By far the biggest month of the golf season in the Midwest begins in just a few days. July offers the U.S. Women’s Open at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin and the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities , followed by the two state opens for Illinois golfers and the start of the Western Amateur at Exmoor in Highland Park.

None is bigger than the John Deere Classic, which spotlights Steve Stricker’s bid to become the fourth PGA Tour player to win a tournament four straight years. Only Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen and Tiger Woods have done that – and Woods did it twice.

Stricker won’t be the whole show in the PGA Tour’s only Illinois top in 2012, however. JDC director Clair Peterson’s latest entry report showed that the customary dates the week before the British Open won’t hurt his field in the least.

Forty players who competed in the U.S. Open will tee off at TPC at Deere Run on July 12 and at least 20 qualifiers for the British will have their final tuneup for the year’s third major championship there before jumping on the jet that Peterson has chartered the last five years to get players directly to British site Royal Lytham & St. Annes in England.

Stars from the U.S. Open coming to the Quad Cities include Michael Thompson, who tied for second; Kevin Chappel and John Senden, who tied for 10th; and Jordan Spieth, who was low amateur at the Olympic Club.

In addition the JDC field includes the winners of eight PGA Tour stops this year and 24 from the last two seasons.

“We’re very excited with how the field is shaping up,’’ said Peterson. “Our fans are guaranteed to see not only players who are stars of the future; they’ll also see players who have proven themselves on golf’s greatest stages.’’

Women in waiting

The U.S. Women’s Open, which tees off on July 5, might have two players with Chicago connections in its starting field.

Notre Dame sophomore Ashley Armstrong, from Flossmoor, is first alternate out of the sectional qualifier in St. Louis, and Aimee Neff, the Michigan State alum who won the Illinois Women’s Open in 2008 and 2009, is first alternate from Chicago’s sectional, which was played at Big Foot in Fontana, Wis. They were among a record 1,364 entries, which included players from 47 states and 44 other countries.

The U.S. Golf Assn. doesn’t reveal the order of advancement for alternates of sectional qualifying rounds. Both Armstrong and Neff might have to wait until the first day of competition before knowing if they’re in the field.

A battle to end all battles

The Chicago-based Women’s Western Golf Assn. had a match for the record books at its 112th Amateur championship last week in Monroe, Mich. Mary Michael Maggio and Asia Adell went 13 extra holes in the Round of 16. The longest matches in the U.S. Golf Assn. records were nine extra holes in women’s championships and 10 in men’s.

The Women’s Western Amateur final was memorable, too – a battle of sisters in which Ariya Jutanugarn beat Moryia 2 and 1. Ariya won the U.S. Girls Junior crown at Olympia Fields last year.

Here and there

The match play portion of the 93rd Chicago District Amateur runs through Friday at Cantigny in Wheaton. ….Pam Tyska has retired after coaching Northern Illinois’ women’s team for 26 seasons…..Fourteen Illinois PGA members are in the Professional Players National Championship, which concludes today in California….Northwestern’s Eric Chun was given honorable mention All-America status after ending his senior season with a 71.38 stroke average. That’s fifth-best in NU history behind three of Luke Donald’s seasons in Evanston and one by Jess Daley in 2000….Illinois had NCAA champion Thomas Pieters on the All-American first team and Luke Guthrie on the second team. Guthrie, is the fourth Illini players to be selected multiple times, behind Stricker (1987-89), James Lepp (2002-03) and Scott Langley (2009-11)….Last of the seven qualifiers for the July 16-18 Illinois Open is Thursday at downstate Effingham Country Club.…Adam Wood of Zionsville, Ind., won the first of the Western Golf Association’s three championships of 2012. He took the Western Junior by four shots at Country Club of Florida last week…. Oakley has joined sponsors for the Illinois Open and will also be presenting sponsor of the Aug. 20 stroke play event at Schaumburg and the Nov. 3-7 pro-am at Georgia’s Reynolds Plantation resort.

For over three decades Illinois club professionals dominated their amateur counterparts. Those days are apparently over.

Last week the Chicago District Golf Association’s amateur stars beat the Illinois PGA’s best 11 ½-6 ½ in the 51st Radix Cup matches at Oak Park Country Club. That was the CDGA’s fourth win in five years in the competition, though the IPGA has a 32-17-2 edge in the rivalry.

With the team event over, both the CDGA and IPGA are preparing for their biggest championships and for Philip Arouca, the defending champion in the IPGA’s Illinois Open, that’s a big task.

Arouca won last year’s Illinois Open at Hawthorn Woods Country Club but won’t defend there. After four years at Hawthorn Woods the IPGA is taking the championship back to The Glen Club in Glenview, with the 54-hole showdown coming July 16-18.

Normally a defender would prefer going for a repeat on the same course. Not so for Arouca. The Wilmette resident caddied at The Glen Club, played in two Illinois Opens there and has joined his father as a member for the last three years. He was “absolutely ecstatic’’ when he heard about the venue switch.

