Chicago District Golfer July 2011

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GUEST ESSAY Steve Stricker

Can’t wait!

I’m eager to try to make it three victories in a row at the John Deere Classic

It won’t be long now until I’m back at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities, trying to win the John Deere Classic for the third year in a row— or, like those old Bulls, trying to three-peat.

It would be a first for me. I’ve never won the same event three times in a row. It would be a first for the tournament, too, which has had a couple of repeat winners but never a triple. So we’re going to try to make some golf history here, although I’ll try not to think about it.

When it comes to winning a golf tournament, it’s tough enough to repeat let alone put three of them together. It’s just hard to do. When you come back to defend, there are a lot of expectations you have for yourself and from other people.

Some tournaments put a lot of demands on your time when you’re the defending champion; fortunately that wasn’t the case with the John Deere Classic.

Tournament director Clair Peterson, his staff and the volunteers made it very easy for me to come back and play and keep my focus on playing well. Fortunately, I was able to do it last year. But there’s a ton of good players. Somebody can get hot, go low, and you may not have a chance, even if you play well.

Last year, even by the time I stepped onto the tee to start my first round, I was 12 shots behind!

Earlier that morning, my friend, Paul Goydos, shot a 59. Fortunately, I was able to shoot 60—and nearly holed out from the fairway on the 18th hole. For Paul, it had to be something like, “Holy cow, I shot a 59 and only have a one-stroke lead.”

For me, I felt like, “OK, I’m right back in it.” Paul was right there on Sunday and put a lot of pressure on me, but, fortunately, I made a couple of key putts coming in and was able to hang on and win by two strokes.

I think TPC Deere Run is a really good golf course, very fair. I believe in the theory that says there are horses for courses. Certain courses fit players’ eyes more than other courses and you have a good feeling going to a particular course. I’ve had some really good things happen at Deere Run. It’s a course where there’s some risk and some reward.

There are par 5s you can reach in two, par 3s you have to be careful on, and short par 4s that you can make birdies on if you drive the ball well. I’ve putted well at Deere Run, too. The greens have the same grass that I grew up on in Wisconsin— bentgrass.

The John Deere Classic is one of my favorite tournaments to come and play, and not just because I’ve played well there. I like the Midwestern feel of the tournament, which reminds me a lot of the way it was when I first came on tour.

Smaller areas, smaller communities got behind a tournament for a cause, for the charitable dollars. The people that run the tournament are great.

The volunteers are second to none in friendliness and making you feel welcome. It’s a really cool event.

Another thing that makes the

GETTY IMAGES

I

f I’m not mistaken, the term three-peat originated in the 1990s when Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls weren’t merely satisfied to repeat as NBA champions. They were all about winning three straight, doing it twice (1991-’93 and 1995-’97).

Steve Stricker

John Deere Classic special is they’ve arranged a charter flight for those of us who are playing in the British Open the following week. The jet leaves Sunday night after the tournament and brings us right to the Open venue, which this year is Royal St. George’s in England. It cuts the travel time immensely and you’re as fresh as you can be heading overseas.

And you don’t lose your clubs.

The charter is important because winning a major is very important to me. I’ve now won 10 times on the PGA Tour, and at some pretty good places, such as Riviera, Colonial, Muirfield Village and Westchester.

But, obviously, to win a major would be pretty special.

This year, I’d like to have my game peak the week before the British Open, win my third John Deere Classic in a row, and have that victory carry me into the next week.

So, if you enjoy watching some great mid-summer golf at a beautiful course in the Midwest, come out and see many of the Tour’s top players at the John Deere Classic. Who knows, maybe I can make history.

For more with Steve Stricker, tune in to Chicago District Golfer TV on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Check cdga.org for air times.

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

JULY 2011

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4 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

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JULY 2011 | Vol. 22 No. 3

Features

Departments

22 HIGH DEMAND

GUEST ESSAY

Scott Pavalko talks about his new role as superintendent at Cog Hill

Steve Stricker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

25 HISTORY LESSON

By Jim Owczarski Lansing Country Club makes plans to commemorate Tony Lema, who died in a plane crash on its grounds 45 years ago 29 SEASONED GROUND

AROUND THE CDGA

Fit for Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Club Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Aces in the Crowd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tournament Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SUNSHINE THROUGH GOLF FOUNDATION

Golf Marathon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

By Len Ziehm

FACILITY FOCUS

The Western Amateur will visit North Shore, which is as rich in history as the event itself

Bartlett Hills Golf Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

11

DESTINATION

Des Moines, Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 32 COUNTDOWN TO THE CUP

By Len Ziehm The 2012 Ryder Cup might seem as though it’s a long way off, but for those in charge of organization, they’ve been quite busy

GEMS OF THE CDGA

The 18th at Ridgemoor Country Club . . . . . . 38 RULES OF THE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

35

35 COMFORTABLY CLASSIC

By Tim Cronin With chapters of its past written by some of the game’s storied names, Glen Oak Country Club celebrates its centennial

32 COVER: Tony Lema (The Associated Press). CONTENTS (clockwise, from top): Sunshine Through Golf Foundation Golf Marathon participants (CDGA photo); Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper (photo courtesy Glen Oak CC); Inset: Medinah Country Club (photo by Nick Novelli).

JULY 2011

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 5

Around the F IT FOR G OL F

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CDGA

CDGA UPDAT E

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T O URN AM EN T UPDATE

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CL UB COR N E R

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» FIT FOR GOLF Two tests will help determine if a swing has limited mobility is one of the most dynamic sports skills in regard to the demands it places on the body. Each part of the body is involved in one way or another during the brief moment that it takes to complete a full swing. Here are two quick tests to determine what part(s) of the body could be limiting a player’s performance or putting them at risk for injury.

box. Keeping the knee of the foot on the ground straight, attempt to touch the foot that is placed on the floor with both hands. Repeat on the other side. If you find that one side is more limited than the other, that hip may be limiting the ability to get to your toes, which will limit the ability to get into a good setup position and maintain good posture throughout a golf swing.

Toe touch test

Deep squat test

Standing with feet together and knees straight, bend forward at the waist and try to touch your toes with your hands.

Should you have trouble with this, you may have tightness in your hamstrings or lower back. However, those might not be the only factors limiting your ability to touch your toes. To see if your hips might be the culprit, stand with both feet together and place one foot on top of a large phonebook or small

Standing with feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointing forward, grab a club with both hands and hold it directly above your head with arms extended. Squat down as far as you can (without pain), and try to get your thighs below parallel, while focusing on keeping your heels on the ground, arms straight in the air, and torso upright.

Should you not be able to keep your heels on the ground or your toes end up

THE GOLF SWING

pointing outward, ankle mobility should be your focus. If you cannot get your thighs below parallel or find that your knees end up pointing outward or collapsing inward, your hips and knees should be your focus. If you cannot keep your torso upright and arms straight up above your head, then core stability and shoulder strength/ flexibility should be your focus.

These are just two of many tests used to assess physical make-up in order to develop a specific golf conditioning program tailored to a player’s needs.

Remember to consult a physician before starting an exercise program.

For more information, call AthletiCo at 630-572-9700 or visit the website at athleticogolfcenter.com.

» CLUB CORNER Lightweight drivers don’t always lead to faster ball speed RECENT ADVERTISEMENT from an equipment manufacturer discusses lighter drivers that produce higher club head speed, which correlates into longer drives. While, from a theoretical perspective, this may be true, in the real world, real distance is measured in ball speed combined with optimal launch angle and spin rate.

It is entirely possible, and actually quite common, to have higher club head speed that produces lower ball speed. This occurs from the simple fact that high ball speed is produced by solid contact at impact in the center of the face of the club.

If a club head is moving faster, but fails to strike the center of the face, ball speed will plummet. In general, a slower moving head ‘on center’ will produce higher ball speed than a club head moving faster that is stuck ‘off center’.

The two most critical features of golf clubs that affect a player’s ability to strike the center of the face are the overall weight and length of the club. A club that is too heavy or too light will cause the player to miss the center of the face. So, the goal of any serious player is to find the correct weight, not necessarily a lighter weight.

Quite often, a player is fit with a shorter and heavier driver than what they recently bought off the rack. These shorter and

A

6 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

heavier drivers produce higher ball speed and better launch and spin combinations that produce longer, more controlled drives, and, for one simple reason: they are the correct weight and the correct length.

