The collegiate golf season reaches its climax in the next three weeks, and it could go down as one for ages as far as Illinois schools are concerned.

Both the men’s and women’s teams at Northwestern qualified for the NCAA tournament and the Illinois men’s squad looms as one of the favorites for the national title again. Coach Mike Small’s Illini are ranked No. 2 in the national polls and Emily Fletcher’s NU women are No. 8 in the women’s poll.

Fletcher’s team is already qualified for the NCAA finals after last week’s rousing 18-stroke victory at a regional elimination at Shoal Creek in Alabama. Small’s Illini are the top seed in the men’s regional that starts on Monday at Blackwolf Run’s Meadows Valley Course in Kohler, Wis.

In addition to the 13 teams competing, the 10 individual invitees there include Tee-K Kelly, the Ohio State senior and Medinah member who won two of the last three Illinois State Amateur titles, and Miami of Ohio sophomore Patrick Flavin, who is from Highland Park.

Northwestern’s men’s team is the No. 9 seed in a regional at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. All the regionals are contested over 54 holes and the top five teams and low individual at each regional qualifies for the national finals at Eugene Country Club in Oregon. The women compete at Eugene from May 20-25 and the men from May 27-June 1.

Illinois is a No. 1 regional seed for the second straight year and an NCAA qualifier for the ninth straight year on the men’s side. The Illini, ranked behind only Texas nationally, will be seeking their fourth straight regional title at Blackwolf Run.

The NU women earned at least a share of the Big Ten title in three of the last four years but the regional title was the first ever for the Wildcats, be it the men’s or women’s teams. Freshman Janet Mao shared individual honors at Shoal Creek, and that was an encouraging sign that Fletcher’s team is peaking at the perfect time. The regional marked only the third tournament where Mao’s score counted towards the team total.

Knoll tops first U.S. Open elimination

The U.S. Golf Assn. reported that 9,877 players entered the U.S. Open and the elimination process has begun for next month’s finals at Oakmont, in Pennsylvania, Ray Knoll, the 2014 Illinois Amateur champion from Naperville, carded a 4-under-par 68 to win the first Illinois local qualifier on Monday at Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

Knoll, who plays collegiately at iowa, was one stroke better than Tim Streng who teaches at Northwestern’s Wildcat Academy. NU sophomore Dylan Wu was a stroke further back but all three – along with Patrick Duffy and Kyle Kochevar – advanced to sectional play.

Another regional was held at illini Country Club in Springfield, with Bloomington’s Kyle English and former Illinois State basketball player Brandon Holtz sharing low score honors with 2-under-par 69s. Mini-tour player Kurt Slattery of Taylor Ridge, also made it to sectional play. Once again Chicago won’t have a sectional elimination. The closest will be in Ohio, but qualifiers from the locals can opt for sectional berths in any area.

Here and there

Despite a lengthy weather-related suspension of play on Tuesday the 65th llinois PGA Match Play Championship is scheduled to be completed as scheduled on Thursday at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer.

The Chicago District Golf Association’s second Mid-Amateur Championship has a Monday-Wednesday run at Lake Shore, in Glencoe.

The women’s teams from Illinois Wesleyan and Aurora are in the NCAA Division III finals this week. The tourney, which started on Tuesday, concludes on Friday at Bay Oaks in Houston.

The Illinois PGA will hold its next stroke play events on Monday at Westmoreland, in Wilmette.

This is getting to be old hat. The University of Illinois men and Northwestern women are heading back to next month’s NCAA tournaments as Big Ten champions.

Coach Mike Small’s Illini and Emily Fletcher’s Wildcats defended their titles last weekend on Indiana courses. Illinois ruled for the seventh time in eight seasons and NU, which tied Ohio State for its title, were champions for the third time in four years.

The Illini men won dramatically. They trailed Iowa by eight strokes entering the final round, then stormed back to post a Big Ten record 838 score – four better than the previous mark set by Ohio State in 2004. Thomas Detry, who shot a final-round 64 to tie the Big Ten record, and Charlie Danielson finished one-two in the individual standings. Danielson won the Les Bolstad Award for lowest stroke average (70.7) during the season.

“This was huge for our seniors (Detry and Danielson),’’ said Small. “These have been the best four years for Illinois golf.’’

Northwestern’s Hannah Kim won the Mary Fossum Award for posting the low stroke average for Big Ten women during the season.

The NCAA regionals run May 5-7. NU is the No. 2 seed at Shoal Creek in Alabama. The Illini haven’t received their regional assignment yet.

CDGA season tees off

The Chicago District Golf Assn. tournament season tees off Wednesday (TODAY, APRIL 27) with the first of two qualifiers for the second CDGA Mid-Amateur – one of 11 championships the organization will conduct this season. The second qualifier is Monday at Village Greens of Woodridge and the final is May 16-18 at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe.

