Category: Features

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Woods won’t have White Eagle record for long

Sooner rather than later one of Tiger Woods’ longest-standing course records will be broken. I suspect it won’t take long. Curtis Malm just needs to find someone willing to play the championship tees with him at White Eagle Golf Club.

No one plays back there these days on White Eagle’s Red-White rotation of nines that comprise its championship course. (Another course record of 64 was set by member Ron Potter in 1998 using the regular tees).

Woods was still an amateur in the mid-1990s when he shot 4-under-par 68 while in town to play in the Western Open. Malm, the Illinois PGA Player-of-the-Year the last two seasons, became White Eagle’s head professional last winter and certainly has the game to take Woods’ name off the record books – and you can be sure he’ll be trying to do just that.

White Eagle players face a shot towards the clubhouse to finish their rounds.
In the meantime, White Eagle is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It’s a vibrant private club located in Naperville on the Aurora border that has a tournament history that shouldn’t be forgotten.

The club was created amidst cornfields for its opening in 1989. Just three years later its Red-White nines were used for the LPGA Chicago Sun-Times Shootout. The tourney was first held the year before at Oak Brook Golf Club, when Martha Nause produced one of the greatest finishes in LPGA history to win the title.

Nause finished birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle, holing out from the fairway on the last hole to beat Kris Monaghan by one stroke in the LPGA’s first return to Chicago in 18 years. The LPGA had a Chicago stop in its first season of 1950, but was a very sporadic visitor after that. Though the U.S. Women’s Open was played at LaGrange Country Club in 1974 and 1981, the last LPGA Tour stop before the Sun-Times Shootout was in 1973 – the Child & Family Service Open at Midlane, in Wadsworth.

As exciting as Nause’s win at Oak Brook was, the tourney profile was definitely elevated by the move to White Eagle – the first Arnold Palmer-designed course in Illinois.

White Eagle hosted in 1992, when Dottie Mochrie won the title. (She was married then, but later assumed her maiden name of Pepper and went on to a career as a top TV golf analyst).

The Sun-Times’ role as title sponsor ended after the 1993 tourney, won by a relative unknown in Cindy Schreyer, and Peter Fleming – best known as John McEnroe’s doubles partner on the tennis circuit – was the leader in keeping the event alive in 1994. The tourney was renamed the Chicago Challenge, and Jane Geddes was the champion.

Sponsorship was hard to come by after that, but the successful three-year run at White Eagle led to Chicago getting the U.S. Women’s Open again in 2000 (Karrie Wood winning at the Merit Club in Libertyville) and another LPGA Tour stop. The Kellogg-Keebler Classic was played at Stonebridge, in Aurora, from 2002-04 and it had high-profile champions in Annika Sorenstam (2002, 2003) and Webb (2004).

White Eagle hasn’t needed big tournaments to thrive since then. It added its Blue nine in 1996, making it one of the few private facilities in Chicago with more than 18 holes. A few years ago a golf simulator was added for use in the winter. The club has 75 players in its busy junior program, a caddie program that employs 40-45 youngsters, clay courts for tennis buffs and a swimming program that has participants from beyond the club membership.

The Chicago District Golf Association’s Sunshine Through Golf program also is a six-week visitor during the summer and the club hosts about 80 weddings and 20 corporate outings each year.

Malm’s arrival suggests a significant competitive event might be in the club’s future again, but only time will tell. For now club leadership is planning a renovation process that will strictly focus on enhancing the golf experiences for its members and guests. Part of the 25th anniversary celebration included an outing that featured Greg Huigens (photo below at right), who was both the men’s champion and men’s senior champion at White Eagle in 2013. Joining us the the celebration outing are Chicagoland Golf publisher Val Russell (left) and club historian Chip Wagner (second from left).

JDC may have had humble beginnings — but look at PGA Tour stop now!

The John Deere Classic wasn’t always the John Deere Classic. Illinois’ only visit from the PGA Tour in 2014 had a modest beginning. For starters, it was called the Quad Cities Open and was only a satellite event on the circuit in 1971.

That first event was played on 6501-yard Crow Valley Country Club in Bettendorf, Iowa. Deane Beman – later to become the PGA Tour commissioner – took home a check for $5,000 for winning the first tournament, and Crow Valley got the attention of some prospective home buyers who purchased property around the course.

Things didn’t change much the next year. Beman won again (but this time his check was for $20,000) and there were more home owners around Crow Valley. Beman played one more year, finishing in a tie for sixth in 1973, and Crow Valley hosted two more times, Sam Adams winning in 1973 and Dave Stockton in 1974.

That’s how it all began. The tourney moved to Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, IL., the next year and remained until 1999. During its stay there the tourney had a variety of names – the Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad City Open from 1975-79, the Quad Cities Open again from 1980-81, the Miller High-Life Quad Cities Open from 1982-84, the Lite Quad Cities Open in 1985, Hardee’s Golf Classic from 1986-94, the Quad City Classic from 1995-98 and – finally – the John Deere Classic.

