Chicago District Golfer September 2011 by CDGA

FINGER ROLL Brad Hopfinger goes out on a high note with a win at the Illinois State Amateur Championship

SEPTEMBER 2011 | $2.95

WWW.CDGA.ORG Caption

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GUEST ESSAY Bill Koeneman

The Game for a Lifetime Broadcaster, volunteer, and tournament director, Bill Koeneman reflects on the greatest game of them all

grew up in a little town, Stillwell, Ill., and it didn’t have a golf course. In the eighth grade (during the 1940s), we had to hitchhike in order to play. We’d go to Sparta Country Club or Pinckneyville, and I got hooked on the game the first time I ever played. All I had was a 1-iron, a 6-iron and a putter, and I shot 45 for nine holes. I beat two of the guys in the foursome we played with and remember saying to myself, “This is the easiest game I ever played.” And over the years I came to find out it’s the hardest. There weren’t many kids that played golf then. But a friend of mine, Bob Miller, he and I played every weekend. That’s how I started. Golf has been a really important part of my life. I’ve been on the board of directors of the Chicago District Golf Association for 23 years and I’ve been on the board of directors of the Southern Illinois Golf Association for 50 years. The Koeneman (Insurance) Agency has been sponsoring a tournament and this will be our 43rd year. This was my 29th year to cover the Masters. The people in Carbondale, Ill., wanted me to do some broadcasting. I used to do football and basketball with SIU, and they wanted me to do golf. It turned out to be one of the best things of my life. My first Masters was 1982. Craig Stadler won it that year in a playoff with Dan Pohl. We go down the Friday before the tournament and we play at Augusta Country Club right next door, for four or five days, and then we go over and broadcast.

The Masters is the supreme golf tournament. Everybody tries to emulate the Masters, but they can’t do it. You’ll often forget who won the U.S. Open, who won the British, who won the PGA, but they won’t let you forget who won the Masters. It’s the classiest of all tournaments. I think my favorite Masters memory was the year Nick Price shot a 75 the first day. I was the only guy that interviewed him after the round. The second day, he tied the tournament record with a 63 and, naturally, all the other writers and broadcasters were swarmed around him. And he said, “Wait a second. Where were you guys yesterday when I shot 75? Bill, you were there. Let’s go have a beer and a sandwich.” So we did. I didn’t want to, but he made CBS and all the other guys wait. That was a unique moment. I’m guessing it’s probably about 24 years, maybe 25, that I’ve been here at the State Amateur, and I’ll tell you something about the CDGA; it does a fabulous job. Everything they do is detailed, everyone knows what page they’re on, from the qualifying rounds and so on. This is a very wellrun event. In fact, it’s probably one of the nicer-run events I’ve seen and I’ve played in a jillion tournaments. When I first started covering the State Am, it was for radio downstate and syndicated throughout the state on the Illinois News Network. But then, back in the 1990s, we started doing audio clips and interviews for the CDGA website. We did that for a long time, and even for a few years did video interviews with the leaders every day

at the event. It has been a pleasure to meet and interview some of this state’s best amateur players over the years. I’ve been a scratch player most of my life, and I would have liked to get in with the pros, but back then, there wasn’t much to it. It’s a tough deal now; these kids are so much better. When they get out of college, they’re pretty much trained to be a pro. The way the game has changed, it’s phenomenal. All the golf courses, they’re in good shape. The players, the equipment—you watch these kids now, and the pros, hit a 9-iron 170, 180, 190 yards and it blows your mind. I love to watch them hit it a long way. It’s unbelievable how far players hit their irons right now. Jack Nicklaus is the best player I think I ever saw and it was his concentration. I think an A-bomb could have gone off and if Jack was tuned in to what he was doing, I don’t think he’d have heard it—and he would have made the putt! He had unbelievable concentration. It’s going to be nice having the State Amateur so close to home next year (Kokopelli in Marion). The golf course is two or three minutes from all the hotels, right next to Interstate 57. It’s a very nice golf course. I’ve pretty much dedicated my life to golf. When I was in college, I was into basketball big-time, but golf really is the greatest game of them all.

Comments are solely the opinion of the author and not necessarily those of the CDGA. Letters and opinions are welcome at info@cdga.org. SEPTEMBER 2011

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 3

OFFICERS

VO L U M E 2 2 , N U M B E R 5

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Matt Baylor

PRESIDENT Matthew L. Pekarek, Village Links of Glen Ellyn

VICE PRESIDENT AT LARGE Steven S. Birky, Danville CC

GENERAL COUNSEL Sheldon Solow, Briarwood CC

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT Keith Frankland, Village Greens of Woodridge

SECRETARY Alan J. Hunken, Bob O’Link GC

EX-OFFICIO Jerry Williams, Olympia Fields CC

MANAGER OF COMMUNICATIONS

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT David Haverick, Pine Meadow CC

TREASURER Michael J. Grandinetti, Calumet CC

Andrew Louthain Alli Ferguson EDITOR

Rich Skyzinski

GOVERNORS Thomas Allison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beverly CC William R. Buecking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biltmore CC C. Daniel Cochran. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biltmore CC David A. Esler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black Sheep GC Charles E. Hodgson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arrowhead CC Gary B. Koch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At Large James B. Madison, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Illini CC Nick Mokelke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cog Hill G & CC Mike Nass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cantigny Golf Dennis A. Reed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pekin CC

Thomas H. Roth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inverness GC Don Schwarz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prestwick CC Lawrence W. Schweik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bartlett Hills GC Lorraine Scodro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Midlothian CC Philip Shannabarger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Den at Fox Creek Gerald Skoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cog Hill G & CC Rebecca A. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chalet Hills GC Christine L. Stevens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cress Creek CC A. Glenn Stith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arrowhead GC Robert J. Stracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Northmoor CC

DIRECTORS Robert E. Allgyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shoreacres Richard Andre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ridge CC Philip Angelini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edgewood Valley CC Thomas R. Artz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sportsman’s CC Guy Arvia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exmoor CC Randy Becker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winnetka CC Daniel M. Blouin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Village Greens of Woodridge Andrew Boling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chicago GC Mary Burgland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soangetaha CC Michael Camino. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conway Farms GC Gordon L. Campbell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruth Lake CC Frank Charhut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wilmette GC Steven L. Cherveny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . White Pines GC John A. Childers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elgin CC Michael J. Choate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . North Shore CC Michael E. Clark, D.P.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CC of Decatur Edward Clissold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Westmoreland CC Henry Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Aldeen GC David Crockett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At Large Guy Crucil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medinah CC Robert J. Cunningham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indian Hill Club Robert L. Cunningham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Turnberry CC Ronald Davidson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Makray Memorial GC Anthony DeMarco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olympia Fields CC Michael J. Dickman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calumet CC Keith Dunkelbarger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sunset Hills GC Jeffrey D. Echt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lake Shore CC Anthony Ferino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arrowhead GC William Finn, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Riverside GC Michael Forde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At Large Larry Fulgenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Old Wayne GC Mary Garrison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winnetka GC Thomas Gehr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sportsman’s CC Thomas A. Gilley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flossmoor CC Kevin Gratkowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lost Dunes Michael Griem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exmoor CC Gregory Grygiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heritage Bluffs GC Howard Haberkorn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boulder Ridge CC James J. Hager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lake Barrington Shores GC Thomas J. Haggerty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Butterfield CC J. Loren Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blackstone GC Eugene N. Halladay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hinsdale GC John L. Hammond, II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evanston GC John Henderson, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CC of Peoria Robert Hinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Panther Creek CC Edward J. Hockfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Grove CC James Hundman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . White Eagle GC Jack Ingold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lake Bluff GC Betty Kaufmann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Knollwood Club Peter Keffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Aldeen GC

4 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

Karl Keller, D.D.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kankakee Elks GC Jack Kieckhefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mauh-Nah-Tee-See CC William Kingore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beverly CC Bill Koeneman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At Large Daniel R. Krpan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boulder Ridge CC Laurence J. LaBoda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kemper Lakes CC Josh Lesnik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Glen Club R. Scott Malmgren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glen Oak CC John Mattson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Big Foot CC Christopher R. McClear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At Large Richard McCombs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Oak Park CC Elston Mitchell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pontiac Elks CC David Mortell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Balmoral Woods CC Thomas E. Mott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rockford CC Edward Mulcahy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Midlothian CC Kenneth Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medinah CC Rudolph E. Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Schaumburg GC H. Steven Nichols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Champaign CC Clay Nicolsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mistwood GC James J. O’Hagan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Park Ridge CC Lawrence Oakford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Woodstock CC John Ozag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rolling Green CC John Paladino. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forest Hills CC Arthur W. Peters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruth Lake CC Roger L. Peterson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lincolnshire Fields CC Ronald Potter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . White Eagle GC D. William Robertson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PrairieView GC John Rolfe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Northmoor CC Michael Rooney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Butler National GC James F. Rudwall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivanhoe Club Samuel M.Sallerson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bryn Mawr CC Michael J. Scheer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LaGrange CC Brian Shahinian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Foxford Hills GC James Siemers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Steeple Chase GC Richard J. Skrodzki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LaGrange CC Laura Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . St. Charles CC Darryl Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red Tail Run GC C. Nelson Strom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stonewall Orchard GC Mike Sullivan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bloomington CC James Troy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crystal Tree G & CC Kenneth Urbaszewski. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Deerfield GC David A. Usiak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crestwicke CC Anthony M. Viola. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Park Ridge CC Timothy Vola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harborside International Ben Waldie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . St. Charles CC David A. Walters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crystal Lake CC Joe Williamson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Briar Ridge CC James E. Winslow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inverness GC J.C. Wise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Plum Tree National GC

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September 2011 | Vol. 22 No. 5

Features 18 FOLLOW THE LEADER By Len Ziehm A year after his University of Iowa teammate ran away with the Illinois State Amateur Championship, Brad Hopfinger led a Hawkeye 1-2 finish at venerable Glen Oak Country Club

24 LABOR OF LOVE Mike Keiser talks about his golf experiences in the past decade and how a vision for Bandon Dunes turned into a top destination

26 FAMILY AFFAIR By Tim Cronin With a quality golf course that has stood the test of time and generations of family-based memberships, Glen Flora Country Club celebrates its first 100 years

30 UPPER MANAGEMENT By Ed Sherman KemperSports began on a small, local level, but has grown into a high-profile operation that oversees some of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top golf destinations

34 HALLOWED HALLS By Len Ziehm Four notable inductees have been selected to join past honorees in the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame

Departments GUEST ESSAY Bill Koeneman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

AROUND THE CDGA Fit for Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Club Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Aces in the Crowd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Ask the Docs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Tournament Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

FACILITY FOCUS Glencoe Golf Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

DESTINATION Madison, Wis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SEPTEMBER 2011

GEMS OF THE CDGA The 17th at Glen View Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

RULES OF THE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 COVER: State Amateur champion Brad Hopfinger (Frank Polich/CDGA). CONTENTS (clockwise, from top): Bandon Dunes (courtesy KemperLesnik); Western Amateur winner Ethan Tracy (Chuck Cherney); Mike Keiser (courtesy Bandon Dunes).