Monday is also the entry deadline for the first event of the CDGA’s new Net Series. The Series consists of four team and two individual handicap competitions. First of the better ball events is May 23 at Crystal Lake Country Club.
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Montgomerie prepares for three-peat

Colin Montgomerie made an early appearance at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich., this week to begin his quest for a third straight win in the Senior PGA Championship. That tourney — the only major championship on any of the three major tours to be played near the Chicago area this year — is May 26-29 on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course.

Harbor Shores hosted the tourney in both 2012 and 2014, when the Scottish-born Montgomerie won his first major title on any tour. He also won last year at French Lick in Indiana. The last player to three-peat in the Senior PGA was Hale Irwin, who won from 1996-98.

This year’s Senior PGA will have at least one notable new player in the field. John Daly will be among Montgomerie’s rivals.

Glen Club welcomes AJGA

The Glen Club, in Glenview, will host the American Junior Golf Association Preview from Friday through Sunday. It’ll feature 78 boys and girls in the 12-19 age group who want to improve their eligibility status for the AJGA’s summer tournaments.

Friday will be a practice day and the 36-hole tournament proper will consist of 18-hole rounds Saturday and Sunday. Tee times will run from 7-9 a.m. off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees.

Instruction Day spotlights Cog Hill

The PGA of America will culminate its 100-day Centennial celebration with a series of instruction sessions to be televised on The Golf Channel next Wednesday (MAY 4). One will be broadcast from Cog Hill, in Lemont, from 3-4 p.m. with Stan Utley, Todd Sones and Kevin Weeks the instructors.

Other clubs included in the day-long series of one-hour clinics are Baltusrol, in New Jersey; Ibis, in Florida; Keeton Park and Fossil Trace, in Colorado; and TPC Harding Park, in California.

Illinois lands eight Evans Scholars

The Western Golf Association has awarded Evans Scholarships to 27 caddies who reside in Illinois and eight of them have chosen to attend the University of Illinois starting in the fall. Among them are Daniel Arias, Highland Park; Madeline Atwood, Mount Prospect; Kevin Baczek, Roselle; Clara Baumgarten, Wheaton; Daniel Benson, Countryside; Angela Bogusz, DesPlaines, Nicholas Castelli, Highland Park; and Antonino Conte, Addison.

Others selected from the Herald area include Andrew Christopher, of Glenview, who will attend the University of Colorado; Dante Bruno of Elmwood Park (Purdue); Katlin Coy of Glenview (Marquette); Claire DeRosa of Park Ridge (Wisconsin) and Alison Dobbins of Crystal Lake (Indiana).

How much better can things get at Mistwood?

This was a big week at the Romeoville course, if for no other reason than owner Jim McWethy is hosting a week of special events to celebrate the grand opening of his spectacular new clubhouse.

Opening of the 27,000 square foot clubhouse, which includes McWethy Tavern and the Grand Hall dining facility, completed nine years of planning and construction at Mistwood. The course was renovated first, a two-year project, and then a state-of-the-art Performance Center was constructed.

As director of golf Andy Mickelson was on hand for the start of the grand opening festivities on Monday but he had to duck out early. Mickelson and assistant professional Chris Ioriatti had an early afternoon tee time at St. Charles Country Club in the Illinois PGA’s Spring Pro-Assistants Championship.

They won last fall’s version of the competition and they were up to the task again, shooting a 9-under-par 63 to top the 64-team field. More playing success by Mistwood’s staff of professionals is likely, as another teach pro – Brian Brodell – is the reigning IPGA Player of the Year and John Platt was among the section’s top senior players last year.

Though the golf season is still young, big things are already happening at some of the public facilities – and not just at Mistwood. Two Wheaton facilities – Cantigny and Arrowhead – have stepped up their offerings for this season as well.

At Cantigny, the popular Vision 54 program introduced last year has been expanded. Instructor Gay Crain conducted a training course last year. Now the program, which begins on Thursday, includes an overview course followed by three optional follow-up courses that go more in-depth on specific skills.

Vision 54 is based on teachings at Annika Sorenstam’s academy in Florida and the best-selling book “Play Your Best Golf Now’’ by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson. The courses represent “a process, a philosophy, a new outlook and a holistic approach to golf.’’

Cost for the four one-hour sessions is $160 and will be limited to five golfers, ages 14 and up. The program will be repeated in May, June and August.

Arrowhead, celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, has added a new, high-tech addition to its clubhouse. Pelican Golf Fitting Center held its grand opening last week.

In moving into the Wheaton Park District facility Pelican becomes the first subsidiary of GolfDirectNow — a firm headquartered in a warehouse two miles away in Warrenville. GolfDirectNow has sold golf equipment via the Internet the last four years.

