Location: Fort Myers, Florida. Architect: Donald Ross, with renovation by Steve Smyers in 2014. Opened: 1917 Par: 70 for men, 71 for women. Yards/Rating/Slope: Black tees, 6,675 yards, 72.9, 131; Blue, 6,245, 70.5, 126; White 5,815, 68.9, 124; Golf, 5,460, 67.0, 117; Red, 4,905, 69.0, 114; Green, 4,360, 62.9, 101. Saturday morning green fee: $50…
Author: lenz
Second U.S. Senior Women’s Open will do just fine at Pine Needles
The best senior women golfers, the ones who did so much to make the Ladies PGA Tour into what it is today, haven’t gotten the respect they deserve. Their own tour barely recognized them, leaving it to Jane Blalock and The Legends Tour to provide a circuit for players after they turned 45. Thanks to…
Hammock Creek
Location: Palm City, Florida. Architect: Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II Opened: 1995 Par: 72. Yards/Rating/Slope: Tips (Black) tees 7,131 yards/ 74.6/143; Gold 6,770/73.2/140; Blue 6,360/70.9/135; White 5,922/68.7/124 (men), 74.1/133 (women); Red 5,045/64.3/114 (men), 68.6/118 (women). Saturday morning green fee: $59 (but varies with the season). Caddie Service: No. Walker friendly: Yes. Fairways: Bermuda. Greens:…
Illinois Women’s Open milestone comes with a change in format
The Illinois Women’s Open will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, a testament to the dedication owner Jim McWethy and his staff at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville have made to the event. When none of the Chicago golf organizations were willing to create a big event for the area’s top women players the late…
ANWA has taken women’s golf to a new level
The inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur was staged a few days before the Masters tournament and partially on the same course the male stars played their first major championship of 2019. It turned out to be one of those rare golf competitions where the determination of the champion wasn’t the most important thing – not…
In short, this is a golf book worth reading
Book report time again – and this one’s different. I’ve always avoided political issues on both my Len Ziehm on Golf and personal Facebook pages. The many books I’ve read lately in the political arena only tend to trigger reactions – pro and con – that I’m not interested in exploring. Rick Reilly’s recently released…
College golf programs in Illinois couldn’t be much better
It’s hard to imagine anything being better for Illinois’ top college golf programs than it is right now, with the NCAA championships closing in. Coach Mike Small’s Illinois men’s team won its fifth straight Big Ten title and ninth in 10 years on Sunday in Philadelphia and had the conference medalist for the ninth straight…
Medinah hosts a last qualifier for the second U.S. Senior Women’s Open
A highlight of last year’s Chicago golf season was the playing of the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton. It was a rousing success – a feel-good story capped off by Laura Davies’ 10-stroke victory on America’s first 18-hole course. “It doubled our expectations from the crowd standpoint, and we…
Masters memories still give rookie pro Ghim good vibes
The golf world gets back to normal this week following the tumultuous week created by Tiger Woods’ victory in the Masters. None of the American tours had tournaments during Masters week but Doug Ghim was invited by the PGA Tour to look back on his experiences at Augusta National. Ghim was the low amateur in…
Tiger’s win in the Masters was big — but it won’t be his biggest
Sometimes it seems like yesterday when I was on hand at the Brown Deer public course in Milwaukee for Tiger Woods’ first professional tournament. Of course it wasn’t yesterday. It was 23 years ago, and the event he was playing in was the Greater Milwaukee Open – a PGA Tour stop that ended its 42-year…