If making a driver perform better for most players is simply a case of making it both longer and lighter, why doesn’t everyone play 48-inch drivers with featherlight shafts? If that were the case, there would be a need for wider fairways. It is really no different than length or flex. Every player needs the correct weight shaft to maintain a consistent swing plane.

Today’s club heads and shafts are the best ever produced.

Lightweight shafts are now available for players of any ability, not just for slower swing speeds. Lighter and longer clubs will, in fact, produce higher club head speed, but in the end, it’s about ball speed, and ball speed is maximized by solid, center contact strikes.

For more information, call Club Champion at 630-654-8887 or visit online at clubchampiongolf.com.

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» ACES IN THE CROWD

» PEOPLE AND PL ACES

Bennett Blakeman

CDGA member offers will have an opportunity to experience the summer’s biggest racing event, the Arlington Million, at a special rate on Saturday, Aug. 13. Members will receive 20 percent off general admission or select box seat tickets. For as little as $12, CDGA members can catch the race that draws horses, owners, trainers, jockeys and fans from every corner of the world.

Visit arlingtonpark.com and use promo code CDGA to purchase your tickets.

The offer is only available for the Arlington Million, based on availability. Other restrictions may apply.

CDGA MEMBERS

Burr Ridge Blakeman shot scores of 68-67, seven under par, and was medalist for the second consecutive year at a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open. Blakeman finished one stroke ahead of Rockford’s Brad Benjamin, the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, at St. Charles (Ill.) Country Club, with Christopher DeForest, who had recently completed his senior season at the University of Illinois, getting the last of the three available spots in the starting field at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. Blakeman missed the cut in last year’s Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links.

Chris Brant Edwardsville Brant, a senior and member of the University of Iowa men’s golf team, had a strong showing in postseason play. He was runnerup at the Big Ten Championship with scores of 67-72-79-70—288. He held the lead for the first two rounds before finishing in second by one stroke behind Illinois’ Luke Guthrie. At the NCAA Regional (Indiana region), he tied for seventh with a 68-71-71—210, which led to a tied for fourth finish and a trip to the NCAA Championship for the team. Brant also was named to the Ping All-Midwest region team, the AllBig Ten second team, and was a Big Ten sportsmanship award honoree.

Stacey Miller Bloomington Miller, a former player for Illinois State University’s golf team, is competing on the LPGA Futures Tour this summer. She qualified for the Futures Tour last fall after tying for 50th at LPGA Qualifying School. Miller competed in her first tournament on the tour in early June at the Ladies Titan Tire Challenge at Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Marion, Iowa, but missed the cut with an 80-78—158. As a Redbird, she won four individual titles.

Pinehurst No. 2

Max Scodro

golf excursion once again returns to one of the nation’s premier golf destinations—Pinehurst, N.C., on Nov. 12-14.

The popular three-day, two-night excursion will include 54 holes of golf, including 18 on the famed No. 2 Course, the site of two U.S. Opens and newly reopened earlier this spring after a renovation by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.

Participants also will have starting times on Pinehurst No. 8 and No. 4 THE CDGA FALL

JULY 2011

on the weekend, with expenses covering green fees, travel and accommodations.

Travel packages are limited to the first 40 individuals who register on a first-come, first-served basis; the trip is expected to sell out. Package costs begin at $2,000.

For more information, go online at cdga.org or contact CDGA senior director of corporate partnerships Andrew Louthain at 630-685-2321 or alouthain@cdga.org to book.

Chicago Scodro, a senior and member of the University of Notre Dame men’s golf team, received numerous honors this past season. After winning medalist honors at the Big East Conference Championship with a 1-under 212 for 54 holes, he was named Big East Player of the Year. He also was named to the 2011 All-Big East team as well as the 2011 Ping All-Midwest region team. Scodro finished in the top 10 in seven out of 10 tournaments this season.

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.

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 7

Looking for what's important in Chicago golf?

with Jill Carlson on Comcast SportsNet

Chicago District Golfer hits the television screen with journeys to the best courses, in-depth interviews, informative instruction, the latest in equipment and more.

New Episode Sunday, July 3 at 6 p.m.

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» NAMES IN THE NEWS Hinsdale superintendent assists in D.C.

JUNE 2011

Beyond better demonstrating golf’s economic clout, We Are Golf illustrates the industry’s environmental initiatives, its health and wellness benefits and its unparalleled charitable giving. First and foremost, the goal of We Are Golf is to get members of Congress to understand golf’s contributions to communities across the country when they’re developing and advancing important legislation – just as all small businesses want. We Are Golf works to share information, case studies and articles with media, elected officials, regulators and other key constituents so they are better informed on issues of concern.

PGA OF AMERICA

EKSTROM, the assistant superintendent at Hinsdale (Ill.) Golf Club, traveled to Washington, D.C., earlier this spring with nine peer members of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s Government Relations Committee to meet with members of Congress as part of National Golf Day. The goal was to promote the true face of golf, one that better reflects the economic, human and environmental benefits of the industry across the nation. The committee met with members of Congress and their staff to discuss a variety of issues affecting the golf industry, including golf’s exclusion in recent years from federal relief and stimulus measures being considered by Congress.

“John’s participation in National Golf Day was integral to sharing the positive message about golf on a widespread basis,” said Patrick Finlen, secretary/ treasurer of the GCSAA and chairman of the Government Relations Committee.

“This important event allows our federally-elected officials the opportunity to understand the golf industry’s concerns. It was truly an honor to work with John, the GCSAA’s Government Relations Committee and the leaders of golf’s allied organizations to speak up as a unified voice to ensure lawmakers have an accurate perception of the golf industry.”

The Capitol Hill visits coincided with those of We Are Golf, a coalition led by five of the industry’s leading associations and supported by other small businesses. Founded by the GCSAA, the National Golf Course Owners Association, the World Golf Foundation, the PGA of America and the Club Managers Association of America, We Are Golf is a broad-based coalition that seeks to maximize the industry’s synergy and reduce redundancy. Its membership includes participation from association members, course owners, manufacturers and golf facilities.

JOHN

Former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin (left) was among those who went to Washington, D.C., to help promote industry initiatives.

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» TOURNAMENT UPDATE FEATURED COURSE

CDGA SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Crestwicke Country Club

Victory for Anderson

OPENED IN 1969, the ties to the Chicago area are evident in every stroke at Crestwicke Country Club. Roughly 150 miles from the Windy City in Bloomington, this private course was designed by Lawrence Packard, a LaGrange native, and constructed by No. 16 at Crestwicke Country Club the Wadsworth Company out of Plainfield. At the time of its construction, the course’s tees, extending a challenge to those watered fairways, big greens and attempting to qualify for this year’s large bunkers were features that were U.S. Amateur at 7,061 yards, while far above what was found on other other markers vary in length between courses in the Bloomington-Normal 5,114 and 6,755 yards. The signature area. Numerous course, clubhouse hole, the par-4 12th, stretches to 419 and grounds renovations have been yards. The No. 2 handicap hole on made on the site since its opening, course is affectionately known as keeping the facility in top condition “Hog Alley,” for the pig farms that lined the left side of the hole for year after year.

The course boasts a quintet of many years.

DIRK ANDERSON

FEATURED PLAYER

Chris Beto, Rockford

RADIX CUP

•

Amateurs regain the Cup

Biggest golf memory: I’d have to pick two— probably being selected into the Rockford Hall of Fame and qualifying for my first U.S. Amateur in 1984. (Beto has played in three U.S. Amateurs and four U.S. Mid-Amateurs.)

• How long have you played golf and how did you pick it up? I learned to play from my brother, who was

Chris Beto

of Crystal Lake Country Club won the championship match of the 10th CDGA Senior Amateur, 1 up, over Bob Moran of Lake Barrington Shores Golf Club.

Nearly missing his shot at having his name engraved on the Charles Morgan Auld Cup, Anderson needed to hole a 40-foot putt on the 18th green of his semifinal match against defending champion Tom Miler in order to force extra holes. He then drained an 18-footer to win that match in 19 holes.

In the championship match, Moran won the first, sixth and eighth holes to make the turn with a 3-up lead.

Then, Anderson took a turn for the better at No. 10 with a birdie on the 485-yard par 5 to pull within two holes. A par at the 12th hole brought him within one and a sand save on the 14th squared the match with four holes to play. When Moran came up short of the green on the 419-yard 15th hole, failing to get up and down and carding the final bogey of the afternoon, Anderson took a 1-up lead. From there, both players played at even par, giving Anderson the victory.

my idol growing up, at age 7.