Kent Sirois, who had been director of golf at both Naperville Country Club and White Eagle in Naperville prior to joining the golf staff at Dick’s Sporting Goods for a 15-year run, and local swing instructor Mike Mandakas are in charge of the Pelican facility.
Pelican offers club-fitting, club repair and instruction with the help of such new state-of-the-art equipment as BodiTrak, TrackMan and SAM Puttlab.

“It’s very technical and will help many, many golfers – regardless of their ability,’’ said Sirois.

At least a dozen vendors have provided equipment to supplement the club-fitting procedure.

“We’re not biased to any vendor,’’ said Sirois. “It’s all in what fits any individual. We can fit almost anybody.’’

Have some seconds

Last weekend was one for near-misses as far as Chicago area tour players were concerned. Northwestern alum Luke Donald finished tied for second (behind champion Branden Grace) at the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Classic and Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti was in a six-way tie for second in the PGA Tour’s Latinoamerica circuit in Argentina.

Donald, a former world No. 1, cracked the top 10 on the PGA circuit for the first time since Travelers Championship eight months ago. It was his fourth runner-up finish in the Heritage and he also has two third-places finishes there.

“This was a great step in the right direction,’’ said Donald, who earlier said he’d considered quitting the tour during a frustrating 2015 season. “I’m really positive about my game going forward.’’

Here and There

Illinois senior Charlie Danielson has been named to the U.S. team for the Palmer Cup matches against Europe’s top college players. Danielson is the fourth Illini player selected to the Palmer Club, played last year at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Others were Thomas Detry, Thomas Pieters and Scott Langley. This year’s matches are June 24-26 at Formby Golf Club in England.

Cog Hill will hold a Tee It Forward Scramble for two-player teams from noon-2 p.m. on Saturday on its No. 1 course. Cog has also announced that players can certify to use GolfBoards. The new form of on-course transportation will be available at the Lemont facility this season.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. opens its tournament season next Wednesday, April 27, with a qualifier for the CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship at Wilmette Golf Club.

The Pine Hollow Open will celebrate its 40th anniversary on April 30 at Downers Grove Golf Club.

Arlington Lakes plans a July 1 opening for its 18-hole course that has been undergoing a renovation.

The UL International Crown, the biggest event on the Chicago golf calendar this season, lucked out when it reached its first qualifying deadline last week in the midst of Masters hoopla world-wide.

In announcing the eight countries to qualify for the July 19-24 global team event at the Merit Club it was significant that Australia was among them. Australia stood eighth among the team contending for places in the tournament and that meant that Karrie Webb would be returning to the Merit Club where she won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2000 – the only big tournament played at the Libertyville private facility.

Webb was also the champion of the Kellogg Keebler Classic at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora in 2004 – the last LPGA tournament played in the Chicago area. She won both those events by whopping five-stroke margins and has since been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Webb has 57 world-wide tournament wins with 41 of them coming on the LPGA Tour – more than any other active player.

The Crown needs players of that stature in the Crown since its format doesn’t guarantee all the top players will participate. Lydia Ko, the current world’s No. 1 player, for instance, won’t be playing at the Merit Club because her native New Zealand didn’t qualify. Other notables who will miss the Crown for the same reason include seventh-ranked Brooke Henderson (Canada) and veteran star Suzann Pettersen (Norway).

Webb, 41, hasn’t been back to the Merit Club since the day she held off Meg Mallon and Cristy Kerr to win the first of her seven major titles.

“I’m real excited about coming back,’’ she said during a brief Chicago visit last week. “I want to see if my memories are as vivid as I think they are. Most of the other LPGA players were kids at the time I won.’’

She repeated as champion the following year at Pine Needles in North Carolina but isn’t as dominating a player now, owning a No. 36 world ranking and standing 21st on the LPGA season money list

The Crown made its debut in 2014 at Cave’s Valley in Maryland. The second playing will look much different that the first in that the top two teams two years ago – Spain and Sweden – didn’t qualify to play at the Merit Club.

“I feel like I’m the pseudo-defending champion since Spain isn’t coming back,’’ said Webb. “Fortunately (Australia) could sneak in but we’ll be underdogs that week.’’

Each of the eight team qualifiers will have four players, and they’ll be determined off the world rankings on June 13 following the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The current top four U.S. players are Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Kerr and Brittany Lincicome. The first three played for the U.S. at Cave’s Valley.

Lincicome, currently ranked 18th, will have to hold off Jessica Korda (ranked 22nd), Gerina Piller (23rd) and Alison Lee (24th) to secure her spot on the team. Paula Creamer, now ranked 41st, was the fourth player for the U.S. at Cave’s Valley.

