GULF SHORES, Alabama – First off, let’s make this perfectly clear. Gulf Shores-Orange Beach – a community sandwiched between Pensacola, FL., and Mobile, AL., and not far from the Mississippi state line – offers a lot more than golf. But we will get to those other nice things later. Gulf Shores is a unique…
Author: lenz
Could the Women’s Western Open be returning?
Sure, last week’s LIV Tour Invitational at Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, may have been the high profile golf event of this Chicago golf season but the biggest news may have been made a day earlier at the Women’s Western Golf Association’s annual Women of Distinction ceremonies at the Glen View Club. That’s when…
Rich Harvest tourney will show how different the LIV Tour is
The LIV Golf Tour, which comes to Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove this week, is – at the very least – different. After only four tournaments over the last three months, the jury is still out on the controversial circuit put together by legendary player Greg Norman with extraordinary financial backing from the Saudi…
Rich Harvest is next up on LIV Tour’s schedule
Now it’s Chicago’s turn to see what the LIV Golf Tour has to offer. Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, will host the fifth of eight LIV tournaments on Sept. 16-18 with a pro-am the day before the tournament rounds. Rich Harvest will host another $25 million 54-hole tournament that offers individual and a team…
Tiger’s PopStroke will test the best putters in national tourney
How could Tiger Woods’ new PopStroke National Putting Championship be scheduled any better for us? The finals are Oct. 26-28 in Sarasota, FL., about three miles from our home here, and the first list of qualifying tournaments included a Sept. 10 elimination at Deerpath, in Lake Forest. We have family members living within walking…
Nicole Jeray takes aim at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open title
For nearly four decades now Nicole Jeray has been virtually Chicago’s lone representative on the Ladies PGA tours. While she’s transitioned from full-time tournament player to full-time instructor at Mistwood, in Romeoville, Jeray, 51, is still an enthusiastic competitor and this week is her biggest tournament of the season. She’s in the field for the…
Makray provides a new challenge for this IPGA tourney
Andy Mickelson has an interesting dual role in the Illinois PGA Championship, which tees off today at a new site – Makray Memorial in Barrington. Not only is Mickelson the defending champion, he’s also – as the Illinois Section’s tournament director — the key figure in the public course landing the state’s premier event…
Patrick Flavin is trying to make it to the PGA Tour the hard way
Very few golfers have earned membership on the PGA Tour without going through the nail-biting Qualifying School experience. Gary Hallberg, who grew up in Barrington, was the first to do it in 1980 when he needed to earn just $8,000 in a few late season tournaments to avoid Q-School. Requirements have toughened over the years…
Settler’s Hill is back in business after an elaborate renovation
The renovation of the Settler’s Hill course in Batavia wasn’t easy – even for veteran Chicago area golf architect Greg Martin. His recent or current area projects include The Preserve at Oak Meadows (Addison), Park Ridge Country Club, Fox Bend (Oswego), Arrowhead (Wheaton), Phillips Park (Aurora), Springbrook and Naperbrook (Naperville) and Wilmette Golf Club….
Donald is getting his Ryder Cup captaincy after all
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…