lenz – Page 32 – Len Ziehm On Golf

Palm Aire’s Champions Course re-opens on Dec. 1

The par-5 eleventh hole of The Champions Course at Sarasota’s Palm Aire Country Club has come a long way in the construction process. (Mike Benkusky Photos)

SARASOTA, FL. – The Champions Course at Palm Aire Country Club was one of the more difficult courses in Florida, and it may still be. It will, however, have a much different look when it re-opens following an extensive $2 million renovation on December 1.

The original version, created by architect Dick Wilson, opened in 1957 when the club was named DeSoto Lakes. The club added a second 18-holer, The Lakes – a Joe Lee design, in 1984 when the Palm Aire name went into effect.

In its early years the Champion layout was known as the Green Monster and was the site of PGA and LPGA Tour events as well as the National Lefthanders Championship and the LPGA Legends Tour’s Handa Cup. Tour events won’t likely return because the practice range is on the short side, but new features will stir conversation once the club’s members and their guests have crack at it.

Illinois-based architect Mike Benkusky, who had worked almost entirely in the Midwest before landing the Palm Aire project, calls the renovation “a re-imagining’’ of the course that the respected Wilson brought to life. Wilson’s work also included Bay Hill and Doral’s Blue Monster in Florida and the Dubsdread course at Cog Hill in the Chicago area.

The Champion’s “re-imagining’’ will feature runway tees, two of them measuring about 100 yards; the use of 15 acres of crushed shells that will benefit cart traffic but will come into play as well; and a vastly different scorecard. There’ll be eight – yes, eight – sets of rated tee markers for the men and five for the women and they’ll be designated by numbers, not the colors used in the past. Tee markers will range from 4,466 yards on the short end to 7,126 at the tips – that’s 125 yards longer than the pre-imagining layout.

“Using tee numbers instead of colors will change peoples’ mindsets,’’ said Palm Aire director of golf Jay Seymour, who has been at the club for 11 years. “Instead of playing the white tees, players may decide to play the 4-tees or the 5-tees. It comes down to what yardage do you want to play, not what color.’’

The flagsticks will all have white flags, so they won’t designate a pin placement in the front, middle or back of the green.

“That’s not always the best way to utilize the greens surface,’’ said Seymour. “We’ll be taking advantage of technology to do that.’’

Palm Aire has been a test site for Easy Locater’s state of the art app that provides a more detailed description of the pin locations.

While most of the concrete cart paths will remain, the crushed shells will combine with the runway tees to create a more modern day look for the course overall. The long tee boxes not only provide an updated appearance but will also enhance maintenance procedures.

Sixty-five oak trees were removed in the “re-imagining’’ and lots of collection areas were created around the greens. A history wall was erected around the No. 1 tee. Greens were expanded to their original size and bunkers were given a more severe look while the new BillyBunker system will improve drainage in them. And, the sand is now white instead of tan.

While overall yardage hasn’t changed dramatically, the way it has been distributed will be noticeable.

“For those who preferred the White tees the yardage stayed the same, about 6,000 to 6,100 yards,’’ said Seymour, “but the par-5s will now be on the shorter side and the par-3s will be on the longer side. There’ll be a nice mix of par-4s.’’

The original target date for the re-opening was Nov. 1, then the greens committee pushed it back to Nov. 13 and finally to the recently announced Dec. 1.

“They’re not rushing it – and that’s good,’’ said Benkusky.“Everything’s looking good. The greens look very good. We’re right on schedule.’’.

Seymour said some college events and USGA qualifiers would like be held on the Champion Course. That’s in contrast to when Wilson did his work. The PGA Tour conducted the DeSoto Open there in 1960, Sam Snead winning the title. A year later another Hall of Famer, Louise Suggs, won Golden Circle of Golf Festival, an LPGA event, on the course. That was one of Suggs’ five wins that season.

Olympia Fields will host another BMW Championship in 2023

The PGA Tour’s 2021 season concluded on Sunday, but the circuit – along with the Western Golf Association – made an announcement on Monday that will have a huge effect on the Chicago golf community for years to come.

After a two-year absence the PGA Tour will be back in the Chicago area in 2023 with Olympia Fields named as the site for another playing of the BMW Championship.