The last time the LPGA visited Chicago was in 2009 for the Solheim Cup matches at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. The Crown kicks off a three-year run of big women’s events in the Chicago area. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be played at Olympia Fields in 2017 and Kemper Lakes in 2018 and the first U.S. Senior Women’s Open will also come to Chicago Golf Club in 2018.

Here and there

The Golfers on Golf radio show, with its “favorite foursome’’ of Rory Spears, Ed Stevenson, Mike Munro and Bill Berger, kicks off its 22-week season at 9 a.m. Sunday on WSBC (1240-AM) and WCFJ (1470-AM).

Libertyville’s Michael Schachner is the first sponsor’s exemption for the new Rust-Oleum Championship, coming to Ivanhoe Club on June 6-12. A veteran of the mini-tours and perennial contender in the Illinois Open, Schachner developed his game at Ivanhoe.

Arrowhead, in Wheaton, will hold the grand opening of its Pelican Performance Center on Thursday and the first demo day of the season will be conducted there from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday.

The Illinois PGA opened its tournament season on Monday with a three-man scramble at Chicago’s Harborside International with the team of David Hanson of LaGrange Country Club, Alex Mendez of Butterfield and Marty DeAngelo of Medinah winning with a 13-under-par 59.

Mistwood, in Romeoville, will hold the grand opening of its new clubhouse on Monday, kicking off a week-long celebration of special events there.

This week marks the 80th playing of the Masters tournament and the 30th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus’ last championship. His win in 1986 was also the first Masters that I covered from Augusta National, and I doubt there’ll ever be another one like it.

Nicklaus, who has accurately called the Masters “the championship of nothing,’’ was 46 when he won his record sixth title and became the tourney’s oldest-ever champion. The Masters isn’t like the other three major championships – the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. It “just’’ decides the winner of that year’s event at Georgia’s Augusta National.

Still, the Masters is a special tournament and the electricity during Nicklaus’ final round charge 30 years ago has rarely been matched in any sport. In my nearly 50-year career it tops everything else, which includes the 1994 World Cup finals, Northwestern’s run to the 1996 Rose Bowl and the Blackhawks’ recent Stanley Cup successes.

While every Masters seems to create drama, it’s tough to image this one being a rival for Nicklaus’ last win. The story lines just aren’t there.

There’s no Tiger Woods comeback possibility. As expected, he withdrew last week citing health issues.

Jordan Spieth could become the first repeat champion since Woods won in 2001 and 2002. Rory McIlroy could complete a career Grand Slam, having already won the U.S. and British Opens and PGA Championship, and other young stars could make a career breakthrough.

Jason Day regained the world’s No. 1 ranking with his back-to-back victories at the Bay Hill Invitational and World Golf Championship-Dell Match Play event in his last two starts. With Day taking last week off Dustin Johnson (third) and Ricky Fowler (tie for 10th) had good finishes in the Shell Houston Open on Sunday so their games could be peaking at the perfect time. Neither has won one of golf’s major titles yet, but this could be their week.

The Masters holds its traditional Par-3 contest on Wednesday as a prelude to the start of its 72-hole run on Thursday. Already, though, some champions have been crowned at Augusta National and one was a Chicago area golfer.

The Drive, Chip & Putt national finals, well received as a new Sunday warmup attraction last year, included Christian Kim of Vernon Hills as one of its featured players this year. He won the boys 10-11 competition.

A Luke Donald update

Luke Donald, the former Northwestern star and world No. 1 golfer, didn’t qualify for the Masters for the first time since 2004 but he’ll impact the week in Chicago.

Donald has been a long supporter of the First Tee of Chicago, which holds its Masters Viewing Party and Golf Fashion Show at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Old Crow Smokehouse, 149 W. Kinzie in Chicago’s River North. Donald’s traditional wine-tasting event is part of the festivities.

He’s also involved in a new project along with his long-time swing instructor Pat Goss. They’re among the leaders of a group that is reviving the Peter Jans course in Evanston. The new version will be called Canal Shores. It’ll have a 12-hole course, youth development area and six-hole short course with a massive putting course.

Goss was recently elected president of the First Tee of Chicago, succeeding Bruce Patterson. Patterson, the director of golf at Butler National in Oak Brook, served as president for seven years.

Eight countries set for International Crown

The LPGA named the eight countries that qualified for the July 21-24 UL International Crown at Merit Club in Libertyville this week and they didn’t include Spain, which won the inaugural staging of the event two years ago.

Spain stood 11th in the point standings at Sunday’s deadline and only the top eight advance to the Merit Club. Those countries are the Republic of Korea, U.S., Japan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, England, China and Australia. The four players who will compete for each those teams at the Merit Club will be determined after the June’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Next week’s Masters tournament may be the first highlight event of the year for most golfers, but not for Kevin Streelman.

