Chicago Area Golf News

July 3, 2023
John Deere Classic has some new features, familiar names
Len Ziehm, Daily Herald

The John Deere Classic tees off for the 52nd time on Thursday with a new tournament director, a pro-am with a celebrity participant whose fame comes in basketball, a pair of weekend post-round concerts featuring high-profile entertainers and a new contract with the PGA Tour that will assure the tournament stays in the Quad Cities for at least three more years. The prize money is also higher, up to $7.4 million -- a $300,000 increase.

July 4, 2023
Oswego OKs agreement concerning water main project for planned golf dome
Linda Girardi, Beacon-News

The Oswego Village Board recently approved a recapture ordinance to recoup money for public improvements needed to extend a looped water main for the Whitetail Ridge Golf Club’s planned golf dome in the village.

Trustees earlier this year approved plans for a proposed 66- to 69-foot-high air-supported golf dome on vacant land just west of Orchard Road. Whitetail Ridge Golf Club, an 18-hole public golf course in Yorkville, was granted village approval of a special use permit and final planned unit development to build and operate an indoor golf dome and restaurant at the southwest corner of Lewis Street and Station Drive in Oswego.

July 6, 2023
Upper Deck Golf experience at Wrigley Field starts Thursday
Jeramie Bizzle, CBS Chicago

The Chicago Cubs are swinging into the weekend with a unique experience for fans.

Upper Deck Golf is coming to Wrigley Field.

Fans can take shots at nine different locations throughout the ballpark starting Thursday.

Tickets are still available for select times on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

July 6, 2023
Illinois Junior Golf Association will host first events in Chicago

• Learn more about Jackson Park Golf Course

Staff Report, Chicago Sun-Times

Monday’s tournament is the first one in its 57-year history that IJGA has hosted in the city of Chicago.

July 7, 2023
Wrigley Field serves as the Friendly Confines for golfers
Matt Zahn, CBS Chicago

There was an unusual sight at Wrigley Field on Thursday: golf flags in the outfield.

The Friendly Confines are golf-friendly for the next few days.

Upper Deck Golf brought its stadium golf experience to the North Side. There are nine flags set up on the field with nine different locations to hit from.

July 11, 2023
Olympia Fields Country Club to host top golfers competing in BMW Championship
Jori Parys, CBS Chicago

The PGA Tour is doing more than just making a stop in the Chicago area next month.

When the pros come through Chicago, it will be in the middle of the playoffs.

The BMW Championship is set to take place in the Chicago area for the third time in five years in August, but as CBS 2's Jori Parys reported, the environment at Olympia Fields Country Club will look much different compared to the last time it was played there in the middle of the pandemic.

July 11, 2023
Why Northbrook golfer Nick Hardy's game is on the upswing
Len Ziehm, Daily Herald

Beset by wrist problems, Nick Hardy's rookie season on the PGA Tour didn't go too well. To retain his playing privileges for this season he had to perform well in the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Finals -- and he did that.

Since then things have changed a lot for the University of Illinois alum who grew up in Northbrook. Now 27 and a pro since 2018, Hardy has come a long, long way in his second season on golf's premier circuit.

July 12, 2023
Waukegan Park District board nixes proposed golf facility, citing narrow appeal
Steve Sadin, Lake County News-Sun

Plans for a $15 million golf practice and entertainment venue was indefinitely suspended by the Waukegan Park District Board of Commissioners after some of the commissioners developed second thoughts about the project.

The board voted 3-1 with an abstention to indefinitely suspend the project and a grant request at a meeting Tuesday at its Waukegan headquarters because the majority thought the money will be better spent on facilities for a broader range of people.

