Last year the Illinois PGA’s newest big thing was the addition of a season-long team competition that was  well received by section members.  This year’s newest big thing is more far-reaching.

The Illinois PGA Open Series tees off on Monday at White Eagle, in Naperville. That’ll be the first of six one-day tournaments that are open to IPGA professionals (members and associates), amateurs with a handicap index under 10.0 and other professionals that are at least 18 years old.  Players under 18 may be accepted, too, but must submit a playing resume first.

It’s a unique format that has been long in the planning stages.

“We have been talking internally, and branching out to more of our staff,’’ said Andy Mickelson, the IPGA tournament chairman, director of golf at Mistwood in Romeville and the section vice president.  “We went to the CDGA (Chicago District Golf Association) to get their blessing.  It’ll be good for tournament golf in Illinois. We think it’ll be a big hit.’’

The Series won’t conflict with the IPGA stroke play events.  Handicaps won’t be used in the competition and there’ll be sponsors for each event.  The entry target for each event is 90 players.

In addition to club pros the  White Eagle event includes Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach; Vince India, a two-time Illinois Open champion who has been a regular on the Korn Ferry Tour; and Sarah Arnold, a two-time champion in the Illinois Women’s State Amateur.

Mickelson expects prize money for the pros will probably be in the “low four figures for the winner.’’ Amateur prizes will be in the form of gift cards. Entry fee in the first event was $225. Some of Chicago’s top courses will be hosting Series events.  Flossmoor will host on May 21, Hinsdale  on June 9, Elgin on July 14, Aurora on July 28  and Bill Valley on Oct. 8.

Players can walk or ride in the events. They’ll be assigned to play separate tees based on age and/or gender.

HERE AND THERE: Chicago products Nick Hardy and Doug Ghim get back in action on the PGA Tour on Thursday in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.  Hardy and Davis Riley won the circuit’s lone team event in 2023 and will play together again.  Ghim’s partner is Johan Kim. Luke Donald is paired with Camilo Villegas and Illinois alum Thomas Detry with Robert McIntyre.

Illinois’ second-oldest golf course, Rock Island Arsenal, will re-open as a nine holer after being closed since 2018.

Chicago’s first U.S. Open local qualifier is today at Stonewall Orchard. The first U.S. Senior Open qualifier is Tuesday (APRIL 29) at Kankakee Elks.

Vernon Hills will hold the grand opening of its new short game facility –The Back Nine at the Muny—on Tuesday.

The University of Illinois men’s team, coming off a third-place finish in the Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue, will seek its 14^th Big Ten title in 16 years when the three-day league tourney tees off Friday at Baltimore Country Club.

Jay Sigel, one of the world’s best amateurs in the post World War II era, has passed away at age 81, a victim of pancreatic cancer.  Sigel won one of his most notable titles in 1984 at North Shore Country Club when he defeated Chris Perry 8 and 7 in the final of the U.S. Amateur. That made Sigel the eighth player to win the U.S. Amateur in back-to-back years.

Tickets to the LIV Golf League’s Chicago tourney Aug. 8-10 at Bolingbrook Golf Club are now on sale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Galena’s Eagle Ridge, long been Illinois’ premier golf resort, has brought in a new instructor who knows the area well.

Scott Szbowicz went to Eagle Ridge  on his honeymoon 41 years ago.   Szybowicz and his wife, Jane, have been squeezing in regular visits to Eagle Ridge during his 37 years as a PGA member. Now the connection with the resort is getting more serious.

Szybowicz is in the process of transitioning his golf instruction efforts to Eagle Ridge, and that’ll be a big boost to the pro shop operation directed by John Schlaman.

“John’s excited about the quality of the facility that Eagle Ridge is,’’ said Szybowicz.  “It needs an instruction program, so this is such a natural fit. That’s my function – to develop programs. For now I’ll have the whole load.  It’ll be a very busy summer.’’

Schlaman started his career as an assistant professional at Eagle Ridge and moved up to the head job of the resort’s South Course before leaving for 14 years to direct the operation at Prairie Landing, in West Chicago. He eventually returned to Galena as a resident, and in 2022 was named the resort’s director of golf.

Szybowicz is going in a similar direction. He taught golf at a variety of locations in the Chicago area and is now completing a corporate project that isn’t in the golf industry while planning the move to Galena. He’ll  be playing a major role in developing an instruction program there.