Arouca hasn’t been so happy about his health since his biggest win of 2011. He developed a stress fracture in his right wrist during the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying school last fall, forcing him to not touch a club for five weeks. He’s resuming competition this week in a National Pro Golf Tour event at Michigan’s Treetops course. That mini-circuit has been Arouca’s playground since the last Illinois Open and will remain that way until the shooting starts at The Glen.

Last year that tour held small regional tournaments in the Chicago area, with Arouca winning at Highlands of Elgin and finishing second at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Over the next three weeks he’ll play in 72-hole $150,000 events the circuit is staging at Treetops, Bolingbrook and Brickyard Crossing in Indianapolis.

“The wrist pain at the end of last year wasn’t much fun, and it’s been a struggle lately,’’ he said, “but I’m real excited to finally have a good solid event schedule.’’

Amateurs were medalists at the first three qualifiers for the Illinois Open. Bloomington’s Alex Burge was best in the first qualifier with a 67 at Bloomington Country Club. Another amateur, Dan Strawbridge from Roselle, was low man at Deerfield with a 68 and still another, Joe Willis of Lake Forest, matched pro Tommy Bliefnick of Decatur for low round at Bull Valley in Woodstock. Both carded 70s.

The last four qualifiers are Wednesday (JUNE 20) at Lincolnshire, Monday (JUNE 25) at Inverness, Tuesday (JUNE 26) at Highlands of Elgin and June 28 at Effingham Country Club.

More changes for CDGA Amateur

Last year the 36-hole final of the CDGA Amateur was played on a different course than all the previous matches because the opportunity to play Medinah No. 3 was deemed too good an opportunity to pass up. September’s Ryder Cup venue produced a stirring climax to the historic championship, Bloomington’s Kyle English outlasting El Paso’s Andy Mickelson over 37 holes.

This year the tourney is making another unusual change for its 93rd staging at Cantigny in Wheaton. Departing from its traditional Monday-Thursday scheduling for the second straight year, the event will start next Tuesday and there will be another refinement with the 36-hole stroke play qualifying will be spread over two days. Match play for the 16 finalists will start next Wednesday afternoon – shortly after the second stroke play qualifying round.

As was the case last year, the scheduling change was made because outings were previously scheduled at Cantigny, the first public facility to host the CDGA Amateur since Pine Meadow, in Mundelein, co-hosted with Medinah in 1991. English and Mickelson are both entered, with English hoping to become the first repeat winner since Joe Affrunti in 2000 and 2001.

Here and there

Luke Donald’s fourth annual Taste of the First Tee fundraiser will be held Wednesday (JUNE 20) at Northern Trust’s headquarters in Chicago. PGA Tour stars Steve Stricker and Mark Wilson will also participate…..The Bears beat the Packers 10-2 in Monday’s Rivalry Cup at Medinah’s No. 3 layout…..Chalet, in Cary, and Chapel Hill, in McHenry, have been added to GolfVisions’ Player Pass program….Crane’s Landing, in Lincolnshire, and Willow Crest, in Oak Brook, are among the courses joining in the Fairways-Fore-Freedom program initiated by Marriott Golf to provide active, reserve and retired military personnel with both free and discounted golf opportunities….The Chicago qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Public Links tourney is at Oak Grove, in Harvard, on Wednesday…..Deerpath, in Lake Forest, will host the Illinois PGA Junior boys and girls championships Wednesday and Thursday (JUNE 20-21).

Kevin Streelman’s golf game may be peaking at just the right time.

The PGA Tour player from Winfield got into this week’s U.S. Open with an extraordinary nine holes in last week’s 36-hole sectional qualifier in Columbus. After shooting a 71 in the first 18, played at Scioto – Jack Nicklaus’ home course as a youth, Streelman exploded with a 30 on the front nine of his second 18, played at Ohio State University’s well-respected Scarlett course.

That burst made the final nine easy as Streelman finished third in the toughest of the 13 sectionals held across the country. The field at Columbus was filled with PGA Tour players, who chose to qualify there because of its proximity to the circuit’s Memorial tournament.

Streelman will be paired with D.A. Points, the former University of Illinois golfer from Pekin, and Korean Dong-Hwan Lee, who will be playing in the tournament for the first time, in the first two rounds. They start off the No. 1 tee at San Francisco’s Olympic Club at 12:05 p.m. (Chicago time) on Thursday. Streelman played the Olympic Club about five years ago when he was toiling on the mini-tours.

“It was just for fun, but I love that golf course,’’ said Streelman as he prepared for a practice round with Bubba Watson and Aaron Baddeley in Phoenix last week. “That course is very demanding, and this Open will be unique because the course is so difficult going out. The first eight-nine holes are the most difficult but you can make birdies coming in.’’