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 5

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» FIT FOR GOLF Foot and ankle exercises keep injury at bay FOOT AND ANKLE INJURIES are a fairly common occurrence for golfers, but there is a way to treat them. One of the most common foot injuries is plantar fasciitis. Basically, plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the fibrous structures on the bottom of the foot. This can be caused by improper footwear or tightness in one’s calf musculature, combined with overuse. Some of the symptoms of plantar fasciitis are pain on the bottom of the foot and pain in the heel—often times worse in the morning and progressively getting better as the day goes on. Plantar fasciitis can have adverse effects on a golf game in a number of ways. It can make it painful to walk the golf course, increase the difficulty to transfer weight to the affected side, and even make it nearly impossible to stay in one’s posture. For those dealing with plantar fasciitis, the goal of treatment is twofold. First, it’s best to prevent the

overuse by resting from activities that irritate it and using ice to reduce the amount of inflammation. Second, normalize the biomechanics that cause the abnormal stress through the use of stretching and corrective exercise. When it comes to stretching and exercise, the calves need to be stretched out (gastroc and soleus). This needs to be done with your knee in line with the middle of your toes (no heel out positioning).

Hold 30 seconds. Repeat three times with each leg, once a day. Another important aspect of stretching and exercise is strengthening the muscles that control the rotation of the entire leg. If you get extra rotation at the hip, this will affect the amount of rotation at the foot and cause extra stress on the plantar fascia. This means targeting the ankle stabilizers, hip rotators, and lateral core muscles. BALANCE: THREE-WAY LEG SWING

GASTROC STRETCH

Stand with left foot back, leg straight, and forward leg bent. Keeping heel on the floor, lean into the wall until stretch is felt in calf. Hold 30 seconds. Repeat three times with each leg, once a day. SOLEUS STRETCH

Stand with left foot back, both knees bent. Keeping heel on floor, lean into wall until stretch is felt in lower calf.

Stand on left foot, hands on hips. Reach other foot forward 30 times, sideways 30 times, back 30 times. Relax. Repeat three times per set with each foot, once a day. For more information, call AthletiCo at 630-572-9700 or visit the website at athleticogolfcenter.com. — Tom Asuma and Curt Marcus

» CLUB CORNER New technology leads to maximum distance IN A RECENT article, players were interviewed regarding how far they thought they hit their driver. Most claimed to hit it almost 20 yards farther than their true yardage. This seems to reveal an inner longing that plagues every player — how can I get more distance? From innovative steel composites, to better weight distribution and thinner club faces, this longing has golf club engineers scrambling to find the next big technological advancement. It seems every new driver and iron is marketed in the same way: more distance, more often. How do you know that you’ve tapped your max distance? One of the data attributes that fitters keep a close eye on when it comes to distance is smash factor. Smash factor is ball speed divided by club head speed. This number is important because it measures the rate of energy transfer from the club to the ball. In other words, if a smash factor is high (in the 1.50 range) that means that a player is maximizing the energy from their swing to the ball. However, this does not necessarily mean that a player

6 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

has reached their maximum distance. Smash factor still has to be in harmony with ideal spin rates and golf ball launch angles to make the possibility of maximizing distance a reality. At Club Champion, we use premium technology equipment like TrackMan launch monitors to calculate smash factor, which helps us find the right club head, shaft, and ball combinations that will help players hit the ball farther. So, the next time you get fit, eliminate the guess work by using equipment that includes Smash Factor. That way, you’ll know if you really are getting the most out of your swing. Submit your questions regarding club fitting and equipment to info@clubchampiongolf.com and check back each month to see if your question was chosen. For more information, call Club Champion at 630-654-8887 or visit online at clubchampiongolf.com. — Joseph Jung

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» CDGA UPDATE

» ACES IN THE CROWD

Jacobson chosen to renovate Kemper Lakes

Brian Bullington

architect Rick Jacobson has been selected to renovate Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer. Originally designed by Dick Nugent and Ken Killian, the club has asked Jacobson Golf Course Design to develop a plan aimed at preserving the stature and aesthetic appeal of the 32-year-old course. Improvements, among others, will include renovating the bunkers to enhance playability. Kemper Lakes’ ultimate goal is to achieve long-term management and operational efficiencies without sacrificing the strength and character of the existing design. “We are extremely excited and tremendously proud to be working on

GOLF COURSE

a project aimed at revitalizing one of the best-known championship golf courses in the Chicago area,” said Jacobson, who is based in Libertyville. “In its relatively brief history, Kemper Lakes has been host to a major championship, a number of PGA Tour events, as well as prominent national amateur, state and regional events.” Those events include the 1989 PGA Championship, the Champions Tour’s Senior Open, and the PGA of America’s Grand Slam of Golf. Ariya Jutanugarn Locally, Jacobson also has renovated North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Cantigny Golf in Wheaton, and designed Bowes Creek Country Club in Elgin.

» NAMES IN THE NEWS hadn’t done much in professional golf — until he teed off in the 62nd Illinois Open at Hawthorn Woods Country Club. Then he couldn’t do much of anything wrong. Arouca, 26, opened 65-67 in the 54-hole tournament, then held off a challenge by Libertyville’s Michael Schachner to take a three-stroke win and claim the $15,500 first prize. Arouca posted an 11-under-par 202 and became the second New Trier High School graduate in a row to win the championship. Eric Mierdierks missed the cut in his title defense. Though he blew a six-stroke lead in the final round, Arouca never trailed in his fourth appearance in the tournament. He had missed the cut in his previous two tries at Hawthorn Woods and appeared to be folding when his tee shot at the 12th hole sailed out of bounds. The OB shot created a three-shot swing and lifted Schachner into a tie

SEPTEMBER 2011

Varun Chopra Champaign Chopra, 12, had a strong showing in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship at Pinehurst in North Carolina. Playing in the 12-year-old boys division on Pinehurst No. 4, he shot a 2-over 218 and finished tied for 15th out of 163 players. He had rounds of 71, 75, and 72 and his division played to 6,000 yards. His top-15 finish qualified him to play in the 2011 Junior World Cup, which is contested between the top 10 U.S. players and the top 10 international players.

Doug Ghim

Illinois Open victory for Arouca WILMETTE’S PHILIP AROUCA

Frankfort Bullington, an incoming freshman at the University of Iowa, won the Blue Top Ridge tournament on the PGA Junior Series in Riverside, Iowa. He shot a 67-69—136 and won by 12 shots. He also played in the 64th U.S. Junior Amateur at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., where he qualified for match play but lost in the opening round to William Starke of Chapin, S.C., in 19 holes. He took a 1-up lead at three different points of the match but was eliminated with a bogey 5 at the first extra hole.

for the lead, but Arouca reclaimed the top spot with a 4-foot birdie on the next hole and led by himself the rest of the way. Doug Ghim, 15, of Arlington Heights became the youngest player to ever compete in the championship. He finished at 7-over-par 220 and tied for 37th. John Seehausen, 67, of Inverness was the oldest player among the 156 starters. He was medalist in a qualifying tournament at Inverness after shooting a 69 on his home course. He showed that was no fluke by also posting 69 in the first round at Hawthorn Woods before finishing 78-80. Mike Small, head coach at the University of Illinois, was hoping to win the tournament for the fifth time and tie Gary Pinns for most Illinois Open titles. Small, who last won the Illinois Open in 2007, finished in a tie for 13th at 1-over 214. — Len Ziehm

Buffalo Grove Ghim, 15, won the AJGA’s McArthur Towel & Sports Future Legends event at The Legend at Bristlecone in Hartland, Wis. He shot a 3-under-par 210 and claimed claimed a two-stroke victory. Ghim also won the Illinois State Junior Championship at Makray Memorial Golf Club in Barrington. He shot a 78-65-72—215 and edged out Brian Bullington for the win by two strokes. His second round 65 set a new course record.

Michelle Mayer Flossmoor Mayer, an incoming freshman at the University of Illinois, won the Illinois Women’s Golf Associaion Junior Girls’ Championship at the University of Illinois Orange Course in Savoy. She nabbed the victory with a final round 3-under 73 (par was 76) and won by three shots. She also captured the Illinois State Classic title at Weibring Golf Club in Normal in July. She shot a 74 both days and claimed a six-stroke victory over second-place finisher Hannah Lewis. This was Mayer’s fifth Mid-American Junior Golf Tour win in the past three years. She also placed second in the University of Illinois Classic at Stone Creek Golf Club in Urbana in July with a 74-79—153. She’ll play for the Illini this fall. Aces In The Crowd recognizes noteworthy accomplishments by people in the CDGA coverage area. Prospective candidates for Aces In The Crowd may be submitted via e-mail to info@cdga.org or aparker@golfweek.com.