“It’ll be part-time initially,’’ said Szybowicz.  “I’ll be there most weekends and holidays and make myself as accessible as I can.’’

Eagle Ridge is a 63-hole facility that has made major upgrades since Mark Klausner took over ownership of the resort in 2018.

Szybowicz was a PGA golf coach and golf instructor at Antioch Golf Club; Prestwick, in Frankfort; Thorngate (formerly in Deerfield) and Mission Hills, in Northbrook. He also taught at the Chicago Athletic Association, the Saddle & Cycle Club and Chicago’s Diversey Range while running his own golf school.

Currently a Volo resident, Szybowicz and his wife plan to live full-time in Galena.

“It’s in a setting that doesn’t look like Illinois,’’ said Szybowicz.  “It looks like Ireland.  We’ve always loved it and have friends who moved there.’’

Eagle Ridge will soon be a hopping place for golfers. Only the South Course is open now, but The General opens on Friday (APRIL 18), the North on April 25 and the nine-hole East on May 2.

HERE AND THERE: Dan Roan, long-time TV sports anchor at WGN, will be the new host of Dave Lockhart’s Golf360 TV show. The show begins its 10^th season in June on Marquee Sports Network.

Canyata, an exclusive golf retreat in downstate Marshall since 2005, has been acquired by Escalante Golf of Fort Worth, TX. Escalante is a boutique owner and operator of luxury golf courses in 17 states.  Canyata has a new general manager, Brent Allen, and a new superintendent, Brock Burton.  It’ll open for members’ play in May.

The major renovation at Orchard Valley, in Aurora, is underway but the driving range remains open.  The $8.8 million project is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2026.

Eight stations have been added to the range at Mistwood, in Romeoville. Now all four teaching bays can be used at the same time.

Vernon Hills golf course has announced a new partnership with the Chicago School of Golf to bring top tier instruction and expanded player development programs to golfers of all ages and skill levels.

Birdies for Charity, the charity arm of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, IL., has launched its 32nd season.  It’ll be accepting new charities through May 30.

 

 

 

The 89^th Masters golf tournament was followed by people world-wide, golfers or not.  It’s not unusual for publishers to use that big event to introduce their newest books, and – since I dabble with book reviews periodically – it’s not unusual for those publishers to send me their books for review purposes.

The week before the Masters teed off at Georgia’s Augusta National I received a copy of “Together We Roared,’’ an interesting  account of the glory days of Tiger Woods and his long-time caddie, Steve Williams. It was written in third person but Williams was a co-author with Evin Priest (William Morrow, an imprint of Harper/Collins Publishers). It was a nice rehash of many of the great moments that Woods provided us.

Those days, though, are gone.  Woods, 49, hasn’t won a tournament since 2019 – the year he captured his last Masters and the 82^nd and last win in a PGA Tour event.  He didn’t even attend this year’s Masters, not even the past champions dinner, while recovering from a torn Achilles that required surgery in March.

Yes, the Woods Era is over.  It probably would have ended much sooner, but there was no player to replace him.  Now there is.

Rory McIlroy didn’t just win the Masters on Sunday.  He became the first golfer since Woods to complete the career Grand Slam.  Only five had done it before McIlroy – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods.

Winning titles in the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and The (British) Open is no small feat, and McIlroy’s emotional reaction, dropping to his knees and sobbing uncontrollably after the last putt dropped, was a fitting climax to an historic day in sports.

I had a personal reason for being delighted by the result.  Picking the winner in the Masters is an annual rite of spring for golf columnists.  I made my first pick in 1986 – the first year I covered the Masters in person.  My Masters picks were made for publication every year since then, but tabbing McIlroy to win  last week in the Daily Herald was only my third  winner.  The others were Fred Couples in 1992 and Scottie Scheffler in 2022.

McIlroy may never match Woods’ records, but he did surpass the drama on Sunday in my memory book.

There are four most memorable Masters in my years.  The first was in 1975, when Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf  and Nicklaus were paired as a threesome in the final round.  It came down to the final hole and final putts by each, Nicklaus knocking his in last for the victory. Lots of drama that day.

Even more came in 1986, my first Masters on site at Augusta National.  Nicklaus won his record sixth title that year thanks to a heart-pounding final round.  That was the most memorable day writing-wise in my professional career.  And, then there was 1987.   A year after Nicklaus’ last win the Masters was decided in a playoff with relative unknown Larry Mize beating legends Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in sudden death.

