ARROWHEAD GOLF CLUB on Butterfield Road in Wheaton has 27 holes of golf and a great 28th hole to enjoy before or after golf. See Arrowheadgolfclub.org for more details. Erin Hills golf club in Wisconsin is the home for the 2017 U.S. Open, and tee times to play the open course in 2016 are filling quickly, so call now or see Erinhills.com _____________________________________________________________________
THE GOG BLOG, by Rory Spears. Editor and Director of Content. Follow Rory on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter @GogBlogGuy. At the Phildelphia Cricket Club home of the 2016 Sr. Players Championship.
The PGA Champions Tour and Constellation have announced the newest destination for the Sr. Players Championship.
The future site announced is the Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park Illinois, for the year of 2018.
It is the first time since the 1997 U.S. Sr. Open was played Olympia Fields, that one of the five senior major championships has been played in the Chicago area.
The dates are not set as of yet, but the championship will be played in June or July of 2018. Exmoor beat out two other Chicago area clubs to be the host of the 2018 championship.
The 18th hole and clubhouse at Exmoor Country Club.
“We are looking forward to bringing the excitement of the Constellation Senior Players Championship to a golf-rich market such as Chicago,” said PGA Tour champions President Greg McLaughlin. “This event has established a history of playing some of the games elite venues, and that will continue in 2018 as we wlecome Exmoor to the PGA Tour Champions schedule.”
The last time the Senior Players Championship was held in the Midwest was in 2006, when it was played at the TPC Michigan in Dearborn. In 2017 the championship moves to Caves Valley outside of Baltimore that in 2014 held the first LPGA UL International Crown won by Spain.
“We are pleased that the tournament is headed to the Midwest and to another top ranked location in 2018,” said Bruce Stewart, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Constellation. “Chicago is a key market for Constellation and home to our parent company Exelon. The move to Exmoor Country Club will enable us to host the championship at another memorable course and share it’s long tradition of giving back to communites that we serve with our many customers in the region.”
WGAESF.org
The 2018 championship will be managed by the Western Golf Association (WGA) in conjunction with the PGA Tour Champions and PGA Tour management division.
“We are pleased to be partnering with the PGA Tour to bring a premier golf championship to the Chicago area,” said Vince Pellegrino, WGA Senior Vice President of Tournaments. “We are especially proud that this event will be played at Exmoor Country Club, which is one of the Western Golf Associations founding clubs. Exmoor has hosted several of our championships and is a longtime supporter of the Evans Scholars Program. We look forward to our new partnership with Constellation.”
Exmoor’s history starts in 1896, and is one of the 11 WGA founding clubs from 1899, of which only seven of those clubs remain. The orginal designer was H.J Tweedie, but in 1914 the famed Donald Ross redesigned the course bringing in several of the features he known for including his strategic bunkering style.
“Continuing the 120-year heritage of of championship golf, we are proud that Exmoor Country Club has been selected to host the 2018 Constellation Senior Players Championship,” said Club president Sandy Stevenson. “To have legends of the game of golf grace us with their presence is a testament to the powerful place that Exmoor Country Club holds in the local community for hosting meaningful and memorable sporting competitions.”
The last major championship hosted by Exmoor was the 2012 Western Amateur Championship won by Chris Williams. Exmoor was scheduled to host the Western Amateur again in 2018, but the amateur that year will be moved to yet another course that has not been announced. It’s expected that Exmoor might be hosting the championship again in 2022.
Champions Tour golfer and Chicago area resident Jeff Sluman is looking forward to playing at Exmoor.
“It’s a beautiful course. Old style. Exactly what our players and fans like to see, I’d like to get on and get a look at it,” said Sluman. “It’s going to be a wonderful event, and I can’t think of a much better place to go.”
The championship has a great history, Arnold Palmer won back-to-back titles in the championship in 1984 and 1985. Bernhard Langer did the same thing in 2014 and 2015. For more information see PGATour.com.