Writing from Chicago
Monday, July 15, 2019
The buffet that is summer golf overflows this week in the Chicago area with a national championship and a pair of statewide titles on offer.
The big one is the 119th Women’s Western Amateur, which commences a five-day run at Royal Melbourne Country Club in Hawthorn Woods on Tuesday. Californian Emilee Hoffman is not defending her title, but there are favorites this venerable championship, which has been played without interruption since it was created in 1901.
One is an Illinoisan, Megan Furtney, who was part of the team that captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball earlier this summer. The South Elgin native will begin attending Duke in the fall.
Two days of stroke play qualifying will whittle the field to 32, and match play will take care of the rest, climaxing with a 36-hole final – as traditional as it comes – on Saturday.
The state championships also begin on Tuesday, at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville and Cantigny Golf in Wheaton.
Mistwood is the traditional home of the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open, which celebrates its 25th playing with a new format featuring a 36-hole opening day and 18 holes to settle the issue on Wednesday. The Sunday pro-am was moved to Monday this year, but doesn’t count toward the aggregate.
Like the Women’s Western, the defending champion is missing. Hannah Kim of California has chosen not to defend her title, so the Kosin Cup and the $5,000 first prize is up for grabs among the 51-player field – with the money prize chased by only 13 professionals. The new format may be the reason the field is smaller than usual (74 players last year, 77 in 2017), as pros aren’t used to playing 36 holes in a day. The conflict with the Women’s Western, which Mistwood hosted last year, clearly forced some local players to choose between the two.
Cantigny is hosting the Illinois Amateur for the fifth time. The 132-player field in this 89th edition includes recent CDGA Amateur winner Jordan Less of Elmhurst and Bloomington’s Rob Wuethrich, runner-up in last year’s Illinois Am in Bloomington. Wuethrich was a key member of the Illinois Wesleyan team that won the NCAA Division III title earlier this year. Champion Jordan Hahn is not defending, instead playing in national tournaments to prepare to turn pro in the fall. He’s 203rd in the world amateur ranking at the moment, and recently finished 23rd in the Northeast Amateur.
The Illinois Am opens with 18 holes on Tuesday, 18 more on Wednesday, and then a cut to the low 35 and ties for a 36-hole finale on Thursday.
– Tim Cronin