather the last two days hampered the scoring when the tourney was played on a North Shore course for the first time in its rich history.  McClear shot 68-77 in Thursday’s 36-hole climax to the 91st annual championship while Kuhl went 68-75.  McClear posted 5-under-par 283 for the four rounds.

McClear, who won the Big Ten individual title last year, owned a five-stroke lead after Thursday’s morning round, but that advantage was gone after he hit the back nine in the afternoon.

Only Kuhl presented a challenge.  He pulled even with McClear, but then made three bogeys early on the final nine when his rival got hot.

“From 10 to 15 I really played good.  I almost birdied five of those six holes,’’ said McClear.  He was up six shots with three holes to play but then threatened to give that lead away, too.

A triple bogey seven at No. 16 brought Kuhl within two shots, but McClear also made a bogey at the 17th.  Playing one group behind Kuhl, McClear watched his rival make double bogey on the 18th and nursed his way through the final hole to secure the victory.

The loss left Kuhl nearly in tears.

“I wanted this tournament.  It was one of my goals,’’ he said.  “I just got beat by a better man.’’

They’ll meet two more times before returning to their college teams.  McClear and Kuhl both qualified for the Western Amateur, coming up Aug. 1-6 at Exmoor, in Highland Park . Then the U.S. Amateur will conclude their summer seasons.

 

Is Sand Valley going in a new direction?

The Lido and Sledge Valley make course construction the order of the day at Sand Valley.

NEKOOSA, Wisconsin – Mike Keiser’s Sand Valley Resort has already brought a new look for golfers looking to travel.

Its two 18-holers, Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes, are walking courses with lots of sand – of course – and lots of great views.  On our recent visit we asked some of the veteran staffers to pick their favorite course and some didn’t hesitate to go in another direction.

Rather than choose between the 18-holers they went with Sandbox, a series of 17 par-3 holes that really makes a player think and have fun at the same time.  We had played the two 18-holers on previous visits, but didn’t get to the Sandbox until this summer. I can see why that course was so positively received.

The holes roughly measure between 50 and 150 yards.  The yardages change with the daily adjustment of tee markers.  And, there’s an extra shovel-designed tee marker on each hole for those wishing to have an extra challenge.  It’s much closer to the putting surface, designed for putting only and ideal for match play competitions.

The greens have all kinds of elevation changes and the many bunkers are deep and difficult to escape. All of this was the creation of architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, who also designed the Sand Valley 18-holer. Short courses are the in vogue thing now, and the Sandbox is like no other that we have seen – and we’ve played lots of them.

Choosing a favorite in the short course world isn’t easy, but it comes down to the Sandbox or the Cradle at North Carolina’s Pinehurst Resort.  They’re different, but both designed purely for fun. I found that playing the Cradle was addictive, but now the Sandbox gets my nod as the more fun of the two.

That review completes our current appraisal of the Keiser’s Wisconsin resort that opened in 2017. It was a big hit from the outset, and now things are changing.

Keiser, a Chicago resident who had a successful career in the greeting card business,  became enthralled with the links courses of Scotland and Ireland.  Taking that passion back to the United States, he built Bandon Dunes — a true links course in Oregon.

He’s also built award-winning resorts from Tasmania to Nova Scotia. We haven’t visited any of those, but we’ve encountered a wide variety of golf destinations in our travels and Bandon stands by itself.

Playing the Sandbox at Sand Valley is a golf experience like no other.

Sand Valley, though, is closer to our Midwest roots. We visited there before the place was open and got a walking tour from Keiser’s son Michael Jr. Our first rounds there several years later didn’t disappoint and we left for the drive back to Chicago this year with the same very positive vibes, but we also had to wonder if Sand Valley isn’t headed in a new direction.

For one thing, the Wisconsin State Amateur took over the two 18-holers the day after our departure. That’s the most significant competition held at Sand Valley since the resort opened.  Could more be coming?