And now for McIlroy’s win.  “His Era’’ may not last as long as the Nicklaus and Woods reigns.  Scheffler is fine player, though not as charismatic as the others.

Still, professional golf needed a day with all the excitement that McIlroy’s win provided.  The sport that’s been struggling through conflicts between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Players from both circuits play together in the Masters, but in very few other events.  Golf needs more such tournaments.  This year’s Masters underscored that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Masters tees off on Thursday at Georgia’s Augusta National, and – judging by the pre-tourney hype – it’s going to be a strange one.

Over the last four years issues involving the PGA Tour and LIV Golf were prominent.  Not so this year.  Merger talks seem non-existent. LIV has remained a viable threat to the established circuit, even without making a notable signing for this season. The Saudi-backed circuit has also improved its television offering thanks to a new deal with Fox.

The PGA Tour continues to miss the star power of the players that defected to LIV – Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson in particular.  LIV has only 12 players among the 96 in this year’s Masters field but six are past champions.

That doesn’t simplify the annual task of predicting the next winner of one of the four golf major titles.  World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion with two wins in the last three years, but  — battling a hand injury — he hasn’t won an event among the 14 tournaments put on by the PGA Tour so far this year.

LIV has staged only five events, and last week’s stop at the Doral Blue Monster in Florida was the only one held in the United States.  There’s a similarity in the two tours, though.

Rahm was the dominant player for LIV last year, concluding his first campaign after leaving the PGA Tour with a rousing win in the Individual Championship at Bolingbrook Golf Club.  Like Scheffler, though, Rahm hasn’t won a tournament in 2025.  He has been in the top 10 in all five LIV events, however.

Ludvig Aberg, the Swedish sensation on the PGA Tour, was runner-up to Scheffler in last year’s Masters, but he didn’t even make the cut in last week’s last PGA Tour tuneup event – the Valero Texas Open. Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, who battled Rahm for individual LIV honors last year, has two wins and leads that tour’s standings this year but he could only tie for 33^rd at Doral. That doesn’t suggest he’s ready for the Masters, either.

So, who will wear the green jacket on Sunday?  The prediction here is that it’ll be Rory McIroy. The Irishman won at Pebble Beach and The Players Championship and tied for fifth at Houston in the last of his five starts in 2025.  He also needs to win the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam of the sport’s four major titles.  This is the perfect time for him to get the job done.

LOCAL FLAVOR:  The Chicago area had four participants among the 80 qualifiers for Sunday’s national finals in the Drive, Chip & Putt competition.  Their results were good, too.  Brelle Downer, of Lockport, was second in the Girls 7-9 division.  Chloe Lee, of Plainfield, was third in Girls 12-13;  Hudson Hodge, Clarendon Hills, was fourth in Boys 10-11 and Jack Kemper, Winnetka, was eighth in Boys 12-13.

Two members of the Northwestern women’s team were in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which concluded at Augusta National on Saturday.  Elise Lee tied for 14^th, nine strokes behind champion Carla Bernat Escuder, a Kansas State senior from Spain.  The other NU competitor, Lauren Nguyen, didn’t survive the 36-hole cut.

As far as the 72-hole main event goes, only University of Illinois alums Thomas Detry and Brian Campbell will be among those teeing off on Thursday.  Both won PGA Tour events this season to earn their spots in the Masters.

 

 

 

Rory Spears, a fixture in Chicago sports radio with deep roots in the local golf scene, died this week  at his home in Arlington Heights. He was 65.

Rory had a love for radio and was one of the initial members for WSCR all-sports radio show.  After five seasons there he moved on to ESPN Radio and covered a wide variety of sports for other stations.  He was a regular reporter for all the Chicago professional sports teams but his special passion was golf.

I know, because Rory was not just a long-time friend.  He was an Arlington Heights neighbor and a frequent golf partner.  He was a big supporter of mine when I was inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2019 and he got me involved in the broadcast side. We created a golf podcast series that ran for three years and that led to my joining Rory and his colleagues as a co-host on the Golf on Golf Radio show the past four years.

While that in-season show has been broadcast on several local stations for over 30 years, Rory took it to new levels by becoming the director of content and creation for the Golfers on Golf website blog that provides local and national golf information year-around.

Rory attended Hersey High School and attended college at both Aurora and Wisconsin-Parkside.   His education in golf went further back than that.