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» NAMES IN THE NEWS Pearson claims second Illinois Women’s Open became the first player to win the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open as both an amateur and a professional when she captured the 17th staging of the event at Mistwood in Romeoville. Pearson, in her fourth year as a touring professional after a solid collegiate career at the University of South Carolina, posted the low score of the final round, a 68, to finish at 1-under-par 215 for the 54 holes—two strokes better than Sterling amateur Ember Schuldt, a University of Illinois golfer. Since turning pro, Pearson has played on both the Duramed Futures and Canadian tours. She also has finished in the Illinois Women’s Open’s top 10 each of the last five years. She won it for the first time as an amateur in 2006 and was low professional the following year, when her title defense was spoiled by a loss to Libertyville amateur Nicole Schachner in a 10-hole playoff. As was the case in her previous

WHEATON’S JENNA PEARSON

Illinois Women’s Open appearances, Pearson had her mother, Laura, as her caddie. Leaderboards being scarce, they were surprised to find Jenna in a tie for the lead after the 15th hole of the final round. “At the turn I was still three or four shots back,” said Pearson. “I figured a couple girls behind me might make some birdies coming in, and I had better focus.” Pearson did just that. She hit a 6-iron at the 152-yard 17th to 4 feet from the cup. Then, after a long talk with her mother, she rolled in the birdie putt to take sole possession of the lead. There was more mother-daughter debate on the par-5 18th after Pearson put her drive in the right rough. She was tempted to go for the green from 190 yards out, but her mother thought better of it. In this case mother knew best. “I had a really bad angle. I would have had to hit a big cut around the

trees,” said Pearson. “She wouldn’t let me go for it.” So Pearson played her second shot short of a creek fronting the green, then chipped to within a foot of the hole. “Definitely the kind of birdie putt I wanted,” she said. It dropped, giving Pearson the biggest first-place check in Illinois Women’s Open history—$5,000 from a $17,000 purse. — Len Ziehm

» ASK THE DOCS Elbow injuries don’t have to damper success Question: I am a PGA club professional and I have recently been told that I have Cubital Tunnel Syndrome in my right elbow. X-rays showed some loose cartilage, but the doctor didn’t seem to think that was causing the issue. I have been given a splint for sleeping at night and some anti-inflammatories, but the pain during the day, even when not active, is an intense burning in my fingers wtih constant numbness and discomfort. Should I opt for surgery now, wait the six weeks for the splint to possibly have an effect, or try something else? Obviously this is critical to my continued success as a teacher and player of golf. Also, what is the recovery time for surgery and expected success rate? Answer from Dr. Mark Cohen: Cubital Tunnel Syndrome is simply a pinched nerve in the elbow. The ulnar nerve passes through the cubital tunnel, a channel which allows the ulnar nerve to travel over the elbow. When you “hit your funny bone” and have tingling in the small and ring fingers, you are, in effect, hitting the ulnar nerve at the cubital tunnel. In many cases, the condition can be treated without surgery. Night splints are a common treatment and can be very effective. Many people who suffer from Cubital Tunnel Syndrome have

8 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

a habit of sleeping with either their elbows bent, their arms up by their head, or both. These positions aggravate the pinched nerve condition. The indications for surgery depend on the history, level of symptoms, the clinical examination and often a formal nerve study. There are several different surgical procedures for Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, but the recovery is typically pretty short, on the order of weeks, as the most common operations involve soft-tissue only. Surgeries that don’t involve bone usually have a more rapid recovery. Editor’s note: This information is intended only for general public education and is not intended to serve as a substitute for direct medical advice. It should not replace necessary medical consultations with a qualified orthopaedic physician. For more information about Dr. Cohen and the hand, wrist and elbow physicians of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, call 877-632-6637 or visit online at www.rushortho.com.

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» TOURNAMENT UPDATE FEATURED PLAYER

FEATURED COURSE

Tom Miler, Kewanee

Mt. Hawley Country Club

• When and how did you pick up the game of golf? My dad took me out on

IN 1922, A GROUP

a public course in Kewanee when I was probably 8 or 9 and let me hit balls with him. I have kept playing off and on since then.

•

What is your greatest golf memory?

A trip I took with some of my golf buddies from back home. We went to Ireland and did the southwest part of Ireland. We survived, and with one of our group members driving and navigating! It was a pretty neat trip. The best course I played while I was there was Old Head in Kinsale—an incredible course with incredible scenery.

• What do you enjoy most about playing

tournament golf? I play in a lot of the

CDGA events and the staff does a really good job of running the tournaments and finding good courses to play on.

•

If you could fill your foursome with any golfers, what three players would you play with? I would enjoy getting my

kids, Kim, Matt and Mike, together and playing in a foursome with them. That is probably as good as it gets for me.

• Do you have any thoughts on the game and how it has affected your life? It has

taken me to some different parts of the country that I would not be able to see under normal conditions and I met a lot of good people. The combination has worked out well for me.

• What would be the one golf course you would love to play? Pebble Beach will be about the best. It’s scenery is neat and the golf course is really nice. I think the weather there is pretty good too.

10 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

of young Peoria private facility also has been host to seven businessmen gathered at the University Illinois State Amateur Championships, Club of Peoria to form what would most recently in 2000. This August, Mt. become Mt. Hawley Country Club in Hawley served as a qualifying site for the Peoria. The name was derived from the USGA Mid-Amateur. Stretching to nearly 6,400 yards, Mt. land, which stood high above the Illinois River Valley and was owned by the Hawley Hawley is both demanding and enjoyable family. The first nine holes were for golfers of all skill levels. The course’s constructed later that year, signature hole is the par-3 ninth, where with the back nine following the tee sits 164 yards from the sloping in 1925. The course’s only green and is divided by a lake and major renovation took place fountain. Players also enjoy breathtaking in 1996 when Lohmann Golf views of the Illinois River on the 10th tee. Design overhauled all its tees, greens and bunkers. Throughout history the club has played host to many greats, including 1932 U.S. Open champion Gene Sarazen. Sarazen enjoyed his time on the golf course, but said the bunkers on the 14th hole were “unfair to the average golfer.” By the following spring, the Mt. Hawley Country Club bunkers had disappeared. The FEATURED TOURNAMENT

Prairie State Challenge will look for bragging rights against a team of Central Illinois mid-amateurs in the third annual Prairie State Challenge, Sept. 29 at Midlothian Country Club. The Central Illinois team won the inaugural event in 2009, with the squads tying in 2010. Five pairs from each squad will compete in a team match play event scored on a three-point Nassau system. The following players have been invited to compete: TEN CHICAGO MID-AMATEURS

Chicago team

• • • • • • • • • •

Vance Antoniou, North Barrington Brian Atkinson, Chicago Blake Johnson, Winnetka Craig McDonnell, Evergreen Park Andy Mickelson, Lockport Ted Pecora, Glencoe Glenn Przbylski, Frankfort Curtis Skinner, Lake Bluff Chadd Slutzky, Palatine John Wright, Aurora

Central Illinois team

• Mike Cushing, Bloomington • John Ehrgott, Peoria • Mike Henry, Bloomington • Tom Kearfott, El Paso • Rick LeHew, Brimfield • Tom Miler, Kewanee • Todd Mitchell, Bloomington • Jeff Niepagen, Bloomington • Dave Ryan, Taylorville • Tim Sheppard, East Peoria WWW.CDGA.ORG

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» PEOPLE AND PL ACES Thailand’s Jutanugarn wins U.S. Girls’ Junior

SEPTEMBER 2011

2 up. Though she lost the 33rd hole, the end wasn’t far off. At the 35th hole, Ardina three-putted, missing a 3-footer for par, and Jutanugarn closed out the match with a 4-footer for par and a 2-and-1 victory. I’m disappointed because my putting dropped me down,’’ Ardina said. She hit 34 of 35 fairways and missed only three greens in the title match. Jutanugarn’s sister, Moriya, who served as her caddie only because a wrist injury forced her withdrawal from the tournament, kept her focused. The Jutanugarns are no strangers to the United States. They started spending summers in the U.S. in 2004 when their parents brought both girls to a tournament in San Diego. This summer the girls were entered in 12 tournaments before returning to Thailand. The week

USGA MUSEUM

ARIYA JUTANUGARN was easily the medalist at the 63rd U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in late July, but she was leery about getting into a match play situation with the title on the line. “I don’t like match play because you don’t know when you’re going to lose,’’ the 15-year-old from Bangkok, Thailand, said. This wasn’t her first time as a medalist, either. She also led stroke play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, but wasn’t as good in a match play situation there. As it turned out, during a week dominated by sweltering temperatures, Jutanugarn had little to worry about. She emerged as only the 16th medalist in the tourney’s 63 stagings to claim a victory. The heat—temperatures in the 90s— was an ongoing concern, but Jutanugarn was a cool customer throughout. She dominated stroke play on Olympia Fields’ par-72 South course, which was set up at 6,403 yards. Opening with a 68, she posted a 4-under 140 for her 36 holes—four strokes better than closest challenger Casie Cathrea of Livermore, Calif. Marissa Chow, of Honolulu, was Jutanugarn’s first match play opponent and won the first hole. That was just a wakeup call. Making six birdies in a ninehole stretch, Jutanugarn eliminated Chow, 6 and 4. En route to a battle with Dottie Ardina of the Philippines in the final, Jutanugarn eliminated Sarah Schmelzel of Phoenix, 4 and 3, in the second round, Jisoo Keel of Canada, 1 up, in the third round, Gabriella Then of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 1 up, in the quarterfinals and—in the most onesided match of the week—14year-old Amy Lee of Brea, Calif., 8 and 6, in the semifinals. Ardina, 17, had a much tougher semifinal before ousting China’s Yu Liu, 2 up. The 36-hole battle for the title was a nailbiter throughout. Neither player was better than 1 up until Jutanugarn rolled in a 2-foot birdie putt on the 31st hole to go

Ariya Jutanugarn

before the Girls’ Junior, both were in the U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Ariya, who had won the American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Girls’ Junior earlier in the summer, was one of five members of the Girls’ Junior field who competed at The Broadmoor. — Len Ziehm

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FACILITY FOCUS

Glencoe Golf Club

True

TRADITION Glencoe Golf Club and its loyal followers thrive on the deep roots and value that remain present at the club today By Tim Cronin

or years, municipal golf courses F were considered a player’s last resort. Many of them weren’t well kept.

12 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

Caption PHOTOS BY BUZZ ORR/CDGA

Glencoe Golf Club has always been different. It has been cared for, almost pampered, both at the insistence of the community and because of a unique arrangement between the village and Cook County. “It’s a serene thing,” said Joe Keefe, chairman of the village’s Golf Advisory Committee. “Glencoe is as close to a nice walk in the woods as you’ll find in the Chicago area.” Rare among courses, the only time homes are really visible is on the 18th hole, and even then, the residences are across the street. More often, the view is of the woods to the north, or the Chicago Botanic Garden, the pride of the Skokie Valley, to the west. The course is where it is, and what it is, because of a problem that confronted the village’s men’s club when it proposed the concept of a town course in 1921. All hands were enthusiastic, but there was one problem: There wasn’t enough land for an 18-hole course. A deal was made with the Cook County Forest Preserve District, whose management was beginning to see the value of golf as a recreational gem. The district turned over 75 acres it controlled from the old Turnbull farm

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FACTS AND FIGURES ADDRESS: 621 Westley Road,

Glencoe, IL 60022 PHONE: 847-835-0250 WEBSITE: glencoegolfclub.com GREEN FEES: Range from $49 weekend mornings ($65 including cart) to $22 for super-twilight.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW SIGNATURE HOLE: The par-5 second hole, especially since an elevated back tee has been added. The 547-yard hole has a gentle slope to it and you can see the Botanic Gardens in the distance. WHERE A BOGEY GOLFER CAN MAKE BIRDIE: The 336-yard par-4 fourth,

especially when the hole is cut on the front middle of the green. A big drive leaves an easy approach in. WHERE A SCRATCH PLAYER FIGHTS FOR PAR: The 412-yard dogleg right par-4