The obvious construction work beside and across the street from the entrance to Sand Valley indicates more projects are in the works, and plans for them indicate it won’t be more of the same golf-wise. This is what I’ve learned:

Next course to open there, in 2023, is The Lido. This intrigues lovers of golf history, and I’m certainly one of those.

Lido Golf Club was a private facility built in 1917 on Long Island. Charles Blair Macdonald, designer of America’s first 18-hole course at the Chicago Golf Club, was the main designer of this one and it was called “the most demanding course ever built’’ in its day. It measured only 6,693 yards from the back tees, but that was considered very long a century ago when hickory-shafted clubs were the best equipment option.

During World War II The Lido became “lost.’’ It was demolished by the U.S. Navy, which declared it a strategic defensive site. Some courses after that were “inspired’’ by The Lido, but the Sand Valley version is being touted as the real thing.

Architect Tom Doak, who is overseeing the project, has the advantage of working with an unparalleled collection of photos which are said to replicate the original Lido to the linear square foot.

Sledge Village is also bringing something new and different to Sand Valley. Scheduled to open in 2024, it’ll bring residential golf into the picture with the building of 36 homes. The residents will have a course to play, called Sedge Valley.  Also included in the project is a six-acre putting course, a tennis center, a bistro restaurant, a pool house and an arcade with golf simulators.

Along with the work being done at Sand Valley Keiser has just come out with a new book, “The Nature of the Game – Links Golf at Bandon Dunes and Far Beyond,’’  written with Stephen Goodwin (Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher, New York).

While copies weren’t available at the Sand Valley pro shop or several PGA Superstore locations at the time of our visit, I did find one at a Barnes and Noble location. The book provides insight into all of Keiser’s resort creations, including what’s in the works at Sand Valley.  His final sentence of the book, though, may be the most revealing:

“The most interesting chapter is always the next one.’’

If you want to understand the benefits of links golf this Mike Keiser book is well worth reading.

 

These Brit golfers can talk the walk

Stewart Golf’s “electric caddie” is changing the way golf can be played.

Mark Stewart was still a teen-ager when – with encouragement from his father and grandfather – he started thinking about golf bag designs. His family, from Great Britain, was on vacation in St. Petersburg, FL, at the time.

“When we got home I was just curious,’’ said Stewart.  “We developed prototypes on and off for about three years.’’

During that time Stewart was earning a degree in engineering at Loughbrough University in the United Kingdom, and his curiosity expanded beyond golf bags.  He focused instead on developing what the British were calling  electric “golf trolleys.’’

There were some on the market, but not what Stewart had in mind.

“We wanted something remote-controlled, because there were some out there at the time, but they had trouble with balance and stability and the steering wasn’t very good,’’ said Stewart.

In 2003 Stewart Golf was launched and the following year its X1 Remote model was on the market. Courses across the pond were receptive to it.

“There was nothing controversial about it,’’ said Stewart.  “Ours just looked different.  Trolleys were a huge advantage for playing, but there was a huge stigma attached to it.  They were just for old guys who had a bad knee or some other disability. We were looking for amateur golfers walking the fairways, and if we could make it look different we had a chance.’’

The chance was worth taking, and paid off. Stewart Golf has sold its products in about 50 countries. The first sales in the United States were made in 2008, and they’ve since been made in every state except Hawaii and Alaska.

The British have arrived with their Trolleys, now called Electric Caddies. Mark Stewart (right) heads Stewart Golf with associates Ross Plank (left) and Luke Cummins helping with introductions in the U.S.

Initially golfers could strap their bags to Stewart Golf’s “trolley’’ and then enjoy their walks around the course without carrying their clubs. The bags could move with remote commands that a golfer would make with a hand-held device and could be attached to a belt or contained in a back pocket.

That was all well and good, but business really took off in 2015 when the “follow’’ system was launched.  That made it possible for the bag to follow the golfer, much like a human caddie would.

“It was a big change in our business, because it took us to another level,’’ said Stewart.  “It was not just eye-catching, but it was fun to watch something following someone down a fairway.’’

