The U.S. Golf Assn. scheduled one of its sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Open at a Chicago area course for at least four decades. That policy changed two years ago and it’s especially unfortunate this year, given the results at the 111 nation-wide local qualifiers.

Players with Chicago roots were medalists at five of those 18-hole competitions, and Deerfield’s Vince India posted the lowest number – a 10-under-par 61 – at all of the locals. The other medalists were Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr., like India a member of the Web.com Tour; Cog Hill teaching pro Garrett Chaussard; Northwestern star Jack Perry; and Northwestern alum David Lipsky.

They’ll take high hopes into Monday’s sectional qualifying, where berths in the Open proper at Pinehurst, N.C., from June 12-15 will be on the line.

Monday’s 10 sectionals are spread across the country and the USGA hasn’t announced complete player assignments yet. India and Sainz will likely go to one of the two eliminations in Ohio since their Web.com Tour has a stop at the Cleveland Open next week.

India and Sainz both opted for Florida sites in local qualifying, India shooting his great round at Waterlefe in Bradenton and Sainz posting 65 at Fox Hollow in Trinity. They’ll find it tough at either Ohio sectional, but more spots at Pinehurst will likely be offered there because of the strong fields.

The 36-hole elimination at Columbus will be the hardest in the country, with non-qualifiers from the PGA Tour going there the day after the Memorial tournament. Six major championship winners – Rich Beem, Trevor Immelman, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh and Mike Weir – will be competing at the Scioto and Brookside courses.

Springfield Country Club will host the other Ohio sectional with veteran tour player Billy Mayfair heading the field there.

Perry and Chaussard are both from California and have expressed desires to play in the sectional near San Francisco, where Lake Merced and the Ocean course at Olympic Club will be used. Another sectional survivor, Big Ten player-of-the-year Brian Campbell of Illinois, is also from California and expects to play there after the Illini finish their season in the NCAA tournament in Kansas. Campbell shot a 7-under-par 63 in the NCAA finals on Monday to tie the course record at Prairie Dunes in Kansas and also equal the Illini one-round record.

The Open drew a record 10,127 this year, and other locals still alive include Illinois alum and PGA touring pro Scott Langley; 2012 Illinois Open champion Max Scodro; pros Michael Schachner of Libertyville and Andrew Godfrey of Homewood; and amateurs Dan Stringfellow of Roselle, Glenn Przybylski of Frankfort and Kenneth Li of Westmont. Pyzybylski tuned up by winning the Illinois State Amateur Public Links title for the second time last week. It came 19 years after he won the event for the first time.

Of the 11 locals in sectional play only two – Langley and Chaussard – are past qualifiers for the U.S. Open finals and only two former U.S. Open champions – Ken Venturi in 1964 and Orville Moody in 1969 – won their titles after surviving both local and sectional qualifying rounds.

BMW extends sponsorship

The Western Golf Assn. has announced that BMW has extended its sponsorship of the BMW Championship through 2019. The tourney is part of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs and will be played this September at Cherry Hills in Denver.

Last year’s BMW Championship was played at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, and the event will return there in 2015. The tourney made its debut in 2007 at Cog Hill, in Lemont, as a replacement for the Western Open on the PGA Tour schedule.

Here and there

The Illinois PGA Senior Match Play Championship concludes its three-day run on Thursday at Merit Club in Libertyville.

U.S. Amateur champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who dropped out of Northwestern in December after only one semester of his freshman year, has announced he’ll turn pro after the U.S. Open.

Taylorville’s Dave Ryan dethroned three-time defending champion Tom Miler of Kewanee in the title match of the Chicago District Senior Amateur at Calumet Country Club. Miler had defeated Ryan in two previous title matches in the tournament.

The Northwestern women’s team finished in a tie for 15th at the NCAA finals in Tulsa, Okla.

