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…
Daily Herald Columns
Stadler ailing for his Encompass title defense
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…
Rich Harvest is good site for Illini to earn a return to NCAA finals
Jerry Rich makes no bones about it. The biggest event he’ll ever host at his Rich Harvest Farms course in Sugar Grove is the International Crown, which won’t arrive until 2016. Rich calls that new LPGA international team event “my legacy,’’ but that doesn’t mean that Rich Harvest won’t take on other big events. Five,…
India’s 61 in U.S. Open qualifying precedes Malm’s bid for a three-peat
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….
Chicago trio seeks success on Web.com Tour
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,…
NU, Illini will defend titles in Big Ten golf at French Lick
Illinois and Northwestern have become perennial contenders for the men’s and women’s golf titles in the Big Ten Conference, and that’ll again be the case when collegiate postseason play begins this weekend. The NU women shared last year’s Big Ten title and are the highest-ranked conference team (No. 12) in the national polls. Last year…
Winter damage is creating a difficult spring at Chicago golf courses
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…
Donald is best bet among local players at the Masters
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,…
Ex-Kemper pro wants to take Kinderlou Forest to a new level
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…
Encompass tourney gets the spotlight at Chicago Golf Show
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…