The present version, called the Q Follow, has a futuristic look as it follows a golfer automatically down the fairway and also has full remote-controlled functionality.  The golfer can putt out on a green, then remotely guide the trolley to the next tee without walking back to his bag.

While it takes a few holes for beginners to get the hang of using the device, it’s not a long-term problem.  We’ve tested Golf Bikes, and found them good for just more exercise, and Golf Boards, which are fun but intimidating at least at the beginning.  Neither problem existed when we received a tutorial from Stewart.

Stewart Golf made its first appearance at the PGA Merchandise Show in Florida in 2015. That was a big financial gamble — “many tens of thousands of dollars,’’ Stewart said – but this one paid off, too. His company’s bags are now promoting “Dream Machines.’’

“Everybody told us that no one walks here in America,’’ Stewart said during a stop at The Glen Club in the Chicago area. “We come from a culture in the U.K. where 98 percent of golfers walk. I’d be surprised if it was more than 20 percent in the United States.’’

So would I, but things could be changing. Credit the pandemic for that.

“Our mission statement as a company is to show people a different way to play golf,’’ said Stewart. “The experience of walking a golf course is like nothing else – it’s outdoors, you get the exercise of walking and you can be talking to friends.’’

American golfers were reminded of that when pandemic restrictions were enforced.

“Our business in America is four times what it was in 2019,’’ said Stewart.  “That’s why it’s now our biggest market, followed by the U.K. and Canada.  People were forced to walk and our demand went up.’’

The big difference is that Stewart Golf’s products in the U.S. are called “Electric Caddies’’ instead of “trolleys.’’ They’re all made at a 10,000 square-foot factory in Gloucester, a two-hour drive from London. Stewart Golf also operates out of a warehouse in Clearwater, FL.

Stewart doesn’t see human caddies, with the Western Golf Association and its flourishing Evans Scholars program thriving, or power carts as rivals.

“Caddies are a different thing,’’ he said. “Caddies aren’t at many golf courses. There’s plenty of room for all of us to play.  There’s a time and a place for riding, like when it’s hot. People point to pace of play, but walking is no slower than riding.  Some people think they play better when they walk, but that’s just in their heads.’’

“Electric Caddies’’ have one big advantage that might not be obvious to many who have not tried them.  They’re not affected by “Cart Path Only’’ restrictions. That alone improves pace of play.

Stewart Golf products are most easily purchased on line, and they cost about $2,500 regardless of the model chosen, some of which offer customized colors to match your car, golf club bag or other things. Those models will also be continuously improving.

“After the pandemic it feels like we’re starting again, but with lots more knowledge and experience,’’ said Stewart.  “We have to keep making our products better.’’

 

 

 

Women’s Western, Illinois men’s amateur events take local spotlight

 

The biggest of the local tournaments come fast and furious now.

They all started on Tuesday when the 122nd Women’s Western Amateur and 91st Illinois State Amateur took center stage.  The Women’s Western Golf Association  event, which has been held without interruption since 1901, is at Sunset Ridge, in Northfield, through Saturday.  The Illinois Am concludes its three-day run on Thursday at Westmoreland, in Wilmette.

The Women’s Western Amateur has both finalists from last year returning.  Marissa Wenzler, from Dayton, Ohio, and the University of Kentucky, needed 20 holes to beat Maddison Hinson-Toldchard, of Australia and Ohio State, at Park Ridge Country Club.

Wenzler will try to become the tourney’s first repeat champion since Meredith Duncan in 2000-2001. She’ll be competing with 119 others in two rounds of stroke play qualifying before the field is cut to 32 finalists for matches that conclude on Saturday.

The field includes players from 13 countries and 27 states.  The tourney has been based in the Chicago area since 2017.

Meanwhile, the Illinois State Amateur will be played on the North Shore for the first time.  The eliminations started with 577 entrants, the most since 2016, and 136 will compete at Westmoreland.  The full field plays 36 holes before the field is cut to the low 35 and ties for a 36-hole wrapup on Thursday.