And that’s not all. The announcement also included a five-year extension of the BMW Championship as the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs through 2027. That waylays any fears that the tour’s season-ending playoff series might be headed to a major revampment.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs were launched in 2007 and Chicago was part of it after the WGA agreed to discontinue the Western Open, a tournament first played in 1899 and a Chicago fixture since 1962. BMW took over sponsorship of the event then.

While the WGA considers the BMW Championship an extension of the tradition-rich Western, there are major differences in format and venue choice. The Western was a full-field event, the BMW is limited to the top 70 players on the FedEx Cup point standings. While the Western was a Chicago fixture, the WGA has taken the tournament out of town frequently. It was played at Cave’s Valley, in Maryland, this year and will be played at Wilmington Country Club, in Delaware. The sites after 2023 have not been announced.

Those changes have been very beneficial to the WGA, which uses proceeds to benefit its Evans Scholars Foundation. The Foundation has provided college scholarships for caddies since 1930. Over the past 15 years the BMW Championship has raised more than $40 million on behalf of the Evans Scholars and that has helped send more than 3,000 students to college. This academic year a record 1,070 caddies are attending 21 schools on Evans Scholarships.

The North Course at Olympia Fields was the last Chicago site for the tournament in 2020. That staging produced one of the most memorable playings of the BMW Championship, though it went on without fans due to pandemic concerns. It ended with a one-hole playoff that was decided when Jon Rahm beat Dustin Johnson by sinking a 66-foot putt.

Olympia had a rich tournament history long before Rahm’s putt dropped. Professional champions crowned there in one big tournament or another were Jock Hutchison (1920), Walter Hagen (1927), Macdonald Smith (1933), Jack Nicklaus (1968), Bruce Crampton (1971) and Jim Furyk (2003). Current star Bryson DeChambeau also won the 2015 U.S. Amateur there and Danielle Kang captured the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship at the south suburban layout.

The BMW has also been an organizational success. It has been named the PGA Tour’s Tournament of the Year four times (2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014).

“BMW has been our valued partner and a steadfast supporter of both our championships and the Evans Scholars Foundation,’’ said John Kazkowki, the WGA president and chief executive officer. “As title sponsor BMW has fully embraced our mission, helping us transform the Evans Scholars Foundation into a truly national program. We’re excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue working together to change the lives of you caddies nationwide.’’

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan also credited BMW for its role in the FedEx Cup Playoff series.

“BMW’s commitment to presenting a best-in-class event each year continues to elevate the Playoffs,’’ said Monahan.

Jin Young Ko’s epic win caps off a big week for the LPGA

No doubt about it: Korea’s Jin Young Ko is the best player on the LPGA tour in 2021.

NAPLES, FL. – The PGA and LPGA tours concluded their 2021 seasons on Sunday, and the women went out with a bigger bang than the men.

The PGA Tour reached its high point a couple months ago with the staging of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup. Those were tough acts for the remaining tournaments to follow. On the other hand, the LPGA took the more traditional route. The biggest event was the last one.

Korea’s Jin Young Ko won that big event for the second straight year, but her win was much different than the one in 2020, when the tourney was played without fans because of pandemic concerns.

Ko started the final round in a four-way tie for the lead with American Nelly Korda, Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and France’s Celine Boutier. Ko fired a 63 to edge Hataoka by one stroke. Korda, the other member of the final threesome, wound up in a tie for fifth place. Boutier, who played in the next-to-the-last threesome, tied for third.

A left wrist injury bothered Ko since May and she considered withdrawing in the days leading into the tournament, but she was awesome in the last event of the season. She reached the green in regulation in her last 63 holes.

“I didn’t practice much,’’ said Ko, “but I played really well. The whole week was amazing.’’

“She made everything,’’ said Korda. “I just stood back and watched her all day.’’

In addition to winning the Race to the CME Globe Ko also overtook Korda for the LPGA’s Rolex Player of the Year Award.The Race to the CME Globe has brought together the LPGA’s top players for that calendar year since 2011. This year’s had 60 players chasing a $5 million purse and Ko received a record $1.5 million.