Going back to Crow Valley and Oakwood is always fun. I’ve played both, most recently Oakwood last month. Both are still very nice private clubs, but TPC Deere Run was a big factor in taking the tournament to a new level.

John Deere, the official Golf Course Equipment Supplier of the PGA Tour, became the title sponsor of the tournament in 1999 and the tourney moved to TPC John Deere Run the following year.

For years the tournament, in one of the smallest markets on the PGA Tour, carried on with its future in limbo. That’s no longer the case. Now it’s one of the biggest success stories on the circuit.

The JDC will be held for 44th straight year from July 7-13 with a $4.7 million purse and no worries about the quality of its field. The tourney at first had September dates, in the days before the FedEx Cup playoffs. Lots of top players were reluctant to play after August’s PGA Championship in those days.

Then the JDC was moved to July, but in a time slot a week before the British Open. Many players opted to use JDC week for rest and more leisurely travel across the pond until JDC director Clair Peterson hired a jet to fly them directly to the British Open site a few hours after the last putt dropped at TPC Deere Run.

Peterson made that innovative move seven years ago, and the field has been solid ever since. This year’s has the most exciting young player in golf, 20-year old Jordan Spieth, as its defending champion and popular past champions Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson return as well.

TPC Deere Run is located in Silvis, IL. Like Oakwood, the course is on the outskirts of the Quad Cities – officially comprised of Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa.

Those Mississippi River towns roughly two hours west of Chicago have a combined 375,000 residents. Last year’s John Deere Classic helped raise $6.3 million for 467 charities in the Quad Cities area, ranking it first overall on the PGA Tour in per capital contributions. Since 1971 the tournament has helped raise $55.38 million for charity. Golf has indeed been good to the people of the Quad Cities.

“We’re so fortunate to have a golf course like this and an operation like this,’’ said Peterson. “Deere Run is one of the great venues on the Tour.’’

This year there was one significant change in the ranks. Alex Stuedemann is now the head superintendent, replacing Paul Grogan who has moved into retirement but is still involved.

Otherwise, it’s efficient business as usual with Laura “Divot’’ Ekizian heading the 1,400 tournament volunteers for a staff that is headed by Peterson, director of sales and operation Sally Welvaert, assistant tournament director Andrew Lehman, office manager Vickie McWhorter, administrative assistant Sara Stalf, Birdies for Charity leader Kristy Kethcham Jackson and Amy Orendorff, manager of charity development and services.

“This is truly a team of professionals, and they’re passionate about what they do and they’re committed to doing it the right way,’’ said Ekizian. “Within the PGA Tour ranks they’re respected for the results they bring year in and year out.’’

Peterson’s jet will fly to the British Open again, this time to Royal Liverpool, and his longstanding sponsor exemption policy has bolstered the tournament as well.

`We have a proud history of giving elite young players an opportunity to test their games against the highest level of competition,’’ he said. “By doing so, the tournament gives its loyal fans a glimpse of the PGA Tour’s future stars.’’

Provide a helping hand to a young player in need, and he’ll tend to remember that kindness down the road. That was never more evident this year, when Spieth prepared to defend his first PGA Tour title. He had received a sponsor’s exemption in 2012 when Johnson emerged the JDC champion.

Spieth would have received another invitation last year had he needed it, but he got into the 156-man field off his own record and the 19-year old went on to become the youngest winner of a top-level professional tour event in the last 80 years. He outplayed Johnson and Canadian David Hearn in a five-hole playoff after holing a bunker shot on the last hole of regulation play to stay in contention.

“There’s no way I win last year without that opportunity the year before,’’ said Spieth. “There’s no way that I’m able to feel comfortable and make the adjustment on the PGA Tour so quickly without the few starts I was given….This is just a very, very special tournament close to my heart, not because I won. It already was before that. This tournament just does it right. I love coming to the Quad Cities. There’s nowhere that has people this nice.’’

Johnson, a JDC sponsor exemption in 2002 and 2003, is on the tournament board of directors and has sponsorship from the tournament. Others who received invites to play in the Quad Cities include Justin Leonard (1994), Tiger Woods (1996), Matt Kuchar (2001), Jason Day (2006) and Patrick Reed (2013). Their careers have blossomed, and this year Peterson has given exemptions to four college stars – Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers and Cameron Wilson, Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge and Iowa’s Steven Ihm.

Rodgers is the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur. Wilson, ranked No. 2, won this year’s NCAA individual championship.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Tweaking is almost done at Erin Hills

Erin Hills has undergone more than its share of tweaks in its brief history, but interest in the layout 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee has never wavered. In fact, enthusiasm for the course has grown with each of the changes made since the opening in 2006.

It’s good news, though, that the alterations are just about done.

“Except for the practice putting green we’re pretty much where we want to be for the U.S. Open,’’ said Jim Reinhart, ‘’ general chairman for the national championship’s first-ever staging in Wisconsin in 2017.