Streelman is in the biggest U.S. championship for the third time and survived the 36-hole cut the first two times. His best finish, though, was a tie for 53rd in his first Open – also in California, at Torrey Pines – in 2008.

“I led that one after the first round,’’ he said. “This will be my seventh major (championship). They’re a little different kind of pressure, and you get more comfortable each time you do it.’

On the home front

While the U.S. Open owns the golf spotlight this week, there will be two big events going on locally. The 79th Illinois Women’s Amateur makes a rare Chicago area appearance at Ravisloe in Homewood, and the 51st Radix Cup matches are on tap at Oak Park Country Club.

The women’s event started with a qualifying round on Tuesday and match play competition will run through Friday. Wednesday’s Radix Cup is a team event pitting the top players in the Illinois PGA against the top amateurs in the Chicago District Golf Assn. The pros hold a 32-16-2 edge in the series.

Kemper Lakes changes membership policy

Kemper Lakes, which hosted the 1989 PGA Championship during its start as a public facility, has announced a market-based pricing program that allows current members to offer their memberships for sale to new members at a price driven by market demand.

“It’s an incredible program that achieves all our objectives,’’ said general manager Janet Dobson. “We can garner new members during a slow period, we can introduce new members into the club and it allows current members who need to retire from the club the chance to do so without a waiting period.’’

Face value of a membership is $50,000. Membership director Steve Kashul said that initial sales under the new program were trading at 15 percent of the stated price with three currently available for $7,500.

Here and there

Luke Guthrie, who won the individual Big Ten title for Illinois this season and tied for 19th in the Memphis St. Jude Classic on Sunday in his professional debut, has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to next month’s John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities. Also accepting invites were college freshman stars Patrick Rodgers of Stanford and Jordan Spieth of Texas….Mistwood’s recently-renovated course in Romeoville opens to the public on Friday (JUNE 15). Though the course will be in full operation, work around the new learning center will be evident and the parking lot is being doubled in size, to accommodate 240 cars. A stoplight is also being installed at the course entrance to facilitate an expected heavier traffic flow….Scott Langley, the former NCAA champion for Illinois, gets the honor of hitting the first tee shot off the No. 1 tee at the U.S. Open on Thursday….The Champions Tour may be returning to Chicago for the first time since 2002. Though no announcement has been made, the circuit is expected to bring its Tampa Bay event to either North Shore Country Club in Glenview or Evanston Golf Club in Skokie starting in 2013…..The First Tee of Greater Chicago begins its program at Cog Hill, in Lemont, on Friday (JUNE 15)….Illinois Open qualifying resumes at Bull Valley in Woodstock on Thursday (JUNE 14).

Stacked sod-wall bunkers are an extreme rarity at Chicago courses, but they won’t be as much a mystery after owner Jim McWethy re-opens his Mistwood course in Romeoville. That’ll happen for the course’s members and permanent tee time holders on Saturday (JUNE 2).

Michigan-based course architect Ray Hearn incorporated 19 such bunkers into his new design, and he admits that the new bunkers will overshadow the numerous other changes he made at the public facility that annually hosts the Illinois Women’s Open.

“Nothing comes close to the glory of these stacked sod-wall bunkers,’’ he said. “In Chicago you want to set yourself apart, and this alone will do it. There’s nothing like this at any other Chicago course.’’

Hearn believes two other courses have stacked sod-wall bunkers, the main one being Conway Farms in Lake Forest. The site of the 2013 BMW Championship on the PGA Tour, Conway has three such bunkers. Another course – Hearn isn’t sure which one – has one.

Overall, Hearn substantially toughened and lengthened the course. The old version measured 6,701 yards, and the new one is 7,028 from the very back tees, some of which won’t be used all that much. The slope increased from 140 to 144 and the rating from 73.0 to 74.7 when Chicago District Golf Assn. officials made their visit to the new layout.

The course, which will open to the general public in mid-June, will produce a new challenge for the Illinois Women’s Open entrants, who will compete in the traditional 54-hole competition on July 25-27.

U.S. Open enters sectional stage

Village Links of Glen Ellyn will host Chicago’s sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open on Monday. The 48-man field will send its top finishers to the U.S. Open proper at Olympic Club in San Francisco, but the number of berths available hasn’t been determined yet.

PGA Tour players Tom Pernice and Tim Herron and Illinois coach Mike Small are the biggest names in the Village Links field, but Burr Ridge’s Bennett Blakeman bears watching, too. He qualified for the 2010 U.S. Open as an amateur and the 2011 version as a professional.

Others in the field include Brad Benjamin, the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, and four ex-Illinois Amateur winners – Gary March (1986), Zach Barlow (2008), Vince India (2010) and Brad Hopfinger (2011). India will hit the first tee shot in the 36-hole elimination at 7 a.m. The second round begins at noon.

Switching stations

The Golfers on Golf radio show begins its 15th season on June 3, but it’ll have a different time slot and be heard on two stations instead of one.