During his school years he held jobs at Roy Roy, in Prospect Heights, and Chevy Chase, in Wheeling. He dated the start for his coverage of golf to 1986, and it went beyond covering tournaments.  He got around as a player, too, and badly wanted to play a few more courses to get his career total to 600.  He documented his playing at 589 courses across America.

In the last few years he returned to working on the club scene.  He was working at both Heritage Oaks, in Northbrook, and Medinah Country Club and also did a stint at The Grove, in Long Grove.

Golf had to take a back seat for Rory when he was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago, but he appeared on the mend when he made his annual appearance at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, FL., in January. He was again a winner of Outstanding Achiever honors in the International Network of Golf’s Media Awards, which are presented at the big show every year.

Rory and I are both ING members, and he also joined the Golf Travel Writers of America at this year’s show.  Not only that but  he also played in the reorganized group’s first outing, going 18 holes by himself before starting his drive back to Chicago.

The entire Chicago golf community will miss Rory.  So will I.

Services for Rory will be held on Sunday (APRIL 6) at Ahlgrim’s Funeral Home, 201 N. Northwestern Hwy. in Palatine. Visitation is from noon to 4 p.m. with a service beginning at 4 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Kim’s road back to the Masters has been a long one.

In 2018 Kim notched his only win on the PGA Tour.  It came at the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop, in 2018. The JDC is famous for its extraordinary number of first-time PGA Tour winners. Kim was one of 23 since 1970 – a tour record.

Kim’s win at TPC Deere Run was record-setting, too.  He strung rounds of 63, 64, 64 and 66 for a 72-hole total of 27-under-par 257 and won by eight shots. Kim’s scoring and victory margin were tournament records.

That spectacular week got Kim into his only Masters tournament in 2019, but his second appearance is just two weeks away.  He earned his place in this year’s first major championship on Sunday, and that came in dramatic fashion, too.

Kim needed to get into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and he entered the Texas Children’s Houston Open at No. 52.  A tie for 32^nd place  was good enough to boost Kim into the No. 50 position.

“Obviously I’m very happy,’’ he said before leaving Houston for a much-needed week off.  “It’s a tournament every kid has dreamed of playing.’’

Houston was Kim’s eighth straight week of tournaments, and he played in 11 events in the last 12 weeks.  It wasn’t just a grueling schedule that challenged Kim, either.  He also had to survive a small crack in his driver.   That club was damaged in last Thursday’s first round in Houston and he had to make due with it to survive the 36-hole cut.  Titleist, his equipment company, didn’t get Kim a replacement club until Saturday’s third round.

Kim’s story runs much deeper than  last week’s drama.

After his shocking win at the John Deere Classic eight years ago Kim’s game went sour – really sour.  In 2019 he missed 19 cuts in 20 tournaments, and his world ranking plummeted all the way to No. 502.  The next year he made only nine cuts in 30 tournaments and that led to his being relegated to the Korn Ferry Tour.  He regained his PGA Tour card for the 2022-23 season.

The 31-year old Kim, Korean-born but raised and educated in California, wasn’t even close to making the coveted top 50 two months ago.  His world ranking then was only No. 150.

Kim still arrived for the four-tournament Florida Swing in March in a hopeful mood. He saw slow improvement in his game even then.

“When I was on the Korn Ferry Tour about three-four years ago I felt like I was playing really well for a couple-month stretch there,’’ he said while getting ready for the PGA Tour’s first Floirda stop – the Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches..  “Even last year the game was there.  It just was a thing here or there that screwed me up during the (tournament) week.

Two weeks later, at Bay Hill, he admitted “the doubts don’t creep in as much, or I’m able to let them go by easier. I’m certainly more grateful than some of the other guys.  There were times when I couldn’t make a cut to save my life.’’

While his fall after the JDC win was sudden and puzzling, his recovery  has been long and rewarding.

“It’s like four years of work,’’ he said. “Just anything to give myself time to release (the club) as hard as I want.  The stuff we have done – trying to get a really big turn to my right side and messing around with the ball position. That has helped me a lot.’’

In 11 tournaments in 2025 Kim has missed just three cuts.  In the last eight  he missed only one – at The Players Championship.  Cuts are a big thing for any PGA Tour player, and Kim – despite all his struggles — has made 112 of 237 since making his debut on the circuit in 2016.  Since then he’s earned $9.9 million in official money.

One thing he hasn’t done is make a cut in one of golf’s majors.  He came up short in his only Masters, two U.S. Opens and one PGA Championship. Those frustrations could end in this year’s Masters, but Kim isn’t predicting anything after squeezing into the field.  Houston’s Memorial Park course is no Augusta National.