Erin Hills’ new third green isn’t short on pin placements after what figures to be the last big tweak to the course in preparation for the 2017 U.S. Open.
Reinhart, president of the Wisconsin State Golf Assn., was also general chairman of the 2011 U.S. Amateur played at Erin Hills. He likes the progress that’s been made since then. Work on the course began in 2004 under the direction of architects Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten, and Erin Hills became the first course awarded a USA championship (the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links) before it even opened for play.

None of the events staged so far will have the impact the Open will have, of course. Recent U.S. Opens have had an economic impact on its area of between $120 and $160 million. Erin Hills is excited about its upcoming time in the sun – and is already looking behind 2017.

“We’ve seen tremendous building in and around the golf course,’’ said Reinhart. “We’re proud of where we’ve come from and where’s we’re at today. We certainly hope this is just the beginning for U.S. Opens at Erin Hills. We don’t look on this as a one-and-done opportunity.’’

The course has conducted media briefing days each year since being awarded its U.S. Open, and this year’s spotlight was put on Zach Reineking, the course superintendent who was on the job even before the course opened. He outlined the most recent changes, the biggest coming at the par-4 third hole, which is designed to play at 478 yards from the back tees. Reineking said No. 3 turned into a bigger project than originally planned.

“It started with a re-design of just the green,’’ he said.

This is the new fourth cottage, which adds to the lodging options at Erin Hills.

In the end, though, that putting surface wasn’t just re-designed to get more pin locations. It was also moved 18 yards to the right and three bunkers were added to protect it.

“Now it’s one of our better holes,’’ Reineking said.

Two new tees were added at No. 5, another was put it at No. 15 to create the possibility of a drive-able par-4 and still another was put in at No. 17 to create a different angle into the fairway.

“One reason the USGA liked Erin Hills was because (executive director) Mike Davis liked the flexibility of the golf course,’’ said Reinhart. “We also have the space (more than 652 acres) for the corporate setup, and we’re excited about the number of spectators we can have for 2017 (an estimated 45,000 per day). We’re one of the few places where you can have corporate hospitality right on the golf course, and we’re sure we’ll have a lot of that here.’’

Erin Hills now has many similarities with Pinehurst No. 2, which hosted both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open this year. That was the first time those big events were staged back-to-back on the same course and the experiment has generally been considered a success.

“We share a lot of the same philosophies as Pinehurst. We have very restricted irrigation,’’ said Reineking. “How we manage our course is very similar to Pinehurst. If we get rain, we get rain. If not we allow those fairways to burn out.’’

Pinehurst has its wire-grass in the rough areas. Erin Hills has 140 acres of unmowed fescue. In recent years 2,000 trees were removed, and that opened up more panoramic views.

“It’s been an evolutionary process,’’ said Reineking. “We’ve gone through several changes since 2006, and the next three years we’ll refine details for 2017.’’

General chairman Jim Reinhart updates the media on Erin Hills’ preparations for the 2017 U.S. Open. John Morrissett, the club’s competitions director, looks on.
John Morrissett, Erin Hills’ competitions director, said tickets would go on sale for the 2017 U.S. Open shortly after; the 2016 U.S. Open concludes at Chambers Bay, in University Place, Wash. Like Wisconsin in 2017, next year’s Open will break new ground, too. It’ll be the first time the national championship is played in the Pacific Northwest.

Two USGA staffers will move to Erin Hills this winter. By the end of 2015 there’ll be a recruitment for volunteers.

“Our U.S. Amateur needed 800,’’ said Morrissett. “The U.S. Open will need about 5,000. We’re fortunate in that we have an enthusiastic, experienced base of volunteers.’’

In the meantime, this future U.S. Open venue continues to attract curious golfers from throughout the world. They’ll be coming right up to the closing date on Oct. 26. It’s all part of the extraordinary golf boom that has engulfed the entire state of Wisconsin the last few years.

“We went from a golf wasteland to one of the premier destinations in American championship golf,’’ said Reinhart.

And that golf boom won’t be subsiding any time soon. Golfers will keep coming.

As far as Erin Hills is concerned, that led to the building of a fourth four-bedroom cottage on the premises that’s now available. Rooms start at $195, suites at $450 and cottages at $1,100. The 2014 green fee is $225 per player plus caddie fees ($50 per player plus a suggested gratuity of $45 per bag).

There’ll also be an event to whet the appetite for the spectator golf to come. Erin Hills will host the Wisconsin State Amateur in 2015.

MISSION HILLS: Thoughts about my walk down memory lane

I found this interesting. My introduction to golf came at age 11 when my mother took me to Mission Hills, then a 27-hole public facility in Northbrook, IL., along with another mother and her son, who was about my age. We still lived on the northwest side of Chicago then and didn’t move to Palatine (actually then-unincorporated Inverness) until the following year.