July 13, 2023
Fearless golfers capture footage of funnel cloud forming over Chicago golf courses during tornado warning

• Learn more about Oak Brook Golf Club

Coleman Bentley, Golf Digest

Golfers are a resilient bunch. We’ve seen play carry on through wind, rain, snow, hail and even fire over the years, but one thing you really don’t want to mess around with are tornadoes. Just ask these Chicago-area golfers, who witnessed the formation of a massive funnel cloud while attempting to play in the middle of a tornado warning on Wednesday.

July 14, 2023
Puttshack to open high-tech mini golf at Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie
Daniel I. Dorfman, Chicago Tribune

A high-tech mini golf experience is scheduled to putt its way into Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie as mall officials look to attract consumers in an evolving business environment.

Last month, Westfield Old Orchard announced Puttshack is set to open in 2024 inside the space previously occupied by the Lord & Taylor department store.

Puttshack, which offers customers a glammed-up mini golf experience with technology and lights, is set to encompass more than 30,000 square feet over two floors with four nine-hole interactive mini golf courses in which the technology keeps track of players’ scores, according to an Old Orchard statement.

July 15, 2023
Check out PGA's up-and-comers at NV5 Invitational in Glenview on July-27-30

• Learn more about The Glen Club

John Dietz, Daily Herald

The Korn Ferry Tour -- the breeding ground for the PGA's up-and-comers -- makes a stop at the Glen Club in Glenview for the fourth time in five years with the NV5 Invitational. The four-round tourney is July 27-30.

Three of the NV5's past four champions -- Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young and Harry Hall -- are all thriving on the big tour now. Scheffler, the world's No. 1-ranked golfer, won the 2022 Masters and has pocketed more than $40 million.

July 17, 2023
Women's Western Amateur, Illinois State Amateur tee off this week
Len Ziehm, Daily Herald

Rarely has Illinois been treated to a golf tournament doubleheader as attractive as the one on tap for this week -- and it's all about the amateurs.

The Women's Western Amateur has been played without interruption since 1901, and the 123rd staging begins on Tuesday at White Eagle in Naperville.

The always popular Illinois State Amateur also tees off that day at Bloomington Country Club; this will be that tourney's 92nd playing.

July 18, 2023
‘Wind phone’ at Canal Shores offers unique solace for mourners

• Learn more about Canal Shores Golf Course

Nancy McLaughlin, Evanston Roundtable

Just beyond the 11th hole of the Canal Shores Golf Course, near a patch of rangy purple milkweed sits a bright red phone booth that seems transported from another time and place.

The old-timey rotary device inside won’t work for switching your dental appointment or calling your aunt in Topeka, but it could prove to be a lifeline if you’re grieving over a lost loved one.

July 23, 2023
Jasmine Koo wins the Women's Western Amateur at White Eagle
Staff report, AmateurGolf.com

Jasmine Koo defeated Sadie Englemann, 4 and 2, to claim the 123rd Women's Western Amateur at White Eagle Golf Club in Naperville, Illinois.

The 17-year-old from Cerritos, California, played nearly flawless golf all week.

She continued her stellar play during Saturday’s final match, hitting 15 out of 16 greens .The USC commit made six birdies on Saturday to etch her name on the W.A. Alexander Cup and become the first junior to win the Women’s Western Amateur since 2015.

July 25, 2023
Glencoe Village Board finalizes two contracts for golf club construction

• Learn more about Glencoe Golf Club

Daniel I. Dorfman, Glencoe News

Glencoe’s Village Board has approved two contracts in another step toward construction of the new clubhouse at the Glencoe Golf Club.

At their July 20 meeting, trustees unanimously approved an approximate $1.36 million contract with FGM Architects for architectural and other services for construction management services. Trustees also passed a pact with W.B. Olson for construction management services.

These moves follow voter approval of a $15 million bond sale referendum in April allowing for the construction of a new clubhouse/pro shop along with a series of other amenities.