Chicago’s only pro tour stop of 2014, the Encompass Championship, is less than a month away. It’ll return to North Shore Country Club in Glenview from June 16-22, and this week’s tourney update suggests the event has some issues.

Defending champion Craig Staler visited North Shore and revealed health issues that have sidelined him for most of this year. He suffered torn cartilage in his knee in January in Hawaii and needed six weeks to recover. Then he injured his back shortly after returning to action.

Last week he pulled out of the Regions Tradition, one of the Champions Tour’s major events, after nine holes, and he won’t play in this week’s Senior PGA Championship. He’s targeting a new event in Branson, Mo., for his return, as a tune-up for his title defense at North Shore.

“I haven’t been healthy all year,’’ he said. “I hope it turns around.’’

Stadler wasn’t exactly at the top of his game when he arrived at North Shore last year, either. He hadn’t even contended in a tournament since 2007 before getting his victory.

“I had basically quit,’’ said Stadler. “I was basically in the bottom 10 every week, and I was tired of embarrassing myself. It was no fun at all, but then (swing guru) Billy Harmon re-routed everything in my swing. It was a work in progress, and it still is.’’

Stadler liked what he saw at North Shore and still does.

“Every player was amazed by the condition of the golf course,’’ he said. “All 81 of us fell in love with it immediately. Augusta (home of the Masters) is great, but (North Shore) is right with it. Its 10th fairway looks better than some of the greens we play. It’s certainly different from Butler National (Oak Brook) and Cog Hill (Lemont), where we had to grind it out in the Western Open on the PGA Tour. It’s a perfect setting for us to be here.’’

North Shore wasn’t exactly perfect on Monday, though. Temporary greens were used on two holes to allow for the putting surfaces to recover from rugged winter weather and the No. 14 hole was closed because a hawk living there has become overly aggressive with humans lately.

Tournament director Mike Galeski, however, was able to announce seven of the projected 10 celebrity participants in the two-day pro-am held concurrently with the 54-hole main event. Brian Urlacher and Toni Kukoc are returning. They’ll be joined by Northwestern men’s basketball coach Chris Collins, hockey legends Mike Eruzione and Jeremy Roenick, ex-Bear Gary Fencik and baseball great Roger Clemens.

Harbor Shores hosts Champions Tour major

Closest of the major tourneys (PGA, LPGA, Champions tours) is this week’s Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich.

Harbor Shores, a Jack Nicklaus design, hosted the tourney in 2012 and will also host in 2016 and 2018. Last year the event was held at Bellerive in St. Louis. The Senior PGA has had surprise winners the last two years, England’s Roger Chapman having triumphed at Harbor Shores and Japan’s Kokhi Idoki winning at Bellerive.

Idoki will defend his title beginning on Thursday. The 72-hole test runs through Sunday and immediately follows the Champions Tour’s first major of the season. Kenny Perry won his third major title in the 50-and-over circuit last Sunday when he captured the Regionals Tradition at Shoal Creek in Birmingham, Ala.

Here and there

Only two players – Hannah Pietlia of Brighton, Mich., and Elizabeth Tong, of Thornhill, Ontario — advanced to next month’s U.S. Women’s Open during Monday’s 71-player, 36-hole qualifier at Indian Hill in Winnetka. Pietlia was medalist at 4-over-par 146, two strokes better than Tong. Streamwood’s Noriko Nakazaki was the top local player, one stroke behind Tong in a tie for third.

The 13th Chicago District Senior Amateur runs through Thursday at Calumet Country Club in Homewood. Kewanee’s Tom Miler, the only player to win the tourney more than once, is going for a three-peat. He won in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

Next week’s Illinois PGA Senior Match Play Championship has been moved from Shoreacres in Lake Bluff to Merit Club in Libertyville. Its three-day run will begin next Tuesday (MAY 27).

Deerfield product Vince India has been struggling as a rookie on the PGA’s satellite Web.com Tour this year, but he didn’t struggle on Monday in a local qualifier for the U.S. Open.

