Chicagoland Golf News

HILTON HEAD ISLAND – Northern Illinois University’s men’s golf team shot a 325 on a blustery day at Wexford Plantation and finished in a three-way tie for last place at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate hosted by Francis Marion University, almost 60 shots back of the winning score for the event.

The Huskies didn’t set any scoring records but they did record a victory for their school and took a step toward transitioning from tragedy to normalcy.

The two-day tournament marked Northern Illinois’ return to athletic competition following a 10-day layoff due to the Feb. 14 campus shootings that prematurely ended the lives of five students. Monday’s opening round also coincided with the return to classes on the NIU campus. 

ATLANTA, GA – LastMinuteGolfer.com has announced that it plans to step up its efforts to help each of its participating courses to reduce their fixed costs. The company, currently representing that nation’s largest community of golfers (413,284 members), is offering 500 dozen range balls to each new LastMinuteGolfer course that joins the program before March 15, 2008.

LastMinuteGolfer’s growing family of over 575 golf courses continue to benefit directly from this effort as well, receiving monthly range ball rebates of up to $167/ month.

OAK FOREST, IL - Cook County Forest Preserve Golf ("FPG") and Billy Casper Golf ("BCG") announce reduced greens fees and other promotional prices on apparel and equipment next week (through Nov 2) at the 10-course system - capping another year of enhnced playing experiences for the community through value-rich golf rates, accessible instructional programs and high-quality course conditions.

"Frankly, every week is about customer appreciation for Billy Casper Golf and the Forest Preserve system," says BCG Senior Vice President Bill Rehanek. "Our practices set Billy Casper Golf apart from other course operators, and we are happy to commemorate our 'customer-first' approach with value-laden offerings for area golfers."

For $19.99, golfers can either walk or ride at Highland Woods or FPG's flagship layout, the Golf Digest-rated 4.5-star George Dunne National. Greens fees at popular Indian Boundary are $14.99 and includes use of a golf cart. The rest of the FPG courses are $9.99 to play per round.

BOLINGBROOK, IL -The 2007 Tom Dreesen Celebrity Invitational, a highlight on the Celebrity Players Tour, will make its fifth consecutive run in Chicago's western suburbs at the nationally acclaimed Bolingbrook Golf Club. A star-studded lineup, showcasing many of the most popular names in sports, television, film and music, are gearing up for what has become one of the Midwest's premier celebrity golf events and the exclusive Chicago stop on the Celebrity Players Tour.

Among the growing roster of celebrity golfers scheduled to participate in the Tom Dreesen Celebrity Invitational are Major League Baseball Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Mike Schmidt, Super Bowl champion quarterback Joe Theismann and Grammy award-winning performer Smokey Robinson. Last year's winners, former NBA guard Jon Barry and Major League Baseball players Kurt Bevacqua and Gorman Thomas, are also slated to vie in the 2007 competition. The tournament's namesake, longtime comedian and Harvey, Ill.-native Tom Dreesen, will reprise his role as event host.

BOLINGBROOK, IL – Bolingbrook Golf Club, owned by the Village of Bolingbrook and operated by KemperSports, and Boughton Ridge Golf Club, owned and operated by the Bolingbrook Park District, are planning to take part in the inaugural Patriot Golf Day on Saturday, September first, an initiative spear-headed by the PGA of America and the United States Golf Association.

Golfers at each facility will be asked to donate $1 each when they purchase their greens fees. All money raised from the event will be donated to Wounded Warriors, Inc. Wounded Warriors helps support the families of soldiers who have been wounded, injured or killed during combat operations. The organization was founded by United States Marine Corps Colonel John D. Folsom.

Plymouth, IN - The United States Golf Academy at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, IN, is extending an invitation to PGA Golf Professionals and their guests at courses and clubs in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan this winter to experience and teach at their new state of the art indoor teaching facilities. This is a great opportunity for PGA Members to bring their guests or members of their clubs and get a head start on the 2007 season with instruction and practice.

PGA Members and guests who attend will have the opportunity to experience a new, 7,000 square-foot teaching building with heated, indoor/outdoor bays allowing teaching in the winter. In addition the PGA Members will have access to all of the state of the art teaching equipment including the latest computer video analysis, launch monitors (Zelocity Pure Launch Analysis), Full Swing Golf Simulators, True Temper Shaft labs, and loft and lie machines in order to provide the best teaching tools and custom club fitting programs found anywhere.

CHICAGO, Ill. — The PGA of America has announced it will sponsor the 88th PGA Championship Youth Skills Challenge to culminate in a final showdown the week of this year's PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club.

The competition, to be conductedy the Illinois Section of the PGA, will showcase the driving, chipping, and putting skills of up-and-coming young golfers ages 6 to 17 and spotlight some of the local PGA teaching professionals who helped them learn the game. As presenting sponsor, Nike Golf will provide prizes and other forms of event support, officials said.

Officials said everyone who participates in the Youth Skills Challenge will receive two practice round tickets to the 88th PGA Championship at Medinah, which runs from Aug. 14-20.

The Beverly Country Club To Host 2008 USGA Senior Amateur

Far Hills, N.J. - The Beverly Country Club in Chicago, Ill., has been selected by the United States Golf Association as the site of the 2008 USGA Senior Amateur Championship. The dates of the championship are September 20-25.

The Beverly Country Club will be hosting its second USGA championship. Previously, the club hosted the 1931 U.S. Amateur, which was won by Francis Ouimet for his third USGA title. Beverly was founded in 1908 and features tree-lined fairways, difficult greens and the bunkering characteristics of its architect, Donald Ross. Recently, Ron Prichard, a Ross renovation expert, completed a major revision.

How do you compete with the “Big Boys” of the golf equipment industry, who have many years head start in marketing and manufacturing, not to mention deep, deep pockets to fund their ventures? Two veterans of the front lines of the golf industry wars, Richard Merk and Bret Larsen are trying to do it in a revolutionary way, one club at a time, one charity tournament at a time with their launch of Upswing Golf early this year.

Merk, a former member of the senior executive teams at TaylorMade and then Callaway, and Larsen, a former VP of Manufacturing and then Golf Club Development at Callaway, have come together to try to bring the “average” golfer access to top quality equipment without the expense the “brand name” companies tack on to their clubs for marketing, advertising and endorsements.

Our playing editors were vacationing down in Florida, in late July, and thought it would be a great idea to review some courses for our readers up north. Our first stop was Shalimar Pointe Country Club in Shalimar, Florida.

Shalimar Pointe is 15 min. from Ft. Walton Beach, 30 min. from Destin, 50 min. from Pensacola and 50 min. from Panama City. Built in 1968, Shalimar Pointe was designed by Pete Dye & Joe Finger, and is the only Pete Dye designed course in the area. Shalimar Pointe stretches 6,765 yards from the tips, but has 5 sets of tees to accommodate golfers of all skill levels. This semi-private country club offers a championship layout, but doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg like some neighboring high-end resorts do.