13th requires a pinpoint drive between bunkers, then a shot of up to 170 yards to a three-tier green fronted by a bunker and dropping off in the back. “When I par that hole, I feel like I’ve stolen money,” said Joe Keefe. EXTRA BALL INDEX (ON A 1-10 SCALE):

7. Said pro Matt Radde, “We don’t have a lot of water, but we have massive mature trees lining the fairways. You can definitely spend some time looking for golf balls.” LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Wildlife tends to

congregate on the par-3 15th, where there’s a big pond on the left and the “old ladies,” a string of big oak and willow trees, on the right. It’s the prettiest hole on the course. —Tim Cronin

on the edge of town, upon which the front nine was built under the direction of architect George O’Neil. Glencoe cobbled together 31 adjacent acres for a short back nine. By 1927, another 29 acres of farmland was scooped up for a remodeled back nine. The deal was simple. Neither Glencoe, which has always run the course, nor the county, could take profits from the operation and apply them elsewhere. It was poured back into the course, and appreciative players poured in. SEPTEMBER 2011

Morton Grove. The public golf boom was on, and Glencoe was in the vanguard. What has not changed much since the 1929 renovation is the layout. Ken Killian, Dick Nugent and Bob Lohmann have tweaked some things, but Glencoe is still Glencoe, 6,527 yards from the tips. Tee it up and take your chances. “Like the oldschool course it is, the greens protect par,” Keefe said. Glencoe Golf Club was one of the North Shore’s first public courses. The advisory group, and the citizenry The club experienced a change in in general, protect the golf course. direction a few years ago when Stella Just under a decade ago, a financier Nanos took over as general manager came in with the idea of building a and brought in superintendent Dave five-star hotel, a spa, and 64 golf villas Arden and head professional Matt on part of the course, which would Radde. The skill of Arden and his crew, be reconfigured. The $120 million has improved both the playability and project would return $7 million annually the reputation of the course. in tax revenue, the businessman “The last five years, we’ve really promised. turned things around,” Radde said. “We Opposition was fierce, and the village have a new practice green, an expanded board voted it down unanimously. practice facility, and the new drainage More recently came the idea of selling has really helped us. We’ve seen a big 10 acres, essentially, the land on which difference in the amount of play.” sits the 17th hole, for development. A The $49 weekend morning rate is a new 17th would be needed and a new bargain, and that harkens back to the clubhouse would be financed with the beginning. revenue. The plan stopped when golf “It is figured the venture will be self- architect David Esler noted the 17th was supporting with dues of $25 a year,” mostly on a flood plain, and it would be The Chicago Tribune reported on Sept. impractical to build on the land. 12, 1921. That makes it sound as if The one modernizing touch the Glencoe was private, but anyone could course probably needs is a clubhouse. play it for a nominal fee, which, by 1927, Charming though the current one was a dollar. is on the outside, the current dining The course was also something of room seats only about 40, which makes a pioneer in public golf. Evanston hosting a large outing problematic. had its short public course along the But the course stands on its own sanitary canal, and there was a nine- and is expected to remain as it is for hole municipal layout in Winnetka, the foreseeable future—a garden walk but all other North Shore courses were through the woods, with golf provided private. Within two years, Glencoe was at no extra charge. joined by Sunset Valley in Highland Park, Playmore in Wilmette and Tim Cronin covers golf for the Southtown Northwestern (now Chick Evans) in Star. CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 13

DESTINATION

Fairs and Festivals | Wisconsin

Capital gains They take their golf seriously in and around Madison, Wis., where the options for top-flight facilities are abundant By Gary D’Amato

WISCONSIN ORIGINAL CHEESE FESTIVAL LOCATION: Madison, Wis. DATE: Nov. 4-5 WEBSITE: wicheesefest.com

— Amy Parker

14 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

Wisconsin Original Cheese Festival

n argument can be made that among mid-sized cities in America, and particularly those in the snow-belt states, few embrace the game of golf quite like Madison, Wis.

There are more than 25 courses in Madison (pop. 233,000) and surrounding Dane County, ranging from wedge-and-putter par-3s to impeccably maintained, old-line private WWW.CDGA.ORG

PHOTO COURTESY WISCONSIN ORIGINAL CHEESE FESTIVAL

WISCONSIN IS KNOWN for its cheese and there’s no better way to experience it than by visiting the Wisconsin Original Cheese Festival. It’s only in its third year, but many travel to downtown Madison to celebrate the state’s growing number of dairy artisans and original cheeses. Event highlights include all-day farm and creamery tours, where attendees can tour the plant, walk a dairy barn and have lunch on site. For a hands-on experience, the festival offers eight educational and tasting seminars that include wine, beer and rum cheese pairings with information on the art of cheesemaking. And the cheesemaker dinners are certainly not to be missed. Several Madison restaurants will be offering a three-course meal in which each chef has partnered with a Wisconsin cheesemaker to present a dinner centered around cheese. The big event is the Cheesemaker Evening Gala, which features opportunities to mingle with 35 cheesemakers while you sample 150 original cheeses. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Cheese Originals, an organization dedicated to celebrating Wisconsin artisan cheeses and cheesemakers, its members get first dibs on tickets starting Sept. 12. Tickets are available to the public one week later and all events are expected to sell out. When you visit, don’t forget to sample Wisconsin’s famous cheese curds straight from the vat.

clubs to spectacular University Ridge, a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design and home to the University of Wisconsin golf teams. “There is a ton of good golf in Madison,” said two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North, who grew up

PHOTO COURTESY THE OAKS

The Oaks at Cottage Grove

in suburban Monona and honed his game at Nakoma Golf Club. “If you can’t find a tee time, you’re not working very hard.” Incredibly, Madison has produced not only North, but also LPGA star Sherri Steinhauer and PGA Tour winner

Jerry Kelly. Steve Stricker grew up just down the road in Edgerton and has called Madison home for two decades. Steinhauer still plays at Nakoma, her home course, when she visits family in Madison. Kelly is a lifelong member at leafy Maple Bluff Country Club, one of nine founding members of the Wisconsin State Golf Association. Stricker famously fought his way out of a slump by beating balls from a threesided, heated trailer in the dead of winter at Cherokee Country Club on the city’s north side. The private clubs in Madison are among the best in the state and the number and variety of public facilities reflect a city in which the median age is 31 and young and old alike lead active lifestyles. In 2004, Madison was named the healthiest city in America by Men’s Journal magazine. When it comes to public-access golf, Stricker said, “There are a lot of options and they’re good ones.” DAY ONE

Visitors to Madison should first make a tee time and a beeline for University Ridge in Verona, about 20 minutes southwest of the State Capitol. The course sits on the terminal moraine, where the retreating Wisconsin Glacier stopped eons ago, forming a backbone-like ridge that separates the land into groups of rolling hills and valleys. The front nine is fairly open, but Jones spiced it up with risk-reward shots,

The Madison area has produced its share of standout tour professionals (from left): Andy North, Sherri Steinhauer, Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker.

SEPTEMBER 2011

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 15

DESTINATION

Fairs and Festivals | Wisconsin strategically placed bunkers and the unusual combination of three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s. Golfers who start feeling comfortable with generous landing areas make the turn and are confronted by six holes carved through a thick forest—target golf at its finest—followed by one of the state’s toughest finishing stretches. University Ridge opened in 1991 and was ranked No. 6 in Golfweek’s 2010 list of best college courses. The Ridge measures 7,259 yards from the tips but has four sets of tees and can play as short as 5,005. Summer rates range between $40 and $89, and for those players who are into practice, they can hit balls on the

33-acre practice facility to their hearts’ content for a $20 all-day fee. WEB: universityridge.com

Summer rates range from $47 to $74 and reservations are accepted seven days in advance. WEB: hawkslandinggolfclub.com

DAY TWO

Literally just down the road from U-Ridge is Hawks Landing Golf Club, a semi-private facility with a limited number of starting times available daily to the general public. Hawks Landing was designed by John Harbottle, a Pete Dye protégé, and opened in 2002. The links-style course weaves through prairie grasses, rolling hills and wetlands. No. 18, the signature hole, is called the “Silo Hole” because the remains of an old farmstead, including a concrete silo, stand on the left side of the 587-yard par-5, which climbs uphill to a green with a false front. Hawks Landing stretches to 7,227 yards but can play as short as 5,395.

DAY THREE

Just east of Madison, along Interstate 94 in Cottage Grove, The Oaks is a great stopping-off point for golfers traveling to or from Milwaukee. Though plenty of specimen oaks give the course its name, The Oaks looks and feels more like a wind-swept inland links. Except for one hole on the back nine that requires a thread-the-needle tee shot, The Oaks is fairly wide open. The architect, Greg Martin, knows what he’s doing with sand. The bunkering around the greens is artistic and practical and the fairway bunkers have a purpose, either as aiming points or as hazards. On the reachable par-5s, yawning bunkers front the greens and enhance the risk-reward aspect. Martin also used the meandering Koshkonong Creek and several marshy

16 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

WWW.CDGA.ORG

PHOTO COURTESY HAWKS LANDING GC

Hawks Landing Golf Club

WEB: golftheoaks.com DAY FOUR

Another course worth exploring is The Legend at Bergamont in Oregon, 11 miles due south of Madison. Bergamont, designed by North, is a private club with public accessibility and is the centerpiece of a 523-acre golf community. The 7,330-yard course features dramatic elevation changes, a dualended range and smooth, fast greens. It was named one of Golf Digest’s top 10 new courses in America in 2006. North kept higher-handicap slicers in mind by putting the trouble on the left side of most holes and creating chipping areas short and right of many greens. “We’re really proud of how it turned out,” he said. “You could have any major tournament there you wanted to have and yet it’s very, very playable for grandma, mom and the kids.” Rates range from $46 to $65.

