Billiter outlasts Brodell for match play title

Writing from Hawthorn Woods, Illinois

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Jim Billiter made a splash on his 29th birthday.

Then he won the 64th Illinois PGA Match Play Championship.

With a bogey.

In the final twist of a match with plenty of them, Billiter beat Brian Brodell for the title on the 21st hole – after hitting his tee shot on the par-3 third hole at Kemper Lakes Golf Club into the water.

He accomplished that with a bogey thanks to a saucy pitch shot to about seven feet from the cup, and courtesy of Brodell bouncing his 171-yard 7-iron tee shot over the green and then chunking his chip shot. That left him an even more treacherous par chip, which went 12 feet past the cup.

When Brodell failed to sink the bogey putt, Billiter stepped up and sank his.

Game over. Trophy presented. Winner delighted and dumbfounded.

“When I shanked it in the water, I thought it was over,” Billiter said of his full-out 8-iron. “But as soon as I saw him go long, I knew I had a chance. That’s a really delicate shot. I thought he’d hit it long and two-putt for a four.

“Then he gave me a little luck when he flubbed his first one. I figured we’d both make (four) and go to the next hole.”

Billiter’s 90-yard pitch from the drop area was sublime, and left him about seven feet. He drained it with brio.

“The whole day, I was nervous,” said Billiter, who closed out Prestwick’s Simon Allen 4 and 3 in the morning semifinal. “It’s emotionally taxing. Six rounds in three days, plus I played 36 on Monday (at two courses). It was exhausting.”

Billiter is an assistant at Merit Club in Libertyville. Brodell, 32, is in his first full year at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville, after a stint as assistant men’s coach at Purdue following one at Wisconsin. He was sitting at the bar in the Kemper Lakes clubhouse after the match. There’s no truth to the rumor he ordered a boilermaker.

“That was a sad way to end it, and it would have been sad for him to end that way if he shanks it in the water and I (win),” Brodell said. “I had confidence in the chip, all of a sudden I flub-shank it, and the rest is history.”

It was a woulda, shoulda, coulda match – with the regulation 18 played in just 2 hours 40 minutes – from the start. Billiter was 2 up after two holes, but Brodell eagled the fourth hole and squared the match at the fifth.

Brodell led 1 up with a bogey at the eighth when Billiter doubled it – the reverse of the frantic finish – and then bogeyed the ninth, making the match square at the turn even though, with the usual concessions, Brodell had scored even par 36 to Billiter’s 3-over 39.

Brodell sank a 12-footer for birdie on the par-4 12th and remained 1-up until he bogeyed the par-4 16th. Billiter handed the lead back by plunking his tee shot into the water on the par-3 17th. Brodell smacked his tee ball to 15 feet and Billiter gave him the hole after hitting the back fringe with his third.

Billiter’s big tee shot at the last set up a 116-yard second, and he wedged it to eight feet above the hole.

“It was almost easier being down one, because I knew I could just swing hard, and the putt, I knew I could ram it in,” Billiter said.

After Brodell’s longer birdie putt missed, Billiter stepped up and sank his to force extra holes. Along the way, Billiter lipped out three putts that would have won holes. And Brodell was coming close from long range.

“They were all decent putts, so I was OK with that,” Billiter said of his close calls. “I had looks, but I was nervous and my putting was tentative all day.”

Routine pars on the first two holes brought them to the third tee, and the final surprise.

Brodell advanced to the title match with a 19-hole victory over the Glen View Club’s Kyle Bauer.

Billiter collected $4,000 for his effort. Brodell was awarded $2,000, as balm.

– Tim Cronin

Egan, McNair, Sobb elected to Illinois Golf Hall of Fame

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

A two-time U.S. Amateur champion, a lifetime professional dedicated to the charitable side of the game, and a seven-time winner of state major championships are the newest inductees to the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

H. Chandler Egan, who won the U.S. Amateur in 1904 and 1905 along with a quartet of Western Amateurs, Leon McNair, whose devotion to golf charities and growing the game beginning at Fox Bend Golf Course, and Jim Sobb, a three-time winner of the Illinois PGA Championship and a four time Illinois Match Play champion, were elected as the 2015 class to the Hall of Fame at The Glen Club.

All three inductees easily surpassed the necessary two-thirds vote, 12 of 18, for induction. Egan led with 16 votes, McNair collected 14 votes, and Sobb won 13 votes.

Seven other candidates on the ballot failed to win induction. Their vote totals: Francis Peabody 10, Jerry Rich 10, Gary Hallberg 9, Harry Radix 7, Emil Esposito 3, Phil Kosin 3, William Langford 2. The 18 members of the committee cast 87 of a possible 90 votes. Members could vote for up to five of the 10 candidates on the final ballot,

Profiles of the inductees of the 16th Hall of Fame class, the 80th, 81st and 82nd individuals to be so honored:

H. Chandler Egan

Raised in Highland Park, H. Chandler Egan is the owner of one of the greatest amateur careers in American golf, Egan won the U.S. Amateur twice (1904-05), the Western Amateur four times (1902-04-05-07), as well as the Intercollegiate individual title in 1902. Runner-up in 1903 Western Amateur, 1904 Olympic Games at Glen Echo, 1909 U.S. Amateur. Jumped into course design after moving to Oregon, including a remodeling of Pebble Beach, improving 16 of the 18 holes in conjunction with Robert Hunter, in 1928, two years after he won the California Amateur on the course. Egan designed 18 courses, including Eugene Country Club. Five-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Amateur.

