THE EVANS SCHOLARS INVITATIONAL teeing of on Thursday at the Glen Club, free tickets when you go online to ESInvitational.com/tickets. The new web.com tournament runs Thursday to Sunday. Dylan Meyer and Vince Pellegrino on media day at the Glen.  ______________________________________________________________________

On the wall, in the hall. Of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

The Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, has announced the 12 finalists for the 2019 Class of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

“We can’t help but have an outstanding class with these nominees to select from,” said selection committee chair Tim Cronin. “Collectively, they’ve done everything worth doing in golf. It’s the strongest field in years.”

The final voting will be held next week on Thursday night May 30th, at the Glen Club home of the hall of fame. The field was reduced from 22 to the top ten and ties after first round voting. The voting panel has members of the Hall of Fame, and from various Illinois golf organizations.

The 12 finalists include.

Bessie Anthony- who played out of the Glen View Club in the early 1900’s, winning several top amateur titles.

Emil Esposito- An Illinois PGA professional for over 50 years, who won the Illinois Open in 1966 and 1974. Esposito was the 1979 Illinois PGA Section Champion.

Dr. Randy Kane-A turf quality manager for the CDGA, from 1985 through 2006.

William Langford After his playing days were over, Langford became a leading golf course architect. One of his distinguished courses is the Links Course at Lawsonia in Wisconsin.

Carol Mann-Learned her golf at Olympia Fields, and after turning professional went on to win 38 LPGA Tournaments. Including two major championships, one fo whichis was the 1965 U.S. Women’s Open.

Michael Miller-The long time Executive Director of the Illinois PGA, and helped create the Illinois PGA Foundation. Miller helped obtain exhibits for the Illinois Golf HOF.

Francis Peabody-who helped form the CDGA in the fall of 1914.

Garry Pinns-the only player to win the Illinois Open five times. It took Pinns three decades to accomplish the feat. He won the first of his titles in 1978 while still an amateur.

Harry Radix-An avid golf fan who helped create the Radix Cup matches. A yearly event that features top Illinois PGA Section professionals and CDGA amateur players, in matches contested at Oak Park Country Club.

Dave Ryan-A top amateur golfer who won the USGA 2016 Senior Amateur Championship. He has won the Illinois Senior Amateur four times.

Len Ziehm-who along with professional Emil Esposito, are the two living legends who have donated over 50 years to the golf industry in Illinois. Ziehm spent many of years at the Sun-Times, before retiring and going on to work at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights. Len still writes for Lenziehmongolf.com, the CDGA Magazine, Chicagoland Golf and the Morning Read.

GolfersonGolf.com will post those elected to the Class of 2019 as soon as they are known, after voting concludes.

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