PHOTO COURTESY UNIVERSITY RIDGE

areas to great effect. The Oaks measures 6,746 yards from the tips, with six par 3s and five par 5s, making par 71. The finishing holes on both nines are superb par 5s. On the 518-yard ninth, golfers must negotiate a fairway that tilts toward trouble on the left; the 547yard 18th calls for a third shot over the marsh to an elevated green fronted by deep bunkers. Neither hole rewards sloppy play. Rates range from $29 to $65. Tee times can be made 14 days in advance.

has been awarded the 2017 U.S. Open. The desolate and ruggedly handsome course has a minimalist design, with dirt moved on only a couple holes. Not one of the green sites was enhanced by heavy machinery; all greens simply were cored out on the existing knobs, ridges and valleys left behind by retreating glaciers in the scenic Kettle Moraine. Erin Hills features fescue fairways, lightning-fast bentgrass putting sur-

faces and seas of golden prairie grasses blowing in the ever-present breeze. It is a walking-only course and caddies are recommended but not required. The green fee is $200 and the caddie fee is $50, not including tip. WEB: erinhills.com

Gary D’Amato is a longtime golf writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

WEB: thelegendatbergamont.com DAY FIVE

Though it’s not really close to Madison, no golf trip to Wisconsin these days would be complete without a round at Erin Hills Golf Course in the town of Erin, about 75 minutes east of Madison (35 miles northwest of downtown Milwaukee). Erin Hills, designed by Mike Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten, played host to the U.S. Amateur in August and SEPTEMBER 2011

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 17

IALLINOIS STATE M A T E U R

Follow the

LEADER Brad Hopfinger

By Len Ziehm

18 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

WWW.CDGA.ORG

PHOTOS BY FRANK POLICH/CDGA

A year after his University of Iowa teammate ran away with the Illinois State Amateur Championship, Brad Hopfinger led a Hawkeye 1-2 finish at venerable Glen Oak Country Club

ROUNDS

81st 1 2Illinois 3 4 State Amateur Championship Glen Oak Country Club

ROUNDS POSITION

1 • Brad Hopfinger

Lake Forest

71 68 64 69 272

2 • Chris Brant

SEPTEMBER 2011

Edwardsville

69 71 67 69 276

T12

T3 • Andy Mickelson

Lockport

72 72 72 68 284

T44

T3 • Dan Stringfellow

Roselle

75 68 70 71 284

T27 T25

T12

Peoria

74 73 69 69 285

T27 T12

T10

Blake Biddle

St. Charles

74 71 70 71 286

5 • John Ehrgott

T19

Mark Small

Frankfort

73 69 71 73 286

Corey Konieczki

Rockford

71 73 68 75 287

Bryce Emory

Aurora

71 70 70 76 287

Derek Meinhart

Mattoon

73 72 73 70 288

T12 T12 T20 T10 • Andrew Wyatt

Lake Forest

72 73 73 70 288

T44 T12

Deerfield

75 70 71 72 288

Rockford

71 75 69 73 288

Lincolnshire

74 71 75 69 289

Arlington Heights

71 77 68 73 289

T5 T20

T12 T10

Benett Lavin

T10 T10 • Brad Benjamin

T27 T12 T23 T14 • John Watson IV

he Illinois State Amateur seems to be turning into the The University of Iowa Invitational. At least over the last two years, the big event for Illinois players ended up as a showcase for the Hawkeye golf program. In 2010, Deerfield’s Vince India was a seven-shot winner of the Illinois State Amateur at Beverly Country Club. A year later, two of his college teammates, Brad Hopfinger of Lake Forest and Chris Brant of Edwardsville, finished one-two in the 81st Illinois State Amateur at Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn. “That says a lot about the team we had there,” said Hopfinger, who got around the 6,741-yard Glen Oak layout in 12-under-par 272. Brant was four strokes back and no other player was under par, in part because of the unfortunate disqualification of two-time champion Todd Mitchell of Bloomington. This also marks the fifth straight Illinois State Amateur victory for the Big Ten, and seventh of the past eight (only Rob Grube of Stanford in 2006 was not), dating back to Mitchell’s 2003 win. Leading through 36 holes, Mitchell finished third but inadvertently signed an incorrect scorecard for the final

TOTAL

HOMETOWN

T19 T12 T20 T10

Runner-up Chris Brant

AUG. 9-11 | PAR 36-35—71 | 6,741 YARDS PLAYER

POSITION

T5 T29 T1

T12 T14 • Doug Ghim T8 T14

Theodore Lederhausen Hinsdale

T12 T25 T23 T17 • John Wright T19

18 • Jake Erickson

69 75 70 75 289

Aurora

72 75 73 71 291

Springfield

73 71 70 78 292

T12 T12 T20 T19

John Finnin

Mokena

72 73 73 75 293

T27 T29

T18 T19

Micheal Davan

Hoopeston

74 74 69 76 293

T27 T12

T12 T19

Stephen Skurla

Wheaton

74 71 71 77 293

Max Scodro

Chicago

77 71 73 74 295

Taylorsville

71 76 73 76 296

Winnetka

73 73 71 79 296

T66 T29 T27

T5 T25 T23 T23 • Dave Ryan T19 T20

T18 T23 • Blake Johnson

T5 T20 T27 T25 • Andrew Cisco

Geneva

71 75 75 76 297

T27 T12 T23 T25

Jimmy Van Fleet

McHenry

74 71 75 77 297

T44 T29

Grant Goltz

DeKalb

75 73 74 76 298

T44 T29

Tom Miler

Kewanee

75 73 79 73 300

T19 T29 T31

Thomas O’Bryan

Aurora

73 75 78 75 301

T12 T29 T34

Brian Hickey

Downers Grove

72 76 80 74 302

T19 T20 T31

Micheal Sainz

Elgin

73 73 80 77 303

T12 T25 T34

William White

Waukegan

72 75 81 77 305

- • Todd Mitchell

Bloomington

70 67 68 DQ

- • Ravi Patel

Evanston

70 71 75 WD

Qunicy

74 72 77 WD

T12

T27 T20

Parker Freiburg

NOTES: • = Exempt from qualifying for the 2011 Illinois State Amateur = A move up of 10 or more places = A move down of 10 or more places Top 15 finishers earn exemptions from qualifying for the 2012 Illinois State Amateur. CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 19

FATHER KNOWS BEST WHILE EIGHT FATHER-SON COMBOS attempted to qualify for the event, only Dave and Zac Ryan of Taylorville made it to the championship. Father Dave has been a fixture at the State Amateur, playing in 35 since his first in 1972, while 24-year-old Zac made his debut at Glen Oak. “I was nervous,” Zac said following a first-round 80. “We’ve played some events against each other and I’ve beat him a few times, but this is the first major event we’ve played.” Added Dave, “I think I was more nervous for him. I was thinking of him while I was playing.” Did the two-time CDGA Senior Player of the Year and perennial State Am competitor have any advice for his son? “I told him to play his own game and take it one shot at a time.” This time, experience won out over youth. Dave Ryan shot 12-over-par 296 to finish in a tie for 23rd place while Zac shot 8081 and missed the cut.

• Where is everybody? The pro shop at Glen Oak Country Club was short on personnel during the final day because three of head professional Danny Mulhearn’s assistants were needed on the course. With an odd number of players (35) qualifying for the 36-hole final day, Matt Slowinski served as a marker for Michael Davan, who was the odd man out as the field was paired in groups of two, in the third round, and he used Phil Wydys in the final round. Chris Brant, the eventual runner-up, had carried his bag during the first two rounds but requested a caddie for the final day. Connor Weldon took on that role. Then the player with whom Brant was paired, 2007 champion Ravi Patel, was forced out by a shoulder injury after nine holes of the final round. Brant wanted a marker and Slowinski got the call. • A top-15 finish for a 15-year-old: Perhaps more than any previous year, youth is being served in Illinois golf, with 15-year-old Doug Ghim leading the way. Ghim, from Arlington Heights, had been the youngest-ever qualifier for the Illinois Open and finished in a tie for 37th playing

Dave Ryan

that event against the state’s top professionals. He tied for 14th at the Illinois State Amateur, which didn’t surprise Mulhearn, a frequent contender in Illinois PGA competitions. “He played in front of me at the Illinois Open, and I had already known about him,” said Mulhearn of the Illinois Junior champion and Buffalo Grove High School student. “He also played with a friend of mine (at the Illinois Open) so I followed him a half-dozen holes on the final day. He’s strong and has the mind for it. He likes to hit it hard. There’s a lot of good stuff ahead of him.” Ghim wasn’t the youngest in the State Am. Joliet’s Trent Wallace (14 years, 2 months and 15 days old at the start of the tournament) had that honor. He shot 82-92 and missed the cut. So did the event oldest qualifier, 60-year-old Dirk Anderson, the CDGA Senior Amateur champion from Rolling Meadows. He shot 75-81. • Happy 100th: Glen Oak was the host of the Illinois State Amateur as part of its centennial celebration. The only bigger event played on the tight, well-conditioned layout was the 1915 Western Open, and the rare experience as a tournament venue was well-received by the club’s membership. “Members right off the bat embraced it,” said Mulhearn, “and it was great for everybody. The members were saying how much fun it was and how polite the kids were. And all the players were saying they can’t believe how welcoming the members were.” • Notes: Following a July in which Chicago received more rain than any other July on record, and additional rain on the day prior to the start of the championship, Round 1 was played under rules that permitted preferred lies. Players were permitted to lift, clean and place golf balls in their own fairway. . . . Glen Oak club champion William Boockford earned the host site’s exemption into the event, missing the cut after shooting 75-81….One past champion, Dave Huske, was in attendance at the event, but did not use his lifetime exemption to play. A former member of Glen Oak, Huske was the winner of the first Illinois State Amateur conducted as a stroke play event back in 1963 at Forest Hills Country Club in Rockford. —Contributed by Len Ziehm, Rich Skyzinski and Matt Baylor

Todd Mitchell

round. The scorecard had him down for a 4 on the fifth hole of the final round when Mitchell instead made a 5, and after it was signed and the score posted, he realized there was an error. Mitchell won consecutive State Amateur titles in 2002 and ’03 and never had finished worse than eighth in his nine previous starts. Mitchell’s misfortune didn’t detract from a great final day for Hopfinger, who took the lead with a blistering 64 in the third round and never trailed thereafter. He made eight birdies in the morning round of the 36-hole finale, three of them coming on the final three holes, en route to claiming the Louis L. Emmerson Trophy. Brant, playing one group in front of Hopfinger, got within one stroke after 10 holes of the final round, but his chances at winning ended when his 3-iron tee shot at the 225-yard par-3 16th sailed far right into thick rough, leading to a double bogey.

SEPTEMBER 2011

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 21

“I had a shot until then,” said Brant. “I hit a really, really poor golf shot. You can’t miss right of that green, but realistically I would have had to make par there and birdie the last two holes. Brad played very well. It was good to see him win.” India and Hopfinger both used their fathers as caddies in their runs to the title. “In the past that hasn’t always worked out too well,” said Hopfinger, “but (his father) did it in the Trans-Mississippi tournament in Kansas this summer and I shot 66-66, so I thought I should try it again.” India wasn’t at Glen Oak in an attempt to further promote the Hawkeyes’ talent. The Big Ten Player of the Year for 2011 was named to the U.S. team for the World University Games, so he spent the week competing in China. “I wish he’d been here,” said Brant, who will enter his senior year at Iowa this fall while India and Hopfinger move on to try their hand at professional golf. India, Hopfinger and Brant played in the 1-2-3 positions for an Iowa team that finished 10th in the NCAA Championship. For Hopfinger, 22, the State Amateur was a great ending to his amateur career. Having failed to qualify for the U.S.