As a footnote, Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol became the first Chicago area golfer to even qualify for the LPGA’s biggest event. She shot her best round of the week — a 69 — on Sunday and tied for 51^st place.

In a sense, however, the biggest news of the week came before the first ball was struck at Tiburon Golf Club. Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who replaced Mike Whan as the LPGA commissioner four months ago, had taken a low-key approach to her new role until the CME’s pre-tournament banquet.

Samaan had been athletic director at Princeton when Whan was finishing up his successful 11-year stint with the LPGA. Whan became the executive director of the U.S. Golf Association when Samaan started tackling LPGA issues, and she finally shed some light on where she’ll be taking the women’s circuit. It looks like it’ll be to a better place.

In 2021 the LPGA purses totaled $67.5 million, with the $5 million at the CME event topping the list. Last week’s tournament announcement revealed a season boost in purses to $85.7 million for 2022. Nine of the 34 tournaments boosted their purses, most notably the CME. Its purse will climb to $7 million with the first prize boosted to $2 million.

“This is our time,’’ said Samaan. “Momentum is with us. There’s even more growth to come in so many different areas.’’

For now, though, those who want to watch the pro golf tours will have to endure at least a six-week waiting period. The PGA and LPGA will hold their Tournament of Champions in January. The PGA, as well as PGA Tour Champions, will hold theirs in Hawaii. The PGA version is at Kapalua Jan. 3-9 and the Champions will tee it up at Hualalai Jan. 17-22.

The women’s version will be slightly later and at a new site. It’ll move to Lake Nona, in Florida, with dates of Jan. 20-23. The first three events on the LPGA’s 2022 schedule will be in the Sunshine State.

Sore wrist can’t keep Korean star from stringing seven birdies

Korea’s Jin Young Ko is hurting, but can still go on a birdie binge,

NAPLES, FL. — Beware of the injured golfer. Korea’s Jin Young Ko is the defending champion in the biggest money event in women’s golf, and she’s definitely injured.

An injury to her left wrist has troubled her since May and she never takes a full swing in practice. On a scale of 1 to 10 she says her wrist feels like a five. Earlier this week her caddie suggested she consider withdrawing from the CME Globe Tour Championship, which has a $5 million purse with a record $1.5 million going to Sunday’s champion.

Citing the big prize money and the fact that it’s the LPGA’s last tournament of 2021, Ko refused. Injured or not, shenn had a stunning birdie streak in Saturday’s third round and is part of a four-way tie for the lead going into Sunday’s finale.

Ko made seven straight birdies en route to shooting a 66 on Saturday. Her 14-under-par 202 total for 54 holes matches that of Nasa Hataoka, of Japan; American Nelly Korda and France’s Celine Boutier. Hataoka bettered Ko’s birdie streak on Saturday, making eight in a row en route to shooting the day’s low round – an 8-under-par 64. Still, Ko is in the thick of the battle.

“I’m sick right now, but I don’t want to withdraw,’’ said Ko. “I just keep hitting the ball straight, choose the right club and read a break right (on the greens).’’

Her birdie streak came on holes 2-8 on the Gold Course at Tiburon Golf Club. Unfortunately she made bogeys a bogey at No. 9 and had only pars on the back nine.

“I was feeling I could make any putt on the front nine,’’ she said. “I had a lot of good golf, but had a lot of missed shots on the back nine.’’

Ko and Korda have both won four tournaments this year. If either wins on Sunday she’ll be the first to win five in a season since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016. Korda, winner of last week’s Pelican Championship in Bellaire, FL., earned her share of the lead thanks to an eagle at No. 17 that helped her post a 67. Boutier was the 36-hole leader but was able to maintain a share of the top spot despite shooting a 72

Szokol makes it into the LPGA’s most lucrative tournament

The golf season has a series of climax events these days. The PGA Tour had its season climax in either September, when the FedEx Cup Playoffs concluded, or October, when the Ryder Cup ended. Take your pick.

PGA Tour Champions concluded its season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs last Sunday when Phil Mickelson won the last tournament and Bernhard Langer captured the series title for the sixth time.

That leaves only the last of the “climax’’ events – this week’s CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, FL. With a $5 million purse and $1.5 first-place prize, it’s the biggest money event in the history of women’s golf and Elizabeth Szokol, the Chicago area’s only LPGA player, will be right in the thick of it.

