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…
Author: lenz
A weird finish sets the stage for the LPGA’s biggest money event
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….
Christina Kim goes from LPGA onlooker to contender in a hurry
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…
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…
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…
Opening nears for Palm Aire’s `re-imagined’ Champions Course
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…
Ray Hearn takes on some big golf projects at Boyne resorts
HARBOR SPRINGS, Michigan – Michigan-based architect Ray Hearn has worked on courses across the country for 25 years, but the projects he has recently taken on close to home may have a more far-reaching impact. Stephen Kircher, Boyne’s president and chief executive officer, and Bernie Friedrich, senior vice president of golf, brought in Hearn,…
Fullmer is WWGA’s Woman of Distinction
Sandra Fullmer lives in California, now but the Women’s Western Golf Association gave its top honor – its Woman of Distinction award – to her at the WWGA’s annual meeting on Thursday at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe. Fullmer was selected for the coveted award in 2020 but the annual meeting was canceled because…
Pinns heads latest Illinois Golf Hall of Fame induction class
Gary Pinns is probably best known in Illinois golf circles for winning the Illinois Open five times. No one else has done that. Pinns has done much more than that, howeve3r. He gave the PGA Tour a four-year shot before making an instantly successful transition into teaching. He’s been doing that as director of instruction …
Late qualifier Malm repeats in IPGA Players
Curtis Malm, may have been the defending champion in the Illinois PGA Players Championship this week, but he was lucky to even be in the field. The 36 players invited into the last of the IPGA’s four major tournaments is determined off a season-long point list, and Malm was one spot out until Shaun McElroy,…