The former University of Iowa golfer shot a 10-under-par 61 to earn medalist honors in a local qualifier at Waterlefe, in Sarasota, FL. India played there because it was close to his new residence in Lakewood Ranch, FL. India moved there after obtaining playing privileges at the Concession Club, the site of the annual Big Ten Match Play Championship.

Concession is also the home course for former PGA champion Paul Azinger and Tony Jacklin, the former U.S. and British Open champion. The name of the course was inspired by Jacklin, in honor of a memorable Ryder Cup moment when Jack Nicklaus conceded him a short putt that led to the competition between the U.S. and Europe ending in a tie in 1969. Last month Concession hosted a new team event, the Concession Cup, which pitted amateur teams from the U.S. and Europe against each other.

“This is my third winter (at Concession), and Paul Azinger’s been quite the mentor to me,’’ said India, the Illinois Amateur champion in 2010. “It’s helped for me to play at a facility that’s in major championship condition every day.’’

India didn’t survive the 36-hole cut in the rain-hampered South Georgia Classic, last week’s Web.com Tour event at Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta, Ga.. He spent time with Azinger working on his alignment after heading to Florida and it paid off in the Open qualifier.

“I’d rather have the 61 in a tournament where they pay some cash out,’’ said India. “I’ve been struggling to post a number like this on the Web.com Tour this year.’’

Still, the hot round was six strokes better than his nearest rival and put him in the sectional stage of U.S. Open qualifying. Survivors of the 36-hole sectionals advance to the U.S. Open proper at Pinehurst, N.C., next month.

Malm bids for an historic three-peat

Curtis Malm became the first player in 25 years to defend a title in the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship last year. His task will be even more historically significant when he goes for the three-peat beginning on Monday at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.

The first of the IPGA’s four major tourneys was first held in 1952, and only two players have won three times in a row. The last was the late Bill Ogden, the long-time pro at North Shore in Glenview, who enjoyed his three-peat from 1970-72. Bob Harris, at Sunset Ridge in Northbrook, won six straight from 1958-63.

Malm is also bidding for his third straight IPGA Player-of-the-Year title. The only two who have won three straight in that category were Aurora’s Bob Ackerman (1987-89) and Steve Benson, then at Hillcrest in Long Grove (1980-82).

“A lot of neat stuff can happen this year,’’ said Malm. “This year could be fun.’’

He’s already leading the 2014 Player of the Year race after finishing third in both the season-opening Pro-Pro event and the Pekin stroke play. Next week, though, will be huge for Malm. Anticipating a first-round bye on Monday in the Match Play, he opted to enter the U.S. Open local qualifier that day at Knollwood in Lake Forest. Matches run at Kemper Lakes through Thursday.

Malm could have competed in Chicago’s other Open local, on Monday at George Dunne in Tinley Park, but preferred Knollwood after playing in the Royal Cup matches against Wisconsin’s assistant pros there last October. The George Dunne layout proved a tough test on Monday, with Garrett Chaussard, a teaching pro at Cog Hill in Lemont, the only player under par with a 1-under-71.

He led five qualifiers into next month’s sectional eliminations while Malm prepared for his big week. Though a top local player since winning the Illinois Open in 2000, Malm has yet to qualify for a U.S. Open.

A sidelight to Malm’s bid for local golf history this season also involves a job change. He was an assistant at St. Charles Country Club the last two years before taking the head job at White Eagle in Naperville during the winter.

“I’ve just been trying to get used to a new place,’’ he said, “but the members have been great. They’ve embraced my playing ability and tournament schedule.’’

Illini going to Rich Harvest

Illinois’ men couldn’t extend their Big Ten title run, finishing second to Minnesota in the league tournament at Indiana’s French Lick course on Sunday, but the Illini were awarded a good location for NCAA regional play on Monday. The Illini were assigned the No. 2 seed in the May-15-17 elimination at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

The top five teams at that 54-hole test will advance to the finals May 23-28 at Prairie Dunes in Kansas. Illinois (No. 8) is the only nationally-ranked team in the Big Ten. Coach Mike Small’s team finished second to Alabama in last year’s NCAA finals.

