The Encompass Championship on the Champions Tour is coming to North Shore Country Club in Glenview from June 16-22. Tournament rounds are June 20-22. If you love golf you should be there. Here’s 10 good reasons why: 1, It’s Unique. The pro golf tours are making fewer and fewer appearances in the Chicago area, and…
Chicago Area Golf
Harbor Shores prepares for its second Senior PGA shootout
You know what might be the nicest part of the Senior PGA Championship? It’s the one golf major played on any of the pro tours that seems to like coming to the Midwest. In fact, this Champions Tour shootout is the major played closest to Chicago in 2014. The closest the PGA Tour gets for…
Wilson, CDGA centennials should be celebrated, and look out for SwingSmart, too
Since Chicagoland Golf made its debut back in 1989, the first issue of each year has focused on the year ahead. Not so in 2014. A look back is essential this time before we delve into the exciting developments on the horizon. In Chicago, at least, 2014 is a year for centennials. One-hundred years is…
LPGA Legends event will bring something special to French Lick
If you had to pick one thing to feel good about in this golf season, what would it be? For me it’s what’s happening on the women’s side – both locally and nationally. The Illinois Women’s Golf Assn. showed again that it isn’t reluctant to play its State Amateur in the Chicago area anymore. It…
Here’s some tips for your visit to the John Deere Classic
It’s almost here now, the only annual Illinois stop on the PGA Tour. Yes, the John Deere Classic is something special. Those visiting the spiffy TPC Deere Run course in Silvis, on the outskirts of the Quad Cities, will realize that in a hurry if they’re first-time visitors to this July 8-14 shootout. The JDC…
Mistwood’s new Performance Center is spectacular
Mistwood Golf Club, the long-time Illinois Women’s Open site in Romeoville, closed early the last two years and opened a bit later than most of the other Chicago public courses this spring. Now those hard decisions, made by owner Jim McWethy and his veteran staff, are paying off. The August closings in 2011 and 2012…
Celebrity involvement will make Encompass a spectator-friendly tourney
The Champions Tour is returning to the Chicago area for the first time since 2002 and nobody – repeat nobody – is as happy about this most positive development as I am. Chicago’s been losing its pro tour stops, and the return of the Champions will help correct that. The Encompass Championship will be held…
CHICAGO PREVIEW: No Ryder Cup, but season won’t be dull
No Ryder Cup. No Western Amateur. A quiet year is ahead for golf in Chicago, right? WRONG!!! Chicago golf is never dull, and this season will be as inspiring as the last one – and maybe even more so. Believe me. Yes, the epic Ryder Cup at Medinah has come and gone – and will…
Let’s not forget about the U.S. Mid-Am
The U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship could get lost in the shuffle with the Ryder Cup coming to town just two weeks later. That might be understandable, but I hope it doesn’t happen. Chicago, in particular, and the Midwest, in general, need more big tournaments each year – not less. And, make no doubt about it, the…
July, 2012, was a milestone month for golf in the Midwest
Where do I begin? Rarely, in my nearly 43 years covering golf in these parts have I witnessed so many noteworthy tournament developments in a month’s span. The tournament schedule was bunched up this season, and all the things that happened in July were almost overwhelming. We’ll try to put them all in perspective here….