The new home base is WSBC (1240-AM) and the show will be simulcast on WCFJ (1470-AM). It had been broadcast at 6 p.m. on Mondays of WJJG (1530-AM). Now it’ll be heard from 10-ll a.m. on Sundays. Mike Munro, Ed Stevenson, Bill Berger and Rory Spears will all return as the on-air talent for a 17-week run that will conclude on Sept. 23.

Here and there

Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, a former Arizona State golfer, won last week’s nearest sectional qualifier for next month’s U.S. Women’s Open at Wisconsin’s Blackwolf Run course by 11 shots. Only two from that sectional, held at Big Foot in Fontana, WI., qualified to play at Blackwolf Run, with Purdue’s Junthima Gulyanamitta beating ex-Illinois Women’s Open champion Aimee Neff in a playoff for the second spot….Medinah Patriot Day, a benefit for Illinois military families, will be held on Tuesday over the club’s Nos. 1 and 3 courses…..Kewanee’s Tom Miler added the CDGA Senior Amateur to his title collection this summer last week. He had previously won the Illinois State Public Links tourney. Taylorville’s Dave Ryan finished second in both….Entry deadline is 5 p.m. Friday for the Illinois Open. All professionals and amateurs with handicaps of 10 or less are eligible to compete in one of the seven qualifying rounds for the July 16-18 tourney proper at The Glen Club in Glenview….New management has decided to rename what was the Crystal Lake Golf Learning Center, located across the street from the Prairie Isle course. It’s now Fore Seasons Golf Learning Center…..Chuck Mills, North Chicago High School’s first football coach, will join his players from the 1955 team at an outing June 8 at Glen Flora in Waukegan.

This is an unusual year for big-time tournament golf in Chicago. Only September’s Ryder Cup at Medinah is on the calendar, but five other big-time events are within a short drive.

The first of those is the 73rd Senior PGA Championship, one of the majors on the Champions Tour. It begins a 72-hole run on Thursday at the spiffy new Harbor Shores resort course in Benton Harbor, Mich.

The field will have a touch of Chicago flavor. Mike Harrigan, the former Medinah pro who has been teaching at Chicago’s Diversey Range and the Players Club of Chicago in Justice, qualified for the starting field off a 17th-place showing in the Senior PGA Club Professionals tourney last October in Virginia and Billy Rosinia, the pro at Flagg Creek in Countryside, qualified off the alternate’s list last week.

Their opponents will include long-established stars like Freddie Couples, Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer, Kenny Perry and Hale Irwin. Last year’s winner, Tom Watson, won’t defend his title because of a pinched nerve in his wrist, but Harrigan and Rosinia will obviously be in some select company.

Harrigan, 63, never was a touring pro but this will be his fourth time in the Senior PGA and he also qualified for three U.S. Senior Opens. He survived the cut in the 2000 Senior PGA at Florida’s PGA National in a tourney shortened to 54 holes by weather problems.

“I just want to continue to compete,’’ said Harrigan, who spends nearly half of each year living in Jupiter, FL. “I’ve heard Harbor Shores is a great golf course. I’m looking forward to it.’’

Harbor Shores is a Jack Nicklaus design that opened to rave reviews in 2009 and was awarded two Senior PGA Championship before it was even completely open. The tourney will return to Harbor Shores in 2014.

Harrigan keeps his game sharp in Florida, where he plays at The Fox Club in Stuart. Its members include 15-20 touring or club pros and some top-ranked amateurs. He believes last year’s qualifying tournament will help his chances this week. He qualified at Creighton Farms, a course also designed by Nicklaus.

“I understand it’s very similar to Harbor Shores,’’ said Harrigan. “It was very difficult, with very undulating greens. I thought they were impossible.’’

More big tournaments will follow the Senior PGA at reasonably nearby courses. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, in the Quad Cities, is the only other one in Illinois but the U.S. Women’s Open will be played in Kohler, WI., the U.S. Senior Open in Orion, MI., and the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship in Indianapolis.

Illini in finals again

Illinois, which won the Big Ten championship the last four years, will compete in the NCAA finals for the fifth straight year. The Illini, thanks to a second-place finish in the Oklahoma regional, will be in the field at California’s prestigious Riviera course. The tourney begins a six-day run there on Tuesday (MAY 29).

Northwestern also qualified for the NCAA tourney but finished eighth in the Kentucky regional and failed to reach the finals.

A shot for the ages

St. Charles Country Club assistant Curtis Malm won last week’s 61st Illinois PGA Match Play title at Kemper Lakes in Hawthorn Woods. He made Rich Dukelow, an assistant at Cantigny in Wheaton and the reigning IPGA player-of-the-year, the losing finalist for the second straight year, but the section’s first major tournament of the season may be best remembered for the dramatic shot Jason Lee hit to end a second-round playoff.