The only Chicago area player to qualify for the Masters has had an eventful year already. Most of it has been good – but not all. Streelman returns to the PGA Tour for this week’s Shell Houston Open still celebrating the birth of his son, Rhett Davis, on March 22.

Until Rhett’s arrival it was doubtful that Streelman would even play in the Masters. His wife Courtney’s due date was on the Saturday of Masters week and the couple dealt with a difficult delivery when their first child, daughter Sophia, was born three years ago. Sophia arrived six weeks early via C-section, and Streelman had vowed he wouldn’t play in the Masters until Courtney gave birth again.

“My family is more important than any silly thing we do on grass,’’ Streelman had declared as Rhett’s delivery time closed in. “I’ll always be there for my wife.’’

With all things well on the home front Streelman confirmed on Monday that he’d play at Houston – his first tournament since back-to-back missed cuts at the Valspar Championship and Bay Hill Invitational in Florida earlier this month. His last full tournament was a tie for 17th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Feb. 21.

“Golf wasn’t high on my priority list after that,’’ admitted Streelman. “It’s been a big month, but I’m on top of the world now.’’

Streelman left for Houston on Tuesday hoping to regain the form he had a month ago on the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing. He did little more than putt on a practice green in his basement since then.

The strong finish at Pebble Beach concluded a great month on the West Coast, as Streelman tied for 11th in the Career Builder Challenge in LaQuinta, Calif., and finished third in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Those strong finishes account for the bulk of his $814,710 in season winnings.

Other major developments in Streelman’s life came both before and after the California tournaments. In February he was named co-chairman of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council. That’s a three-year commitment as leader of a 16-player group that plays a major role in determining PGA policy.

Immediately after the Pebble Beach tournament Streelman had to pull off the circuit for three weeks to deal with a health concern of his own. Doctors advised the removal of a nickel-size mole from his stomach and that required two surgeries and more healing time.

Streelman said the surgery “came out fine,’’ but he withdrew from the Northern Trust Open at Los Angeles-based Riviera after the surgical procedure required 10 stitches. Then came the sub-par showings in Florida while Courtney’s delivery status was in limbo.

Now Streelman can focus on the Masters – the first of the year’s four major championships. He’s in the field thanks to his tie for 12th in last year’s Masters, and also won the tourney’s popular Par-3 contest in 2015.

Though Streelman, 37, has two PGA Tour wins – Tampa Bay in 2013 and Hartford in 2014, plus the Kodak Challenge special event of 2009 – he hasn’t seriously contended for a major title. His caddie, A.J. Montecinos, has some experience with that, however. He carried for champion Y.E. Yang in the 2009 PGA Championship.

Streelman and Montecinos were born in the same hospital in Winfield (though in different years), and Streelman grew up in Wheaton before playing collegiately at Duke. He turned pro in 2001 and has retained his Chicago connections while establishing residence in Arizona.

He’s returned for special events at Cantigny, the public course where he first developed his game, and has long played with clubs made by Chicago manufacturer Wilson Sporting Goods. Streelman also works with Chicago swing instructor Jake Thurm.

The tie for 12th at last year’s Masters matched Streelman’s best showing in a major championship (he also tied for 12th in the 2013 PGA Championship) and his world ranking has dropped a bit from last year, to No. 116.

That’s not as high as Luke Donald, the former Northwestern star and world No. 1 in 2012. Donald will miss the Masters for the first time since 2004. He needed to be in the top 50 to get in the field off the world rankings, and he’s now No. 92. Donald has only one top-25 finish in nine events this season but came close to another on Sunday when he tied for 26th at the Puerto Rican Open.

Streelman won’t be the only Chicago area golfer at Augusta National, though. The Illinois Junior Golf Assn. will be well represented in Sunday’s Drive, Chip & Putt national finals. Schaumburg’s Emily Duan and Vernon Hills’ Christian Kim made it in the 10-11 divisions and Crystal Lake’s Eric Klutke and South Barrington’s Stephanie Su in the 12-13 age group.

Weather notwithstanding, you know the local golf season can’t be far away when the Chicago Golf Show is on the horizon.

The show started on a small scale 33 years ago, an experimental venture by the Illinois PGA at Harper College in Palatine. It has grown into the largest consumer golf show in the country. About 300 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the Friday-Sunday event at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont

While the smaller Tinley Park Golf Expo celebrated its fifth anniversary two weeks ago, the Chicago Golf Show remains the big one for local players anxious to start the season. This year’s show will feature its first-ever exhibition by popular local trick shot specialist Peter Longo, dubbed the “King of Clubs.’’