Northwestern was given the No. 10 seed in the regional at Briggs Ranch in San Antonio, Tex. Notre Dame’s Niall Platt was named one of five individual qualifiers at Rich Harvest.

Medinah event sold out

The fifth annual Medinah Patriots Day outing on May 27 is already a sellout. Tournament chairman Mark Slaby said over 200 players will participate on Medinah’s No. 2 course.

“The event’s growing, and we’re already taking reservations for next year when we go to Course One,’’ said Slaby. Medinah’s No. 1 layout is being renovated and won’t open until June.

Medinah Patriots Day is held to support families of Illinois military service men and women who lost their lives or were disabled in service to their country. Sixty-two scholarships and over 4,000 backpacks have already been provided to needy families thanks to proceeds from the event.

The PGA Tour changed its qualification procedures last year, relegating its brutal 90-hole fall Q-School tournament to offering only spots on the satellite Web.com Tour in 2014. The new format, though, resulted in unprecedented success for Chicago players.

Rarely did a local golfer make it through Q-School to the PGA Tour under the older format, but three – Vince India (Deerfield) Andy Pope (Glen Ellyn) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (Elgin) — survived under the new one. They entertain hopes of playing their way on to the big circuit in 2015 via the Web.com circuit.

The trio has been in all seven Web.com events this year, five of which were held outside the U.S. border, and had only modest success. Pope, who attended Glenbard West and Xavier University, had the best tournament showing with a tie for 15th in last week’s weather-shortened WNB Classic in Midland, Tex. His payday there accounts for $10,200 of his $12,325 season winnings.

India, who won the 2010 Illinois Amateur at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club and was the Big Ten’s player-of-the-year for Iowa in 2011, has been the most consistent. He made the cut in five of the seven tournaments but has faltered on the weekends. His $8,673 in winnings is good for only 108th on the tour’s season money list, 14 spots behind Pope.

Sainz, from Larkin High School and Mississippi State University, was the best of the trio at Q-School with a 10th place finish. He was a hot player at the right time in late 2013 when – in a month’s stretch – he won The Players Cup on the PGA’s Canadian Tour, lost the Illinois Open title in a playoff at The Glen Club in Glenview and then won the Chicago Open at Cantigny in Wheaton, where he had worked the pro shop during his college days.

Those strong showings gave him momentum for Q-School, where he shot a final-round 63, but it didn’t carried over to 2014. Though he’s made only three cuts and $5,248 in seven starts Sainz made Web.com history when he holed a 250-yard second shot for a double eagle in the first round of the Chile Classic. It was the first albatross in the tourney’s three-year history.

All three players will be in the field for this week’s South Georgia Classic, played for the last seven years on one of the tour’s most respected courses – Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta, Ga. The field will be stronger, too, with John Daly and Lee Janzen – both winners of two major championships – joining such veteran tourists as Billy Mayfair, Jesper Parnivik, Dicky Pride, Hunter Haas and Rod Pampling.

Bob Spence, the first head professional at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove, supervised the building of Kinderlou Forest – a Davis Love III design that opened 10 years ago. Spence, back at Kinderlou for another design project, greeted the Chicago area trio upon their arrival.

Upgrades at Royal Melbourne

Jay Blasi, who assisted famed architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. on the construction of Chambers Bay – the new Washington course that will host the U.S. Open in 2015, is overseeing renovation work at Royal Melbourne in Long Grove. Tweaks are being made at the Nos. 8 and 17 holes but the most work is coming on the practice range.

A 4,200 square-foot green, a new green-side bunker and more fairway and rough turf are being added to allow for practice on longer approaches to the green. The work, to be completed by July 15, will permit more short-game instruction for both members and non-members at the Royal Melbourne Golf Academy.