Lee, the head pro at Chicago’s Ridgemoor Country Club and the tourney’s 2001 champion, holed a hybrid shot from 225 yards for double eagle to eliminate Kevin Rafferty of Dick’s Sporting Goods-Vernon Hills in 22 holes.

Here and there

Steve Stricker, who will bid for a fourth straight title at the John Deere Classic in July, played a round at The Glen Club in Glenview last week…..Pete Jordan, who played the PGA Tour for several years after developing his game at Medinah, was the caddie for J.J. Henry during the golfer’s bid for the Byron Nelson title last week….. The Illinois Women’s Open will return to its July dates (July 25-27) after being pushed back to August last year to accommodate a renovation project. Mistwood owner Jim McWethy has set June 1 for the course’s re-opening…..Settler’s Hill, in Geneva, re-opened on Tuesday following a lengthy renovation….Ivanhoe pro Jim Sobb couldn’t defend his Illinois PGA Match Play title last week at Kemper Lakes but he’ll go for a three-peat in the senior version of the tournament beginning Tuesday (MAY 29) at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff….The Chicago District Senior Amateur concludes a three-day run at Rockford Country Club on Thursday….First qualifier for the CDGA Amateur is Tuesday (MAY 29) at Royal Country Club of Long Grove. Glenwoodie, in Glenwood, will also host qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links tournament on that day.

For two years now Jim Sobb has been the man whenever the Illinois PGA holds a match play tournament. This year, though, his reign can to an abrupt halt.

The Ivanhoe pro won the section’s senior match play title in 2010 and 2011, was runner-up in the regular match play in 2010 and became the first player to sweep both titles last spring. To do it he had to win five matches in three days in the senior event and six in three days in the regular version.

Sobb, 56, tried to do it again on the same courses where he pulled off his historic sweep. He got by his first match Tuesday in the IPGA regular match play event at Kemper Lakes in Hawthorn Woods, edging 68th-seeded Jeremy Anderson, assistant at Twin Orchard in Long Grove, by a 1-up margin. But three-time winner Doug Bauman, from Biltmore Country Club in Barrington, eliminated Sobb 5 and 4 in his second match.

The 62nd annual tourney – first of the IPGA’s four major tourneys of the season — runs through Thursday.

The tourney started with 116 players, with the entrants seeded according to last year’s Bernardi point standings that determined the IPGA player-of-the-year. Sobb is the No. 4 seed and drew a first-round bye. Top-seeded Rich Dukelow of Cantigny, in Wheaton, also drew a first-round bye before winning his first match 5 and 4 over Michael Campbell of Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

“I’m sure everybody will be after me, but a couple things in my favor is that I’ve played these courses so many times,’’ said Sobb, who beat Dukelow 3 and 2 in last year’s final. While a Sobb title defense is now impossible, Dukelow advanced to the semifinals.

Last year the senior and regular match play competitions were held on successive weeks. This year the senior version is again at Shoreacres, in Lake Bluff, but on May 29-31 so Sobb will get some welcome rest before seeking his three-peat there.

ND golfer leads U.S. Open survivors

Notre Dame golfer Max Scodro, of Chicago, carded a 7-under-par 65 to earn medalist honors at Monday’s 90-player U.S. Open local qualifier at Schaumburg Golf Club.

Others qualifying for sectional play were Jack Perry of Evanston (67), former Illinois Amateur and Northwestern golfer Ravi Patel, Hinsdale’s Brett Tomfohrde and Libertyville’s Michael Schachner (all at 68) and Glencoe’s Jason Shapiro (69).

Most figure to bid for spots in the U.S. Open proper at a June 4 sectional elimination at Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

Cantigny’s “Double Jeopardy’’ ready soon

The frequently controversial 555-yard No. 2 hole on the Woodside course of the 27-hole Cantigny complex will re-open May 25. Erosion problems along the banks of a stream that lined the fairway of that hole, dubbed “Double Jeopardy,’’ forced closing of the entire nine.

Rick Jacobson’s design firm, in Libertyville, supervised the re-contouring of the fairway and that eliminated the blind second shot that had been required previously.

“We made a good hole even better,’’ said Cantigny executive director Mike Nass. “It was a hard decision to take Woodside out of play for so long…For fairness and playability, this is a huge step forward.’’

Here and there

The recently-sold Ditka Sports Dome, in Bolingbrook, will re-open Saturday, but strictly as a restaurant, now called McQ’s. The indoor golf area is being renovated and the first shots won’t be hit there until November….Acquiring Ryder Cup tickets might still be possible, assuming you’re willing to buy at least four tickets to the May 24-27 Senior PGA Championship at Michigan’s Harbor Shores course. For details contact www.RyderCupAdmin@pgahq.com…..The fourth annual Sunshine Marathon, a fundraiser for the Chicago District Golf Assn. charity arm, is Saturday at the Zigfield Troy course in Woodridge….A record 1,364 players entered the July 5-8 U.S. Women’s Open at Wisconsin’s Blackwolf Run. They range from 11-year old Californian Elizabeth Wang to Arizona resident Bobbi Lancaster, 61….A new Chicago company, NewSpin Golf, is about to introduce SwingSmart, a game improvement tool that provides instant information on key elements of the swing….Kewanee’s Tim Miler was the champion in the rain-shortened Illinois Public Links Championship at George Dunne National in Tinley Park….The 54-hole Illinois Mid-Amateur concludes today (WEDNESDAY) at Flossmoor.