Three members of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Bears – Emery Moorehead, Mike Richardson and Jim Morrissey – will celebrate the 30th anniversary of their championship season by taking lessons from IPGA professionals Kevin Weeks, Brad Syslo and Kurt Kollmeyer. Moorehead will get his public lesson on Friday, Richardson on Saturday and Morrissey on Sunday.

Exhibitors include local courses and organizations, equipment and fashion manufacturers and travel destinations. Show hours are noon-7 p.m. on Friday (FEB 26), 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday (FEB 27) and (9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday (FEB 28).

Adult tickets are $5 on Friday and $10 on Saturday and Sunday. Youngsters under 12 will be admitted free and those 12-15 will get in for $4. Show attendees will also get coupons for free rounds from GolfVisions, which operates 16 area courses.

Though the courses have been basically closed since last fall, the Chicago golf community has not been idle during the winter, and tournament play isn’t far off. Carrie Williams, starting her first full season as executive director of the Illinois PGA, used Chicago Golf Show Week to make her first major announcement – the return of the Illinois Open to Royal Fox in St. Charles.

Royal Fox will host the tourney for the eighth time; only The Glen Club, in Glenview, has hosted the premier event for Illinois golfers more times. The Illinois Open has been played at The Glen nine times. Royal Fox will co-host with St. Charles neighbor Royal Hawk from July 25-27.

The Illinois Open will have seven state-wide qualifying rounds in June to determine 258 finalists. It’ll mark the second year for an expanded field and two-course format for the 54-hole finals. All qualifiers will play both courses in the first two rounds, and those who survive the cut will battle over Royal Fox in the final round.

The Illinois PGA will begin its tournament season on April 11. Its full schedule will be announced this week and registration will open on the section’s website on March 1. and The Chicago District Golf Assn. campaign will tee off on April 27.

While the only Western Golf Assn. tournament for this season in the Chicago area will be the Western Amateur, to be played at Knollwood Club in Lake Forest from Aug. 1-6, there are two new professional tour events on the calendar — the Web.com’s Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe from June 9-12 and the Ladies PGA UL International Crown, at Libertyville’s Merit Club from July 19-24.

The CDGA has created a major new addition to its schedule – an Individual Net Series for players with established handicaps. It’ll include four Better Ball of Pairs events and two Individual Net competitions, all to be played between May 23 and Sept. 13.

New IPGA head professionals have been named at several clubs. They include Daniel Behr, at Ravinia Green in Riverwoods; Dan Kochevar, at Carriage Greens in Darien; Nathan Perry at Aurora Country Club; Luan Ramadani, at Joliet Country Club; Chad Robbins at Arrowhead, in Wheaton; Andrew Stevens, at Calumet Country Club, in Homewood; and Shane Stuart, at Silver Ridge, in Oregon, IL.

Cog Hill, the premier public facility, has announced the creation of a new tournament that is planned as an annual attraction. The Cog Hill Amateur will be played May 21-22 on the Nos. 2 and 4 courses at the 72-hole Lemont facility. Entries will be limited to the first 100 applicants and the top 72 after 36 holes will qualify for the championship flight.

Both Cog Hill and Cantigny, in Wheaton, have announced starting dates for major teaching programs. Cantigny will kick off a new six-week course on fitness training for golfers on March 3 and the Golf Academy schools at Cog will begin on March 19.

WINTER PARK, FLORIDA – A big reason for scheduling a round at Winter Pines Golf Club is that it is – at least arguably – the busiest course in Florida. Given the reported 1,500-plus courses in the Sunshine State – and particularly the array of good ones in the Orlando area – that’s saying something.

Determining the busiest course anywhere is difficult, since the number of rounds played is self reported. It’s hard to imagine any U.S. course, for instance, getting more rounds than Rancho Park – the city-owned Los Angeles hotbed that is blessed with consistently better weather year-around than any course in Florida.

Winter Pines is right up there in popularity, though. In 1992 it had a reported a high of 90,000 rounds. That’s about 300 players a day. That number dropped off to about 75,000 rounds in 2002 but general manager Steve Singh says the course still averages about 65,000 per year despite the economic struggles that have affected the golf industry nation-wide.

I’ve played Rancho Park, once the site of the PGA Tour’s Los Angeles Open and the U.S. Golf Association’s U.S. Senior Open among other big events. It’s still a championship-style course and still busy. Winter Pines is much different.

The course is short, but not a par-3 or executive-length layout. It plays at 5,401 yards from the tips and is a par-67. When building began in 1964 the architect, C.A. McCalister, plotted a par-62 course for the five original owners of a course then temporarily called Golfside Country Club.

The course opened in 1968 and was expanded in 1977. Five holes were lengthened by Bud Timbrook, a golf professional who was part of the original ownership group, and Gardner Dickinson, the veteran PGA Tour player.