Last year’s State Am won’t have a defending champion, since Crystal Lake’s Ethan Farnam has turned pro.  The left-handed player won in both 2019 and 2021, with the 2020 version canceled because of pandemic concerns.

Farnam’s win last year came in a three-man playoff with Jordan Less and Mac McClear.  Less also turned pro but McClear will be back.  The Hinsdale resident was the Illinois State Junior champion in 2019 and the Big Ten titlist while playing for Iowa in 2021.

This week’s tournament doubleheader leads into the two state opens, the women’s coming July 25-26 at Mistwood, in Romeoville, and the men’s Aug. 1-3 at White Eagle, in Naperville.  The men’s version of the Western Amateur overlaps with the men’s Illinois Open.  It’ll be held Aug. 1-6 at Exmoor, in Highland Park.

HONOREES:  The Illinois Junior Golf Association will hold its first-ever Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Monday (JULY 25) at Cantigny, in Wheaton. The six-member inaugural induction class is headed by PGA Tour veteran Kevin Streelman, who got his start in golf at Cantigny and played in many IJGA competitions.

Ed Stevenson, president of the IJGA board of directors, announced the other inductees.  They included Mike Spinello, who founded the organization in 1967 and led it on a volunteer basis through 1986, and John and Jean Barney.  John was the IJGA’s first executive director and the Barneys were IJGA volunteer for 23 years.

Completing the class is Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek; long-time board member Blue Kinander Kelly of Wheaton; and decorated Glen Ellyn golf instructor Dan Kochevar, founder of the DuPage County Junior Classic.

HERE AND THERE:  Bob Malpede and Kevin Fitzgerald will be the honorees when members of the Illinois PGA gather at Onwentsia, in Lake Forest, for their Senior Masters tournament on Monday (JULY 25).

Heritage Oaks, in Northbrook, hosted two U.S. Golf Association qualifiers in the same day last week.  Lake Bluff’s Curtis Skinner, Chicago’s Daniel Brassil and Peoria’s Tim Sheppard advanced to the U.S. Senior Amateur and Lake Forest’s Jamie Fischer moved on to the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

TrueSpec Golf, which specializes in custom club fitting and club building, will open its Geneva location at the Impasto Golf Academy on Aug. 2.

Stephen Geisz has been named general manager at Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa, in Galena.  He had been GM at Grand Harbor Resort, in Dubuque, Ia., since 2007.

 

 

 

 

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It’s Christmas time for golfers in the Wisconsin Dells

Christmas Mountain Village has blossomed into one of the best golf destinations in The Dells.

 

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wisconsin – Golf is different in the Wisconsin Dells.  Given all the entertainment options for tourists, golf seems more an amenity than an attraction.

But, make no mistake, it’s a good one.

The Dells offers 142 holes and 12 different golf experiences, ranging from short courses to championship versions. The courses were designed around landscapes left by the glacier period and surrounded by sandstone bluffs, towering pines and rolling hills.  That makes The Dells special as a golf destination.

For the record my favorite course there is the 18-holer at Wild Rock, created by the well respected design team of Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry.  It’s a frequent tournament venue.

That said, the best golf facility in The Dells, in my book,  is Trappers Turn. It’s got three fine nines – the Arbor, Canyon and Lakes – as well as a unique 12-hole par-3 course called 12North.  Two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North and Oliphant Haltom Golf teamed up on this one for a series of challenging holes that measure between 50 and 120 yards and also includes a one-acre putting green.  Toss in the big clubhouse and restaurant and Trappers Turn gives you all you could want.

That’s brings me to the most interesting course in The Dells.  That would be the 18-holer at Christmas Mountain Village, called The Oaks. Christmas Mountain doubles as a ski area with 16 runs and two chairlifts in the winter.

Superintendent Greg Schernecker (left) and head professional Jacob James have been at Christmas Mountain Village for less than two years, but they have led the resurgence of The Oaks course.