LET’S PLAY TWO It was a busy start to the month of August for 12 players who competed in both the Western Amateur and the Illinois State Amateur Championship in back-to-back weeks. Here’s how they fared. PLAYER

WESTERN AMATEUR

Brad Benjamin

T56 (MC)

Sam Bettinardi

T116 (MC) T49 (MC)

Blake Biddle

T77 (MC)

T38

Chris Brant Ross Frankenberg

ILLINOIS STATE AM

T10

ROUND 1

PLAYER

Brad Hopfinger

T51

Bennett Lavin

T101 (MC)

T10

Theodore Lederhausen

T77 (MC)

T14

Todd Mitchell

T101 (MC)

Max Scodro

T85 (MC)

Jordan Stein

T138 (MC) T38 (MC)

Andrew Wyatt

T77 (MC)

T10

Amateur, he entered the professional ranks slightly ahead of schedule. Three days after his big win at Glen Oak, he was off to Lawrence, Kan., to compete in a Monday qualifier for a Nationwide Tour event. “It meant a lot to get a win,” said Hopfinger, who got around par-71 Glen Oak in 71-68-64-69.

ROUND 2

PLAYER

With only eight players breaking par, Mitchell -5 Mitchell used the low round of the Hopfinger -3 first two days, a 4-under-par 67, to Brant -2 go ahead by two strokes, with Brad Emory -1 Hopfinger of Lake Forest making a move into second with a 68. Despite Patel -1 closing his round with a bogey on each of his last two holes, Lake Forest’s Perry Johnson carded a 69 but, following an opening round 80, failed to make the cut by one stroke. Also making a large turnaround, while missing the cut, was St. Charles’ Jordan Wetsch, turning a first-round 86 into a second-round 72.

22 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

ROUND 3

PLAYER

The third round became a three-horse Hopfinger -10 race, as Hopfinger, Mitchell and Brant Mitchell -8 distanced themselves from the field Brant -6 with solid rounds. With a slick birdie Emory -2 on the 18th green, Hopfinger fired a -1 third round 64—one shy of the course Konieczki record—to open a two-stroke lead. With a 68 in his third round, Mitchell surrendered the lead, while Brant tallied 67 to stay within striking distance. While 12 of the 35 players who made the cut shot below par in the morning round, only five players completed 54 holes under par for the event. ROUND 4

Ross Frankenberg

Jordan Stein

Andrew Wyatt

T132 (MC) T49 (MC)

RECAP Hinsdale’s Theo Lederhausen, the Brant -2 leading scorer at Harvard as a Lederhausen -2 freshman, made six birdies, five of Patel -1 them from inside 10 feet, to tie Chris Mitchell -1 Brant for the lead at 2-under-par 69. Seven others E He had the outright lead at 3 under par until a bogey at the 17th. Nine players were within two strokes of the lead, among them a pair of former champions at 1-under 70: Ravi Patel (2007) and Todd Mitchell (2002, ‘03). Brant was one of 12 players in the field who also played in the previous week’s Western Amateur, where he led that group by sharing 38th place.

Blake Biddle

PLAYER

Any chance that the final round would Hopfinger -12 turn into a nail-biter might have been Brant -8 heightened at the first hole when there was a two-shot swing with Hopfinger making a bogey to Brant’s birdie. The two matched birdies at the fifth and seventh holes and Hopfinger gained another stroke with a birdie at the ninth. Though Brant opened the final nine with back-to-back birdies, a later bogey (No. 13) and a double bogey (16th) paved the way for Hopfinger to coast home.

A week earlier, Hopfinger made a solid showing in the Western Amateur at North Shore Country Club. He got through all 72 holes of the rugged stroke play qualifying there, but didn’t make it to match play. He was better in the State Amateur despite a slow start in the opening round. The 7-under 64 in the third round was Hopfinger’s low career competitive round. It was one stroke off the course mark set by Danny Mulhearn, who is in his eighth year as the club’s head professional. For those wondering when this run of great play in the Illinois State Amateur by the Hawkeyes might start to fade, it would appear as though the answer is sometime beyond 2012. Next year’s State Amateur at Kokopelli in downstate Marion represents a chance for an Iowa three-peat, and Brant would logically be a strong contender following his senior year with the Hawkeyes. “I don’t know my schedule, but I’d like to come back,” he said. “I would plan to play (the State Am) and the U.S. Amateur.” Why veer from the path of success his teammates have built? Len Ziehm is recently retired after a long career covering golf and other sports for the Chicago Sun-Times. WWW.CDGA.ORG

LOWER.

YOUR.

SCORES.

You know â&#x20AC;Ś if you care about that sort of thing. Schedule your fitting today or visit us online Northfield 847-386-6820

SEPTEMBER 2011

Chicago 312-846-1197

Willowbrook 630-654-8887

Online ClubChampionGolf.com

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 23

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER: You’ve been a lifelong golfer. What attracted you to the game 40 or 45 years ago and what still attracts you to the game today?

That thing is the infinite number of ways you can play one course over and over again. That’s what I learned at age 10. Comparing it to tennis, which was my other sport of choice, every court looks the same and you basically hit the same shots over and over again. In golf, every time you play, there’s a different experience. So for the first six years of my life, I played East Aurora Country Club, a ninehole track that I thought was heaven. I caddied and played golf every day all summer. Every experience was different and that was astonishing to me. Then, when you throw in the fact that there are 35,000 golf courses around the world, each one different than the next, you have infinity squared in terms of experiences. MIKE KEISER:

Labor of LOVE I Mike Keiser’s vision for Bandon Dunes was spot on despite those who questioned the viability of his venture By Rich Skyzinski

24 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

AP PHOTOS

Mike Keiser

n the span of just a dozen years, Mike Keiser’s vision has changed exponentially. After creating the spectacular nine-hole Dunes Club in New Buffalo, Mich., Keiser built Bandon Dunes, 18 holes on the coast of southwest Oregon that immediately earned rave reviews. Three other courses have since been added and there’s more on the way. The first course there opened in 1999, and in that short time, the Bandon courses have become one of the premier golf destinations in the world. Keiser, who grew up near Buffalo, N.Y., but now lives in Chicago, where he helped found a successful recycled greeting card business 40 years ago, sat down with Chicago District Golfer to talk about all that’s happened in the last decade.

CDG: Much of what you believe the golf experience is supposed to be, you obtained from courses on visits to Scotland and Ireland. Was the game you experienced there an immediate attraction?

I would say it was immediate. You have the ocean on those links courses. So to see the ocean and sand dune shapes, which are perfect for golf, and, by and large, fescue grass and native grass, that combination, wherever you are, as long as you’re playing a true links course, is astonishing, stunning and, I think, immediately magnetic.

MK:

CDG: Would you agree that the foundation of the game is different in the U.K. than it is here? MK:

Yes, it is.

CDG: Is one difference that clubs in the U.K. don’t seem to focus as much on the bottom line?

Among other things, I would key in on three differences. Most of our courses are inland. Most of our courses that were built after World War II were built to be really tough. And we added golf carts and cart paths. That took golf

MK:

WWW.CDGA.ORG

in a whole different direction. We went to an Augusta type of manicuring— greener, greener, greener—and, as you know, golf courses in Scotland and Ireland are tawny and that’s part of the attraction. It just looks more natural. CDG: How much of what you’ve accomplished at Bandon Dunes did you learn through your work at the Dunes Club?

At the Dunes Club, I had so much fun doing it that I said, ‘I’m going to do this at least one more time,’ and I need a sand site. So what I learned at the Dunes Club was, sand is a better medium to do a golf course than mud because it forms more naturally into the nicely waving shapes that only wind on sand can produce.

It’s astonishing. It’s awesome. I say that immodestly because everyone, including me, thought it was something between a speculation and a folly. I prayed that we would do 10,000 rounds. But we did 24,000 the first year and it’s gone up from there. It’s astonishing that there are that many avid golfers who would go all the way out there to play golf, which they could do in Chicago or Akron or wherever.

MK:

CDG: Did you know Joe Jemsek? MK: I was served crackers and cheese

by Joe at Dubsdread many times. I was given a putting lesson by Joe in the Dubsdread pro shop during a rain delay. He was one of my heroes. CDG: What did you learn about the

golf business from Joe? CDG: When you first started work on

MK:

What I took from Joe was that he

was the quintessence of hospitality. He wanted you to have a good time at Dubsdread because he wanted you to come back. I, and so many others, were so loyal to Dubsdread because we knew it was a labor of love and a heartfelt outpouring of hospitality on his part. CDG: When you think of what truly is

the essence of golf in America, many people probably think of Tiger Woods and all the success he’s enjoyed. What do you feel is the essence of American golf?

It has nothing to do with hitting the ball 300 yards or shooting in the 60s. It has to do with being outside, in a beautiful place, with a couple of good friends, although you and I also have had great experiences playing golf with three strangers. That’s golf as it was meant to be. MK:

Bandon Dunes, did anyone tell you that you were wasting your money? MK:

Everyone I spoke to said that.

CDG: When was it that you realized they were wrong?

The moment I realized they might be wrong was when I brought a plane full of Chicago golfers out there before we opened; there was no clubhouse and we had a picnic lunch on a windy day. They played it and they loved it. It was the first time a somewhat subjective audience came and said, ‘This is great.’ It still took almost to opening day to realize what we had. Opening day was full—we had 180 golfers—and it was raining for probably the first four hours, it was 48 degrees and everyone showed up, everyone played, some of them in shorts, all of them said it was great and half of them said they were returning. So it was on opening day that I realized it would do better than everyone, including myself, had thought.

MK:

CDG: For what Bandon Dunes has become, that being, one of the top golf destinations in the world, are you at all surprised? MK: You can say that; I probably wouldn’t say that so boldly. But it certainly has become a destination. SEPTEMBER 2011

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 25

Family affair

With a quality golf course that has stood the test of time and generations of family-based memberships, Glen Flora Country Club celebrates its first 100 years

By Tim Cronin

he easy way to explain the quality of Glen Flora Country Club as a golf course is to report what Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player shot in 1963 during a 36-hole confection known as the Holiday Golf Classic. Palmer posted a 67 and 74, finishing last at 1-over-par 141. Nicklaus scored 138 on rounds of 68 and 70. And Player went 67-69, an aggregate of 4-under 136 on the course that tipped out at around 6,500 yards and was dubbed a par 70 for that adventure. The layout, designed by club professional Austere Claeyssens in 1922, isn’t any longer today, but the greens are still vexing and the trees—at least those still standing after a summer of wicked storms—still narrow the fairways. Glen Flora holds its own in more ways than one. The club is celebrating its centennial this year, even after it underwent foreclosure last fall. A $6 million renovation of the clubhouse, which came just as the economy went into free-fall, ultimately proved too much to handle financially. The good news is, the bank believes Glen Flora is a good prospect for survival and brought in golf architect Joe Jemsek’s fledgling course management firm to take over the business end of the operation. As far as the golf course is concerned, there’s never been a problem with a course where Nicklaus shoots even par while hitting every green in regulation, as was the case with that 70 in 1963— or with this year’s U.S. Amateur qualifying, when only four players broke par over 36 holes.