Mission Hills was one of the older public courses then, having opened in 1926. I didn’t return to the place until about 1975, when the father-son architecture team of Larry and Roger Packard completely renovated the facility and turned it into what I believe to be Chicago’s first golf course community. It had 18 holes that weaved between high-rise condos, and the thinking then was that the housing was too close to the golf course in many places. Mission Hills became a private facility in the middle of a gated community shortly after its opening.

Fast forward to this week and a hot, humid mid-week day. Coupons arrived via email with an extraordinary offer — $25 for 18 holes with power cart at Mission Hills. This was a perfect time for a walk down memory lane.

Mission Hills had struggled economically as a private club in recent years and, like many others, took on public play after an ownership change last year. At that price it was a bargain. Though the clubhouse was undergoing some work, the course was in good condition. It was short and tight by today’s standards – I learned that only the No. 12 hole remained from the course I played my first round on – but the housing didn’t seem quite so close to the course as it did about 40 years ago.

What intrigued me was the price. What could the greens fee have been for my golf debut in 1955-56? My guess is about $25 — and this year the fee also included a power cart. They didn’t exist back then, of course. Golf was a walking game, and we walked this time. I could be wrong about the greens fee estimate, and welcome any more accurate appraisal, but the entire experience got me to thinking, at least a few things haven’t changed all that much over all these years.

U.S. Senior Open hopefuls head to Village Links of Glen Ellyn

The Champions Tour players didn’t all leave town after the Encompass Championship concluded. Many in Sunday’s field stayed around for Monday’s sectional qualifying round for the U.S. Senior Open at Village Links of Glen Ellyn.

Ninety players will battle for six spots in the Senior Open proper, to be held at Oak Tree in Edmond, Okla., from July 10-13. Among them are Champions Tour members Tommy Armour III, Tom Byrum, Jose Coceres, Rick Fehr, Anders Forsbrand and Brian Henninger. Because of its proximity to the Encompass, the Chicago sectional may have the strongest field of any of 34 qualifiers held across the U.S. to whittle the 2,715 entrants down to the 156 who will compete at Oak Tree.

Hinsdale’s Jeff Sluman didn’t have to qualify. He was already assured a spot in the Senior Open and looking forward to it with a touch of nostalgia. Sluman won his only major title there in the 1988 PGA Championship.

“In 26 years I went back just one day, and that was the following year,’’ said Sluman. “They had a Senior PGA Championship there, but that was before I turned 50. I know there have been changes made in the course, but I’ve been told the routing hasn’t changed.’’

Oak Tree is a Pete Dye design that Sluman is certain will be challenging.

“It had been labeled the world’s most difficult test at the time I won,’’ he said. “I led the tournament in fairways hit and greens in regulation. I’m excited because I know I can play that golf course well, but 26 years later? It is what it is.’’

Here and there

Professional Jeff Hart and amateur Jody Rotondo won the pro-am portion of the Encompass after the last pros finished their Saturday round on Sunday morning. They posted a 119 score for the two days and won by four strokes over pro Roger Chapman and amateur Andrew McCabe.

Bernhard Langer, leader in the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup standings, finished tied for 20th. It ended a streak of 20 straight tournaments in which Langer finished in the top 10.

Hale Irwin shot his age (69) on Sunday. The winner of a U.S. Open, Western Open and Champions Tour event in Chicago during his career, Irwin finished in a tie for 39th on Sunday.

Defending champion Craig Stadler won with a 13-under-par performance in 2013. He was 3-over-par in his title defense and tied for 68th place.

Sluman was the best of the locals, finishing in a tie for sixth after a 69 on Sunday. Gary Hallberg, who grew up in Barrington but has long resided in Colorado, tied for 39th and Lake Forest resident Chip Beck tied for 59th among the 81 contestants.

Here’s five players well worth watching at Encompass tourney

The 12th event on the Champions Tour’s 2014 schedule, the $1.8 million Encompass Championship, begins its 54-hole run on Friday at North Shore Country Club in Glenview.

Last of the event’s three pro-ams is on tap for Thursday and the first two rounds of the 54-hole tourney proper will have a tournament within a tournament, with each of the 81 professionals teaming up with an amateur in a two-man competition. Among the amateurs are a few celebrities types – Brian Urlacher, Patrick Mannely, Gary Fencik, Kyle Long and Joe Theismann (football); Chris Collins and Toni Kukoc (basketball); Jeremy Roenick (hockey); and Gary Williams (Golf Channel anchor).

Only the pros will play on Sunday, when the champion will receive $270,000. Here are five of the pros who warrant your attention:

1, BERNHARD LANGER – 56, Germany.

With Martin Kaymer winning last week’s U.S. Open, this might be a big year for German golfers. Langer is the only multiple-winner on the Champions Tour and is leading the money list and Charles Schwab Cup standings as well.

In his PGA Tour days Langer won the Masters twice (1985, 1993). He divided his time then between the U.S. and European tours, but he’s focused on the Champions Tour since his 50th birthday and has been the circuit’s leading money winning in five of the last seven years.