Ed McMillin, whose family owns a pie factory in Erie, Pa., bought the course in 1980. About to turn 90, McMillin had the right idea from the start, offering players a good product at a fair price. That policy continued when McMillin’s son Jon served as the club’s general manager. Jon is now the club president. Singh started working at Winter Pines 13 years ago when he washed carts as an 18-year old and worked his way up to the GM position.

“Winter Pines is my family, and I’m very lucky to be part of the company,’’ Singh says. He’s not alone in feeling that way. Joe Ondo, the superintendent, arrived in 1979 and hasn’t left. He plans to retire in August after 37 years on the job.

The Winter Pines leadership has the right idea. It draws big numbers of players year-around — not just during the heart of the tourist season –for a variety of reasons.

You can’t beat the price (currently a high of $25 on the weekends, cart included), but the popularity of Winter Pines is just based on cost. The course conditioning is good throughout. The practice area is more than ample. For those who prefer walking, the course is great for that. There are programs offered for juniors and an event calendar for all types of older players as well. The clubhouse had a cheerful atmosphere and the staff was friendly when we visited.

Located across the street from the Orlando city limits, Winter Pines felt like just what it is – a nice neighborhood golf course. Winter Park Pines is the subdivision in which the course is located, and it’s only about 15 minutes from the downtown area.

As for the course, its most striking architectural feature is the stream that meanders through most all the holes. It serves as a hazard in spots and a visual enhancement in others. Players, though, will probably find the four consecutive par-3 holes on the back nine the most memorable aspect. The layouts has two par-5s, the longer of which is 480 yards. The seven par-3s range from 85 yards (front tee at No. 8) to 224 (back tee at No. 12).

There are no par-5s on the back side, and that may be a big plus in attracting new players. Shorter holes do facilitate lower scores and lower scores are encouraging for any player. Winter Pines won’t beat you up, that’s for sure, and showing a greatly improve score on the back nine is incentive to come back for more.

OCALA, Florida – The ingenuity of golf course architects never ceases to amaze me, but Tom Lehman – a player first and designer a distant second – has outdone all his architectural counterparts for the time being.

Lehman — a two-time major championship winner, former Ryder Cup captain and a regular on the Champions Tour – has unveiled a radical new design. Working with Tripp Davis, an architect with roots in Oklahoma, Lehman created a full-fledged 18-hole course on just 50 acres.

And, actually, the course is much more than that. It can be played as a six-hole par-3 layout, a six-hole executive course (one par-3, four par-4s and one par-5), an 18-hole par-54 short course or a full 18-hole par-72 layout that measures over 6,600 yards.

This mind-blowing creation is at the Trilogy Golf Club at Ocala Preserve in Florida, just three miles down the road from Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club – home of the Coates Championship on the LPGA Tour.

According to Brian Woodruff, who left a club job at Vistancia in Arizona to become The Trilogy’s head professional a month before the course’s February 2 grand opening, the highly innovative design was Lehman’s idea and Davis helped him bring it to fruition.

Lehman lists Verrado and Encanterra in Arizona as his two main golf architectural efforts and he also is planning an 18-holer at the Prairie Club in Nebraska. The Trilogy, though, is better proof that his creative juices are flowing big-time.

Trilogy is actually four courses. Two are 18-holers. The short Skills is a par-54 with holes ranging from 63 to just over 200 yards and the Players will stretch over 6,600. It’s a par-72 and includes two tee complexes and two hole locations per hole.

Also available are two six-hole loops – the Gallery which is a par-3 layout and the Players, which is a par-24 with one par-3, four par-4s and one par-5. Players with limited time will be accommodated on those holes.

Mixed into all that is the possibility of a Horse Course, one in which players can have a match much like the classic version of a basketball game of the same name. The Horse Course isn’t completely new. The Prairie Club in Valentine, Neb., has a 10-hole version designed by Gil Hanse, architect of the Olympic Games venue in Brazil, and Geoff Shackelford. I’ve played it and found it lots of fun.

Getting players around The Trilogy sounds complicated (and it is, believe me), but Woodruff – sounding only somewhat confident – said “I don’t believe players will get confused.’’

Well, we’ll see. The course won’t be fully open until Feb. 12, when public players get their first crack at it. Then it’ll be a case of deciding what players can play which of the four courses and at what times. One thing that will help is the use of different colored flags. They’ll be blue on the Skills Course and red on the Players Course.

For starters the courses will be open to members only Sunday to Thursday and the public can play Fridays and Saturdays. Members will pay $7 for use of the course for a whole day. The public rate will be $35 in the current tourist season and $20 out of season.

