THE BAER NINE now has eight open holes at the Schaumburg Golf Club, with the18th hole expected to come online soon. Tee times at Schaumburggolf.com (847)-885-9000. IRONS & WOODS coming on line late fall in Long Grove on RT.53/Hicks Road. There will be golf/sports simulators, slots, live entertainment, food & beverage. Stay clicked in. ______________________________________________________________________

Garrett Rank with the George R. Thorne trophy.

Garrett Rank, of Ontario Canada won the 117th Western Amateur, with a 3 & 2 victory over Daniel Wetterich.

Rank 31, a cancer survivor, is more widely known for being a National Hockey League referee. Rank worked several Chicago Blackhawks games last season, including three at the United Center.

At 31, Rank is considered a mid-amateur. And the last mid-am aged player to win the Western Amateur, was Danny Green in 1997. Green won his title at Point O’Woods Golf & Country Club, the site of this years championship.

Rank who shot six under par in the stroke play, entered the 16 player match play portion of the championship as the fifth seed. Wetterich from Cincinnati Ohio, and a recent graduate of Ohio State, was the third seed.

The path to the championship was not so easy for Rank. Because Rank trailed in all four of his match-play matches. And the championship match with Wetterich was no different.

Wetterich was 1 up after five holes. But Rank won holes 6,7 and 9 to take a 2 up lead at the turn. But Wetterich didn’t give up. With a birdie on the tenth hole, Ranks lead was 1 up. Because of birdies on 14 and 15, Rank went 3 up with 3 holes to play. And then Rank recorded a par on the 16th hole, to end the match.

“This was the end of a dream week,” said Rank. “I have had a lot of close calls in big events. To finally break through is huge. I’m a believer when you put yourself under pressure, you learn from it. And I relied on that.”

“The front nine was just a back and forth,” said Wetterich. “But it was fun. He made a lot of putts, and he did not give me nay wiggle room.”

Because of both players reaching the championship match, they both received sponsors exemptions into the 2020 Evans Scholars Invitational (ESI). The ESI will be played at the Glen Club, and is part of the Korn-Ferry Tour.

Rank becomes the second Canadian champion in the history of the Western Amateur. Jim Nelford was the first winner in 1977. Because NHL training camp for referees starts on September 9th, Rank will only play in the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship from August 20-23 before reporting to camp.

Rank defeated David Laskin 2 and 1 in his morning semi-final, while Wetterich won his semi-final match 4 and 2 over Ricky Castillo.