• Dream foursome: My dad, my brother and Arnold Palmer.

• Why do you play tournament golf? I like to compete.

Playing in tournaments is much different than playing with your buddies in a normal round of golf. It’s gratifying to play to your ability in a tournament because in the heat of competition, you’re testing your mind and body. When you can come through under pressure, it’s gratifying.

• Other thoughts on the game: I feel very fortunate to be blessed with the ability to play golf well. I love to compete and have met some great people and seen some great places because of the game.

10 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

THE CDGA AMATEURS regained control of the Radix Cup by defeating the Illinois PGA team, 121⁄2-51⁄2, in the event’s 50th rendition at Oak Park Country Club. The amateur effort was anchored by the teams of Todd Mitchell and Steve Sawtell, and John Ehrgott and Andy Mickelson, each of which earned three points. The teams of Connie DeMattia and Steve Orrick, and Eric Ilic and Billy Rosinia led the professionals with two points each.

The victory is the third in the last four years for the amateurs. The Radix Cup, which was won by the professionals the first 12 years, has become a shootout in recent years, with the two sides splitting the last 17 years, including a tie in 1995. The professionals, however, still hold a 32-16 all-time lead over the amateurs, with a pair of ties.

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“What’s amazing is how friends and families open up their hearts and their purses.”

— Bob Berry

course. All of them raise considerably more.

“What’s amazing is how friends and families open up their hearts and their purses,” said Berry, the event chairman and former president of the Chicago District Golf Association.

“I sent out a blast of e-mails to 50 people and raised $14,000 within about a two-week period. That’s what everyone has done. It’s all about your friends and family supporting you and what you’re doing. It’s a great mission we have.”

That mission—“bringing joy to people with special needs through golf”–was perhaps no better exemplified than by young Alexander Echt and Ben Schulman.

The youngsters volunteered

OPEN hearts

The generosity and joy was evident for all those who took part in the Sunshine Through Golf Foundation’s Golf Marathon

By Jim Owczarski

hortly after Bob Berry wiped the sweat from his brow and hustled off the first tee follow-ing three shots to the green, fathers Jeff Echt and Mark Schulman followed with their sons, Alexander and Ben, in tow.

The boys took their practice swings, Jeff tossed three balls on the ground and asked if Mark wanted to hit the same time as he did.

Mark hopped out of his cart with a simple exclamation, and proper description, of The Sunshine Through Golf Foundation’s Golf Marathon in late

S

CDGA PHOTOS

JULY 2011

May at Zigfield Troy Golf Course in Woodridge: “This is fun!”

In three years, the event has raised nearly $340,000 for the Foundation.

Players are asked to raise $2,500 to play 100 holes at the par 3

at a Foundation camp in 2010 and then were challenged by their fathers to raise the money to participate in the marathon. If they did, their dads would match the money raised.

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 11

Participants played 100 holes at Zigfield Troy and pledged to raise $25 per hole for the Sunshine Through Golf Foundation.

“You see out here there are kids that just don’t have the physical ability and (our sons) need to realize they’re lucky they can do lots of things,” said Jeff Echt. “We started with one of the camps where they helped out as best they could. This is sort of a continuation of that.”

Echt paused, looked down and rolled in a birdie putt on the second hole.

“It’s an important part of the community, so it’s a great way for the four of us to go spend a great morning playing golf and having fun and at the same time these kids can help raise some money.”

Another big part of the success of the fundraising event has been the golf course itself. The course, one of Golf Range magazine’s top 100 driving ranges in the country, is owned by 12 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

brothers Michael and Tim Troy.

They donate their course for the day.

“My brother and I grew up sons of a driving range pro and although we didn’t have our own course, we wanted to be golf pros and as we got older, we were playing a lot of CDGA events through the years and credit the CDGA for a lot of what we are today,” Tim Troy said. “Now that we have a golf course and we’re finally able to host an event, we have the opportunity to host a CDGA event. So when they came to us and asked, it seemed like a good fit with perfect timing for a great cause.”

It’s a perfect fit for a golf marathon as well as most holes are a wedge or short iron for many players. That allows players to spend around five hours out playing three balls a hole without falling over from exhaustion, but still challenge them with hazards and undulating greens.

“If you came out here and played this once a week, you’d become a better player, there’s no question about it,” said 2010 Golf Marathon chairman

Kevin Gratkowski, who recorded two holes-in-one last year. “It’s perfect for this kind of thing.”

The evidence was the sweat being wiped and deep breaths being taken before a 100-yard shot, but no player on the course felt overburdened.

Every player was grateful to their donors for allowing them to raise as much money as possible.

“The willingness to give money is unbelievable, and some people, the amount they’re willing to give is really inspiring and can really touch you,” Gratkowski said. “They’re doing it for the Foundation, but more than anything, they’re doing it for you and that just makes you feel good about what you’re doing and about them.

“If you ask, people will do it because they want to, not because they have a sense of obligation. It’s a great way to raise money and it’s a great thing to feel what you feel by asking people and having them respond. Even after three years I sense the same thing about how good it feels. This is a great event. It’s a lot of fun.”

Jim Owczarski is a sports writer for the Beacon News in Aurora.

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FACILITY FOCUS

Bartlett Hills Golf Club constructed in a unique manner,” Gerald McElroy wrote in the Arlington Heights Herald in 1935, calling the fifth hole his “joker.”

Shrunken by time, the novel greens and their more standard kin remained in place until Bob Lohmann began a multi-year renovation in the late 1980s.

The sixth green, shaped like a club, FACTS AND FIGURES ADDRESS: 800 W. Oneida Ave.,

Bartlett, Ill. PHONE: 630-837-2741 WEBSITE: bartletthills.com GREEN FEES: Range from $21 (walking 18, weekdays after 3 p.m.) to $63 (with cart, weekend mornings).

CDGA TOURNAMENT: CDGA Public

Once known as a place with quirks and novelties, Bartlett Hills has successfully updated both its course and reputation

By Tim Cronin

reens shaped like symbols on a deck G of cards. A barn for a clubhouse.

Fairways that burned out each summer.

That was Bartlett Hills Golf Club then.

Today? The novelty greens are long gone. The clubhouse more befits a private club, not a municipal facility. And the course is plush.

In other words, everything is up to date in Bartlett, and has been for some time.

Head professional, general manager and walking history book Bob Gavelek has seen it all.

“It was a real basic course,” Gavelek said of the layout when he arrived in 1981. “There was irrigation on the greens and tees and that’s it.”

Bartlett Hills opened as a private club in 1924. Designed by Charles Maddox, an architect with a considerable local JULY 2011

reputation, Bartlett Hills had an unusual distinguishing feature.

Those greens. Some think it was an idea generated by Maddox, but his other courses, including Old Wayne and Stonehenge, classic in style, show no sign of outsized novelty on the scale of Desmond Muirhead, golf’s modern-day artiste architect. More likely, it was the original ownership, of which nothing is known, that commissioned Maddox, and Maddox went along.

The seventh green was a six-pointed star. The sixth green was a diamond.

There was a heart, a spade, and a club.

Not every green was so shaped, but enough were so that Bartlett Hills, which went public after the private club folded in 1930 because of the Great Depression, gained a reputation as a quirky course.

“The greens at Bartlett were

BUZZ ORR/CDGA

Flush with SUCCESS

Links Championship. Stephen Kois, playing out of Cantigny Golf, beat Lick Creek’s Jonathan Hauter in a sudden-death playoff May 19 for the title.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW SIGNATURE HOLE: The par-4 12th can be a chore from its 416-yard tip. Out-ofbounds on the left is only the beginning. The fairway leans right, toward a line of trees.

Still carry a 1-iron? Polish it up for this hole.

WHERE A BOGEY GOLFER CAN MAKE BIRDIE: The par-3 fifth is only 142

yards from the back tee. The green isn’t huge, but hit it and you’ve got a birdie putt.

WHERE A SCRATCH PLAYER FIGHTS FOR PAR: The par-4 14th

doglegs to the right, over a marsh that can catch a big drive. “You’re hitting into the prevailing wind, and it pushes tee balls to the wetland,” head professional Bob Gavelek says of the 415-yard hole.