He likes Memorial Park, but says “The setup has never been right….It’s supposed to be a Masters tuneup, but the greens are way too soft for that,’’

 

 

 

The weather may not be ideal for Chicago area golfers yet, but – with the Masters just two weeks away – the local start can’t far off.

As for the Masters, which tees off April 10 at Georgia’s Augusta National, the season’s first major championship twill have at least a small Illinois presence.  Two University of Illinois alums — Thomas Detry and Brian Campbell — won PGA Tour events this year and that gave them spots in the Masters field.

Chicago’s best PGA Tour player over the last two decades, Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, is out for a while.  The 46-year veteran shook off a sub-par 2024 campaign by surviving the 36-hole in three of his four tournaments in January and February.

Then, he reported earlier this month, that he suffered a tear in his meniscus that will require surgery. Rehab will take a while, so Streelman’s tournament season will be a shortened one.

The other Chicago PGA Tour players, Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim and Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, need to win one of the two Texas events the next two weeks to get into the Masters field.  Both are in this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, which tees off on Thursday.

Hardy’s been struggling, but Ghim has at least been steady.  He has made six of eight cuts but his best finish is only a tie for 21^st.

AUGUSTA-BOUND:  While the player field is in limbo,  a Chicago presence is assured as soon as tournament week begin with the national finals of the Drive Chip & Putt competition and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur – a 54-hole competition that concludes with the final round on the Augusta National course before the pros take over.

Four Illinois youngsters qualified for the 80-player Drive Chip & Putt at last year’s qualifier at TPC Deere Run — Plainfield’s Chloe Lee (Girls 12-13), Lockport’s Brielle Downer (Girls 7-9), Clarendon Hills’ Hudson Hodge (Boys 10-11) and Winnetka’s Jack Kemper (Boys 12-13).

Elise Lee and Lauryn Nguyen, both members of the Northwestern women’s team, were selected to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

KEMPER LAKES IN SPOTLIGHT:  Once a frequent tournament site when it was a public facility, the now-private club in Kildeer is in for a big year.  It’ll be the site of the Chicago District Golf Association’s Mid Amateur Championship in May and the Illinois PGA’s top competition, the Illinois Open, in August.

“We’ve made a lot of changes over the last dozen years,’’ said 20-year general manager John Hosteland, “and we’re very excited to work with those organizations to showcase some top amateur and professional golfers.’’

The Illinois Open will have a title sponsor the first time. That championship was firs officiaily started in 1950 but there were a few events under that name as early as 2023. The new title sponsor is Troon Golf, which is also the managing partner of Kemper Lakes.

Immediately following the Aug. 4-6 Illinois Open is the return of the LIV Tour to Bolingbrook Golf Club Aug. 8-10.  The Saudi-back LIV circuit will be played in the Chicago area for the fourth straight year.  Last year Jon Rahm was its champion.

SERIES STUFF:  The Illinois PGA will unveil its newest offering on April 28.  That’s when the first event of the Illinois PGA Open Series will be played at White Eagle, in Naperville.

The series will provide more competitive opportunities, with six tournaments on the schedule.  After White Eagle comes Flossmoor on May 21, Hinsdale on June 9, Elgin Country Club on July 14, Aurora Country Club on July 28 and Bull Valley in Woodstock on Oct. 8.

 

 

 

 

The University of Illinois has been a men’s golf powerhouse under coach Mike Small, who is now in his 25^th season. His teams have won 13 of the last 15 Big Ten titles including eight straight from 2015-2023.

This season’s Illini have won only one tournament, and that was back in October, but Small still has plenty to celebrate.

One of his former players, Brian Campbell, became the second Illini alum to win on the PGA Tour this season when he took the Mexico Open on Sunday.   Thomas Detry, another Illinois alum, captured the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier in February.

Detry dominated at Phoenix, but Campbell was in a nail-biter with Andrich Potgieter, at 20 the youngest player on the PGA Tour and also the circuit’s longest hitter.  The former British Amateur champion is averaging 328.7 yards off the tee.

Campbell, not a particularly long hitter, hit a tee shot on the second playoff hole that was headed out of bounds.  Fortunately for him, the ball caromed off a tree and bounded back into play.  His second shot on the 540-yard par-5 was still 311 yards from the hole, but he played a safe layup for his second shot, then chipped to four feet to set up  the winning birdie putt.

