WILL WE SEE THIS AGAIN            THE SUN FINALLY SHINED ON NCAA GOLF ______________________________________________________________________

THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Editor and Director of Content. Follow Rory on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter @GogBlogGuy

What an incredible two weeks of golf at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

I don’t know about you, but i’m sure glad I didn’t miss this event. If you did and you like golf then you really missed something.

Congratulations to both the Arizona State Women and the Oklahoma Men for winning national championships. 2017 will be remembered as your year.

One of the other things that will be remembered is the great run’s into the final fours by the Northwestern Women, and the Illinois Men. It made sure that there was a local team playing every day for two weeks, except for the final day on the men’s side.

 The Arizona State Women and the University of Oklahoma Men celebrate their titles.

NCAA officials say the attendance for the two weeks was 16,425, with 4,275 coming out to see the ladies, and 12,150 out to see the men. It’s safe to say the Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich would have liked to see the galleries at 16,425 every day, but unfortunately Mother Nature did not cooperate.

I can’t say the Women ever had a real good warm and dry day their entire week, which was a total shame. Did the colder wet weather help Northwestern whose players had plenty of spring practices in much the same weather. Maybe, but what Coach Emily Fletcher has at NU is a group of solid players who go out and get it done. This summer see’s the loss of only Sr. Kacie Komoto and as a result it’s likely NU makes another run on the ladies side in 2018.

The people who came out to see NU play USC in the final four were treated to some exciting golf, if you didn’t come out but saw it on TV, you know what I mean.

Speaking of TV, The Golf Channel did a great job showing off the championship and Rich Harvest Farms in a great light. I have never seen Rich Harvest from some of the views that were shown, some of the higher angles made it seem like a drone or blimp was hovering. Either way RHF looked sharp to the national television audience.

Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich holds the NCAA championship trophy.

I spent some time on the last day walking around with Mr. Rich and the amount of people coming up to him shaking his hand and complimenting him on the golf course and or hospitality was great to see.

Rich and staff headed up by his son Keith Rich, put in long hours and keep the golf course in great shape through heavy rains and cool weather

It sure sounded like all in attendance would enjoy coming back to Rich Harvest Farms for another national championship or three, in the years to come.

Which could be a possibility if the NCAA announces later this month that they are going to a 2 or 3 year run at the same facility. The possibility is that the NCAA could pick the same club for the years of 2020-2021-2022. The list of finalists is a short one, and Rich Harvest Farms has confirmed to Golfers on Golf that they have submitted a proposal to be considered.

There were plenty of things done quite well at this years championship. Well priced tickets along with food and beverages. Free parking, shuttle carts to help patrons get around the golf course. The limited amount of ropes so fans could get up close to the action. Area’s where players and patrons could mix, and the college players were great in signing autographs and handing out some golf balls with their schools logo on them.

Illini fans got some great up close time with players like Nick Hardy and Dylan Meyer, as the Illinois men made it to their third straight final four. Here’s hoping the national title match is in store for both of them in their senior year of 2018.

If the NCAA makes an announcement of a return to Rich Harvest Farms in the years ahead, later this month. Golfers on Golf with be there to send you all the news. In the meantime to see many of the best college golfers in the country, you can see them play at Skokie Country Club in the Western Amateur July 31 to August 5th.

Many of the top women college players will be at the Women’s Western Amateur Championship at River Forest Country Club in Elmhurst June 12-17. RS