EXTRA-BALL INDEX (ON A 1-10 SCALE): 4. There’s water on nine

holes, but it’s in front of the tee on several, and not a worry except to the chronic topper.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Like many older courses, the greens are elevated. Bob Lohmann kept that part of Charles Maddox’s design intact, so take at least a half-club more on most holes or expect to pay the price.

—Tim Cronin

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 13

FACILITY FOCUS

Bartlett Hills Golf Club was the last one to go. They’re fondly remembered by veteran players, but not missed.

“No,” Gavelek said. “They were tired of playing on dead greens . . . dying every August. They were almost 60 years old when I got here. There was no drainage underneath except for some broken tile. And they were very small greens, especially the diamond and the heart.”

Lohmann designed big greens to allow for more hole locations and redesigned several holes. One of the big changes came at the start of the back nine.

“We made the 10th a dogleg, turned what’s now the 12th from a par 3 to a par 4, and created the 11th hole, a par 3, going into the woods,” Gavalek said.

Lohmann’s sleight of hand in using otherwise untouched woodlands toughened a par-71 course that has a little more bite than the 71.1 rating from the back tees, 6,478 yards from first tee to 18th green. But it’s also not a course that will bludgeon a player.

The closing hole, a par 3 of a mere

14 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

151 yards, can be difficult as well, especially when the flagstick is up front and the pond that nibbles at the front of the green is very much in play. Many a round has drowned at the last, but the challenge of the course keeps people coming back.

“We have a real loyal following,” said Gavalek, whose laugh is infectious.

There are leagues, a regular run of outings on Thursdays, and standing tee times fill weekend mornings.

And no longer does anyone have to worry about a putt rolling off the edge of a diamond green into a bunker.

Those old greens weren’t the only distinguishing feature in days gone by.

Players checked in and gathered at a real basic clubhouse before and after rounds.

It was the original dairy barn the Glos family built for their farm. There was a pro shop and a restaurant and not a lot else. At least, not a lot visible. But when the move was made late in 1995 to knock down the barn to put up a modern clubhouse for $3.8 million—the

old barn would have sat in the middle of it—Gavelek made a discovery.

“When we took out the flooring, you could see the cement troughs that had been covered,” Gavalek said.

The 148-acre course’s farm days ended almost 90 years ago, but nature still abounds. In concert with the course’s renovation came a move to realign with nature. Bartlett Hills became a certified Audubon International wildlife sanctuary in 1993. Native grasses cover more than 10 acres out of the line of play that was once closely cut. Deer and the occasional fox sometimes play through.

Bartlett Hills opened in the middle of Chicago’s second great golf boom, one of more than two dozen courses to open in 1924. Many of them, like Laramie or Devonshire, are long gone. But Bartlett Hills thrives. When Maddox was designing those greens, he obviously drew an excellent hand.

Tim Cronin covers golf for the Southtown Star.

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DESTINATION

Fairs and Festivals | Des Moines

Golf at the Grandstand The highlight of summer in Des Moines is the annual Iowa State Fair, but the golf scene also is something not to be overlooked

By Rick Brown IOWA STATE FAIR LOCATION: Des Moines, Iowa DATES: Aug. 11-21 WEBSITE: iowastatefair.org

PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE FAIR

THE IOWA STATE FAIR’S theme for 2011 is “nothing compares,” and that certainly rings true for this Des Moines hotspot. The fair annually attracts more than 1 million visitors from around the world and is considered America’s classic state fair.

A tradition since 1854, the fair features hundreds of attractions such as one of the world’s largest livestock shows, the country’s largest state fair foods department, numerous competitive events and contests, and 600-plus exhibitors and concessionaires. Well-known bands make an appearance at the grandstand and this year’s line-up features the musical talents of Maroon 5, Train, Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more. The midway features the best high-thrill rides around and only the ultimate fair foods are offered — including more than 50 different items on a stick. Come hungry. Also, don’t forget to check out the Iowa State Fair Butter Cow - a tradition dating back to 1911. A life-size cow sculpted out of butter isn’t something you see every day.

— Amy Parker

othing cries Iowa stereotype like the Iowa State Fair. The state’s agricultural roots are on display for 11 days of pork chop-on-a-stick, cow chip tossing, country music and steer shows.

But some central Iowa golf courses break the well-worn stamp that Iowa is flat with cornfields stretching from border to border. Des Moines, the capital city and host of the Iowa State

N

16 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

Fair, is nicknamed “The Surprising Place.” The same could be said for the challenges that await visitors in search of good golf.

DAY ONE

Copper Creek in Pleasant Hill, just east of the Iowa State Fairgrounds, opened in 1997 but plays to a maturity beyond its years.

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PHOTO COURTESY OTTER CREEK GC

Otter Creek Golf Course

The tree-lined par-5 10th hole is a perfect example. A bulldozer carved the fairway from mature timber, and the rolling hills cover a collection of playable and enjoyable holes on the par-71 course.

The front nine is relatively open, with more elevation changes than the back nine, which has trees framing the holes.

Length is not demanding; it tips out at a manageable 6,338 yards.

Nothing symbolizes the long and short of this course as the par-3 15th hole, just 128 yards long, and the par-5 third, playing to 572 yards with a rollercoaster fairway.

WEB: golfcoppercreek.com

DAY TWO

Polk City, population 3,400, doesn’t seem like a likely place to find an Arnold Palmer Signature course. But looks are deceiving.

Tournament Club of Iowa has been open for eight years now, and 18 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

Golf Digest named it one of America’s best new courses in 2004. Nearby is Saylorville Lake and Big Creek State Park, providing numerous recreational opportunities for those who love nature and water away from the golf course.

The par-71 course is big on picturesque views from many tees and winds its way through hills, bluffs and mature timberland. Stepping front and center are two par-4 gems, the 480-yard sixth and 386-yard seventh, that play in a natural amphitheatre of bluffs and trees. One of the best views is the tee shot at the par-3 fifth, a 185yard shot playing downhill to a big green guarded by a creek running in front.

When a player steps onto the tee at the par-5 13th, they’ll notice a large tree on the left side. It was originally scheduled to be cut down. But a worker’s chainsaw died just as the cutting was to begin. Second thoughts

prevailed and the tree survived. It’s now in the club logo.

WEB: tcofiowa.com

bigcreekmarina.com saylorvillemarina.com DAY THREE

Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny has caught its second wind. The city course was opened in 1982, then closed in September of 2007 to undergo a major reconstruction.

The Paul Miller design, framed by Interstate 35 on the east side of the property, reopened in June 2009. It features 44 bunkers, 17 ponds, native grasses and plenty of mounding to shape holes. Playing to a par 71, Otter Creek can be stretched to 6,895 yards.

The course’s most picturesque hole is the 431-yard, par-4 14th. The sloping fairway runs to a green protected in front by Otter Creek. Fairway bunkers on both sides frame the tee shot.

The most demanding hole is the WWW.CDGA.ORG

G

Wynstone Golf Club

The 250 Chicago-area members of Wynstone Golf Club are proud to host the US Senior Open Qualifier.

A Jack Nicklaus Signature Design Course

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847-304-2800 www.wynstone.org CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 19

PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE FAIR

The fair features more than 50 items on a stick.

seventh, playing to 467 yards into a prevailing south summer wind. This is the course’s No. 1 handicap hole. One of the most enjoyable tests is the par-3 13th, just 154 yards at its longest with a big green as a target. Cars buzzing up and down Interstate 35 serve as a backdrop. Wind and lots of good areas for hole locations make club selection keenly important.

WEB: ottercreekankeny.com

DAY FOUR

The majestic burr oak trees that rise over golfers walking Waveland’s fairways could give quite a history lesson. The oldest public golf course west of the Mississippi River, and the sixth-oldest in the United States, Waveland celebrated its centennial in 2001. The official dedication was held on June 29, 1901, with course designer Warren Dickinson shooting a 90.

The name of the par-72 course, one 20 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

of three operated by the city of Des Moines, is a testament to its rolling hills. Waveland, a 70-block jump down University Avenue from the State Fairgrounds, tests a golfer’s ability to play shots from sidehill, downhill and uphill lies. Maybe that’s why a hearty breakfast at the Waveland Café, near the entrance to the golf course, is a popular stop.

The course has undergone some revisions, including six new greens, five new tees and three new fairways after the Iowa Highway Commission bought 23 acres on the south end of the course in 1965 and turned it into the MacVicar Freeway.