He opened this season with a victory at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii in January and also won the Insperity Invitational in Texas. He’s also had three second-places finishes and finished in the top 10 in all 10 starts, his worst finish being a tie for ninth at the Regions Tradition in Alabama last month.

Langer made his usual workmanlike showing in last year’s Encompass Championship, finishing in a seven-way tie for third place.

2, KENNY PERRY, 53, Franklin, Ky.

Though he plays more on the Champions circuit, Perry is still a factor on the PGA Tour. He was the oldest player in last week’s U.S. Open, finishing in a tie for 28th place at Pinehurst No. 2.

In part because he splits his time between tours Perry is down in fourth place in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, trailing Langer, Jay Haas and Colin Montgomerie.

Though he didn’t win a major on the PGA Tour (he lost the 1996 PGA title to Mark Brooks in a playoff and was runner-up in the 2009 Masters), Perry accumulated 14 PGA Tour victories including the 2008 John Deere Classic.

He has six wins on the Champions Tour including one of this year’s majors, the Regions Tradition. Last year he won back-to-back Champions majors – the Senior Players Championship and U.S. Senior Open, the first time that feat has been accomplished since Haas did it in 2008.

His tie for third in last year’s Encompass was just another good result that helped him win the Charles Schwab Cup and Champions Tour Player-of-the-Year.

3, JEFF SLUMAN, 56, Hinsdale.

Sluman has had a Chicago area residence since the 1990s, when he was a regular on the PGA Tour. He once held the record at Cog Hill’s Dubsdead course with a 63 in the Western Open.

A big fan of the Cubs, Bears and Formula One auto racing, Sluman is co-owner of a golf course in Rochester, N.Y., where he grew up. He’s also a serious wine collector, with over 2,000 bottles accumulated since 1957.

His biggest moment as a golfer came in 1988, when he won the PGA Championship, but he also included two wins in the Greater Milwaukee Open (1998, 2002) among his six PGA Tour victories.

He’s been a regular contender on the Champions Tour and has $595,726 in winning to show for this season. The last tournament has been the season highlight so far. Sluman teamed with Fred Funk to win the Legends of Golf two-man team event in Branson, Mo., two weeks ago.

Sluman played a major role in bringing the Champions Tour back to Chicago last year after an 11-year absence and he was in contention throughout, ending in the seven-way tie for third place.

CRAIG STADLER, 61, Denver, Colo.

No one gave Stadler, affectionately known as The Walrus, a chance last year since he hadn’t contended in a tournament since 2007. Stadler, though, put together rounds of 67, 65 and 71 for a 54-hole total of 13-under-par 203 to win the tournament.

He held off Fred Couples down the stretch to win the $270,000 first place check and that was a big reason he finished in the top 30 on the Champions Tour money list for the first time since 2008.

Hip and back injuries have hampered Stadler this season, forcing him to withdraw from two tournaments, but he showed signs of recovery when he teamed with Kirk Triplett for a third-place finish in the Legends of Golf.

Stadler won the 1982 Masters and played with his son Kevin in this year’s event, making them the first father-son team to play in the same Masters. Kevin qualified for a return in 2015, while Craig has said that will be his last appearance at Augusta National. He also has another son, Chris, who played football at Lake Forest College.

5, CHIP BECK, 57, Lake Forest.

No player in the Encompass field is more of a hometown favorite than the affable Beck, who not only lives in the area but is also a director in the Western Golf Assn. The WGA, based in Golf, administers the Chip Beck Scholarship, which sends recipients to college annually.

Beck may be best remembered as a PGA Tour player for the 59 he shot in the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational, but he did win four times on the premier circuit and was runner-up in the 1993 Masters as well as the 1986 and 1989 U.S. Opens.

As far as contending this week, however, Beck has to be considered a darkhorse at best. He’s played in only three tournaments on the Champions Tour this season, his best finish being a tie for 32nd at the Toshiba Classic in March, and his winnings are only $18,458.

Beck has played a limited schedule on the Champions Tour since 2006 with no wins yet. He had two second-place finishes in his first season on the circuit, though, and last year he tied for 32nd at North Shore.

Was scheduling back-to-back Opens at Pinehurst No. 2 a good idea?

For American golfers June is the biggest month of the year. It’s U.S. Open time, and this June will be different than all the others. This time you need a primer to know what will be going on, so here goes:

The men’s U.S. Open dates back to 1895 and the U.S. Women’s Open to 1946. Never before have they been played on consecutive weeks on the same course. This year they’ll be played at Pinehurst’s No. 2 course in North Carolina, with the men competing from June 12-15 and the women from June 19-22.

Back-to-back stagings on the same course may never happen again. It’s a grand experiment by the U.S. Golf Assn., and I think it’s a great idea. The women will have to play on a beat-up course, but they have the chance to show just how good they are in comparison to the men – and I think you’ll be surprised when the strokes are added up.