The home explosion that damaged several homes near the course last week was only a minor problem for golfers. One nine was closed for a day to allow for removal of debris but it opened the following day.

Here and there

Northwestern, third in the Big Ten women’s tournament on Sunday, was given the No. 7 seed in the NCAA West Regional on Monday. NU will join defending NCAA champion Southern California in the 24-team field. Also headed to the West, to be played at Washington’s Tumble Creek course, are Wisconsin, seeded No. 16, and Notre Dame, No. 18. Illinois’ Amber Schuldt was given an individual berth in the Central Regional.

Two new charity events have been scheduled for May – the Wake Up Narcolepsy outing on May 10 at Whisper Creek in Huntley and the Champ Community Project Celebrity Pro-Am on May 28 at Old Orchard in Mt. Prospect. LPGA Tour player Nicole Jeray, who has coped with narcolepsy, will be featured at Whisper Creek.

The Golfsmith Demo Day will be held at Downers Grove Golf Club from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, and it’ll be followed by the nine-hole Spring Swing Scramble tournament.

A two-month series of fitness workshops hosted by Dr. Paul Callaway will begin at Cantigny next Tuesday.

Chicago golfers beware. In most years virtually all Chicago courses are in full swing by the time the Masters tournament tees off in April. This year that wasn’t the case, and that’s not all.

The Midwest Golf Course Superintendents Assn. is conducting a survey of its courses this week and executive director Luke Cella doesn’t expect the results to be encouraging.

“We estimate that 80 percent of the courses in the area have suffered some turf loss, some significant,’’ said Cella. “The area, like much of the country, experienced a record cold winter. As spring slowly churns its way out we are finding turf that did not survive. It won’t be uncommon for this damage to be apparent while superintendents and their staffs begin the recovery process.’’

Cella says that winter ice caused the problems easily visible on the courses that have opened, particularly those that have Poa annua on the greens. Those with bentgrass fared better.

“This ice lasted for more than 60 days – a length of time that was too long for Poa annua to survive,’’ said Cella. “Even though the plants are dormant in the winter, they still need oxygen to survive. When ice encases the plant for extended periods of time there’s a buildup of deadly gasses that suffocate the plant. Even courses that employed the use of covers on their greens experienced ice buildup underneath the covers. Those (courses where workers) went out to break the ice and remove it from the putting surfaces experienced damage, too.’’

The problems encompass both public and private courses. Temporary greens were in evidence at some of the courses while others delayed their openings. At least two of the most prominent – one public, one private – aren’t even open yet. Mistwood, the Romeoville home of the Illinois Women’s Open, won’t open until April 25. North Shore, the Glenview home of Chicago’s only pro tour stop of the year, has set a May 1 opening. That private facility will host the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship beginning June 16.

According to a report issued to member clubs in the Chicago District Golf Association’s Illinois Turfgrass program last month, some courses are as much as a month behind in their preparations and most won’t be in optimal playing shape until June.

Conway Farms names Slowinski

The offseason has led to some major changes in the club professional ranks. The biggest has Matt Slowinski, the long-time assistant at Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn, moving to Conway Farms in Lake Forest as the head man. Slowinski won two of the Illinois PGA’s major tournaments while at Glen Oak and was the section’s Assistants Player of the Year in 2013.

Harlan Chemers, who had been Conway’s head professional, will join Wildcat Golf Academy founders Pat Goss and Jeff Mory in the expansion of that highly-successfully junior program. A move to The Glen Club in Glenview has allowed them to take students beyond the junior level.

In other pro changes Josh Pius, a former North Shore assistant, is the head man at Inverness; Reagan Davis is in charge at Eagle Ridge, in Galena; and Mike Hainline has taken over at Ravisloe, in Homewood.