Monday’s rains forced the Illinois Public Links Championship to be reduced from 36 to 18 holes, but the bad weather didn’t hamper the first of two local qualifying rounds for the U.S. Open – the first significant competition of this Chicago golf season.

Northwestern student Sam Chien, an amateur, and Iowa alum Brad Hopfinger, winner of last year’s Illinois Amateur who in his ninth month as a professional, shared medalist honors with 3-under-par 69s at Inverness, and Illinois coach Mike Small also advanced to sectional play by shooting a 70.

Deer Park’s Greg Conrad matched Small’s score and Wisconsin resident Andy Hansen and Bennett Blakeman of Burr Ridge also qualified for sectional play through a sudden death playoff. Blakeman, qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, the first as an amateur and last year as a pro.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will host the second local qualifier on Monday at Schaumburg Golf Club. Most of the survivors of the 90-player eliminations are expected to bid for berths in the Open proper in the June 4 sectional elimination at Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

According to the U.S. Golf Assn. over 9,000 filed entries for this U.S. Open, the finals of which will feature 156 players competing at Olympic Club in San Francisco June 14-17.

Illini head local NCAA invitees

Small, who has guided Illinois to four straight Big Ten championships, got more good news this week when his Illini were assigned the seventh seed among 14 teams in an NCAA regional tournament at Norman, Okla. Loyola, like the Illini a conference champion, had the 14th seed there.

Northwestern, an NCAA qualifier for the 13th time in coach Pat Goss’ 16 seasons, was the ninth seed among 14 teams in a regional at Bowling Green, Ky., while Notre Dame was the 11th seed of 13 teams at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Teaching pros on the move

Joe Bosco, who co-founded the Green To Tee Academy with Peter Donahue in 1991, has opened his own instructional operation at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Donahue, meanwhile, will take the Green To Tee teaching staff to Highland Park Country Club. The Academy had been based at Glencoe since 2004.

In addition to opening his own teaching program, Bosco will team up with Mike Adams, who has taught numerous pro tour players, on a Foundation for Achievement program that consists of four-hour sessions at The Glen on May 21 and 22. Bosco and Adams will also host a Teach the Teacher Workshop for Illinois PGA professionals on May 22 at The Glen.

Silver Lake range to open

The 45-hole Silver Lake facility in Orland Park will hold the ribbon cutting for its new practice range at 11 a.m. on Friday. Long drive champion Joe Hajduch will be featured at the ceremonies.

Silver Lake has operated without a range since its opening in 1927. The new range will be located near the No. 9 hole on the North course, and that hole has been reduced to a par-3 to accommodate the range construction.

Here and there

Luke Donald’s fourth annual Taste of the First Tee fundraiser has been scheduled for June 20 at Northern Trust’s headquarters in downtown Chicago. Fellow PGA Tour stars Steve Stricker and Mark Wilson will also participate….The rain-shortened Illinois Public Links tourney wrap up Tuesday with 18 holes at the George Dunne National course in Tinley Park…..The Northwestern women’s team is the 15th seed in the 24-team NCAA East Regional, which begins a three-day run Thursday at State College, Pa…..GolfVisions has added Chapel Hill, in McHenry, to its Chicago area portfolio….The Crystal Lake Golf Learning Center, which is located across the street from the Prairie Isle course in Prairie Grove, has undergone an ownership change with Eric Pelfresne the new general manager….Erin Hills, a future U.S. Open site in Wisconsin, opens for the season on Thursday (MAY 10)…..Lemont’s Cog Hill has scheduled a two-person scramble tournament for May 19 on the No. 1 course…..Settler’s Hill, in Batavia, has set a May 22 opening. It’s been closed to accommodate a Waste Management renovation.

Last Sunday’s conclusion of the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open created a time of reflection for Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti, whose last appearance on golf’s premier circuit was at that tournament in 2011.

For Affrunti, a former Illinois Open champion and University of Illinois graduate, the last year has been difficult – and that’s putting it mildly. He became one of the few Chicago golfers in the last four decades to earn a coveted PGA Tour card in 2010, thanks to his showing on the Nationwide Tour. A shoulder injury, though, has prevented him from demonstrating his talents on the biggest stage in golf.

Affrunti played in six PGA Tour events last year, making the cut in two. He was never healthy, and was eventually diagnosed with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required surgery last June. Affrunti has been rehabbing ever since. Two weeks ago he played his first 18-hole round, though he had to pick up on some holes.