Located in unincorporated Dells, it has the widest range of lodging options I’ve seen at a golf facility.  There are 60 year-round residents and visitors can also stay in campers, tents, log cabins, condos or villas. BlueGreen Vacations Unlimited oversees that.

What Christmas Mountain Village lacks is historical information, perhaps because the staff is relatively new.  Jacob James, the head professional, has been on hand for less than a year and Greg Schernecker, who has done solid work in improving course conditioning as the superintendent, has been on the staff for less than two years after coming over from John Deere Co.

Schernecker built a nine-hole course in Poynette, Wis. from the ground up in 1999.  He had superintendents jobs at two other Wisconsin courses over a 10-year period before his stint selling Deere equipment, but the focus now is on upgrading Christmas Mountain Village.

“We’ll just keep improving,’’ he said.  “I’m excited to see where we can take the course next.  I want this to be the best course in The Dells.’’

From what we could gather the resort opened in 1969 for skiers. The Oaks course was designed by Art Johnson. Johnson passed on in 2010 at the age of 82, and his architectural work on The Oaks was reportedly done in 1985. The course opening, though, wasn’t opened until  1990. At least that’s what we could find in published reports.

Johnson participated in the design of about 40 courses, most all in Wisconsin, and was best known as a park planner for many years in Madison.  He was dedicated to his craft, as his death came following a heart attack triggered when he had been taking down a tree and lugging away some logs near his home.

Views like this are typical of all three nines at Trappers Turn.

Christmas Mountain Village also has a nine-holer called The Pines.   Schernecker brought it back to life after it’d been closed for two years.  The Oaks, though, is the eye-catcher – especially the back nine.  The views there are stunning and the course can stand up to any in the area.

While all the putting surfaces are huge, The Oaks has two that are unique.  One is in the shape of the state of Wisconsin, the other in the shape of the state of Illinois.  Flags of both states are behind their respective greens.

Fairfield Hills, located in the foothills of Baraboo, has the largest practice range in the Dells and a course that has 12 holes.  It can be played at three, nine, 12 or 18 holes, however.

Pinecrest, in the Dells’ downtown area, is a par-3 with holes ranging from 90 to 150 yards.  This facility also includes an archery course.

The setting for Spring Brook, another nine-holer, is in tall pines with rolling terrain and wooded surroundings. It’s good for all skill levels and especially good for family games.

Trappers Turn’s clubhouse/restaurant is the best in the Wisconsin Dells.

 

Sentry will be a more prominent name in golf for years to come

SentryWorld may have the best picture of its iconic Flower Hole on the wall of its pro shop.

Patience and loyalty are enviable qualities, and they figure to pay off big time for Sentry Insurance once the 2023 golf season gets into gear.

Sentry was patient, closing the course at its headquarters in Stevens Points, Wis., for two major renovations in the last 10 years.  Now it’s on the clock to host one of golf’s most popular events, the U.S. Senior Open, in 2023.

And that’s not all.  In August Sentry agreed to a sponsorship extension with the PGA Tour as the title sponsor of the Sentry Tournament of Champions.  The agreement started in 2018, as the company’s first major sports sponsorship, and  now it’ll be the season-opening event on the PGA Tour from 2024 through 2035.

The tournament will be an early highlight of the 2022-23 season Jan. 2-8 at The Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii with a $15 million purse, up from $8.2 million in 2022 and will lead off the 2024 season when the circuit transitions to a calendar-year season.

With professional golf in a state of flux since the arrival of the controversial LIV Tour the role of Sentry Insurance will be enhanced.

“Our thanks to Pete McPartland (Sentry’s chairman of the board, president and chief executive office) and his team for their partnership, loyalty and trust in the PGA Tour,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

“One of the smartest decisions we’ve ever made was to align ourselves with the PGA Tour,” echoed McPartland.

Sentry entered the golf business in 1982 with the creation of SentryWorld.  The course   drew immediate attention for one reason.  It’s par-3 sixteenth hole was – at least arguably – the most beautiful hole in golf.