Not a brute in length, just over 6,500 yards, and with water or bunkers rarely a factor, Waveland’s challenge arises from its tree-lined fairways— a multitude of sky-eating, centuryold burr oaks that live on the grounds.

WEB: wavelandgolfcourse.org

DAY FIVE

When renowned golf course architect Keith Foster first walked the farmland that would become Harvester Golf Club, 14 holes fit his eye naturally.

“All I want to do is fit my work into God’s creation,” Foster said.

Located 35 miles northeast of Des Moines, one of Iowa’s elite courses is worth the drive. And if some family members are looking for a break from the State Fair and want another option, there’s Adventureland.

Iowa’s largest amusement park is located near the intersection of Interstate 80 and Highway 330, which takes a golfer right to the Harvester.

Harvester has racked up awards since golfers started putting a tee in the ground in 2001. Golfweek has named it Iowa’s No. 1 course on its Best Courses You Can Play list eight times since 2002; Golf Digest has given it the same distinction every year since 2003. Harvester also is highly placed WWW.CDGA.ORG

PHOTO COURTESY HARVESTER GC

No. 6 at Harvester Golf Club

on some lists of America’s 100 best public courses.

Harvester is another topographical illusion for those who use Iowa and flat in the same sentence, testing players with more than 100 feet of elevation changes.

The par-72 course can stretch itself out to 7,340 yards. Harvester bids golfers adieu at the par-5 18th, a beauty of a risk-reward challenge. A good drive into the go zone leaves a tantalizing dilemma— play it safe on your second shot, leaving a wedge into the green, or take aim over Lake Harvester on the second shot to a green that coaxes a challenge from the most conservative of players.

WEB: harvestergolf.com

adventureland-usa.com

Rick Brown covers golf and other sports for the Des Moines Register.

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Demand Scott Pavalko, the recently hired superintendent charged to oversee Cog Hill’s famed Dubsdread course, talks about all things agronomic

Committee chairman? What hole was it, and what made it so difficult? Will you find one at Cog Hill?

By Len Ziehm

PAVALKO:

cott Pavalko, 31, came to Cog Hill with an impressive résumé.

After eight years at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, where he was the assistant superintendent the last two, he made the move to Cog Hill this spring. Pavalko’s primary focus will be to improve conditions and prepare Dubsdread for the BMW Championship in September. Pavalko also worked to prepare two sites for PGA Tour tournaments— the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and The Barclays at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. On the move, Pavalko said: “This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me. Cog Hill is a very special place. Every golf course is different, but I feel I have the tools to make it better.”

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CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER: Which creates more pressure—preparing a golf course for a PGA Tour event that has Jack Nicklaus’ reputation riding on it, or trying to please so many Tour players who generally have come to expect perfect playing conditions at every event?

SCOTT PAVALKO: When you speak of pressure, different people handle it differently. At Muirfield Village, I was fortunate to work with a staff and system that had put on a tournament for many years. Now at Cog Hill, I have the same thing. I know there were unfavorable comments by some players last year, but it was an extreme case of a wet spring, hot summer, dry fall—a perfect storm for bad grass. With a little help from Mother Nature this year, the staff at Cog Hill will help me as much as I’ll help them, and we’ll put on a good event.

CDG: Before a Tour event comes to

town, it’s easier to limit the amount of play on a private club than it is on such a popular course as Cog Hill No. 4. How much more difficult does this make your job, knowing that the course is going to receive more wear and tear than you’d like?

It’s a challenge, but Frank and Katherine Jemsek have always PAVALKO:

22 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

had the policy of closing. I believe we’re closed one week in advance of a tournament, then the following week after the tournament, so we actually have two weeks. That’ll be nice, two weeks with no golfers on the course.

When I was at Muirfield Village, we’d open the course sometime in April, then close just the Sunday before tournament week. We didn’t have quite as heavy a play as in summer, but the Saturday before the Memorial tournament we had a Founders tournament—150 players on the tournament course before we closed on Sunday. After the tournament we’d close for a week for cleanup and aerification, but leading up we were open almost all the way. This will be nicer, having two weeks.

CDG: What time is your alarm clock typically set for during the prime summer-playing season?

PAVALKO: Right now it’s set for 3:30.

In summer it’ll probably go to 3 and on weekends maybe to the 2 o’clock hour.

Our staff starts at 4:30, and I like to be here an hour earlier. I live in Oak Lawn, which is about 20 minutes away.

CDG: Did you have a favorite hole location to use at Muirfield Village that might often generate more complaints from players or the Greens

The one that comes to mind at Muirfield Village is No. 14, a relatively short par 4 where big hitters can drive the green. It’s a slender green with water on the right-hand side. It called for a back right (hole location) on Sunday.

With new technology and faster greens speed, we stripped the sod and raised the back of the green because the slope was so severe. A lot of times during the tournament the rules officials wanted to use that hole location, but didn’t feel comfortable that it’d be fair. We remedied that because the hole was really designed for that hole location.

As far as Cog Hill, I haven’t really seen that much golf played on it. The one green that comes to mind is the back plateau at No. 7—a par 4 with water in front of it.

CDG: When you’ve been on a mower, where’s the most bizarre location you’ve ever run over a ball from an errant shot?

I grew up the son of a superintendent. My father was superintendent at a small public course in northeastern Ohio called Reserve Run. I worked for him, and if I’d run over a golf ball I would have gotten a good talk from him. I was always taught to not run over golf balls.

PAVALKO:

CDG: What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to players and golf course maintenance: not replacing divots, leaving bunkers unraked or failing to fix ball marks on the green?

Have you ever made a remark to a player when you’ve seen them doing any of those things?

The importance of fixing ball marks cannot be overlooked. Our PAVALKO:

WWW.CDGA.ORG

different, and the Masters is probably a little over the top. What we’ll do is try to find the highest level we can maintain effectively.

CDG: When people talk about how

much better players are today, they generally overlook the tremendous strides in agronomy that have helped improve playing conditions. Does that bother you?

PAVALKO: No, it doesn’t. The way I was

brought up, our job as a maintenance crew is to not be noticed, and when we are, it’s generally for the wrong reasons.

That’s human nature. It’s easier to talk about the bad than the good. I’d be perfectly fine with nothing being said about the maintenance crew because that usually means we’re doing a pretty good job.

CDG: Because players are hitting the

ball so far, courses are getting longer and longer, which makes your job more difficult. Over the course of your career, have you seen a noticeable difference in the amount of time required for maintenance?

Occasionally it presents challenges. When you’re preparing for a tournament, you might be asked to build new tees to provide additional length, but Dubsdread has no shortage of length. There’s just a little more space to mow and tees to maintain. I may not have the best perspective on the time required for maintenance, based on the courses where I’ve worked. Muirfield Village already had a tournament when I got there, and then I came here to another tournament course. I haven’t moved around a lot in my short career.

PAVALKO:

staff does a lot in the mornings before mowing, but if a ball mark is left unfixed, the mower will scalp it. Fixing ball marks is important, and we’d like to see our players do it. We try to educate our patrons, but we don’t run a dictatorship.

We can ask them to fix their ball marks, but if they don’t, it’s our job to fix them.

CDG: What’s your preference: rakes in

or out of bunkers, and why?

I’ve been brought up with rakes out of the bunker. Not being a professor of the Rules of Golf, I’m not sure of the rulings involved in that. But I think there’s less chance of interference from a rake when it’s out of the bunker.

PAVALKO:

JULY 2011

CDG: Do you have a customary

response when players see the overthe-top maintenance practices at the Masters and then ask, `Why doesn’t our course look like that?’

PAVALKO: The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America does a good job educating the public on the amount of care that goes into preparing a course for a tournament. The conditions we’ll have in September (for the BMW Championship) won’t be sustainable for the whole season. As superintendents, we strive to reach a sustainable high level of golf maintenance, depending on our budget, the weather conditions, and amount of play. Every situation is

CDGA

Scott Pavalko

CDG: Do too many courses have too

many trees on them?

Trees on a golf course have gone in phases. A lot of older courses were built around trees that weren’t mature. When they became mature they’d not only crowd each other out but also cause issues with the turf. In general it depends on the age of the course. Trees are very important to a golf course, as well as is maintaining the integrity of the design.