Szokol, 27, qualified for the event for the first time. Created in 2011, it’s limited to the top 60 players and ties in a season-long point race. Szokol, in only her second LPGA season, missed the cut in last week’s regular season finale – the Pelican Championship — but it didn’t keep her out of the big-money wrapup to the season. She was a comfortable 44^th in the standings going into Pelican and safely into the Naples shootout that begins on Thursday at Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course.

Chicago golfers have found it tough to break into the LPGA over the last three decades. Other than Szokol the only one to do it was Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray, who starred at Northern Illinois before spending a long career on the LPGA and its satellite tour.

Jeray, though still competing on the LPGA’s Legends Tour for senior members, has taken on a heavy teaching load at Mistwood, in Romeoville. Szokol’s road to the LPGA was similar. She was a high school star at New Trier, then spent two seasons at Northwestern before concluding her collegiate career at Virginia.

She turned pro in 2017, won an event in her second year on the LPGA’s Symetra Tour and gained LPGA membership in 2018 with four top-10 finishes in her last five starts. Her rookie LPGA season in 2019 was somewhat of a struggle but she improved in 2020, making seven cuts in 14 starts and earning $110,873.

The improvement was much more dramatic this year when she had three top-10s in 21 starts, the last coming in October – a third-place finish in the $3 million Founders Cup in New Jersey. It earned her a $198,627 paycheck, a big factor in the $515,640 she has earned for the season. That figure could grow in a hurry, given the money on the line this week for the LPGA’s best players.

While Szokol’s missed cut last week was a disappointment, her time spent at Pelican – a Donald Ross design that opened in 1925 – may have played a positive part in her strong 2021 showing. Szokol had her best finish (11^th) of 2020 in the Pelican. It was a new event then and was played without spectators because of pandemic concerns. This year she is spending more time at the Pelican club because her swing coach, Justin Sheehan, is the director of golf there.

HERE AND THERE: Michael Feagles, a stalwart on the University of Illinois teams the last four years, is guaranteed 12 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022 thanks to his tie for fifth place finish in the final stage of the circuit’s qualifying competition. The Illinois Open champions of the last two years, Bryce Emory and Tee-K Kelly, aren’t guaranteed any starts but do have conditional status on the circuit for next season because they made it through all three stages of qualifying….The Illinois PGA had three of its members qualify for last week’s PGA Assistants Championship in Florida but only Kevin Flack, of Mauh-Nah-Tee-See in Rockford, qualified for all 72 holes. He tied for 42^nd…..All the Chicago area gang – Kevin Streelman, Luke Donald, Doug Ghim, Nick Hardy and Dylan Wu – will play in the last full field PGA Tour event of the year, this week’s RSM Classic in Sea Island, Ga…..Bernhard Langer will have knee surgery in Germany this week and won’t hit aa golf ball for at least six weeks. The 64-year old star still plans to be a full-time player on the Champions Tour in 2022, however.

A weird finish sets the stage for the LPGA’s biggest money event

Nelly Korda has won bigger tournaments, but none as dramatic as this Pelican Championship.

BELLAIRE, FL. – With the biggest money tournament in the history of women’s golf coming up this week it’s easy to think of the two-year old Pelican Championship – the last event of the LPGA’s regular season – as anything more than a warmup event.

It was certainly no ho-hum affair on Sunday, however. It came down to a duel between American stars Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson, Korda winning on the first hole of a four-player sudden death playoff after Thompson gave away two good chances to win and another to extend the playoff in the final three holes of the day.

Both American-born Florida residents, Korda (Bradenton) and Thompson (Delray Beach) will remain in the Sunshine State for the CME Group Tour Championship. It tees off on Thursday with $5 million in prize money and a $1.5 million winner’s check on the line.

The Pelican purse was only $1.75 million, but it presented Thompson with the chance for a win she badly needed.

Long one of golf’s top women players, Thompson is the youngest to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open (she was 12 when she did it). She turned pro at 15 and won her first major title at 19. Now 27, she has gone over two years without notching her 12^th tour title.

