THE 72ND ILLINOIS OPEN at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora Illinois. August 2-4.   _____________________________________________________________________

THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook. At the Stonebridge Clock.

THE WESTERN-AMATEUR is over, and it’s on to the Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora for this weeks Illinois Open.

Round 1 is well underway and I will have a recap later today. But here is the teaser-T-K Kelly is leading at 6 under par.

WRAPPING UP the Western Amateur.

THE GLEN VIEW CLUB was an outstanding site for the championship. As several players told me, the architects in the late 1890’s did a great job of creating a golf course that has withstood the test of time. Because it stands up to today’s players and the modern day equipment very well. I’m surprised the the course isn’t rated higher in classic golf course ratings. But it should be, and hopefully with some exposure from the WGA-Amateur that will change.

I DID NOT SEE MUCH OF IT but the streaming that was done with The Golf Channel turned out really good. So said the reviews of people I have heard from. Hopefully the WGA will continue to do this in the future. Kudo’s to Michael Thorbjornsen on a great win, those who know him from Massachusetts say he will make the PGA Tour after his days at Stanford.

ACTUALLY I would really like to see runner-up Gordon Sargent get some recognition from the USGA and the people who handle the World Amateur rankings. Because Sargent who finished second, was the only one of the four finalists who had not secured a spot in the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont next week. Hopefully when this weeks rankings come out, Sargent will be in the field.

Both Thorbjornsen and Sargent say they will return for next years Western Amateur at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park. IF YOU searched through this years program, it’s listed the 2023 Western Amateur will return to North Shore Country Club in Glen View. North Shore has had a renovation since the last time it hosted the championship in 2011.

THE ILLINOIS PGA hosted it’s Senior Masters Pro-Am at Onwentsia last Monday, this years two honoree’s as the latest Senior Master Professionals are…

2021 Senior Masters award winners, L-R Carmen Molinaro from Buffalo Grove Golf Course. Wally Hynes of Cress Creek Golf Club.

Both Wally Hynes of Cress Creek golf Club and Carmen Molinaro from the Buffalo Grove Golf Course have retried in the last few years.

Sad to say the golf world misses both of them at their respective clubs.

Because both pro’s gave so much for so many years to the game. So ti was good to see them both last week at the IPGA Senior masters luncheon.

The Illinois PGA created a new format for the day this year, with the inclusion of the PGA junior players golfing with the senior pro’s in the morning. The rest of the field went off in the afternoon, with temp’s hovering at about 93. But the morning players had to deal with temps in the 90’s as well.

OLYMPIC GOLF-former Illini golfers Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry played good. But neither were able to earn a medal. Xander Schauffele won the gold medal. I have to admit I really didn’t have an interest in the ceremonial golf event from Japan, and didn’t see one shot of the championship.

IT WAS MORE ENJOYABLE to watch the U.S. Senior Women’s Open from Brooklawn Conn. As reported here first, the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Open heads to NCR in the suburbs of Dayton Ohio. The USGA finally confirmed our story on Wednesday with a press release, not sure what the hold-up was. NCR gets the event with less than one year to prepare. So let’s hope they can it done.

ON THE U.S. Senior Women’s Open front. Kudo’s to Mistwood’s Nicole Jeray and Conway Farm’s Jamie Fisher for making the cut, and each shooting a +7 score to finish T-23. But it took a top-20 finish to have an exemption into next years championship.

The new back tee on the 18th hole at Stonebridge CC, designed by architect Mike Benkusky.

THE BENKUSKY BOMBER TEE’S

Architect Mike Benkusky created 8 new tee boxes, that I am calling the Benkusky Bomber Tees.

Because the eight new tee boxes added about 400 yards to length of Stonebridge Country Club.

Illinois Open tournament director Brad Slocum confirmed to me that 7 of those 8 tee boxes were in play for Round 1. I suspect Slocum will use the new third hole tee box for Wednesdays final round.

FINALLY more length coming this fall to Kemper Lakes GC. Another 200+ yards will bring the site of the 1989 PGA Championship up to 7540ish yards. So can a tournament be far behind ?

THAT RUMOR IS BACK AGAIN that the Top 100 men’s only course in Oak Brook, is talking about dropping the ‘Men Only’ membership requirement. At this point, I’ll believe it when I see it.

THE GOG BLOG RETURNS LATER TODAY with a recap of Round 1 of the Illinois Open. RS