Here and there

A major change in the superintendents ranks has Scott Pavalko leaving Cog Hill, in Lemont, for Bob O’Link, the all-male club in Highland Park. Chris Flick came from Ohio to replace Pavalko at Cog Hill. Other superintendent changes have Michael Paciga moving from an assistant at Biltmore in Barrington to the head job at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove; Jeremy Duncan going from assistant at Cantigny in Wheaton to head man at Fox Run in Elk Grove; Brian Stout being promoted to the head job at Edgewood Valley in LaGrange; and Mike Mumper landing the head job at Villa Olivia in Bartlett.

The first event on the Illinois PGA schedule, Monday’s Pro-Assistants Championship at Naperville Country Club, was cancelled. The IPGA has a Pro-Pro event on tap at Chicago’s Harborside International next Monday. The Chicago District Golf Assn. opens its season with its first Better Ball of Pairs event next Tuesday at The Glen Club.

The Golfers on Golf radio show will unveil the first of 21 weekly broadcasts at 9 a.m. on Sunday. It’ll be carried on WSBC (1240-AM) and WCFJ (1470-AM) with Rory Spears, Ed Stevenson, Bill Berger and Mike Munro again co-hosting.

The 80th playing of the Masters tournament, beginning on Thursday at Georgia’s Augusta National, won’t be like any previous stagings of golf’s first major championship of the year.

This one won’t have Tiger Woods, back surgery a week ago forcing his withdrawal, and the landmark Eisenhower Tree left of the No. 17 fairway is gone, the victim of a February ice storm. The start of Masters festivities was different, too.

Augusta National opened its gates on pre-Masters Sunday for the first time to host a youth Drive, Chip and Pitch competition, but then had to close the gates for the first time since 2003 on Monday because of a heavy rainfall.

The Masters, more than any of golf’s four major tournaments, has a tradition of high-profile champions but that could change this week with Woods out and defending champion Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson all winless in 2014.

Slow starts for those stars could be encouraging for Luke Donald, Kevin Streelman, D.A. Points and Steve Stricker – the players with Illinois connections in the field – but none have done much recently to suggest they’ll contend this week.

Northwestern alum Donald, once the game’s No. 1-ranked player, could be the best bet of the locals. He had two top-10s on the Florida swing of the PGA Tour and a tie for 24th in the Shell Houston Open on Sunday.

Wheaton resident Kevin Streelman, adjusting to life as a parent after the birth of daughter Sophia on Dec. 26, missed his first cut of the season at Houston and hasn’t cracked the top 20 in his nine appearances since starting the season with a tie for third in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January.

Illinois alum Points has had a terrible year, missing the cut in his last three starts and finishing no better than a tie for 28th in his 10 tournaments in 2014. Another ex-Illini, Steve Stricker played in only his third tournament of the season at Houston. He tied for 24th with his focus not entirely on golf. A Madison, Wis., resident, he ducked out of Houston after his Saturday round to watch Wisconsin play in the Final Four that night, then got back in time to finish the tournament on Sunday.

The possibility of a Masters rookie winning is the best story-line going into this year’s championship and none would make for a better one than Kevin Stadler. He and his father Craig form the first father-son combination to play in the same Masters.

Craig won the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glenview last June but has played in only three events this year. He won his Masters in 1982. Qualified only as a past champion, Craig claims this — his 38th Masters — will be his last appearance at Augusta National. He’s been waiting for Kevin to qualify, and it finally happened when he won the Waste Management Open a few miles from his Scottsdale, Ariz., home in February. It came in his 239th career start on the PGA Tour.

“He’s getting a little too old (60) to compete (at Augusta),’’ said Kevin. “He’s told me that for about five years. He loves going back, but that course seems to be a little too tough for him these days. It’ll be great to spend some time with him on the course when I never, ever play golf with him.’’