Chances are, this experiment may never be tried again. David Fay, the former executive director of the USGA, was instrumental in the scheduling years ago. He believes that Pinehurst is the only facility that could accommodate such a back-to-back scenario, but he does believe that Pinehurst officials will be happy enough with the results to be willing to try it again. Time will tell.

At any rate, the country’s best golfers like the idea. The tourneys drew a record number of participants – 10,127 for the men and 1,702 for the women. The men, who had to either designate themselves as professional or have a Handicap Index of 1.4, had representatives from all 50 stages, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 75 foreign countries. The women, pros or amateurs with a Handicap Index of 2.4, had entrants from 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 52 foreign countries. Thanks to the eliminations in May most of them have already been eliminated.

The men had 111 local qualifiers in May, and the survivors will kick off June at one of 10 sectional eliminations around the U.S. Unfortunately – and for the second straight year – Chicago doesn’t have one. The closest are in Ohio. Most of the PGA Tour players who aren’t exempt from qualifying have entered 36-hole eliminations at either Columbus or Springfield. That’s because the sectionals come immediately after the PGA Tour’s Memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio – a Columbus suburb. More berths at Pinehurst will be offered there.

On the women’s side, there were no local qualifiers. Chicago did host one of the 13 sectionals, at Indian Hill in Winnetka. It had 71 players going after two spots at Pinehurst, and those advancing were Hannah Pietlia of Brighton, Mich., and Elizabeth Thong, of Thornhill, Ontario. Pietlia was medalist with 4-over par 146 for the 36 holes, two better than Tong. Streamwood’s Noriko Nakazaki was the top local player, finishing one strong behind Tony in a tie for third.

Both the men and women will have 156-player fields at Pinehurst, and both tourneys will cut to the low 60 and ties after the first two rounds.

The men’s sectionals in particular are always exciting, given that many name players don’t survive and quite a few competitors who aren’t PGA Tour players do. One of the latter with a seemingly great chance to do that is Vince India. A rookie struggling on the Web.com Tour, India was the talk of the local qualifiers.

The former University of Iowa golfer who grew up in Deerfield 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 course designer 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 State 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, the previous week’s stop on the Web.com Tour at Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta, Ga. He spent time with Azinger working on his alignment after heading to Florida and it paid off with a six-shot win 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.’’

India wasn’t the only Chicago medalist at the 18-hole local qualifiers. Chicago hosted two locals. Cog Hill teaching pro Garrett Chaussard was low man in the first, at George Dunne National in Tinley Park, with a 71. Northwestern star Jack Perry shared medalist honors in the second, at Knollwood Club in Lake Forest, with a 68. Chicago’s David Lipsky shot 66 at the South Bend Country Club to earn medalist honors there and Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr. – like India a struggling Web.com Tour player – was low man at Fox Hollow in Trinity, FL., with a 65.

Four other Chicago players got through the local at George Dunne – pro Andrew Godfrey of Homewood and amateurs Glenn Przybylski of Frankfort, Dan Stringfellow of Roselle and Kenneth Lee of Westmont. Max Scodro, the 2012 Illinois Open champion, and Libertyville’s Michael Schachner were survivors at Knollwood and University of Illinois junior Brian Campbell, the Big Ten player-of-the-year, qualified for sectional play in the Springfield, IL., local at Illini Country Club.

Przybylski had a big May, winning the 23rd and last staging of the Illinois State Amateur Public Links title at Harborside International before surviving his local Open qualifier. Przybylski had also won the Public Links event in 1994 and his repeat 19 years later should serve as a good springboard into U.S. Open sectional play.

In previous years most of the local survivors would opt for a sectional elimination close to home, but Chaussard and Campbell didn’t. A California native who played collegiately at Illinois, Chaussard planned to return to California for sectional play. Though sectional assignments weren’t announced at the time of this printing, the destination for both Chaussard and Campbell, also a California native, appeared to be Lake Merced and Olympic Club in the San Francisco area. Chaussard had particularly good vibes about playing there because he had qualified for the 2008 U.S. Open which was played at a California course — Torrey Pines – after getting through local and sectional qualifiers.

Just getting to Pinehurst would obviously be a great feat, but winning the title after going through 18 holes of local eliminations and 36 of sectional play would be astounding. Most champions are exempt from at least local play based on previous performances. The only players to win the Open after going through local and sectional play were Ken Venturi, in 1964, and Orville Moody, in 1969.

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Getting No. 1 seed gives U.S. boost for International Crown

By Len Ziehm

There’s a drawback to designating one prime superstar in a sport. That policy can work to the detriment of others, and that’s what happened this week, when Tiger Woods announced he wouldn’t play in this year’s Masters. In this case the victim was the LPGA, which had its own big news to unveil at its first major championship of the season.

Woods’ announcement, while definitely newsworthy, was by no means a surprise. He’s been damaged goods most of this season and his decision to undergo back surgery instead of trying to tough it out at Augusta National simply showed common sense.

This trophy will be on the line at the first International Crown.