“It’s so awesome to have two PGA Tour winners in three weeks,’’ said Small, “but when they’re former teammates it makes it extra cool.’’

“Grit.  That’s the only word I can think of,’’ said the 31-year old Campbell, who admitted he was “freaking out on the inside’’ after getting the win.

“Sometimes you’ve got to get those breaks.  I was just so happy I could stay in it to the end. To be in this position is so unreal,’’  It certainly was that.

Campbell had gone 186 professional tournaments without a win and most of those appearances were not on the PGA Tour.  He had only 27 starts on the PGA Tour before his victory.

Once the low amateur in the U.S. Open, Campbell had a season on the PGA Tour in 2016-17 but lost his playing privileges and had been competing on the Korn Ferry Tour before regaining his playing card for this season.

Campbell, who shot 65-65-64-70, a 20-under-par performances for the regulation 72 holes, earned $1,487,830  for the victory.  His career winnings prior to that had been $1,260,000. Now he’s eligible for The Players Championship, Masters and PGA Championship for the first time as well as the remaining $20 million Signature Events of 2025.

His win should be a good topic of discussion this week with the 40^th Chicago Golf Show beginning its three-day run at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont on Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chicago Golf Show, the unofficial start to the Chicago golf season, kicks off its 40^th anniversary season on Friday (FEB 28) at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

Hank Haney, long-time swing coach for Tiger Woods, will appear on the Daily Herald Main Stage on the last two days (MARCH 1-2) of the show.  This year’s show will have a notable new feature – free club fitting courtesy of Aurora-based Matt Pekarek.  He’s among the Top 100 Club Fitters selected by Golf Digest and is Nippon Shaft’s Aftermath Director for North and South America.

The show, presented by the Chicago District Golf Association, will also feature a 10,000 square foot Town Square that includes a long-putt competition  and a model train display. The Illinois PGA/First Tee-Greater Chicago Village will offer an array of activities for young golfers.

Show hours are noon to 6 p.m. on Friday (FEB 28), 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday (MARCH 1) and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday (MARCH 2).  Adult admission is $8 on Friday and  $13 on the weekend days.  Youth 12-15 will be admitted for $4 and youngsters 11 and under are free.

FAST STARTER: Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach, has four of his former players on the PGA Tour this season and one has been making lots of noise.  Thomas Detry won the Waste Management Phoenix Open, his first PGA Tour win.

Detry has been on the circuit since 2017 and this could be his breakthrough year.  He’s made the cut in all six of his starts and also had a top-10 finish with a tie for fifth in The Sentry – the first full-field event of the season.

Detry became the first player from Belgium to win on the PGA Tour with his victory at Phoenix. He also played for Belgium in two Olympics.  Another Illini alum from Belgium, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, spent most of  last season as a rookie on the PGA circuit after winning his first start on the Korn Ferry Tour.  He hasn’t played in an event this year, but remains a PGA Tour member.

Two other ex-Illini have struggled.  Brian Campbell made one cut in three starts and Northbrook’s Nick Hardy is 0-for-4 going into this week’s Mexico Open.

IN THE HUNT: Two other Chicago area players have been consistent in their early season starts.  Wheaton veteran Kevin Streelman made three of four cuts with his best finish a tie for 15^th in the Farmer’s Insurance Open.

Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim made four of five cuts with a best finish a tie for 21^st in the American Express Championship. Neither is competing in Mexico.

HERE AND THERE: The Grammy-winning Zac Brown band will be the Concert on the Course act to conclude the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event.  It runs July 3-6 at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis.  Another concert will be announced to follow the tourney’s third round on July 5. Tickets go on sale April 1.

Elizabeth Szokol, Illinois’ only LPGA Tour player (Winnetka), now lives in Florida and cashed in the circuit’s first two events this year.  Both were in the Sunshine State.  Szokol tied for 14^th in the season-opening Tournament of Champions and tied for 45^th in the Founders Cup.

Mark Hensby, a champion in both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open three decades ago, is the only Illinois-connected player competing on PGA Tour Champions. He’s played in all three events on the 50-and-over circuit with his best finish coming in the first one – a tie for 19^th in Hawaii.

The Chicago District Golf Show opens its fourth season on ESPN 1000 on Saturday (FEB 22).  The shows run from 9-11 a.m. with Mike Gilligan and Tyler Aki the co-hosts.