The last Masters rookie to win the title was Fuzzy Zoeller 35 years ago. Prior to that the last rookie winner was Gene Sarazen in 1935 – the second year the tournament was contested. That year the tourney had 23 rookies, not surprising for a tourney that young. Horton Smith, then the head pro at Oak Park Country Club, won the first tournament (when it was known as the Augusta National Invitational) in 1934 and also took the third in 1936. The only competitor still alive from the first Masters is Errie Ball, long-time head pro at Oak Park Country Club and the first director of golf at Butler National in Oak Brook. Ball, now 103 years old, is still teaching golf in Stuart, FL.

VALDOSTA, Ga. – Bob Spence is about to hit the 60-year mark as a golf professional. Now his focus is on Kinderlou Forest, a stunning 18-holer just 16 miles from the Florida state line, but Chicago golfers should remember him well.

Spence, who turned pro in 1954 – a few months after graduating from high school, was the first director of golf at Kemper Lakes. The late Jim Kemper hired him in 1978 to direct the opening of the Long Grove course designed by Dick Nugent and Ken Killian. Kemper Lakes was an instant hit. It was the first public course to host a PGA Championship in 1989, a year in which Payne Stewart was crowned the champion.

Kemper also hosted a tournament on the Champions Tour for several years and was the site of a U.S. Women’s Amateur, the Grand Slam of Golf and 24 straight Illinois PGA Championships before an ownership change led to the facility going private.

Spence moved on, too. Prior to the Kemper experience he spent six years as an off-and-on PGA Tour player. Afterwards he established himself as a teacher, working with –among others — the famed Bob Toski, and an expert on course operations.

He enjoyed all those things, but found out that he loved course architecture more than anything else. Spence hooked up with Davis Love III to create Love Golf Designs in 1994. Kinderlou Forest, now celebrating its 10th anniversary for owner John Langdale, was one of the first of the 20 courses that Spence built on Love’s behalf. It is most likely the best.

“We continued until the economy went bad,’’ said Spence. “Now (Love Golf Designs) is on hold, but Davis had a major desire to get into golf course architecture later in his career. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company started up again.’’

Love, of course, was the 1997 PGA champion and the losing U.S. captain in the dramatic Ryder Cup matches played at Medinah last September. He’s resumed his playing career and is also the host for the McGladrey Classic, a PGA Tour event played on his home course in Sea Island, Ga.

Kinderlou Forest has had a great first 10 seasons. Spence has declared it “better than Kemper Lakes’’ and isn’t so sure it isn’t the best course in Georgia – even though that state is home to legendary Augusta National, where the Masters tournament is played every April.

“There’s a lot of similarities between here and Kemper Lakes,’’ said Spence. “Both are great golf courses. Kemper Lakes has a lot of water and length. Kinderlou Forest doesn’t have as much water, but has variety in length and look on every hole.’’

Spence won’t designate a signature hole at Kinderlou, believing all 18 are special. The most striking visually, though, is the par-5 fourth, which features a large, deep cavern. You can play over it or around it. Either way, you don’t forget it.

The cavern, created when soil was needed to build a highway fronting the course, also extends in front of the tee at the par-3 fifth hole.

The lack of houses on the property is another similarity between Kemper Lakes and Kinderlou. So is the personality of the owners. Langdale and his family have long been prominent in various business and political endeavors in south Georgia, just as Jim Kemper was prominent in the insurance world in Chicago.

“Jim Kemper was one of the most special people I’ve ever known,’’ said Spence. “He became a fatherly figure to me, helping my life in any way he could. Mr. Langdale is the same way. He wanted a showplace for Lowndes County. He wanted to give back, just like Jim Kemper did at Kemper Lakes. I’ve been very fortunate to work with special people.’’

As was the case at Kemper Lakes, Spence moved on to other projects after Kinderlou Forest was up and running. Langdale brought him back six months ago to take Kinderlou Forest to a new level.

The first 10 years certainly weren’t bad. About 200 homes were built on the 4,000-acre property and the course, built on 600 of those acres, has already hosted a pro tour event (the Web. com Tour’s South Georgia Classic will be played there for the eighth time in April).