PHOTOS COURTESY GLEN FLORA

A signed photo of golf legends Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player from the 1963 Holiday Golf Classic at Glen Flora is on display at the club.

26 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

WWW.CDGA.ORG

PHOTO BY BUZZ ORR/CDGA

Glen Flora’s clubhouse burned down in 1970, but the club took it in stride and it continues to thrive today with a newly renovated clubhouse and additions of a pool and tennis facility.

broke par over 36 holes. “We will survive very well,” member George Harlow said recently. Harlow is an authority on Glen Flora. This is his 60th year at the cozy club on Sheridan Road. Now a golden senior, he joined as a junior member in 1952, and the love affair was on. “It’s been my home,” Harlow said. “We have a lot of members who have been here 30 years. Glen Flora really means something to them.” Harlow has seen just about everything worth seeing, good and bad, from the visit of the Big Three to the Women’s Western Open to the night of Dec. 19, 1970, when the clubhouse burned down. “We’d just finished a four-year remodeling program,” Harlow said. “During the reconstruction, the pro shop ran out of a trailer. But golf went on as usual.” It always does at Glen Flora. It always has. Conceived in the winter of 1911 as Waukegan Country Club by members of a similarly named earlier group that had a couple of rudimentary holes in the growing town’s business district, founders E.L. Clarke, R.C. Price, A.C. Fisher and W.G. Strong renamed it Glen Flora five weeks later, and Glen Flora it SEPTEMBER 2011

has been since. At first, there were nine holes immediately west of the current club. A one-room clubhouse provided a place to hang one’s jacket, and not much else. But the club took root, and in 1922, the course designed by Claeyssens opened to considerable approval. Few discouraging words have been heard since—by those hitting the fairways and stopping their approaches below the cup, anyway. Water graces 11 holes, and bunkers are plentiful. “Five or six of the greens are truly unique,” said Jemsek, who grew up in the game as the son of Frank Jemsek and grandson of the original Joe Jemsek. There are punch bowl greens and a Biarritz, a green with a gully bisecting the middle, and a couple of Redan-like putting surfaces as well. Then there is the 11th hole. A par 3. “It legitimately is a dogleg par 3,” Jemsek reports. “There is a giant hickory tree on the front, and the slope of a hill,” Harlow said. “The green is down in a cavity. From the tee, all you can see is the top of the flag and the back of the green.” Crazy, but the members love it, even though, as Jemsek says, “If you don’t hit a cut, you can’t get to the middle or right side of the green.” That didn’t stop member Bob Trombino from acing the hole once upon a time—as he has the other par 3s on the

course—and, according to legend, eagled every other hole on the layout as well. Trombino’s feat may be unique, but he’s hardly the only player who puts a peg in the first tee just about every day he can. Glen Flora’s players play, trying to get a handle on the anything-but-flat greens. “The greens roll and are defended by their contouring,” Jemsek said. “But the fairways are defended by their trees.” That’s the case even after a summer’s worth of storms took out nearly 300 of them. But there’s a funny thing about that, Harlow noted. “All these winds, they never knock down the trees that haunt you,” he said. There aren’t ghosts at Glen Flora, but there are memories. Harlow was a third-year member when the Women’s Western Open, the original major open for the ladies, played through. Betty Jameson, the San Antonio stylist, had 13 one-putt greens en route to a 6-and-5 drubbing of defending champion Louise Suggs in the 36-hole final match. For her trouble, Jameson won $1,000, which in 1954 was about as good as it got in women’s golf. Nine years later, thanks to the philanthropy of the Polk Bros. furniture store chain, Palmer, Player and Nicklaus would divide $50,000 for their 36-hole chore. Player pocketed the winner’s share of $20,000, but not a great deal of people took note, perhaps because a two-day ticket was $12.95 and one day’s admission was $7, CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 27

Gary Player won the 1963 Holiday Golf Classic and took home his winner’s share of $20,000.

pricey for 1963. “It was easy to watch them at any time,” Harlow said. “There were several thousand people there, but we thought we’d have more.” But it brought attention to Glen Flora, and the publicity probably boosted membership in the long term. Harlow recalled the club’s demographics weren’t favorable when he joined in 1952. “It was mostly a men’s club, and

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the average age was in the high 60s,” Harlow said. Not so today. A pool and tennis facilities help keep the club young. “We’ve always been a club where the children and the grandchildren of members were invited to participate,” he said. “A membership at Glen Flora is worth every penny to a family. And you’ve got to have the families for a club to survive.” According to Jemsek, there are 65 new members this year. “The club is turning a new corner in the new millennium,” Jemsek said. And looking ahead—aren’t the first hundred years the toughest? Tim Cronin covers golf for the Southtown Star.

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Chicago District Golf Association

Fall Golf Excursion to Pinehurst

Join the CDGA for a fall golf excursion to one of the premier golf destinations in the world. Be a part of the exclusive group traveling to Pinehurst, N.C., Nov. 12-14, for a weekend of fantastic golf, first‐class accommodations and southern hospitality at its finest. Contact Andrew Louthain, senior director of corporate partnerships, at 630‐685‐2321 or alouthain@cdga.org for more information.

UPPER management KemperSports began on a small, local level, but has grown into a high-profile operation that oversees some of the country’s top golf destinations By Ed Sherman

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ast fall, Golf Inc., a business publication, ranked what it considered the most powerful people in the golf industry. The list included Jack Nicklaus (third), Gary Player (fifth) and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem (sixth). Right behind them in seventh was Steve Lesnik and Steve Skinner, the chairman and CEO, respectively, of KemperSports. They are hardly household names compared to the other heavy hitters, but the golf industry is well aware of their impact on the game. The Northbrook-based company owns or manages more than 100 golf courses, making it the fifth-largest operator in the world. The portfolio

includes the celebrated Bandon Dunes, the golf mecca in southwest Oregon, and Chambers Bay in Seattle, a new course so spectacular that the U.S. Open will be played there in 2015. Locally, the list of courses includes the Glen Club in Glenview, Hawthorn Woods Country Club in Hawthorn Woods, and the new Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich., site of the Senior PGA Championship in 2012 and ’14. Their success is based on a simple operating mandate, according to KemperSports president Josh Lesnik. “One thing we say is, ‘Best in class,’ ” said Josh, Steve’s son. “We’re very diverse. We manage nine-hole courses and high-end private clubs. We’re not one-size-fits-all. But we always say, ‘Whatever level you’re working at, you want to be best in that class.’ ” Steve Lesnik took that approach from day one. He was an unlikely candidate to find himself on anyone’s list of movers and shakers. He didn’t even play his first 18-hole round until 1980, when he was 40. Lesnik was working for Kemper Insurance when CEO Jim Kemper asked him in 1978 to open and operate

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Kemper Lakes, a premium new track. resort improved exponentially with Naval Air Station. Under architect Tom Lesnik decided he needed to make the the addition of Pacific Dunes, Bandon Fazio’s direction, a flat landing strip was course stand out in the market. So Trails and Old MacDonald. transformed into the rolling Glen Club, he coined the idea, “country club for “Mike knew what he liked in a golf complete with trees and ponds. a day.” course,” Steve Lesnik said. “He thought In Seattle, officials talked boldly “It’s hard to believe today, but at that others would like it too.” of building a spectacular course that time there was no such thing as an upscale public course,” Steve said. “You either had municipal courses or private clubs. I was a marketing guy. I wanted to do something completely different. I said, ‘I want Kemper Lakes to be like a country club.’ It worked.” The ploy attracted the attention of the industry, and soon Lesnik received calls about running other courses. KemperSports quickly became From left to right: Steve Lesnik, chairman; Steve Skinner, CEO; and Josh Lesnik, president a driving force in the industry. A few high-profile developments standout. Keiser says he relishes his experience could host a U.S. Open. KemperSports In the 1990s, Mike Keiser, who owns a with KemperSports. was brought in and the end result highly successful greeting card company “KemperSports has been a fantastic was Chambers Bay and its stunning in Chicago, wanted to build his dream management partner from the start,” water views. The course cost $22 course. A golf purist, he chose a rough Keiser said. “Their commitment to million to build, but the area stands piece of oceanfront property in Oregon. excellent customer service and shared to gain from an estimated economic Everyone thought he was crazy since vision of golf as it was meant to be boost of $150 million for the Open in the location was so remote. But Keiser have made a great impact in the overall 2015. knew golfers would come if the course success of Bandon Dunes.” “A lot of our success and formula is measured up. Bandon Dunes did KemperSports was the driver behind based on the ability to take someone’s when it debuted in 1999, and the the overhaul of the former Glenview vision, become part of that vision and

The Pacific Dunes course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

GETTY IMAGES

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CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 31

PHOTO COURTESY KEMPERSPORTS

Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

execute it,” Skinner said. A testament to KemperSports is that its portfolio actually has grown during a tough economy. The company has been able to add 12-14 courses per year. “We saw an opportunity,” Skinner said. Indeed, running a golf course isn’t

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easy in these times. Struggling operators have turned to KemperSports to turn around the balance sheet. The focus, Steve Lesnik said, always is on service. “The natural reaction is for courses to cut staff and cut spending,” Lesnik said. “That’s a bad spiral. We try to compete on service. We try to improve

the experience and value. The fact of the matter is, we will improve the operator’s financial situation because we professionally manage it.” Steve Lesnik now is a spry 70. He talks of taking lessons in the ongoing effort to make the most of his left-handed swing. Make no mistake, he’ll never be a Nicklaus or Player on the course. However, like those greats, the game has been very good to Lesnik. The company that was born out of Kemper Lakes more than 30 years ago now finds him working side-by-side with his son. He feels good as he looks ahead to the future of KemperSports. “This is a company that is familyowned,” Lesnik said. “We’re not owned by Wall Street or an equity firm. The company is going to be passed on to Josh and Steve. That says a lot about what we want to continue to be.” Ed Sherman is a retired golf writer for the Chicago Tribune.

