The Chicago District Golf Association has been staging competitions since 1914 and it’s the regional governing body for amateur golf in Illinois and parts of three other states. It services nearly 400 clubs and 800 individual golfers in a variety of ways. Most know the CDGA for its computerized handicaps. All members get a U.S….
Chicago Area Golf
Pieters, Points are latest Illinois tour players who bear watching
We’ve always given the broadest definition to the pro golfers classified as “local players.’’ Players who resided a significant period of time in Illinois or attended college in the Prairie State all fit the criteria. After all, Illinois is a welcoming place for golf talent, and the more the merrier. Still, Luke Donald and Kevin…
It’s not too early to start planning for the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills
The 117th playing of the U.S. Open is still eight months away, I realize that. Still, it’s not too early to so some planning around it. After all, U.S. Opens don’t come our way very often. Next year’s will be June 15-18 at Erin Hills, a public-access venue located in a little town northwest of…
October provided a variety of meaningful ends to Chicago golf season
I never quite understood this. October, with its generally milder temperatures and beautiful color changes, is in many ways the best month of the year to play golf. Plus, with school back in session, the courses aren’t as busy as they are from June through August. Still, interest seems to be on the downside with…
Ryder Cup is the real climax to this PGA Tour season
Let the greatest show in golf begin. With all due respect, it’s not any major championship. It’s not the FedEx Cup Playoffs. It wasn’t the return of the sport to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years. No, the greatest show in golf isn’t even a tournament. It’s the Ryder Cup, and the…
Upgrades provide big boosts at Eagle Ridge, Ruffled Feathers
Eagle Ridge, Illinois’ premier golf resort in Galena, has changed – and for the better – since its latest ownership change. Capital Crossing acquired the facility in 2013 and brought in Texas-based Touchstone Golf to manage Eagle Ridge’s 63 holes and Mount Prospect-based Bricton Group to manage the rest of the resort. Touchstone manages courses…
Dates opposite the Olympics won’t be a big problem for the JDC
If you had asked me, I would have told you. The PGA Tour should not have made all those changes to its mid- to late-summer schedule just to accommodate the Olympics. All that did was inconvenience tournament organizers, leave most of the players in limbo and confuse ticket-buyers who had gotten used to watching specific…
Any U.S. Open at Oakmont has a special meaning to me
It’s that time of year again. The U.S. Opens – for both the men and women – always dominate the golf world during the month of June and 2016 is no exception. Both tournaments are huge in terms of participants and historical significance. They are also organizational monsters for the U.S. Golf Association, which conducts…
Could Mistwood’s playing staff be the best in the U.S.?
Mistwood director of golf Andy Mickelson said it, almost without any hesitation. “I’d be bold enough to say that we could put our playing staff against any in the country,’’ Mickelson told me. And I couldn’t argue with him. Mistwood owner Jim McWethy has a big staff of teaching pros in Romeoville and their playing…
Olympics’ influence will make for a different season in 2016
OK, so the 2014-15 PGA Tour season is over. You want more? No problem. You don’t have to wait long, thanks to the circuit’s decision to go with a split season just like the National Hockey League and National Basketball Assn. have done for years and years. Last season ended with the FedEx Cup Playoffs,…