The golf media – particularly The Golf Channel – tends to overload on all things Tiger and that wasn’t a good thing this time. Over in Rancho Mirage, Calif., the LPGA made some significant announcements just as Woods revealed his Masters pullout. The result was that the women’s announcements sadly got lost in the shuffle because of this latest example of Tiger-mania.

For one thing, the LPGA also lost one of its top stars for awhile. Suzann Peterssen, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, withdrew from the Kraft Nabisco Championship that begins on Thursday. Like Woods, she has had lingering back problems. Peterssen was also a late withdrawal at last week’s Kia Classic.

Of a more long-term nature, the LPGA also unveiled major particulars on its new International Crown – by far the most significant new event in golf this year. The biennial global team event will make its debut July 24-27 at Cave’s Valley in Owings Mills, Md., and be held for the second time at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL., in 2016.

The first International Crown took shape when the stunning 20-pound, 23-inch trophy was unveiled, three Ambassador Sponsors were revealed and ticket sales began on the event’s website – www.LPGAInternationalCrown.com.

Named as Ambassador Sponsors were Hana Financial Group., Pandora Jewelry and Rolex. The trophy was designed and hand-crafted by Tiffany & Co. and required 165 hours of labor during its creation. Grounds tickets were priced at $99 for the week and $25 per day with youngsters under 17 admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. All that came out in California to start off Kraft Nabisco week.

The latest Crown particulars came after the eight qualifying nations were revealed several months ago and the four players on each team were finalized via the world rankings after the Kia Classic concluded. Pettersen’s absence could well impact this week’s Kraft Nabisco tourney but it will have no bearing on the first International Crown. Even with Pettersen’s lofty ranking Norway didn’t make it into the eight qualifying nations so she has no team to play for in the competition.

Going strictly off the world rankings, the first International Crown figures to be a duel competition between the U.S. and South Korea with the U.S. Definitely going in with more momentum. When the qualifying format was announced in January, 2013, South Korea’s top four players were 44 points better than the U.S. foursome. The final rankings, though, found the U.S. with the 32 points to South Korea’s 33. That means the U.S. will be the top-seeded team at Cave’s Valley.

The U.S. foursome is Stacy Lewis (No. 3 in the world), Paula Creamer (8), Lexi Thompson (9) and Christie Kerr (12). South Korea has world No. 1 Inbee Park, So Yeon Ryu (6), Na Yeon Choi (11) and I.K. Kim (15). Japan, the No. 3 seed, is way back with 131 world ranking points. Its top player is Mika Miyazato, at No. 27.

In pool play the U.S. will face Thailand, Spain and Australia while South Korea will battle Japan, Sweden and Chinese Taipei. That will start the unique competition, which will conclude with singles matches on Sunday, so seeding could be important. The South Koreans, though, don’t feel bad about losing the No. 1 spot in the final weeks leading in.

“We finished as the No. 2 seed,’’ said South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi. “We feel a little less pressure than before. The USA has a lot of pressure now, but it’s all fun for each country.’’

Lewis said improved play by the U.S. after the format was announced is encouraging.

“I’ve been beating my head against the wall for the last year and half and nobody would write about it,’’ said Lewis. “I’ve been saying that American golf is in a really good place….It’s nice to get that No. 1 seed to prove to people that we’re here, and we’re competing.’’

IT ZIEHMS TO ME: International Crown trophy will be impressive

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – I’ll let you in on a secret. The trophy that will go to the winner of the LPGA’s biggest-ever event will be one of the most impressive in all of sports.

I received a sneak preview of the prize that the players in the new International Crown event will play for in July during my first visit to LPGA headquarters here (photo below). No pictures of the trophy or descriptions of it were allowed then, and the trophy won’t be officially unveiled until April 1 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

The Crown – 32 players from eight countries battling for that one crown in biennial global match play competition – will be contested for the first time July 21-27 at Caves Valley in Owings Mills, Md. Then it’ll come to Jerry Rich’s Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove in 2016. Rich hopes it’ll stay there, and that isn’t just his dream.

“Our goal is that we want to come back to Chicago,’’ said Kelly Hyne, vice president –LPGA properties. “We know it’s what Jerry wants to do. He wanted to start in 2016 and we wanted to start in 2014, but we love the city of Chicago. We want a partnership with Mr. Rich, and the people at Rich Harvest do a great job.’’

While no LPGA tour events have been played in Chicago since 2002, Rich did host the 2009 Solheim Cup — one of the circuit’s most captivating competitions. The International Crown, though, will be bigger once people understand just what it is.

The concept of a global team match play event is unique in golf, and something that special is just what the LPGA needs to elevate its profile.

LPGA International headquarters have been in Daytona Beach since 1989. A big sign off I-95 pinpoints the location of LPGA International Blvd. with its two 18-hole quality golf courses — designs by long-respected architects Rees Jones and Arthur Hills. But the major thoroughfare also leads to the PGA Tour’s TPC Sawgrass and World Golf Village, in St. Augustine — both a few miles north of Daytona – and the PGA of America is based in Palm Beach Gardens, a few miles to the south. They are also all multiple-course establishments.