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HALLOWED

Four notable inductees have been selected to join the ranks of past honorees in the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame By Len Ziehm

HALLS

legendary Chicago athlete from long ago will join two veteran club professionals and a celebrated course superintendent as the honorees when the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame conducts its next induction ceremonies on Oct. 21. Steve Benson, Sherm Finger, Bob Gardner and Paul Voykin are the newest selections to the Hall, which was created by the Illinois PGA Foundation and inducted its first members in 1989 in an effort to celebrate the rich history and traditions of golf in Illinois. The Illinois PGA oversees the selection

process for the Hall, and its members are featured in an exhibit at The Glen Club in Glenview. When the latest honorees are inducted, the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame will have 70 members. Induction ceremonies will be held at The Glen Club. These are the latest selectees, chosen by a committee of leaders in the Illinois PGA, the Chicago District Golf Association, the Western and Women’s Western golf associations, the Midwest Golf Course Superintendents Association and Illinois Junior Golf Association. Members of the media and past Hall of Fame honorees also are part of the selection committee.

PAUL VOYKIN

oykin, 80, was known as an innovative golf course superintendent. The trigger point came in a 1972 speech he gave to a large audience at the USGA Annual Meeting. Entitled, “Overgrooming is overspending,” the speech was controversial at the time but led to changes in the way superintendents nationwide did their jobs. One of three brothers who all were superintendents at Chicago courses, Voykin worked as an assistant at Olympia Fields Country Club before taking the head job at Calumet Country Club. He moved from Calumet to Briarwood Country Club, where he directed the operations for 47 years before his retirement in 2008. Ten years into his career at Briarwood, Voykin began experimenting in those areas that didn’t come into play during the course of a round. The result was a colorful mix of

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plants, wildflowers and various types of previously unknown grasses that enhanced the experience for players. In 2003 Voykin was named U.S. Superintendent of the Year. He also is a past president of the Midwest Golf Course Superintendents Association and has authored two lawn-care books — “A Perfect Lawn the Easy Way” (Rand McNally, 1969) and “Ask the Lawn Expert” (Macmillan, 1976).

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BOB GARDNER tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to imagine a better athlete than Gardner, who won the U.S. Amateur at Chicago Golf Club at age 19 in 1909. He was the eventâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youngest winner until Tiger Woods was victorious in 1994. Born in 1890, Gardner was a member at Hinsdale Golf Club, Onwentsia and Old Elm prior to his death in 1956. He also won the U.S. Amateur in 1915, was runner-up in 1916 and 1921 and was the British Amateur runner-up in 1920. A four-time member of the U.S. Walker Cup team, Gardner was the captain of teams that included golf legends such as Bobby Jones, Chick Evans and Francis Ouimet. During World War I, he played in Red Cross fundraising exhibitions with Evans and Elaine Rosenthal, both Illinois Golf Hall of Fame members. Gardner won three of the first nine CDGA Amateur Championships, an all-time record matched by only two others in nearly a century, and took the Chicago Open in 1914. He was more than just a great golfer. He also held the world record in the pole vault and was a national doubles champion in squash. As a collegian, he was the captain of both the track and golf teams at Yale University. In addition to his competitive accomplishments, Gardner was president of the CDGA from 1924-27 and vice president of the United States Golf Association from 1921-25.

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION

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STEVE BENSON enson, 64, is one of the most decorated players within the Illinois ranks, both as an amateur and a professional. A collegiate star at Michigan State University, he captured the CDGA’s two biggest amateur titles — the CDGA Amateur in 1971 and the Illinois State Amateur in 1972. In his long stint in the club professional ranks, he won three Illinois PGA Championships between 1982 and 1994 and also won the IPGA Match Play title three times. His success didn’t decline once he entered the senior ranks, either. Benson won the IPGA Senior Championship in 2006 and the Illinois Senior Open in 1996, 1998 and 2009. Competing against much younger players, Benson still advanced to the semifinals of this year’s IPGA Match Play Championship. Nationally, Benson played in 12 Western Opens, four PGA Championships, one U.S. Open, four U.S. Senior Opens and two Senior PGA Championships. A lifetime member of the Illinois PGA, Benson was head professional at Glen Oak for seven years before moving to Hillcrest, where he remained in charge through the 2010 season, when the club underwent an ownership change. PGA OF AMERICA

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SHERM FINGER inger, 67, emerged from the Chicago amateur ranks to become a threetime All-American selection at the University of Southern California. He also won the CDGA Amateur in 1965 and qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship four times between 1961 and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;65. After two years of military service, including 10 months in Vietnam, and an 18-month stint trying to qualify to play on the the PGA Tour, Finger decided to focus on teaching and going through the PGA of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accreditation process to become a club professional. He was head professional at Shoreacres from 1974-79, then moved to Knollwood Club, where he was in charge for 27 years prior to his retirement in 2005. Finger won the Illinois PGA Horton

Smith Education Award in 1982 and was the IPGA Professional of the Year in 1988. From 1973 to 1992 he served in almost every volunteer position in the IPGA and was its president from 1986-88. He played a leadership role in bringing the PGA Championship to Kemper Lakes in 1989. Fingerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2011 induction into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame follows his previous selection into two othersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. In retirement, Finger continues to teach at Lake Bluff Golf Club. Len Ziehm is recently retired after a long career covering golf and other sports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION Required by 39 USC 3685 Title of Publication: Chicago District Golfer; Publication Number: 014-008; Date of filing: September 1, 2011; Frequency of issue: Varies; Number of issues published annually: 6; Annual subscription price: $15.00; Known office of publication: Chicago District Golf Association, Midwest Golf House, 11855 Archer Ave., Lemont, IL 60439; Publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general business office: Chicago District Golf Association, Midwest Golf House, 11855 Archer Ave., Lemont, IL 60439; Publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name and address: Robert Markionni, Chicago District Golf Association, Midwest Golf House, 11855 Archer Ave., Lemont, IL 60439 ; Editor: Rich Skyzinski, Turnstile Publishing, 1500 Park Center Drive, Orlando, Florida, 32835, Orange County; Managing Editor: Matt Baylor, Chicago District Golf Association, Midwest Golf House, 11855 Archer Ave., Lemont, IL 60439; Owner: Chicago District Golf Association, Midwest Golf House, 11855 Archer Ave., Lemont, IL 60439. Known bondholders, mortgages and other security holders: None; Extent of circulation (average number of copies during preceding 12 months): Total Number of Copies 58,400, Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail 57,956, Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 57,956, Free Distribution Outside of the Mail 444, Total Free Distribution 444, Total Distribution 58,400, Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 99.24%. Actual Number of Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 57,884, Paid/Requested OutsideCounty Mail 57,359, Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 57,359, Free Distribution Outside of the Mail 525, Total Free Distribution 525, Total Distribution 57,884, Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 99.09%.

SEPTEMBER 2011

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GEMS OF THE CDGA

The 17th hole at Glen View Club Golf, Ill. he 17th hole at Glen View Club in Golf, Ill. is a beautiful short par 4 that showcases the history of the club and requires players to execute two quality shots to have a legitimate birdie opportunity. Usually played off the slightly elevated Lang (Scottish for “long”) set of tees at 350 yards, the tee shot to the doglegged fairway offers several options. A large tree 250 yards away — with a guardian bunker below — looms large for players who try to cut the holes length. A long, accurate hitter could cut around — or perhaps over — the tree onto a severely sloped bank that will feed the ball right to left into a collection area. Spray right of the tree and you’ll encounter the historic Dewes Cabin, the original home of the family that settled the property in 1840. A safer play left of the tree leaves a short iron into an elevated green that is protected by two deep-faced bunkers, which are themselves protected by fingers of longer grass. The approach is the key shot to the hole — a player cannot see the base of the flag, altering depth perception. Mounds protect the back of the green, which runs very quickly back to front. A player must lift the ball over the bunkers to keep it on the front side of the green to ensure a manageable uphill putt. The most difficult pin locations are short front or middle right, leaving little room for error over the bunkers. Shots to the back of the green lead to lightning quick downhill putts, leaving 6 to 8-footers for a par. Fly the ball too long and a player risks the mounds, leading a blind, shortsided pitch down the hill back to the bunkers and collection area.

— Jim Owczarski

PAR 4 YARDS

TEE

400 350 302 276

Mach Lang Laigh Glen

Caption

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FRANK POLICH/CDGA

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CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 39

RULES OF THE GAME

Getting out of trouble

Just because a player is unable to play his ball doesn’t mean there is a shortage of good options

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Let’s look at a possible situation where a player is faced with a delicate pitch shot over a steep-faced bunker but mis-hits the ball and now finds himself in a really tough lie in the sand. Realizing that it might take several shots to get out of the bunker, the player could exercise Clause A as explained previously. This allows the player, under penalty of one stroke, to play “as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played,” which, in this scenario, is outside the bunker. As always, it is helpful to examine the surroundings before a player makes a decision on which of the unplayable options is best. Several years ago, at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship near Tucson, Ariz., a player’s tee shot was partially imbedded near the base of a cactus. Deciding to exercise Clause C and drop within two club-lengths of the ball’s location, he failed to notice that recent heavy rains had created a series of narrow, deep gullies that ran through the area where he was about to drop. Yes, by now the outcome was predictable; a bad situation became worse when the player dropped his original ball and watched it roll into one of the gullies, where he had no choice but to declare it unplayable again. The game need not be that painful. AP PHOTO

o matter how good a player you are, there will come a time when a shot goes awry and the ball comes to rest in a location from which it is difficult, if not impossible, to play. Perhaps the ball has been found among a tangled network of tree roots, or up against a cactus, under an unmovable boulder or in the midst of a dense shrub. When a player decides his ball is such that it is impractical to try to make a stroke, it is helpful to know the options under which he may proceed using Rule 28 (Ball Unplayable). First, the player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable, and the player can deem his ball to be unplayable anywhere on the course except when the ball is in a water hazard. When a player is faced with a ball that is unplayable, there are three options he may employ, each of them under a penalty of one stroke: A) Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played; B) Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far from that point the ball may be dropped; C) Drop a ball within two clublengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.

Occasionally, a player will try to play a ball when he might be better off declaring his ball unplayable, and it is in these situations that knowing the particulars of Rule 28 can be advantageous and, at the same time, save a player strokes. A paragraph in Rule 28 says, “If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, the player may proceed under Clause A, B or C. If he elects to proceed under Clause B or C, a ball must be dropped in the bunker.” However, there is no such stipulation as it pertains to Clause A, and because some players are intimidated by bunkers and fear playing from them, knowing this option under Rule 28 might be helpful.

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