July 29, 2023
This is, unquestionably, the shortest missed putt in the history of golf (NV5 Invitational)

• Learn more about The Glen Club

Christopher Powers, Golf Digest

In our humble opinion, neither Rahm nor Irwin have anything on Korn Ferry Tour pro Tom Whitney, who missed what has to be the shortest putt in the history of televised golf. That's a moniker we're comfortable putting on this one. The shortest miss in the history of televised golf. Probably 6 inches or less. The Korn Ferry Tour does not have the proper shot tracker technology, so we're left to guess.

July 29, 2023
‘Insane’ golf-ball mix-up nearly DQ’s Korn Ferry tournament leader (NV5 Invitational)

• Learn more about The Glen Club

Ryan Barath, Golf.com

It’s not often a tour player has to worry about running out of golf balls, but the second-round co-leader of this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event found himself in just such a predicament.

It all started Thursday, after an opening-round 60 had propelled Ryan McCormick into the lead at the NV5 Invitational, in Glenview, Ill. That evening, McCormick kept his putting stroke sharp with a practice session in his hotel room. When he had finished, he slipped the ball he had been using — a 2021-22 model Titleist ProV1 — into his golf bag.

That’s when things got complicated. In tournaments, McCormick plays a 2023 model ProV1, but the next day he unintentionally began his second round at the Glen Club with the same older model ball with which he had been practicing — and he had only one.

July 30, 2023
Trace Crowe prevails in thrilling playoff, wins NV5 Invitational

• Learn more about The Glen Club

Staff Report, PGA Tour

Trace Crowe, a conditional member the last two seasons who at times struggled to simply gain entry to Korn Ferry Tour fields, held off Patrick Fishburn and won the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank with a par on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff Sunday afternoon at The Glen Club.

Crowe, who entered the week without a top-10 in 28 career starts on Tour, overcame a triple bogey at the par-4 second, amassing eight birdies en route to a final-round 5-under 66 and 25-under 259 for the week.

July 31, 2023
Western Amateur Qualifier Flips the Switch on a Big Week of Golf in Illinois

• Learn more about Sunset Valley Golf Club

Todd Mrowice, AmateurGolf.com

As Sunday turned to dusk at Sunset Valley Golf Club in Highland Park, Ill. the calendar officially flipped to Western Amateur week. The final seven players for the event were determined by making their way past Sunday’s qualifier and onto the big stage.
The world's third-oldest amateur tournament and one of the pinnacles of competitive golf begins August 1st at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill.

As exempt players were making their final preparations, the grind was real for 72 amateurs vying for those seven spots. Pierce Grieve of Lake Forest, Ill. and Connor Gdovin of Highland Heights, Ohio both posted 7-under 65s to lead the field. Grieve in particular finished with a bang going eagle-birdie on his final two holes to post a back nine score of 31.

July 31, 2023
121st Western Amateur is the elite amateur golf series finale
Justin Golba, AmateurGolf.com

This week, the amateur golf world will descend on Glen View, Ill., and North Shore Country Club for the playing of the 121st Western Amateur.

The Western Amateur is the third-oldest amateur golf tournament, with a long list of accomplished winners and participants over the years.

The Western Amateur is renowned for being the toughest test in amateur golf. It has been a prestigious national championship since its founding in 1899. Many of golf's greatest players have etched their names on the George R. Thorne Trophy.

July 31, 2023
Crowded field at Illinois Open tees off at Flossmoor
Len Ziehm, Daily Herald

The men's 74th Illinois Open teed off on Monday with the potential of having too many players at Flossmoor Golf Club.

State-wide qualifying rounds largely determine the field in the Illinois Open. There are seven of those, and one couldn't be completed because of rain delays. With rescheduling deemed impossible, the Illinois PGA opted to give all potential qualifiers spots in the finals.

That meant 168 starters at Flossmoor instead of the usual 156, the maximum number permitted in both PGA Tour and Korn Ferry events. Getting the full field through 18 holes rounds on Monday and Tuesday would seem a daunting task, but the competition should be intense, as usual, when the 54-hole test concludes on Wednesday.