The 82nd Masters tournament tees off on Thursday, and how it unfolds could have far-reaching effects within the golf industry. At least that’s how Steve Mona, executive director of the World Golf Foundation, sees it. Mona will release his group’s most recent report on the U.S. Golf Economy at the National Press Club in Washington…
Daily Herald Columns
Next stop for Doug Ghim: The Masters
Every Masters golf tournament is special, but next week’s 82nd version will have even more so because Doug Ghim will be playing. Ghim, from Arlington Heights, is a senior at the University of Texas who received a Masters invitation because he was the runner-up in last August’s U.S. Amateur. He’s one of six amateurs among…
Sluman starts this PGA Champions’ season close to his new home
Jeff Sluman has been Chicago’s lone representative on PGA Tour Champions for the last 10 years but things are different going into the circuit’s first full-field event this week. “I’m a resident of Florida now,’’ said Sluman. “We live eight months here and summer up in Chicago. We love that city but I got tired…
Biancalana’s return to golf centers on Illinois Senior Open
This is somewhat of a tradeoff. The Chicago area golf community will regain one popular name from the past but will lose another once the snow melts. The returnee is Roy Biancalana. He’s decided to return to the Chicago area and make a run at one of the few state titles he didn’t win in…
Carol McCue will be remembered as the First Lady of Chicago Golf
A memorial service has been scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 29 at Donnellan Funeral Home in Skokie to honor the memory of Carol McCue, a long-time leader in the Chicago golf community. She died on Saturday, Dec. 16, at the age of 94. Long known as the First Lady of Chicago Golf, Miss…
Q-Schools provide a boost for Hopfinger, Troyanovich
The lengthy, very demanding qualifying sessions to determine next year’s players on the PGA Tour, Ladies PGA Tour and PGA Champions circuit came to an end over the weekend with two Chicago hopefuls — Brad Hopfinger and Samantha Troyanovich — putting themselves in position to further their golfing careers in 2018. Lake Forest’s Hopfinger, one…
A first for the Illinois PGA; Rhoades gets highest honor
For the first time in 62 years the Illinois PGA’s most prestigious award has gone to a woman. Carol Rhoades was named the IPGA’s Professional of the Year, an award presented annually since 1955 to the section member whose “total contributions to the game best exemplify the complete PGA Professional.’’ Rhoades works at Golf Channel…
Conway Farms will remain a popular tournament site after BMW leaves
Conway Farms’ three-year run as the site of Chicago’s PGA Tour event comes to an end this week, after the last putt drops at the BMW Championship on Sunday. The previous two local PGA Tour sites were longer-time hosts. Butler National, in Oak Brook, hosted the Western Open from 1974 to 1990. Cog Hill, in…
Streelman won’t be able to play in his hometown PGA Tour event
There’s only one bad thing about the upcoming BMW Championship — the climax to Chicago’s golf tournament season. Kevin Streelman won’t be there. The Wheaton product, last of the players with Chicago connections in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, got off to a great start in the Dell Technologies Championship in Boston last week…
Streelman is only Chicago player still alive in FedEx Cup Playoffs
The FedEx Cup has provided a much-needed climax to the PGA Tour season. Big money is on the line at all four of the FedEx playoff tournaments and the $10 million bonus that will go to the eventual champion is a payday that receives attention beyond the golfing world. Still, the FedEx Cup concept has…