Kinderlou Forest, though, stands somewhat alone on the outskirts of Valdosta, a city of 54,000 and home to Valdosta State University and its 13,000 students. The weather makes golf an option year-around and overall living is affordable.

“We’re in the process of building it into a community, possibly a retirement community,’’ said Spence. “We’re trying to get people to come in here, and if they do they’ll want to stay.’’

Two Chicago area club professionals, Phil Benson and J. Anderson, have already brought groups from Chicago to check out what Kinderlou Forest has to offer.

As good as it is, Kinderlou Forest — at 7,474 yards from the tips –is no course for retirees, so a second — much shorter layout — will be needed. A lodge is also a consideration, though Kinderlou has townhome villas available for golfing guests and plenty of hotels are nearby. But space for more homes is abundant.

“If Kinderlou goes as planned we have to have a lot of people coming from out of state, and a lot coming to retire,’’ said Spence. “It’s a great place to live. We’re building an atmosphere that you’d rather be here than anywhere else.’’

The only pro golf tour event in Chicago in 2014 will also headline the 31st Chicago Golf Show.

The Encompass Championship, which made its Chicago debut on the Champions Tour in 2013, will be the presenting sponsor of the winter attraction that begins a three-day run at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont on Friday (FEB 21).

Jeff Sluman, the Champions Tour veteran from Hinsdale, will become the fourth former major champion to appear at the show, following John Daly (2008), Craig Stadler (2012) and Lanny Wadkins (2013). Sluman won the 1988 PGA Championship. Stadler was the champion in last year’s Encompass Championship at North Shore in Glenview. The Encompass Championship returns to North Shore from June 16-22.

Bears’ stars Robbie Gould and Patrick Mannelly and Northwestern men’s basketball coach Chris Collins will also make appearances on the Main Stage at the show, and 10 Illinois PGA representatives will offer instruction tips.

The over 400 exhibitor booths include representatives from 80 domestic and international travel destinations. Visitors can also receive half-price tickets to this year’s Encompass Championship and a pass to play one of the 11 Chicago courses managed by GolfVisions as part of their attendance at the show.

Show hours are noon-7 p.m. on Friday (FEB 21), 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday (FEB 22) and 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday (FEB 23).

Luke update

Former world No. 1 and Northwestern great Luke Donald has changed management companies. He left International Management Group to join Lagardiere Unlimited.

Donald will now be represented by Steve Loy, who is also Phil Mickelson’s agent. Lagardere represents 45 PGA Tour players, easily the most of any agency according to Sports Business Daily.

Here and there

The Western Golf Assn. has decided to take its Western Amateur back to Point O’Woods, the tourney’s long-time Michigan home, in 2019. Point O’Woods hosted the premier amateur event 40 times between 1963 and 2008 and winners there included Tiger Woods, Mickelson, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange and Tom Weiskopf.

Mistwood, in Romeoville, was a big winner after its massive remodeling effort. Golf magazine tabbed the course as its Renovation of the Year for 2013 and Golf Range magazine placed the new Mistwood Performance Center among the top 50 ranges in the U.S.

Jay Casaletto, the former head pro at Royal Melbourne in Long Grove, will serve as Chicago tour director for Golf Channel’s Amateur Tour this season.

Billy Casper Golf has taken over management of Rob Roy, the Prospect Heights nine-holer.

Metamora Fields, site of the fourth and last of the Illinois PGA’s four major tourneys, has a new head professional in Dion Hoegh. Erin Strieck, the head professional for 13 years at Eagle Ridge in Galena, has moved to Iowa’s Spirit Lake course.

Jeff Perdew, general manager of Chicago Highlands in Westchester, has been elected to a three-year term on the Illinois PGA board of directors. Trey Van Dyke, Oak Brook’s head pro, is now the Midwest representative on the PGA of America’s board of control