GALENA, IL. – The General at Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa isn’t your ordinary golf course – not by a long shot. So, it’s fitting that this Andy North-Roger Packard design isn’t getting the standard treatment for a course hitting its 25th anniversary. It’s getting a “Celebration Restoration’’ instead. We’ll explain, but first know…
Author: lenz
Baseball Cancer Charities golf event is back in business
Golf’s celebrity events to benefit charitable causes used to be commonplace, especially in Chicago. In fact, Chicago had one of the first really big ones – the Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities event. It returns to the Chicago calendar for the first time in three years on Thursday, July 14, at Twin Orchard Country Club in…
Chicago golfers create the buzz before Poston completes his JDC win
SILVIS, IL. — “Magic Happens Here’’ has been the promotional motto for the John Deere Classic the last few years, and – from a Chicago player perspective – it certainly was pertinent during Sunday’s final round. Yes, J.T. Poston won the tournament wire-to-wire – the first to do that since David Frost in 1992….
Poston could be a wire-to-wire winner at the John Deere Classic
SILVIS, IL. – This has been one weird John Deere Classic. Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop usually has a few big names. This one had such mainstays on the circuit as Bubba Watson, Daniel Berger, Steve Stricker and Jason Day among its entrants, but none made it to the starting line. The local players…
JDC sponsor exemption is paying off for Flavin
SILVIS, IL. – Highwood’s Patrick Flavin is taking a precarious route to the PGA Tour, but…so far, so good. Flavin has no status on the PGA Tour, so the only way he can get into tournaments is through Monday qualifiers or sponsor exemptions. Neither is easy. The qualifiers usually draw about 200 players, with just…
Streelman stays in the hunt after Round 1 at the JDC
SILVIS, IL. – Kevin Streelman, Chicago’s most prominent PGA Tour player, isn’t having one of his best years on the circuit, but the veteran from Wheaton wasn’t bothered by his 2-under-par 69 in Thursday’s first round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. “I’m not happy with how I hit it. My swing…
This JDC will be Peterson’s last as its tournament director
This week’s John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, will be the last with Clair Peterson as its tournament director. Peterson, 69, will drop down to a player liaison’s role with Andrew Lehman, a JDC staffer for 16 years, assuming full time director’s duties after the post-tournament details from this year are completed. …
This jam-packed golf journey evolved — despite these changing times
Golf travel writing is a lot of fun, but it isn’t easy. I guess you could say “It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.’’ At least that’s how we felt after the first month of our later-than-usual start for our spring trip. From May 26 to June 24 we played 342 holes…
Michigan resort A-Ga-Ming is unusual for more than just its name
There are golf resorts – and then there’s A-Ga-Ming. It has four courses in Northern Michigan, but their 72 holes are spread out. Each has its own history, but over the last 22 years they’ve grown together. Mike Brown and Larry Lavely were 27-year old Central Michigan University alums when this project started. They moved…
JDC will share its new PGA Tour dates with the LIV Tour
The U.S. Open is history, and now the focus turns to what’s coming up in two weeks. The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, goes head-to-head with the first American event on the controversial LIV Tour. This week’s PGA Tour stop is the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and all the Chicago-connected players…