Thompson and Korda started the final round in a tie for the lead and still shared the top spot through 70 holes when both were 20-under par and dominating the field. Then Korda took a triple bogey at the 17^th, missing a two-foot putt to conclude her nightmare.

Though Thompson three-putted for bogey she still took a two-stroke lead to the final hole of regulation. That didn’t solve her problems, however. Thompson hit her approach over the green at 409-yard par-4 eighteenth – the hardest hole throughout the tournament. Korda hit hers to 20 feet and made the birdie putt.

Thompson, feeling the pressure, putted from off the green to four feet but her par putt to win didn’t touch the cup. That set the stage for the four-way playoff between Thompson, Korda and two faster finishers – New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and South Korea’s Sei-young Kim. All finished at 17-under-par 263. Ko and Kim, hitting their approaches over the green, were out when Korda made another birdie putt from the same spot she had connected from moments earlier.

“I lost face (after the triple bogey),’’ said Korda, “and I was trying to focus on next week, in a sense. I had the same putt twice is a row.’’

Both went in.

Thompson also putted from the same spot she had to win the tournament in the regulation 72 holes, but this one — for birdie to keep the playoff going – also wouldn’t drop.

“It was a great week. I played a lot of good golf and made a lot of good putts,’’ she said, “but it just wasn’t meant for me in the end.’’

Even with its record prize money the CME Group Tour Championship will be hard-pressed to match the drama that unfolded on Sunday.

Korda goes into the LPGA’s season finale with lots of momentum. The reigning Olympic champion and No. 1-ranked player in the Rolex Rankings won her fourth tournament of the season on Sunday, the first American to do that since Stacy Lewis did it in 2012.

The Pelican, meanwhile, wasn’t just unusual for its weird finish. The tourney offered two-year leases for new Lamborghinis to players who made a hole-in-one on the 12th hole. Austin Ernst did it in the tourney’s pro-am and Pavarisa Yoktuan in the second round on Friday. The third, by Su Oh, was especially noteworthy. She started her round at No. 12 and was the first player to tee off on the featured on during the final round. That’s when she holed a 7-iron from 157 yards.

Christina Kim goes from LPGA onlooker to contender in a hurry

Lexi Thompson (left) and Jennifer Kupcho share the 36-hole lead in the Pelican Championship.

BELLAIRE, FL. – The Pelican Championship, the last regular season tournament on the Ladies PGA Tour, reached only its halfway point on Friday but the week has already been a big success for Christina Kim.

The 37-year old LPGA veteran is lucky to be in the field. She came up one shot short of making it in Monday’s qualifying round, then was practicing at the Pelican course later the same day when she got a call informing her that she was awarded one of two sponsor exemptions.

“I jumped up in the air and was doing somersaults on the ground because I was just so overjoyed,’’ said Kim, always a free spirit who is known for her flamboyant attire.

The good times didn’t end there. She was high on the leaderboard after Thursday’s first round after posting a 65 and held the lead briefly on Friday when she followed it with a 66.

Kim isn’t leading going into Saturday’s third round. Jennifer Kupcho and Lexi Thompson (both 65-64) lead her by two strokes and Wei-Ling Hsu and first-round leader Leona Maguire are on stroke back but Kim – in a four-way tie for fifth — at least has a good chance of at least retaining her playing privileges for next season thanks to the unexpected sponsor’s invite.

“I’m 98^th in points and the top 100 keep their cards,’’ she said. “Not stressful at all….well.’’

The pressure is still on in the second-year event that has a $1.5 million purse. Pelican, originally home to the Belleview Biltmore Golf Club, was designed by Donald Ross in 1925 and re-designed by Beau Welling. Last year’s first playing of the LPGA event was done without fans because of pandemic concerns. The fans are out this time in the final event before the CME Group Championship next week in Naples, FL.

The CME, with a $5 million purse, pays $1.5 million to the champion and is the biggest money event in women’s golf. The event is limited to the top 60 on a season-long point race and that group will include – for the first time – the Chicago area’s lone LPGA Tour player. Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol missed the cut here but is already safely into the top 60 qualifiers for next week’s stop at Tiburon Golf Club.

Flavin claims first PGA Tour check — almost $100,000 — with his Dad on bag

Monday qualifiers are a way of life for Patrick Flaviin, the budding golf touring pro from Highwood.

