Slowinski rises to the top

    Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois
    Tuesday, August 27, 2013

    Tuesday on Olympia Fields Country Club’s South Course provided the round Matt Slowinski has been waiting for.
    Slowinski’s 4-under-par 67, built on a run of three birdies in four holes on his first nine, vaulted him into the lead with a round to play in the 91st Illinois PGA Championship. Slowinski’s 36-hole aggregate of 3-under 139 is two strokes to the good over Illinois men’s coach Mike Small, who added a 1-over 72 to his opening 69.
    Curtis Malm of St. Charles Country Club stitched a 73 to his 69 and thus is three behind Slowinski, and stroke in arrears of Small, at even-par 142 entering Wednesday’s final round.
    Ryan Sharp, the other tri-leader, skidded to a 7-over 78. The assistant at Chicago and Augusta National golf clubs is tied for eighth at 5-over 147.    
    For Slowinski, an assistant at Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn, the good start wasn’t immediate.
    “I bogeyed the 13th from the middle of the fairway,” he recalled. “But I liked how the last few holes on the back set up for me.”
    That’s how he ran down birdie putts on the 15th, 16th and 18th holes to go out in 2-under 33. Three more birdies on the South Course’s front nine, offset by a bogey at the par-3 third, brought him home with the best round of the tournament by two strokes.
    That 67, by the way, was the only under-par round of the day, which featured 95-degree temperatures and wind that was steady at 15 mph out of the southwest when it wasn’t gusting as high as 28 mph.
    In short, not a day for great scoring, even if the ball had extra oomph. But Slowinski, runner up in the Illinois PGA on Medinah No. 1 two years ago and winner of two previous state majors, did so.
    “There’s always one guy,” Malm said before Slowinski finished. “Doesn’t matter what tour, there’s always one who’ll go low.”
    Malm wanted to be that one, but it wasn’t to be. His 1-over card broke down to 37-36 and  included five bogeys, a far cry from his goal.
    “On a day like this, you’ve got to change your mindset, and I didn’t do that early enough,” said Malm, who also started on the back. “I three-putted 18, didn’t make a birdie until the 18th.”
    That said, he’ll be in the final threesome on Wednesday along with Slowinski and Small. The latter, chasing Illinois PGA title No. 10, has has two head-scratching rounds.
    “I’m scoring pretty given the way I’m playing,” Small said after a round where he hit only half the greens in regulation. “I hit my first shot of the day (on No. 10), into the water. I birdied No. 1. Yet, I’m making bogeys with sand wedge in my hand.
    “For me, it’s bad golf, but it could be a lot worse. If you played well today, you could shoot a score.”
    It could well be that only seven players have a shot at the Jim Kemper Cup and the first place check of $10,000 from the purse of $60,400. Defending champion Steve Orrick of Decatur is at 2-over 144 after his second straight 72, while Medinah assistant Travis Johns, Bryn Mawr assistant Scott Baines and cagey veteran Mike Harrigan are at 3-over 145. Then come Sharp and Quentin Grasso at 5-over 147, eight strokes back of Slowinski.
    The cut fell at 13-over 155 and encompassed 67 players, including three-time Illinois Open champion Marty Schiene of Odyssey Country Club, who followed his opening 72 with an untidy 83 and made the cut on the number.

    Mitchell leads Illinois Mid-Am at Flossmoor

    Olympia Fields and Flossmoor country clubs are perhaps 400 yards from each other when the nearest corners of each club’s property are taken into account, and this week, Flossmoor, the older of the two concerns, is hosting the Illinois Mid-Amateur.
    So far, a familiar face in the amateur winner’s circle, Todd Mitchell, is running the table. The Bloomington insurance salesman has scored back-to-back 69s and stands at 6-under-par 138, six strokes ahead of a quartet that includes Taylorville sage Dave Ryan, entering Wednesday’s final round.
    Also at even-par 144 after 36 holes on a steamy Tuesday: Mattoon’s Derek Meinhart, Glenview’s Kyle Nathan and Downers Grove’s Brian Hickey, whose 68 in the morning was the best round of the day. Defending champion Tom Miler missed the cut after going around in 81-75 for 12-over 156.

    – Tim Cronin