“It’s been a real slow process, in part because I played on it too long,’’ said Affrunti, who has been practicing at TPC-Sawgrass, the Florida course that will host The Players Championship next month. He’s still a PGA Tour member, but is on a major medical exemption that will continue for awhile.

“I determine when I come back,’’ said Affrunti. “They allow you five Nationwide rehabilitation starts. I expect to make some of those in August or September, then go to Q-School in hopes of improving my status.’’

Even with Tour membership, it’s tough to get into tournaments and Affrunti will have seven months to earn enough money to keep his card once he returns to the circuit. He doesn’t want to rush things, and doesn’t expect to play in a PGA Tour event until 2013.

“The shoulder is coming along,’’ said Affrunti. “I ice it three-four times a day. I’ve played nine holes lots of times, but it’s a little sporadic where the ball goes.’’

Kemper expands its focus

Kemper Sports has been a big player in Chicago golf since 1978, but this season the Northbrook-based group that had managed seven Chicago golf facilities has taken on two notable additional projects. Two of Chicago’s oldest public facilities are now getting the Kemper influence with new personnel in place.

Rick Walrath has taken charge as general manager and head professional at Deerpath, the only public course in Lake Forest. The city-owned facility opened in 1927 and operates near three of Chicago’s premier private clubs – Onwentsia, Knollwood and Conway Farms.

“Deerpath is unique,’’ said Walrath, a former head pro at Wynstone in Barrington and assistant at Crystal Lake Country Club. “Well over 50 percent of our players are walkers. That’s very unusual in this day and age.’’

Fox Lake Lake Country Club, which opened in 1925, is one of the few family-owned courses left in the area. The Petrungaro family has owned this 18-holer, which also received a new GM-head pro in Vince Juarez. He had a similar role at Antioch Golf Club.

Kemper has also brought in a new GM at Highland Park Country Club, with Randy Farber moving over from Bolingbrook.

Here and there

A big weekend is ahead for Big Ten golfers. For the first time the men’s and women’s conference championships will be held at the same site – French Lick Resort in southern Indiana. The men will compete at the Pete Dye Course and the women at the Donald Ross Course. Competition runs Friday-Sunday. French Lick will also host both tourneys in 2013 and 2014.…. TaylorMade, Nike and Wilson will display their equipment at Deerpath’s Demo Day from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday….The Illinois PGA’s assistants and senior players begin their tournament seasons on Monday (APRIL 30). The assistants are at Northmoor in Highland Park and the seniors at Golf Club of Illinois in Algonquin…The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct its first qualifiers for the Illinois Mid-Amateur Championship at Village Greens of Woodridge on Monday and Balmoral Woods in Crete on Tuesday.

Cog Hill is off the PGA Tour calendar for only the second time since 1991 this year, but that won’t keep owner Frank Jemsek from tweaking his Dubsdread layout that hosted both the Western Open and BMW Championship.

Jemsek opened the premier course on his 72-hole Lemont complex last week with some minor changes. The fifth hole, which played as a par-4 for the PGA Tour stars, is now being played as a 507-yard par-5 from the back tees and the long, tight ninth hole has been shortened from the 613 yards it played for the pros to a maximum of 586. Both changes were made to answer complaints from PGA staffers, who felt No. 5 was too long for a par-4 and No. 9 was too long regardless of its par.

More significant changes will come down the road, with controversial architect Rees Jones still in charge. His $5.2 million renovation of the course in 2008 was widely criticized by PGA Tour players, a big reason the Western Golf Assn. moved the BMW Championship to Conway Farms in Lake Forest when it returns to Chicago in 2013.

“One reason we chose Rees was because he could enhance what the original architects (Joe Lee and Dick Wilson) did,’’ said Jemsek. “It’s a huge advantage having the same guy coming in so you get the same feeling.’’

Jemsek anticipates Jones eventually altering the No. 1 hole with the removal of some bunkers on the right side of the fairway and building a new tee box that will shorten the par-5 15th. He also wants Jones to re-design the seldom-used alternate hole for the par-3 second. Jones will devise a plan for those upgrades later this year, and Jemsek said the work would be done “down the line…..We’d like to have a little money in the bank first.’’

He downplayed the pros’ complaints of the last two years.

“Some things that they dislike now will go away over time,’’ said Jemsek. “It’s a great golf course, certainly a wonderful course.’’

Ryder Cup fever, Scottish-style

The next Ryder Cup will be contested at Medinah in September, but that didn’t keep the event’s host country in 2014 from coming to Chicago for promotional purposes last week. Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for culture and external affairs, was on hand to launch a design competition for one of the giant golf balls which will adorn Chicago’s streets in advance of the Medinah event.

Excitement for 2014, though, is already in full force in Scotland.

“Our objective is to host the best-ever Ryder Cup, and reinforce Scotland’s position as being the Home of Golf,’’ said Hyslop . “The Ryder Cup is regarded as the third biggest event on the sports calendar, behind only the football (soccer) World Cup and the Olympics. Scotland is the perfect stage for world-class events.’’

