The great part about golf is that there is always a back nine, so if you somehow didn't get your fill on the front side - there's always more to be had after the turn. That's what this part of the Beacon News' weekly golf coverage will do for you
The Western Golf Association will be bringing one of its marquee events to the Chicago area beginning in 2009 - the Western Amateur.
The WGA also hosts the Western Junior, as well as the PGA Tour's BMW Championship.
Not only does the WGA promote the game of golf with these tourneys, but they've sent thousands of kids to college with Evans Scholarships.
For an exclusive Q&A with WGA V.P. of Tournaments John Kaczkowski about the Western Am returning to Chicago, as well as local golf results and info, read on!
I was fortunate that John took some time to talk to me about the Western Am coming back "home" in 2009 and beyond - It's a great move for the WGA and for Chicago golf.
ABN: On bringing the tourney back to Illinois...
JK: You always prepare for everything. Our contract with Point O'Woods is up in 2008 so this is the final year of hosting the tournament at Point O'Woods. We were unable to reach an agreement with the club to host it on a permanent basis beyond 2008, so we kind of analyzed the situation and we said, we're a Chicago-based association, this is our home, we would like to try to bring the event back to Chicago. So we're looking at rotating it around a group of Chicago area clubs and try to give the tournament a new identity.
ABN: What does the WGA look for in a potential host club?
JK: The Western Amateur is generally regarded as the second most prestigious amateur tournament in this country, if not the world, but that being said, it's certainly not like a PGA Tour event. You don't need the infrastructure or anything like that. But what you do need is a great golf course, and it's got to be a golf course that holds up against the best amateur players in the world. And we have those in Chicago. What we're doing is identifying those courses and trying to reach out to them through proper channels and see if they would be interested in hosting the event."
ABN: The release said the WGA is is allowing the flexibility to include four Chicago area venues...
JK: What we're trying to do - and we would consider Point O'Woods as part of the rotation as well - we don't want to say we're only going to do four, or we're only going to do five. We want to look at it and say...to be honest with you, I wouldn't call it an overwhelming response from clubs in the area but we don't want to exclude anyone that we deem worthy of hosing the event.
ABN: Do you have a self-imposed timeline on when you want '09 (at least) lined up?
JK: We'd like to have '09 set up prior to the event in '08, just so we can tell the players in '08 where it's going to be in '09 and so the club can come and tour the event at Point O'Woods and see what it takes. Then, ideally, we'd like to put together a rotation and announce it soon thereafter. The first brick in the wall is 2009.
ABN: In terms of selection, is the private sector easier to work with for a rotation vs. public?
JK: That's what we thought originally for the reason you said there exactly - that the lost revenue makes it hard to swallow at a public facility because you're only open X amount of days in the summer here. I've been contacted out of the blue by several clubs, both public and private, about wanting to host the event. So we may have to reassess that. Gosh, we have some great public golf courses in Chicago too. It's a work in progress right now. We have a plan, we're going to follow it and the blueprint, but we're modifying it now and then.
ABN: How important is bringing the Western name back to Chicago?
JK: I wouldn't say it was the primary goal. The primary goal was to try and work something out with Point O'Woods. And once we weren't able to do that, this was kind of the ancillary benefit. The reason we changed the name to the BMW Championship is because it ultimately benefits the Evans Scholars Foundation, which is our charity, and we would have loved to have had our cake and eat it too with that, but we couldn't. And this gives us a chance to give us some identity in our hometown."
Stay tuned on for that news on the host venues and rotation. The Western Am is begins July 28.
Speaking of the Evans Scholars, Matthew Galvan, an NIU studente out of Hinckley who caddies at Rich Harvest, was awarded a scholarship (along with 86 others) on April 21.
Local golf news
Click here for information on the 14th annual Golf For Kids Benefit Golf Outing at Orchard Valley...
Local golf scores/results
Here are the full results from the Orchard Valley 4-person scramble that was contested on April 20.
Flight 1
1. Chris Coates, Chuck McDonough, Bill McDonough, Craig Youngquist 13-under 59
2. Terry Hildreth, Vic Dulceak Jr., George Flahrety, Pat Cleveland 11-under 61
3. Todd Nelson, Chris Youngren, John Bartkowski, Joe Pyle 11-under 61
4. Susan Milnamow, Mike Milnamow, Linda Maynard, Steve Maynard 10-under 62
Flight 2
1. John Klank, Don Callaway, Josh Stein, Scott Sternheimer 8-under 64
2. Ben Darrah, Chris Farrell, Dan Dolkovitch, Chris Potter 8-under 64
3. Ray Pagnozzi, Fred Amato, Rick Zwitt, Curt Zwitt 8-under 64
4. Jay Yanke, John Paciorek, Carey Krefft, John MacDonald 7-under 65
Flight 3
1. Ray Buonauro, Lee Lupstein, Hal Phillips, Tom Ferguson 5-under 67
2. Paul West, Mark Crewse, Barry Brave, Ken McNeil 5-under 67
3. Brian Sylvester, Greg Smith, Jim Callahan, Kurt Hoffman 4-under 68
5. Joe Toniolo, Ralph Muska, Dan Szuswalak, Brian Muska 3-under 69
Flight 4
1. Dominick Gullo, Jack Jimmink, Curtis Widerholdt, Jeff Trotz Even 72
2. Brian Dixon, Aaron Luckman, Ryan Dragstrem, Pat Martin Even 72
3. Robert Verzak, Adam Schabes, Craig Mizushima, Mike Kwon Even 72
4. Tom Pilafas, Robert Mickolayck, Adam Nawrocki, Dave Cagigal 2-over 74
Here are the results from the Prairie Landing Golf Club Senior/Junior Spring Golf Scramble...
First Division
1. Bob Jacobs/Bob Jacobs, Jr., Valparaiso, IN - 63 Crystal Champion Dish
2. Brad Price/Anthony Burdi, South Elgin - 64 Crystal Runner-Up Dish
3. Rich Flores/Kyle Flores, Batavia - 66
4. Nick Schenk/Fred Eggleston, Geneva - 66
5. Paul Witkowski/Mike Witkowski, South Elgin - 68
6. Richard Reindl/Sam Reindl, Batavia - 68
7. Rick Huffman/Jim Hamann - 69
8. Paul Barrett/Drew Barrett, Lake Forest - 69
9. Jim Borel/Dan Borel, Elmhurst - 69
10. Paul Skipworth/Kevin Skipworth, Geneva - 70
Second Division
1. Chris Pfluger/Christian Pfluger, Downers Grove - 71, Crystal Champion Dish
2. Ron Lenkowski/Lauren Lenkowski, Batavia - 71, Crystal Runner-Up Dish
Third Division
1. Jamie Wyeth/Jake Wyeth, Batavia - 74, Crystal Champion Dish
2. John Kunz/Jake Kunz, Lake Forest - 74, Crystal Runner-Up Dish
Fourth Division
1. Kevin Beagley/Marin Beagley, St. Charles - 78, Crystal Champion Dish
2. Frank Chaloupka/Benjamin Chaloupka, St. Charles - 78, Crystal Runner-Up Dish
Fifth Division
1. Christopher Schmal/Dan Zemaitis, Geneva - 83, Crystal Champion Dish
2. Don Janosek/Rob Janosek, Oswego - 83, Crystal Runner-Up Dish
Rick Armstrong 
Jim Owczarski 
Mike Knapp 
Todd M. Adams 
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