Big annual PGA tournaments are played at both TPC Sawgrass (The Players Championship) and Palm Beach Gardens (the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort) and the World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village. Those attractions cause the LPGA base to get somewhat lost in the shuffle, but the LPGA likes being located in the middle of the big men’s organizations.

“That’s really the reason we decided to settle here,’’ said Hyne, in her 13th year with the LPGA. “Every time a new commissioner comes in there’s a rumor that the LPGA is moving, but we’ve got a great deal here.’’

The LPGA had been based at Sweetwater in Houston prior to moving to Florida in 1989. Its offices were across from the Daytona Motor Speedway until the mid-1990s, when the headquarters building and the Jones and Hills courses were built on the 4,000-acre property. The LPGA doesn’t own the courses –Jones’ Champions and Hills’ Legends. Both are owned by the city of Daytona Beach.

In their early years those courses were used for LPGA tournaments. The Sprint Centel Classic, later called the Titleholders, and the ATT Championship were played there, the last stop coming in 2000. Now the biggest events held on the home courses are the LPGA qualifying school and the season-ending event on the satellite Symetra Tour.

There was some turmoil within the LPGA in the years after the big tournaments were moved elsewhere, especially during Carolyn Bivens’ four-year term as commissioner. She preceded current boss Mike Whan, who has engineered some progressive moves headlined by the creation of the International Crown.

Carol Kilian (pictured at right with Hyne amidst paintings of legends Babe Zaharias and Dinah Shore at LPGA headquarters) noticed the evolution perhaps better than anyone else. She was the LPGA’s first director of creative services and an LPGA employee from the outset of the move to Daytona. Since her retirement she has remained in Daytona and is the women’s club champion at LPGA International.

“Mike Whan has revived what I call `the old LPGA,’’’ said Kilian. “He’s created a family atmosphere. The feeling in the building is back to the way it used to be, where you’re really proud of the tour.’’

LPGA headquarters opened in 1996 and has become a hub of activity recently. Ninety-nine employees work there. The building houses the LPGA staff, which includes its marketing, communication and administration personnel. The Symetra Tour, an offshoot of the former Futures Tour before the LPGA purchased that circuit in 2007, is also based there as is the LPGA Teaching Division, which is up to 1,500 members. While the LPGA recently opened an office in South Korea with three staffers, the global operations of the circuit all come out of Daytona.

Under Whan’s direction the LPGA schedule grew from 23 tournaments in 2009 to 28 in 2013 to 33 this year and the Symetra Tour went from 15 stops in 2013 to 20 this year. A new management company, ClubCore, replaced Buena Vista Hospitality as operator of the two courses and a point system – the Race to the CME Globe – was introduced this year.

Like the men’s circuit, the LPGA also has its tour for older players but the LPGA Legends, for stars 45 and over, operate out of Boston with Jane Blalock in charge. That circuit’s growing, too, and another reason why the LPGA’s slogan declares “It’s different out here.’’

Nothing will be more different than the International Crown. The PGA has its two-team events, the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and they’re very popular. Neither, though, has the scope of the International Crown, an ideal event given the LPGA’s more global schedule.

The eight countries qualifying to play in the inaugural Crown at Caves Valley have already been determined on a point system. They are South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Spain, Thailand, Sweden, Chinese Taipei and Australia. The four players who will compete for each of those teams haven’t been determined. The individual point race concludes with the April 1 announcement when the trophy is also unveiled.

This first International Crown doesn’t have a title sponsor. Hyne expects one to be in place for the second staging at Rich Harvest. If all goes according to plan the competition will remain in Sugar Grove, though an occasional staging in Asia hasn’t been ruled out for far down the road.

“We want to be U.S.-based,’’ said Hyne. “We’re marketing it in the U.S.’’

LinksVideo partnership gives LZOG a new dimension

The lenziehmongolf.com website is proud to announce a sixth partnership agreement – and this one is much different than the other five.

Dave “Links’’ Lockhart (left), who has worked for over 20 years in the golf media business and created three award-winning golf TV shows, is bringing his LinksVideo.net to a golf promotional effort that includes Rory Spears’ Golfers on Golf, Tim Cronin’s Illinois Golfer, Cheryl Justak’s Golf Now! Chicago, Brian Weis’ GolfTrips and Bruce Stasch’s Hackers Central.

Spears and Cronin provide regular reports on developments in the sport. Golf Now! Chicago and Golf Trips focus on travel destinations and Hackers Central functions as a course rating service with features mixed in.

While Spears also hosts a golf radio program, Lockhart is the only partner operating on the broadcast side in television. He currently produces Chicago District Golfer TV for the Chicago District Golf Assn. on Comcast SportsNet. Also a well-versed writer, Lockhart has done video work around the world and also has served as on-camera talent.