The Trilogy will be a walking-only course with push carts and a Golf Skate Caddy available for those who don’t want to carry their own bag.

One other unique thing of note: there’ll be only one tee marker per hole. A player can tee off within a yard in front, behind or to either side of the marker. Lehman wanted to create different lies, even from the tees.

There’s a bit of history to this new concept. The land on which The Trilogy was built was once a golf course – an 18-holer called Ashley Farms. Its owners went bankrupt and the land sat idle for six years. Lehman and Davis built their course in nine months and it’ll eventually have a boathouse and clubhouse with all the amenities. The surrounding housing community is targeted for 1,700 homes, about 50 of which are in various stages of construction.

I thought I’d seen everything when I walked over The Loop, a Tom Doak design in Roscommon, Mich., when it was in the early stages of construction. Planned as a second course to complement play at the adjoining Forest Dunes, The Loop layout enables players to go 18 holes in one direction on one day and then play 18 in the other direction the next. And I thought that was radical.

As is the case with The Trilogy, I’ll have to see The Loop in operation before I can judge it. The Loop is expected to open this summer. Woodruff promised me a chance to play The Trilogy once its deemed ready for play. You can bet I’ll take him up on it.

America’s first 18-hole course is back on the U.S. Golf Assn. tournament schedule — and as the site of its newest national championship to boot.

Chicago Golf Club, in Wheaton, was named Saturday as the first site of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. It’ll be played July 12-15, 2018.

The USGA has been pressured to host an event for women in the 50-plus age group for several years. It has long held championships for men in all age groups and also conducts youth and women’s national championships, highlighted by the U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur, for players of both sexes, but it didn’t have an event for all the competitive older women. Those who spurred the growth of the Ladies PGA Tour were ignored.

Last year the organization announced such an event would be added to its schedule but it wasn’t until Sunday that the actual event became a reality – and the first playing is still over two years off.

“The USGA is proud to realize its vision of hosting a national championship for players of all age demographics, and we are thrilled that that first two editions of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be contested at two of the most respected courses in the U.S.,’’ said USGA president Tom O’Toole.

Pine Needles, in Pinehurst, N.C., will host the second U.S. Senior Women’s Open in 2019. Both will be walking-only events over 72 holes and have 120-player fields, to be decided in a series of nation-wide sectional qualifying events for players with Handicap Indexes not exceeding 7.4. As is the format in other USGA competitions, the starting field in the finals will be cut to the low 60 and ties after 36 holes.

Sectional qualifying sites, as well as prize money for the finals, will be announced at a later date.

The Ladies PGA Tour has existed in 1950 for professional players, and that circuit has a Legends Tour for players who have reached their 45th birthday. The great players of the last few decades – like Nancy Lopez, Joanne Carner, Laura Davies, Carol Mann and Jan Stephenson – may find it challenging to get their games tournament-ready for Chicago Golf Club but they played a big role in finally getting the event on the USGA calendar.

While the USGA was slow to act on the senior women’s side, one of the other top LPGA players – Jane Blalock – organized The Legends Tour, which has provided competitive opportunities for the older, former stars of the LPGA circuit. They’re the counterparts to the PGA’s Champions Tour, which has long flourished for male players whose competitive skills have diminished with age.

“We hope this championship will inspire generations of female golfers to continue competing at the highest level long into their careers,’’ said O’Toole.

The selection of Chicago Golf Club was most appropriate, as it will make the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open something special historically. The course in Wheaton was designed by Charles Blair Macdonald, the first U.S. Amateur champion, and was renovated by Seth Raynor in 1923. Otherwise, the layout has been relatively untouched since then.

“As a founding member of the USGA, Chicago Golf Club is honored to support the newest championship,’’ said Brad Kinsey, the club’s president. “We look forward to making this, our 12th USGA championship, an exceptional event for players and spectators alike.’’

Chicago Golf Club hosted the first U.S. Open and first U.S. Amateur in 1897 and also hosted U.S. Opens in 1900 and 1911. The first U.S. Senior Women’s Open, though, will be the first USGA event at the club since the 2005 Walker Cup matches and first individual national championship since the U.S. Senior Amateur in 1979.

The USGA regularly picked Chicago courses for its biggest events in its first century of existence but that hasn’t been the case since 2000. Though the U.S. Open of 2003 and the U.S. Amateur last year were played at Olympia Fields, the USGA did not have a Chicago course on its schedule for a national championship until Saturday’s announcement.

Now, however, Chicago golf has jumped into the forefront of women’s golf. The LPGA’s UL International Crown team event will be played at the Merit Club in Libertyville in July and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be at Olympia Fields in 2017 and Kemper Lakes in 2018. The Kemper Lakes event will be played a month before the U.S. Senior Women’s Open comes to Chicago Golf Club.