PAVALKO:

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 23

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Lansing Country Club makes plans to commemorate Tony Lema, who died in a plane crash on its grounds 45 years ago

By Jim Owczarski

n a flash, the life of “Champagne” ISome Tony Lema was gone. would say his 32 years were lived that way: fast, full of energy and life.

When that flash was snuffed out in a plane crash 45 years ago, on July 26, 1966, it was witnessed by a few hundred at Lansing Country Club, but the memory has burned hotly in the hearts and minds of those who saw it and those who called Lema a friend.

Working behind the bar in the

southeast corner of the club, then called Lansing Sportsman’s Club, Bob Scarlett was a teenage busboy washing glasses.

Large, panoramic windows opened out over the seventh hole of the golf course, which included a water hazard fronting the green.

The ground rumbled and a flash caught his eye, followed by a plume of smoke.

“Someone called emergency services and we all rushed outside to see what

was going on,” Scarlett said. “We found what appeared to be the remains of a small plane, in flames. The wreckage was primarily on the fringe of the seventh green and then trailed away toward the water.”

The private plane Lema was riding in crashed just a mile from Lansing Municipal Airport, claiming the life of the golfer, his wife, Betty, pilot Doris Mullen of Joliet and co-pilot George Bard of Kankakee.

An Associated Press account of the

AP PHOTO

A month before his death, Lema had a top-20 finish at the U.S. Open Championship.

JULY 2011

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 25

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Above: Lansing Country Club is near the town’s municipal airport, the plane’s intended destination. Right: At the seventh hole today, there is no indication of the tragedy.

accident quoted LCC member Bud Dorton in its story.

“Dorton said the low-flying plane swerved to avoid a group of people standing near the clubhouse, the engines died, then restarted and died again, and the plane plunged to the ground, digging up a furrow near the 26 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

seventh green before bursting into flames.

“The pilot was a hero,” the story said.

“The plane swerved to the left; if it didn’t, a lot of people would have been hurt.”

Used to the steady purr of engines heading to the airport, the halting sounds of the twin-engine Beechcraft Bonanza caught the ear of 14-year-old Michael Ogorek, who looked up from his post on the lakeshore, where he worked to help members fish and boat.

He watched the plane descend over his house, then the tree tops, before jutting suddenly up into the sky and rolling over before crashing.

“I’ll tell you how it affects you. I haven’t mentioned it in 20, 30 years,” said Ogorek, now 60 and a member of

LCC since 1974. “You never forget something like that.

You knew right away nobody made it.”

On Sunday, July 24, the club plans to remember the 1964 British Open champion with an addition to its tee markers on the seventh hole, as well as a champagne fountain or toast—the signature celebratory drink of Lema, a 12-time PGA Tour winner.

“I proposed it at one of our board meetings,” said club general manager and head professional Scott Stephanuik.

“I said ‘Here’s what I’m going to do, here’s what we’re trying to do.’

“It was something where we were going to do a golf event that day anyway, so it was something that would fit in and they thought it was a nice little thing we could do. It was pretty well received from everybody that I’ve talked to.”

Lema was flying to Lansing from Akron, Ohio, following the PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club to play in the one-day, 36-hole Lincolnshire Open in Crete, an unofficial event with a $12,000 purse.

It was an event won by Steve Bull, a Wisconsin PGA Hall of Famer from WWW.CDGA.ORG

A copy of The Hammond Times, with details about the tragedy, is on display at the club.

Racine, who, like Lema, had played in the PGA Championship the week before; he missed the cut.

JULY 2011

“Everyone knew from the earlymorning papers and the people there for the tournament were aware of it,” said

the 77-year-old Bull in a phone interview from Florida. “I don’t know how they were able to realize they were still going to have the tournament, but there was a discussion as to whether to cancel it.”

Bull, who cashed a $2,500 winner’s check, said the mood was somber throughout the day.

“It was a sad thing,” he said. “They decided to continue play and continue the tournament and lots of the fellas were talking about what a terrible thing it was that had happened, but they went on and played.”

It’s been 45 years, but the memory of Lema remains vivid for those who knew him—and for those associated with Lansing Country Club.

Yet until this month’s commemoration, the only physical presence at the club of Lema’s life, and death, came in

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 27

TONY LEMA FILE • Born in Oakland, Calif., February 1934 • Turned professional in 1955 • 12 PGA Tour wins, 19 worldwide • Major championship: 1964 British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland, by five strokes over Jack Nicklaus.

• Other top finishes in majors: Had eight top-10s between 1963-66, including a second at the 1963 Masters.

• Had an 8-1-2 record as a member of the 1963 and ’65 U.S. Ryder Cup teams.

1997, when a member took a newspaper account from The Hammond Times to the U.S. Senior Open at Olympia Fields Country Club, where every participant signed it—save for Chi Chi Rodriguez, who said the pain was still too fresh.

Stephanuik says a copy of that signed newspaper is at The World Golf Hall of

Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., a place where 25-time Tour winner and two-time major champion Johnny Miller said Lema belongs.

Miller recently said in a national television interview that Lema “was rivaling Arnold Palmer for popularity. He was ‘Champagne’ Tony Lema. He had all the mojo going and the sky was the limit for him.”

Indeed. At the time of the accident, Lema had eight top-10 finishes in major championships from 1963-66, including a five-shot victory at the 1964 British Open at St. Andrews.

Lema had never been to the Open Championship, but Palmer said he should go.

“I’ll go if you give me your putter and your caddie,” Lema told Palmer.

Palmer obliged, and Lema won despite playing just 10 practice holes.

“Tony was a good friend of mine,” Palmer said in a phone interview from his office in Pennsylvania. “I was

responsible for him going to St. Andrews and winning the Open Championship.

I gave him my putter, my caddie and all my best wishes.”

He said as much in a letter he wrote to Stephanuik in response to the club’s invitation to visit the club on the 24th.

“I think it’s great that they’re reviving the memories of Tony, his bride and his accomplishments,” Palmer said of the club. “I’m very pleased and proud to have something to do with all that.”

Stephanuik says the club has always embraced its unfortunate part of golf history as a way to remember Lema’s life, and it was time the club did something more than just pass down oral history.

“It’s been 45 years already,” said Stephanuik. “I thought it’d be nice to make an event out at the club and dedicate that hole.”

Jim Owczarski is a sports writer for the Beacon News in Aurora.

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The Western Amateur heads to North Shore, a course as rich in history as the tournament itself

By Len Ziehm

ow it’s North Shore’s turn. The Western Golf Association is in the third year of its new policy of playing the Western Amateur at Chicago courses. After a 38-year run at Michigan’s Point O’ Woods, the WGA took the Western Amateur to Conway Farms in Lake Forest in 2009, then to Skokie Country Club in Glencoe in 2010.

From a historical perspective, North Shore, which will serve as the host to the tournament from Aug. 1-6, is very similar to Skokie. Both were the sites of U.S. Opens long ago: Skokie in 1922, when Gene Sarazen was the champion,

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JULY 2011

and North Shore in 1933, when Johnny Goodman became the last amateur to win that coveted title. North Shore also was the site of the 1928 Western Open (a duel between brothers in which Abe Espinosa beat Al) and the U.S. Amateurs in 1939 (won by Marvin “Bud” Ward) and 1983 (Jay Sigel).

Like Skokie, North Shore underwent a renovation long after the respected British firm of Colt, MacKenzie and Allison did the original design work for the opening in 1924. Rick Jacobson, the Libertyville architect who caddied at North Shore in the 1970s, played the pivotal role in the club’s strategic presentation plan that began in the mid-’90s.

The change in venue doesn’t mean much to defending champion David Chung, a Stanford University senior from Fayetteville, N.C. “I don’t mind coming back to a different course at all,” said Chung. “It levels the playing field, having limited knowledge of the course. I don’t know much about North Shore, but I have

heard it’s a demanding course similar to Skokie. The way I see it, if you’re playing the best golf in the field, you win, no matter which course the tournament is on.”

Well said, but Chung is a different player this time around. He’s more seasoned, for one thing. After his win at Skokie, Chung went all the way to the final match of the U.S. Amateur before losing to Peter Uihlein. The runner-up showing got Chung into the Masters, but he didn’t survive the 36-hole cut. He did, however, post a scorching round on his school’s home course later on, tying the Stanford course record with a 61.

Though he’s more battle-tested, Chung isn’t swinging the same—on purpose.