One of only two players to win both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open in the same year, Flavin estimates he’s played in 30 such nail-biting rounds in hopes of getting into tournaments on either the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour, its developmental circuit. Never have his efforts paid off as handsomely they did last week’s in Bermuda.

The 18-hole session to determine four qualifiers for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, a PGA Tour stop, was held a full week early because of pandemic-related protocols related to travel. Many players skipped the qualifier and even the tournament proper because of difficulties in inherent in getting to Bermuda.

Flavin, though, finished third in the early qualifier – only the second time he earned a spot in a PGA Tour stop. (He qualified for the Waste Management Open last year in Phoenix but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut).

After qualifying in Bermuda his father Mark gave him a further boost by volunteering to be his caddie. They made a great team.

In the first three rounds Flavin shot 69-66-68. After eight holes on Saturday Flavin was tied for the lead – the first time that has happened on the PGA Tour. A 72 on Sunday dropped him into a tie for 17^th place but the 9-under-par performance for the week earned him $99, 125. That’s more than three times the size of his previous biggest check, $30,000 for a victory on the PGA Latinoamerica Tour.

Mark Flavin has caddied for his son only occasionally. He was on a road trip on the West Coast when he learned that Patrick had survived the Monday qualifier in Bermuda. He immediately drove back to Chicago, then caught a flight to Bermuda. Word of the father-son hookup spread among the gallery at Bermuda.

“It was awesome. I felt a ton of support all week,’’ said Flavin. “The whole week changed my perception of my game. Now I’ll try to get more sponsor exemptions, and that could change my career.’’

A solid college player at Miami of Ohio, Flavin’s stock soared when he won the Illinois Amateur and Open in 2017, a feat pulled off only once previously – by former PGA Tour journeyman David Ogrin 37 years earlier.

After turning pro the following year Flavin won on the Latinoamerica circuit and earned membership on the Forme Tour, a temporary substitute for the Canadian circuit. Last year his fifth-place in the Evans Scholars Invitational at The Glen Club, in Glenview, gave him temporary membership on the Korn Ferry circuit. He had hoped to earn full-time status for 2022 but didn’t survive the second stage of qualifying in Tampa, FL., a week before the trip to Bermuda.

“That was a huge bummer, but I’m proud of the bounce-back,’’ he said. “I just never got it going (in Tampa), and that was pretty devastating, but I handled it well.’’

Now he’ll be a travelin’ man who may not know where he’s going from one week to the next. Flavin is a member of the Latinoamerica and Canadian circuits but will squeeze in as many PGA and Korn Ferry qualifiers as he can. The next one is next Monday, for the PGA’s Houston Open.

“I’ve got a lot of places to play, for sure,’’ said Flavin, who is spending this week in Phoenix before heading to Houston. In December he’ll play in Latinoamerica tournaments in Argentina and Chile. Then, who knows?

Small, Biancalana will play in a golf major in 2022

Mike Small considers himself a golf coach first and a player second, but he proved again how good a player he can be in qualifying for another major championship last week — this one of the senior variety.

The University of Illinois men’s coach was free to compete after his Illiini concluded the 2021 portion of their season with a strong runner-up finish in the Isleworth Invitational in Florida, an event that saw Illini sophomore Piercen Hunt win the individual title. Only No. 3-ranked Arizona State could beat the improving Illini at Isleworth

A few days later Small and eight Illinois PGA members competed in the 33^rd Senior PGA Professional Championship in Port St. Lucie, FL, a competition that sends the top 35 to the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores, in Benton Harbor, Mich., next May.

Small finished solo third, one shot out of a playoff, when the 72-hole event wrapped up on Sunday and Roy Biancalana, teaching pro at Blackberry Oaks in Bristol, tied for 29^th so the IPGA will have two of its best players in the national event next spring.

Tour Edge rewarded

Batavia-based club manufacturer Tour Edge has raised its profile by signing top players on PGA Tour Champions the last few years, but that payoff reached new heights on Sunday when Bernhard Langer became the oldest player to win on the 50-and-and-over circuit.

