LAKE LURE, North Carolina – The Bald Mountain course at Rumbling Bald Resort hasn’t changed much since W.B. Lewis designed it in 1968. “Actually, it hasn’t changed at all,’’ said Adam Bowles, who has headed the golf operation at the resort the last seven years. “They put in new bentgrass greens in about 2000, and…
Author: lenz
Illinois Open, PGA run back-to-back this week
The biggest tournament for Illinois residents, the 71st Illinois Open, concludes today at White Eagle in Naperville. A day later the PGA Tour’s major championships for 2020, the PGA Championship, tees off at Harding Park in San Francisco. Before August is over the PGA Tour will have completed its FedEx Cup Playoffs, which conclude…
Defending champ Cooke has a dilemma going into the Illinois Open
David Cooke won the Illinois Open as an amateur in 2015 and last year as a professional. He may well have problems just making his first-round tee time to open his title defense when the 71st playing of the tourney tees off on Monday at White Eagle Club in Naperville. Cooke’s win last year was…
GOLF TRAVEL NOTEBOOK: Bath Course coming to Blackwolf Run
Business is reportedly down aty America’s golf destinations, but you certainly can’t blame the operators of those places for that. They have taken aggressive measures to entice golfers back, even in these troublesome pandemic times. Most notable recent example of that comes from Kohler, Wis., with an announcement only a few days after the…
Western Golf Association braces for its amateur doubleheader
This has indeed been a strange year for the Western Golf Association. The organization’s two national junior tournaments had to be canceled due to pandemic concerns and its two professional events were rescheduled for the same reason. The WGA’s two history-rich amateur championships, however, are going on as scheduled. The 120th playing of the Women’s…
It’s not just PGA Tour; spectators will also be scarce at Western amateur events
The Western Golf Association’s three most prestigious championships certainly will look different this year thanks to ongoing pandemic concerns. An announcement from the PGA Tour this week declared that there will be no spectators at its tournaments through the FedEx Cup Playoffs. That means the second of those three postseason events – the BMW Championship…
Illini golf teams get a boost from course donation
Northwestern, Iowa and Indiana just upgraded their golf facilities. Now Illinois is doing the same. The school announced that the Atkins family has donated about 300 acres in Urbana, which includes the Stone Creek Golf Course, to the University. Stone Creek opened in 2000 and was closed in January. It’s expected to re-open for public…
Here’s the reasoning on the canceling of the JDC
At first it was a feeling of shock, then disappointment. How could the 2020 John Deere Classic be canceled? Here was a tournament that struggled at times to just stay on the PGA Tour, a difficult task for any event in a small market. And, this year’s July 6-12 staging at TPC Deere Run in…
WGA keeps in touch with these changing times for caddies
Youth caddies are facing an uphill climb during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Just ask members of the Western Golf Association. They campaigned relentlessly to make sure caddies were not forgotten as golf courses were in various phases of re-opening. Happily, progress is being made. Golf is back to being played in all 50 states and,…
Dick Sheehan reflects on the development of Jupiter’s Admirals Cove
JUPITER, FL. – Lots of things have changed since Dick Sheehan decided to settle in the Jupiter area in the late 1970s. “Nothing was here,’’ he said. “When I moved down here my intention was to create a marketing consultancy and focus on real estate. The market wasn’t nearly as sophisticated then as it would…