The hole that architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. and his associate, Bruce Charleton, created wasn’t a tough one, but it had over 30,000 flowers on it so it was very easy to look at – and it still is. We had our latest look at it this past July.

In its early years the course simply had 17 other holes, and now – after a trying 10 years – it has much more than that.  Jones and Charleton did one renovation of the course in 2012-13 with Wisconsin architect Jay Blasi helping out, and then Jones and Charleton returned in February of 2020 to expand on what they’d done after the resort landed the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.

In effect the course – the only 18-holer on the property – was shut down twice, for two-years each time, over a 10-year period. The accompanying Inn was also  almost completely rebuilt as well so, obviously, the first golf destination resort in Wisconsin history was a quiet place for a substantial period.

“That brings back a moment in time when there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears,’’ said Mike James, the resort’s general manager who came on the scene in 2014.  “It’s been pedal to the metal on improvement projects to make SentryWorld as good as it possibly can be – and it’s been fun over the years seeing where SentryWorld was and where it is today.’’

James declined to give a cost figure on all the work that has been done on the golf course and in the creation of a beautiful boutique hotel, but he’s convinced “it was money well spent.’’

Jones called the parkland-style course “My Mona Lisa,’’ when it opened 40 years ago. His work there in the first renovation – it’s called a “re-imagining’’ now – resulted in water coming into play on 12 holes.  At that time the restaurant and banquet hall were also completely redone.

The new terracotta cart paths stand out on SentryWorld’s new course almost as much as the Flower Hole.

The “re-imagining’’ was created in 2012 and 2013, and the course re-opened in 2014. Most striking was the building of the terracotta colored cart paths.  The iconic Flower Hole remains, with 33,000 flowers planted over two days every June. Each year there’s a new palette, with the color scheme and design changing.

Then, in February of 2020 — a month before the U.S. Golf Association announced that SentryWorld would host the 2023 U.S. Senior Open and the pandemic shut down the PGA Tour and most of the golf world — the second renovation began.

“We closed due to Covid and took advantage of that time to make more improvements,’’ said James.  “In a weird way the pandemic afforded us the opportunity to make changes when there weren’t golfers on the course.’’

The major project this time involved the installation of the Sub Air irrigation system on every green.

Both the pandemic and the landing of the big tournament played a role in what was happening at the resort.

“It’s hard to tell how we would have progressed,’’ said James, “but the championship means so much to us.  They don’t hand those tournaments to just anybody.  As for the pandemic, we’re a destination facility and wanted to be careful.  We wanted to protect our staff and customers.’’

This is the view that greets you when you enter the new Inn at SentryWorld.

The Inn, with a unique Frank Lloyd Wright architectural flavor in its design, didn’t open until March 29 of this year and it isn’t there because of the one golf tournament.

“It was done for the benefit of SentryWorld’s general business and Sentry Insurance’s business,’’ said James.  “It was a business decision made without regard to the U.S. Senior Open, although it will be utilized for the championship.’’

Last touches on the course are still to be made, and the two new refreshment stations just opened on July 12.  SentryWorld went on the clock for its Senior Open as soon as this year’s version at Saucon Valley, in Pennsylvania, was completed.

The event will be contested on SentryWorld’s course from June 29 to July 2 in 2023, six months after the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. The Senior Open will  be the third U.S. Golf Association national championship played at the resort.

“No doubt it’ll bring the spotlight on SentryWorld,’’ said James. “It’ll be broadcast in 125 countries around the world, and having the best players in the world playing our golf course is an honor.’’

It goes beyond that, however.  Other big championships have been held in Wisconsin – at Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits in Kohler and Erin Hills in particular – but this will be the first such event in the central part of the state.

“It’ll have a $20 million-plus impact to the area, and that’s significant,’’ said James. “We want to give the players a great experience and have the community, the state and the region experience this.  Once the final putt drops we’ll start thinking about what else we can do.’’

This plaque commemorates all that’s been done by Robert Trent Jones Jr. at SentryWorld.