No question Scotland is big on golf. Last year the country hosted the Johnnie Walker Championship, Dunhill Links, Walker Cup matches, Women’s British Open, Barclay’s Scottish Open and Ladies Scottish Open.

Hyslop reported an unprecedented level of investment in commercial golf facilities in recent years ($400 million), and three more big resorts are in the works — Blairs Estate in Aberdeenshire ($180 million), DeVere West in Linton ($80 million) and Whitekirk in East Lothian ($25 million).

Here and there

Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, who qualified for the Illinois Open as a 15-year old last summer, finished second to Texan Branson Davis in the Goodman Networks Junior Championship last week in Bryan, Tex. Connor Black, the 2011 Western Golf Assn. Junior champion at Beverly in Chicago, was third…..Indian Lakes, in Bloomingdale, has scheduled two Demo Days. Callaway and Nike will show their products from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on April 29 and TaylorMade and Adams will do the same from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on May 6…..The Illinois PGA will conduct its Country Club of Decatur Classic on Monday (APRIL 23) and the Chicago District Golf Assn. opens its tournament season the following day with its Better Ball of Pairs competition at The Glen Club in Glenview….Medinah will host Illinois Patriot Golf Day on May 29, benefitting Illinois military families in need. The third annual event will be played primarily on the club’s No. 1 course, but No. 3 (the Ryder Cup venue) will also be used on a limited basis…. A celebrity charity event has been added to the Chicago calendar. The Chicago Legends Golf Classic is scheduled for Aug. 10 at Oak Brook Hills Marriott to raise funds for the Dr. Jeff Foundation, which helps parents with critically ill children.

Batavia-based Greg Martin has been one busy golf course architect within the Chicago area of late. Three of his public course projects are about to open for the season, and at least three others are in the works.

Martin handled two renovation projects last fall — the front nine at Fox Run in Elk Grove and the South nine at Arrowhead in Wheaton. Only the back nine at Fox Run has been playable so far this surprising spring, but the opening of the front is now scheduled for April 20.

The 27-hole Arrowhead facility has 18 of its 27 holes in operation. Martin has been working on that layout in nine-hole increments. He completed work on the East nine and did his work on the South last fall. That nine is to re-open in late April, with no date set yet. The West nine,which hasn’t been given the Martin touch yet, is now open, and Martin will do his work there in the fall.

Last fall he also did some tweaking at Settler’s Hill, in Batavia. That course is scheduled to open for the season around May 1.

Martin also expects to apply his talents at Wilmette, Mount Prospect, Prairie Bluff, in Lockport, and Oak Meadows, in Addison, in the near future. Oak Meadows will be the biggest project of the bunch. One of Chicago’s oldest public layouts, it was created as private Elmhurst Country Club in 1919 and assumed public status under its current name in 1986.

A charming layout that was the site of Ben Hogan’s victory in the 1941 Chicago Open, Oak Meadows has been hampered by flooding problems for years.

“We know we need to fix the golf course,’’ said Martin, whose firm was chosen from the 22 who applied for the job through the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. He isn’t sure how many of the present holes will remain, or if the adjoining East nine-holer will be incorporated into the re-design.

“Nothing’s off the table now,’’ he said. “Nos. 1, 2, 17 and 18 — those are great holes. We should keep them in some way.’’

Oak Meadows, which also lost its clubhouse in a fire several years ago, will remain in its current state for two years as design plans are finalized and work permits are acquired. Martin doesn’t expect the project to be completed until 2016.

“That reveals the complexity of the issue that exists,’’ he said. “We want to solve as many problems as we can.’’

Dubs set to open

Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course, a PGA Tour site every year but one since the Western Golf Assn. moved the Western Open there in 1991, opens for the season on Saturday (APRIL 14). The Lemont layout won’t host the pros this time, as the WGA moved September’s BMW Championship to Crooked Stick in Indianapolis. Jemsek Golf, though, has been working with both the PGA Tour and U.S. Golf Assn. in an effort to bring another high-profile competition to its 72-hole complex.

In the meantime, the Jemseks have altered the superintendent duties. Scott Pavalko, who joined the staff last year to ready Dubsdread for its last BMW Championship, will now also assume responsibility for the No. 2 course as well. The retiring Ken Lapp will oversee Nos. 1 and 3.

Here and there

The Illinois PGA has its Pro Pro competition scheduled for Monday at Chicago’s Harborside International….Dewey Lewis, who has taught and competed at Cog Hill for over 30 years, has been rewarded with emeritus status….The Downers Grove Golf Club will host the 36th annual Pine Hollow Open on April 28. Entries will be accepted through April 18….A Demo Day has been scheduled at Cog Hill on April 28….Cantigny, in Wheaton, has scheduled five Welcome to Golf clinics from adults and families. They’ll start in May.