Barry Cronin, Cronin Communications, Inc.
LPGA stars Belen Mozo and Minjee Lee joined corporate sponsors and local dignitaries to help kick off the “One Year Countdown” to the LPGA’s 2016 UL International Crown at host-site Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.
Eri Crum arrived at Stanford University in 1994, the same year that Tiger Woods did. They were teammates on the school’s golf team for two years, before Woods started his legendary career as a touring pro.
Crum stayed at Stanford, earning his letter in golf his final two seasons, and now he’s still involved in his sport as a professional. His role is a bit different than Woods’, however. Crum has discovered Speedgolf, and he’ll defend his title in the Speedgolf World Championship at The Glen Club in Glenview on Oct. 19-20.
In Speedgolf you’re judged on both your score and pace around the course.
Find more photos from the Western Amateur in our Flickr album here.
From Barry Cronin
On the second hole of a sudden death playoff, Dawson Armstrong holed a 20-yard bunker shot for eagle to win the 113th Western Amateur in the most dramatic fashion in memory.
Armstrong’s stunning shot from the sand fronting the par 5 second hole at Rich Harvest Farms meant that his opponent, Aaron Wise, needed to hole his 25-foot putt to match Armstrong’s 3 to continue the playoff.
But Wise’s putt slid by, and when it did Armstrong fell into the arms of his father, Dale Armstrong, a former mini-tour player who caddied for his son during the two-day match play segment of the championship.
Find more photos from the PGA Championship in our Flickr album here.
JASON DAY WINS PGA CHAMPIONSHIP; CLAIMS FIRST MAJOR OF HIS CAREER
Jason Day seized the 97th PGA Championship today with a final-round 67 to edge Jordan Spieth by three strokes. Day’s closing 67 included seven birdies, nine pars and two bogeys.
Day was playing in his sixth PGA Championship. Before today, his best finish in this Championship was T-8 in 2013 at Oak Hill. The win was the fifth of his career; two have come in three weeks. He won the RBC Canadian Open on July 26.
GWAT, WCGT, NIMAGA, GCAM, and NAGT is an alphabet soup of acronyms that may not be recognizable to the average Windy City golfer, unless they are a member of one of the amateur golf tours that operate in the metro Chicago area. Some are affiliated with nationwide organizations that feed into national championships, while others are locally independent, but all exist to provide an outlet for local golfers to compete in tournaments guided by the USGA rule book.
“I played competitive 12-inch softball into my early 50’s, and when I couldn’t play anymore due to injuries, the amateur golf tournaments provided an outlet for me to fill the competitive void,” shared Bill Stuhr of Carpentersville at the Golf Week Amateur Tour event at Harborside in May. Round Lake Beach resident Rob Davis drove 70 miles to the south side of Chicago and offered a different spin. “My friends like to stay close to home and don’t like to play the more expensive courses, so this is a chance for me to play the better courses in the area.”
By Len Ziehm
Golf Now! Chicago's Blog 