REYNOLDS LAKE OCONEE for when Georgia is on your mind. So visit Georgia’s top golf destination, 64 miles from Augusta-6 courses and more.Reynoldslakeoconee.com
THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy or connect with him on LinkedIn or Facebook. In the Mistwood Golf Dome in Bolingbrook.
MASTERS WEEK IS OVER!
The Tiger Woods reunion party is also over, only 23 shots off the pace. Now back to the tournament and the real golf.
So is Scottie Scheffler vs Cameron Smith the new normal in golf. Because both players are having a great year. Scheffler’s run in golf has been amazing since he first won the Evans Scholars Invitational at the Glen Club in 2019. A great finish for Rory McIlroy, but it was too little too late. Had McIlroy won, it would have wrapped up the career Grand Slam, and been the story of the week.
LEN ZIEHM picked Scottie Scheffler to win in our podcast last week. I picked runner-up Rory McIlroy to win. Ziehm and Spears finished 1 & 2, not too bad.
IT’S BEEN SAID that Masters week is the beginning of golf season in the Chicago area. But while temperatures will be better this week, more heavy rain is expected. Which means those dreaded words are not far behind, cart path only. A real experience on the golf course killer.
PURDUE UNIVERSITY recently received a donation of $20 million dollars by now retired John Deere Company CEO Sam Allen, who attended Purdue as an Evans Scholar and played on Purdue’s golf team.
Word is that schools Kampen Course designed by Pete Dye, will see some improvements going forward. But the main improvement is that the clubhouse will be torn down, and be enlarged. It will also sit higher for better viewing of golf on holes near the clubhouse. The larger clubhouse will force the entrance road to be moved, and a tunnel will get built under the road, to more safely connect the two courses. The university might also seek to hold some professional tournaments there. But time will tell. Kudo’s to Sam Allen on the donation and here’s hoping Purdue University makes good use of the money.
Congratulations to the Fighting Illini and Coach Mike Small’s men’s golf team on winning the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational by 8 shots.
GREAT NEWS is that the Augusta Women’s Amateur Champion 16 year-old Anna Davis (the bucket hat girl) has announced a commitment to play in the Women’s Western Golf Associations (WWGA) Amateur Championship at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield this July. Davis is still eligible to play in the WWGA Junior Girls Championship at Prestwick Country Club as well. But no word if she will come to the Chicago area twice in one summer.
WHITE EAGLE GOLF CLUB in Naperville is becoming quite the tournament host. After the great hosting of the Illinois Open in 2020, the Illinois Open will return this summer in the first week of August. But in July of 2023 the club will host the WWGA Amateur, great job White Eagle membership stepping up to host these tournaments.
MORE TOURNAMENT NOTES, the Illinois PGA now has sites for it’s four major championships this year. The Match Play Championship at Elgin Country Club, the Illinois Open at White Eagle, the IPGA Section Championship at Makray Memorial in Barrington, and the Players Championship at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe. All four courses are great sites for the IPGA majors, a well done to the section tournament staff.
THE PRESERVE AT OAK MEADOWS in Addison will host the IPGA Senior Open.
BUT ALSO IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD of the Preserve, once again comes talk of the Bensenville Park District selling off some of the land that comprises the 36-holes at White Pines Golf Club. Sad to hear of course. But what would be nice if somebody with deep pockets would come along and buy the club, fix it up, and still give discounts to Bensenville residents. So let’s save White Pines from becoming homes. Maybe someday, Mike Munro can put the dome back-up again during winter time.
EAGLE RIDGE RESORT & SPA in Galena has a special anniversary coming up next month, the question is do they even know. May 27th marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of the General golf course. So here’s hoping they put together a something special to celebrate the day.
NOW THAT WE ARE past the Masters hoopla, and the next major the PGA Championship is on the tee at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. I’m hoping defending champion Phil Mickelson will play, it’s time to get “Lefty” back out on the golf course.
WORD IS THAT there are no more single day tickets available for the U.S. Open at the Country Club this June. So if you still plan on going, plan to pony up major bucks to buy multiple days.
THE GOG BLOG returns tomorrow. RS