Despite his success over the last two seasons he decided to undergo a swing change in an effort to better prepare him for the PGA Tour.

“The professional game is different than the college game in that it rewards a different sort of player,” explained Chung. “The college player can definitely compete with the pros when CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 29

AT A GLANCE WHAT: 109th Western Amateur WHERE: North Shore Country Club,

1340 Glenview Rd., Glenview WHEN: Aug. 1-6 SCHEDULE: 18 holes stroke play

Tuesday and Wednesday; 36 holes stroke play Thursday. The top 16 players advance to match play. Two rounds of match play on Friday; semifinal and final matches are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 6.

LAST YEAR: David Chung defeated Gregor Main in the final, 2 and 1.

NOTABLE EVENTS AT NORTH SHORE: 1928 Western Open,

1933 U.S. Open, 1939 U.S. Amateur, 1983 U.S. Amateur

he’s playing well, and can even win on tour. However, where the pro is different is that his game is more mature. He’s more consistent day in and day out and always has control of the golf ball

No. 17 at North Shore

. . . I’m working to maximize my control and distance by increasing my torque on my backswing and having more unity between my body and arms on my downswing. Basically, I’m swinging in more of a ‘together’ motion.”

Regardless of how he’s swinging, Chung will have to be at his best to win the title again. As usual, the Western field is loaded—and this one may be even more than most years. The early entries include No. 1-ranked amateur Uihlein, Kent State University’s John Hahn, who won

the Western Amateur at Conway Farms, and Patrick Rodgers, Chung’s freshman teammate.

Rodgers won the Western Junior last year and could have tried to defend that title since he would still be 19 by tournament time. But Rodgers opted to skip his title defense to play at North Shore.

Geographically speaking, that’s not a big difference for Rodgers. For the first time since 1928, the WGA is playing all three of its championships in the Chicago area, so he’d be coming to Chicago anyway. The Junior will be played at Beverly and the BMW Championship returns to Cog Hill.

Also teeing it up at North Shore will be Russell Henley, a University of Georgia player who won the Stadion Classic on the Nationwide Tour this year, and Scott Langley, the 2010 NCAA champion from the University of Illinois. For some local flavor there’s Vince India, the Illinois State Amateur champion from Deerfield and Big Ten player of the year for the University of Iowa.

Frequently dubbed “the Masters of amateur golf,” the Western Amateur is a grueling test. It begins with the entire field playing two rounds of stroke play competition, then the low 44 and ties go 36 more on Day 3 to decide the 16 qualifiers for match play.

The Western’s “Sweet 16” have included some great talents over the years. Twenty-nine of the last 35 PGA Tour players of the year were “Sweet 16” qualifiers. So were 12 of the top 20 on the PGA’s career money list. Twenty-eight went on to win major championships.

The very select batch that went on to win Western Amateur titles include Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Crenshaw, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton, Lanny Watkins and Tom Weiskopf.

Len Ziehm is recently retired after a long career covering golf and other sports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

30 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

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COUNTDOWN to the CUP The 2012 Ryder Cup might seem as if it’s a long way off, but for those in charge of planning the event, they’ve been quite busy

By Len Ziehm

ure, Medinah Country Club’s week to host the 39th Ryder Cup is still some 14 months away.

Though, the task of getting ready for the biggest team event in golf is a major undertaking.

Michael Belot, the tournament director, and five staffers have been working feverishly from Medinah and report making great progress.

Belot should know because he is in his 10th year working for the PGA of America and has several major events already under his belt. He was the tournament director for the

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2006 PGA Championship, which also was held at Medinah, as well as the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota.

The Ryder Cup, though, is a different animal.

“With all the rich history that the club has, this will stand out as Medinah’s crown jewel,” Belot said.

“It’ll be the biggest golf event ever in Illinois.”

Medinah is accustomed to being on the big stage. It was the host club for the U.S. Open in 1949, 1975 and 1990, the PGA Championships

of 1999 and 2006, and the U.S. Senior Open in 1988. Those were big events, but the battle between the U.S. and Europe on Sept. 25-30, 2012, will be notably bigger.

“Chicago is known for big events,” said Belot, “and this market has embraced this Ryder Cup.” There is plenty of evidence of that.

As of mid-May, 60 corporate hospitality chalets, each of them costing between $235,000 and $500,000, have been sold.

“We started out offering 59 chalets, so now we’re adding

PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

Members of the U.S. team enjoyed a raucous celebration the last time the Ryder Cup was played in America.

chalets that we hadn’t expected to add,” said Belot. “We’ve added a village and we’re exploring whether to add more.”

While that sales process is going on, Belot’s staffers have been bidding out what’s needed for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the Ryder Cup gala, which will be held that Wednesday evening, two days before the start of play.

Such a practice has never been done at a Ryder Cup. About 3,500 volunteers will be needed to stage the competition, and Belot said about 5,000 have already called in to request assignments. Medinah members will have first crack at the voluntary positions, then, what remains will be offered to the general public beginning in mid-July. A volunteer

“With all the rich history that the club has, this will stand out as Medinah’s crown jewel,” Belot said.

“It’ll be the biggest golf event ever in Illinois.”

Public ticket sales to the competition began on June 20, the day after the U.S. Open concluded at Congressional Country Club. That’s when people were able to start signing up for the random draw for tickets. That signup will continue for about two months. Crowds will be limited to approximately 25,000 per day. (For more details on tickets, visit rydercup.com.)

Tickets will range from $35 for a daily ticket to $680 for a premium weekly offering. All attendees 17 years old or younger will get complimentary admission on the three practice days if they’re accompanied by a ticketed adult.

package costs $235, which includes a tournament badge, uniforms, meals, an official Ryder Cup program and other perks.

Already there’s been some notable preliminary events, and more will be forthcoming as the next Ryder Cup closes in. The biggest so far was the press conference in January that announced Davis Love III as the U.S. captain. Both Love, who played on six U.S. teams, and European captain José Maria Olazabal will be at Medinah on Sept. 26 as a promotional effort starting the one-year countdown to the event.

As for Medinah members, they were

already treated to the unveiling of a Leroy Neiman painting that the famed artist created to commemorate this Ryder Cup. Meanwhile, the acclaimed No. 3 Course at Medinah, which will be used for the matches, continues to mature after its reopening last year. As part of a major renovation, architect Rees Jones designed a new 15th hole, adding a pond that, depending on where the tee markers are placed, could create a driveable par 4 and a great risk/reward hole that could have a major impact in a match-play format. This was the major change, but all of the tees and greens were regrassed to conform to United Medinah Country Club States Golf Association specifications.

There won’t be any big events on No. 3 this summer, which will allow the latest renovation to settle in.

“This will be the first time in a long time that no bulldozers are on the golf course, and that’s a good thing,” said Don Larson, Medinah’s chairman for the Ryder Cup. Larson has one concern he wants to pass on.

“Beware of pirate hospitality groups that are billing themselves as official,” Larson explained. “Already people are on eBay, selling tickets.”

Len Ziehm is recently retired after a long career covering golf and other sports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

PHOTO COURTESY MEDINAH C.C.

34 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

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Comfortably CLASSIC

With chapters of its past written by some of the game’s storied names, Glen Oak Country Club celebrates its centennial

By Tim Cronin

Q PHOTOS COURTESY GLEN OAK CC

Top: Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper; Above: Richie “Pinky” Bassett and the statue that was modeled after him.

JULY 2011

uite a few notables have walked the grounds of Glen Oak Country Club since it opened in 1911.

The architects alone are among the most acclaimed of their time: Tom Bendelow created the original design, David McIntosh tweaked it, William B. Langford and associate Theodore J. Moreau rebuilt it, and later, Albert Tillinghast and David Gill, 30 years apart, revised it. More recently, Rick Jacobson brought it up to modern par.

They have nothing on Richie Bassett.

Bassett wasn’t an architect. He wasn’t a member. He was a caddie. An exemplary caddie, with a distinguishing feature. Pale skin. So pale, so reactive to the sun’s rays, he was called by the nickname, and is remembered to this day, as “Pinky.” A drawing of him under a golf umbrella is the club’s logo. A statue of him—in logo form—stands

outside the clubhouse. The club’s annual member-guest invitational is, of course, called “The Pinky.”

