At least there’s one nice thing that came out of this dreaded pandemic. Thanks to all the postponements from March through June, it necessitated an extension of the tournament season for golfers. Now the schedule of big events will carry all the way in December. In previous years the Chicago area campaign concluded with the…
Author: lenz
Chaussard goes after third straight IPGA Match Play title
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The Illinois PGA Match Play Championship had long been played in May as the section’s first major championship of the season, and the site was traditionally Kemper Lakes in Long Grove. This week, though, it’ll be the IPGA’s third major of the year and it won’t be…
Chicago’s Korn Ferry stop is latest tour event to include a pro-am
Slowly but surely the pro golf tours are getting back to normal. PGA Tour Champions, the 50-and-over circuit, will be the first major one to welcome spectators at this week’s Sanford International in South Dakota. The PGA Tour itself, which has gone 14 straight weeks without fans since ending a three-month break over pandemic…
No doubt about it: Michigan’s LochenHeath is back in the swing of things
WILLIAMSBURG, Michigan – This is one of those golf feel-good stories that you don’t see often enough. It focuses on LochenHeath Golf Club in northern Michigan, on the outskirts of Traverse City. LochenHeath is a course that once was closed, but has since been rescued thanks to some extraordinary efforts by a few club…
Michigan’s Forest Dunes continues to expand its facilities
ROSCOMMON, Michigan – There was never a doubt that Forest Dunes had one of the very best golf courses in Michigan, if not the entire United States. Tom Weiskopf designed it in 2002 – the same year that Golf Digest named it Best New Course in the U.S. That started a rivalry with nearby…
Arthur Hills Golf Trail is up and running
TOLEDO, Ohio – Arthur Hills designed more than 200 golf courses and renovated more than 150 in his long career as a course architect. Few modern day architects have come even close to those numbers. Hills, now 90 and officially retired, spends most of his time on the east coast of Florida now but…
Valley Tower’s creation brightens the outlook at Indiana’s French Lick Resort
FRENCH LICK, Indiana — Our longest golf/travel writing tour of the year – 22 days with stops in six states — ended at a most familiar place. We’ve made at least one stop at French Lick Resort & Casino every year since 2009. This year’s visit was a bit different than the others in that…
Small back on top in time for another Illinois PGA title run
These have been quiet times for Mike Small, but that’s changing. The University of Illinois men’s coach is back in the spotlight going into the Illinois PGA Championship, which tees off on Monday on Medinah Country Club’s No. 1 course. Small, 54, has won the tournament 12 times and there’s no reason to think he…
What’s the best course on the Georgia Golf Trail? You tell me
Georgia may be the best state in the union for golf. Others may have more courses, but the Peach State is the home of both the Masters and the PGA’s Tour Championship. No state has major events of that caliber on an annual basis. And don’t forget the Georgia Golf Trail. With 20 destinations it’s…
New clubhouse will also bring a stunning opening tee shot at Cherokee Valley
TRAVELER’S REST, South Carolina – Clubs — at least the lucky ones– are sometimes able to build nice, new clubhouses even in these difficult financial times. Cherokee Valley, a 28-year old public facility 25 miles from the city of Greenville, is one of those but there’s more to the story. Owner Matt Jennings wanted…