Langer, who joined the Tour Edge staff this year, won the Dominican Energy Classic in Richmond, Va., at age 64. It was his 42^nd Champions Tour victory but first since March of 2000. The win came in the first of the Champions Tour’s three season-ending playoff series events. The second is next week — the TimberTech Championshiip in Langer’s hometown of Boca Raton, FL.

Two other Tour Edge players, Tim Petrovic and Ken Duke, also finished in the top five at the first playoff event. The series ends with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in November.

HERE AND THERE: Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim, a rookie on the PGA Tour in the 2020-21 season, earned a spot in the 78-player Zozo Championship in Japan last week and tied for 66^th place after a disappointing 74-73 finish on the weekend….Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, who earned $86,000 for making the cut in his first two events as a PGA Tour member, returns to action in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship this week. Luke Donald and Northwestern alum Dylan Wu are also in the field….The Illinois Open champions of the last two years, Aurora’s Bryce Emory and Wheaton’s Tee-K Kelly, have reached the final stage of the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying. The finals are Nov. 4-7 in Savannah Ga. , and Illinois alum Michael Feagles will also be in the field….A staff shakeup at the John Deere Classic has tournament director Clair Peterson moving up to executive director and Andrew Lehman assuming the tournament director’s role. Lehman had been the assistant tournament director….The Chicago District Golf Assn. has named Nick Tenuda, of Mount Prospect, as its Player of the Year and Frankfort’s Mark Small as Senior Player of the Year.

Opening nears for Palm Aire’s `re-imagined’ Champions Course

BEFORE AND NOW: When we moved to Sarasota the fairway on the No. 11 hole of The Champions Course at Palm Aire Country Club was under construction — but look at it now. (Mike Benkusky Photos)

SARASOTA, FL. — It’s getting exciting now. We’ll soon have a new golf course – or at least a “re-imagined’’ one – to look at while we’re enjoying either our early morning coffee or late afternoon beverage of choice from the lanai of our new home.

The Champions Course, at Palm Aire Country Club, was in the early stages of a renovation when we moved in. We’ve closely followed its transformation. Illinois-based course architect Mike Benkusky, who has been coming to town on a weekly basis, is planning his next return for the Grand Opening.

While the official date for that hasn’t been set, it won’t be far off. The club’s greens committee will address the matter at its November board meeting.

“They’re not rushing it – and that’s good,’’ said Benkusky, who did most all of his work in the Midwest after opening his office in Lake in the Hills 15 years ago. The choice $2 million project was his first work in Florida. The course opening was originally targeted for Nov. 1, then was pushed back to mid-November.

“Everything’s looking good. The greens look very good. We’re right on schedule,’’ said Benkusky.

It’s been fascinating to see this project unfold, as we reside off the green at the 11^th hole. Watching the work begin in near darkness each morning has become part of our daily routine. No. 11 was a 538-yard hole from the back tees prior to Benkusky’s arrival and the scorecard from the tips was 7,005 yards. Now the proposed yardage for No. 11 is 581 yards and the championship yardage is 7,207.

This Florida course had an Illinois flavor even before Benkusky’s hiring and our moving in. The original designer was Dick Wilson when the course opened in 1957 and Palm Aire’s other 18-holer, The Lakes, was designed by Joe Lee.

Wilson may be best known for his work at the more famous Florida courses Bay Hill and Doral’s Blue Monster and Lee was a prolific designer whose creations extended far beyond the Sunshine State. From a Chicago perspective, however, their most noteworthy project is one they did together in the 1960s – the Dubsdread Course at Cog Hill, a long-time PGA Tour site in Chicago’s south suburbs.

Palm Aire was called DeSoto Lakes when Wilson did his work, and the PGA Tour conducted the DeSoto Open there in 1960, Sam Snead winning the title. A year later another Hall of Famer, Louise Suggs, won Golden Circle of Golf Festival, an LPGA event, on the course. That was one of Suggs’ five wins that season.

The Champion was also a site for the televised All-Star Golf (later Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf) , two National Left-Handed Golfers Championships and the LPGA Legends Tour’s Handa Cup team event.

A name change, from DeSoto Lakes to Palm Aire, was made in 1981 and Lee not only designed The Lakes course, which opened the following year, but he also made his first hole-in-one during that course’s opening day.

Author: lenz