Truly, Pinky is Glen Oak. And Glen Oak is among the more comfortable neighborhood clubs to be found. Sitting on a rolling hillside, encompassing 6,841 yards of lively golf, Glen Oak will never hold a U.S. Open, and doesn’t need one to be loved by its members and admired by its guests. This August’s Illinois State Amateur Championship, the competitive centerpiece of the club’s centennial celebration, will fit the bill quite well.

But Glen Oak almost didn’t get off the ground, much less get to its 100th anniversary. For two years prior to its founding, another course, a nine-holer designed by Bendelow that went by the name of Pickwick Country Club, occupied the land.

CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER | 35

FRANK POLICH/CDGA

Glen Oak Country Club

Ah, what plans there were for Pickwick on the old McGarry farm. A grand clubhouse, one unlike any other in the world, was announced with 200 apartments and a 1,000-seat auditorium, all the better to entertain the members in the evenings.

The clubhouse didn’t happen. Only the aforementioned nine holes were built. The membership quickly reached 700, and then, mysteriously, the place went under.

But, to its everlasting credit, Pickwick’s board found new ownership, and, before developers could swoop in and grab this prime piece of Glen Ellyn, located adjacent to the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad for a subdivision, the Glen Oak Country Club was formed and took over.

For their $39,000, new members received 130 acres with nine unkempt holes and a barn serving as a clubhouse and locker room.

Bendelow was brought back to complete the 18 holes. A proper clubhouse was commissioned and Glen Oak was on its way.

Pinky would soon arrive. He caddied in the 1920s for the Dawson brothers—Warren and George, members who each captured the Illinois State Amateur twice—and was regularly on the bag of Harry Cooper, “Lighthorse” himself.

In the era when Chicagoland club pros were among the best in the country, “Lighthorse” Harry was among the best of the best, winning the Western Open in 1934 by surviving

consecutive 18-hole playoffs with Ky Laffoon, capturing the first three tournaments held at Medinah Country Club, and 31 PGA Tour titles in all. Today, the Western Open’s lofty status of that time forgotten, Cooper is considered one of the best players who didn’t win a major championship. He was twice runnerup in the U.S. Open, had both solo and joint seconds in the Masters, and made the PGA Championship semifinals in 1925.

His last year at Glen Oak was 1937, but he left the members with indelible memories. He won seven tour titles, including the Los Angeles Open in the winter and the Canadian Open in the summer.

The year before, someone less well known than Cooper, but more influential than him nationally, joined Glen Oak. Ray Gerber became superintendent—greenkeeper was his original title—and remained in that post until 1970. During that time, he solved Glen Oak’s annual headache, flooding by the Des Plaines River, by building a dike to keep the river at bay, and he brought the course the deserved reputation of having pristine conditions.

This year’s Illinois State Amateur will bring a spotlight to the club it hasn’t had in some time. One has to go back to the 1915 Western Open, won by Tom McNamara, to find something above the qualifying level.

“Our members have always wrapped their arms around things like this,” said head professional Danny Mulhearn, whose 63 is the course record. “Golf’s done so much for the club here, they’ve got good foresight, and are going to give something back during the centennial. And that record will definitely be in jeopardy.”

Gerber, a prolific speaker, was president of the national and Midwest superintendents association during his career, and edited the Midwest group’s newsletter after he retired.

(Amazingly, Glen Oak’s had only three superintendents in the last 76 years; Fred Opperman took over for Gerber, and in 1988, Andy Dauksas replaced Opperman.)

Golf remains the centerpiece of activity at Glen Oak, but is by no means the only thing to do. Swimming helps fill the summer, while an active skeet group has a blast every winter.

Glen Oak, in fact, is one of the few clubs with a permanent skeet/trap building, thanks to the club’s foresight when rebuilding the grounds department’s building in 2004. It’s shared with the shooters.

Much has changed since 1911. Langford was a member when he took advantage of 22 acres the club bought in 1922 and redesigned the course, creating essentially the layout used today. The current clubhouse was built in 1924, and remodeled from 1990-93, retaining the old charm but including every modern convenience.

Outside the grounds, the CA&E Railroad, for decades the quick way to the club, is long gone, replaced by the Illinois Prairie Path. The farmland on the east side of the Des Plaines River is a toll road. But Glen Oak has not only endured, it has thrived.

Pinky wouldn’t want it any other way.

Tim Cronin covers golf for the Southtown Star.

36 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

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GEMS OF THE CDGA

The 18th at Ridgemoor Country Club Chicago layers looking for drama at the closing hole should look at the par-3 18th at Ridgemoor Country Club.

The hole plays slightly uphill, and the swirling wind changes constantly, affected by Ridgemoor’s big clubhouse behind the hole. A tall flagpole with a large American flag sits only 50 yards left of the green, but that flag is not usually a fair indicator of what the wind is doing over the green.

The tee shot must carry water and a deep bunker that guards the front center and right side of the green. Another deep bunker also sits behind the center, and back left side of the green.

A tee shot hit just short and left of the green can land in a bailout area, but it slopes down and away from the hole, back toward the pond.

Directly behind the green is the outdoor, two-level dining area. With the club’s outside pool sitting back left of the hole, there is always a chance of a decent gallery looking on, which is something that can get any golfer nervous when they are not used to it.

“There’s no doubt the tee shot is the key here,” said assistant professional Jason Lee. “The front and back bunkers are deep and leave a tough up-anddown. The wind always adds a half to full club off the tee. Even though the front of the green has been leveled a bit in recent years, there are not many easy putts to be found. The area behind the hole is the most popular place to hang out at the club, so there is always a gallery.”

P

PAR 3 YARDS

TEE

177 152 94 94

Blue White Gold Red

— Rory Spears

38 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

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JULY 2011

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RULES OF THE GAME

GETTY IMAGES

There are different courses of action for a lost ball and a ball lost in a water hazard.

Gone astray

Dealing with a ball that’s lost or out of bounds can be penal, but not complicated

T

here are no surveys or stats on the matter, but the one golf rule that likely is ignored or broken most often is Rule 27 (Ball lost or out of bounds; provisional ball).

We’ve all seen instances where a player has hit a ball that obviously is out of bounds and he casually remarks, “I’ll just drop one up there, where it went out.”

While that decision might save a couple of minutes, the player likely is on his way to being disqualified.

Should the player elect to “drop one up there, where it went out,” he is in violation of Rule 20 (Playing from wrong place), which (in stroke play) incurs a penalty of two strokes, but additionally, the mistake must be corrected before the player plays from the next tee. Rule 20-7c reads, in part: “The Committee must determine whether the competitor has committed a serious breach of the applicable Rule. . . . If the competitor has committed a serious breach and has failed to correct it . . . he is disqualified.”

A note that follows Rule 20-7 explains, “A competitor is deemed to have committed a serious breach of the applicable Rule if . . . he has

40 | CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER

gained a significant advantage as a result of playing from a wrong place.”

Certainly it is reasonable to believe that a player who hits his driver 200 yards but out of bounds, then incorrectly plays from a location 200 yards closer to the hole than is permitted, has gained a “significant advantage.” In this example, the term “significant advantage” cannot be defined strictly by distance; it is equally as easy for a player to gain a significant advantage by playing from a spot that is inches away from the correct location.

Actually, Rule 27 is quite simple because a player has only one choice in how to proceed. “If a ball is lost or out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was played.”

The most critical element to remember when dealing with a ball that is lost or out of bounds is that, where Rule 27 is concerned, the ball must not be lost in a water hazard, an obstruction or an abnormal ground condition or moved by an outside agency. Otherwise, different Rules come into play. But, in the case of a player proceeding because his ball is in the water, there must be virtual

certainty to that end; otherwise, the player should proceed under Rule 27 and consider the ball to be lost.

As an example, a player hits a drive but does not see the ball land. When he gets to where he believes the ball is likely to be, there is a water hazard and a large area of tall, dense rough.

Since the ball could reasonably be in the rough or the water, the player must treat the ball as lost unless it is identified in the hazard or there is some evidence it is there; perhaps someone closer than the player saw it splash in the water. But if the area was closely mown, absent of trees and the ball could not reasonably be anywhere except the hazard, the player may proceed under the applicable rule concerning water hazards.

When a player hits a ball that could be lost or OB, he should state his intention to play a provisional ball and play that ball before going forward to search for the original.

Without penalty, a player may play his provisional up to the area where the original ball is likely to be, at which point a search for the original may begin.

That’s definitely a time-saving procedure, and no one will complain about that.

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