Leon McNair

A co-founder of the Illinois PGA Foundation, Leon McNair has been interested as much in the charitable side of the game as the playing side. He was head professional at Fox Bend, a course he helped build working for architect-builder Brent Wadsworth, from its opening in 1967 until his retirement in 2005. He’s a member of the board overseeing the First Tee of Aurora and Fox River Valley, and president of Wadsworth Golf Charities. He was Illinois PGA Section president in 1991-92. As a player, he was part of a Southern Illinois squad that won the 1964 NCAA College Division championship. Former member of the selection committee.

Jim Sobb

Jim Sobb, a Palatine native and two-time Division II All-America recipient at Western Illinois, has compiled one of the better playing records among current Illinois club professionals. He’s won three Illinois PGA Championships (1995-99-2000), and four Illinois Match Play titles (1990-93-95-2011). In the latter year, he also won the Illinois Senior Match Play, becoming the only player to sweep both match play crowns in the same year. Sobb won the player of the year title in 2000 and has won the senior player of the year title five times since 2007, including last year. He’s played in the Radix Cup 22 times, more than any other professional, and second only to Joel Hirsch’s 23 appearances, with a record of 13-5-4. A two-time winner of Illinois PGA professional of the year (1995-2000), he also collected the Bill Strausbaugh Award for service to his fellow pros in 2012.

This trio can best be described as a class of overachievers. Egan’s amateur playing record was outstanding, and his architectural resume has until now been largely unheralded. McNair has done it all in golf, from construction to running a first-class shop to innovating programs to bring people into the game and keep them there. And Sobb’s been the player you didn’t want to be up against for decades.

The induction ceremony is planned for October, the date yet to be selected.

– Tim Cronin

PGA's Haigh: I'll visit Cog Hill

Reporting from Benton Harbor, Michigan

Thursday, April 30, 2015

 It wasn’t exactly on the same level as Nixon saying he’d go to China during the first term of his presidency, but it’s significant, and potentially pivotal, for Chicago-area golf.

Kerry Haigh, who runs the PGA of America’s championship division, confirmed Thursday he plans to visit Cog Hill Golf & Country Club to tour the Dubsdread layout.

Among Haigh’s duties is helping select the sites for the PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship, and the Ryder Cup, as well as the PGA’s other tournaments, including the club pro championship.

Haigh has never been to Cog Hill.

“I’m hoping to visit shortly, to look and see that facility,” Haigh said after helping unveil a tweak to Harbor Shores, which will host next year’s Senior PGA. “I watched (the Western Open / BMW Championship) every year on television. Katherine (Jemsek) has been in touch recently for me to come and look at it. We’re always very interested to see any wonderful golf course. Cog Hill has that reputation, and I can’t wait to see it.”

The Western Open was played on Dubsdread from 1991 through 2007, and again from 2009 to 2011, the latter years as the renamed BMW Championship. Rees Jones’ 2008 refurbishing of the 1964 Dick Wilson-Joe Lee design received poor reviews from a number of pros, including usually complimentary Steve Stricker, in 2010, and declining crowds in September in comparison to big galleries in July prompted the Western Golf Association and BMW to leave Dubsdread in favor of Conway Farms, an easier course located in Lake Forest rather than Lemont, as its Chicago-area site.

Haigh said “a couple of venues” are communicating with the PGA, and identified Cog Hill and Medinah Country Club. The latter hosted a pair of PGA Championships in 1999 and 2006, and the 2012 Ryder Cup, which featured sellout crowds and 77 corporate hospitality chalets.

“We have a wonderful relationship with the club and the membership and the whole city,” Haigh said. “The community got right behind that event. We continue to hope and talk with the club about opportunities. Who knows where that may end.”

Medinah insiders say the club rejected a low-ball offer for another PGA, the 2016 or 2018 playings, with the PGA of America’s financial offer below the $3 million the club earned for the 2006 playing. Medinah collected about $12 million for hosting the Ryder Cup, some of which was used to renovate the club’s No. 1 course.

– Tim Cronin

Illini chase sixth Big Ten title in seven years

    Writing from Champaign
    Wednesday, April 22, 2015

    Illinois had won five straight Big Ten men’s golf championships entering last year’s conference tournament. The streak ended when Minnesota, unheralded, knocked the Fighting Illini off their lofty perch and into second place, four strokes behind the Golden Gophers.
    This year could see a return to the top for Illinois. The squad was ranked No. 1 nationally for much of the season – it enters the tournament No. 3 – and is coming off a 32-stroke rout of the field at last weekend’s Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue. The Illini finished 35-under, with Louisville the only other team under par.
    Talent is the first reason for the optimism. The Illini are loaded, including senior Brian Campbell and freshman Nick Hardy, both of whom played in last year’s Western Amateur, plus juniors Charlie Danielson, who tied for the individual conference title last year, and Thomas Detry.
    Then there’s freshman Dylan Meyer, the fifth member of the travel squad, a.k.a. the secret weapon. Meyer tied for first in the Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields in the fall, and took third at Purdue. Even better, he’s provided a detailed scouting report to his teammates on the tournament site, Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind., near Evansville.
    Meyer hails from Evansville. He’ll be working at the club in the summer. He knows Victoria National, a Tom Fazio design ranked 45th among modern American courses by Golfweek, inside and out.
    “It sits in an old coal mine,” Meyer said at the team’s final practice before leaving for Evansville. “You’ve got to drive your golf ball out there. You’ve got to play it smart, use good course management. It’s a very good course for this team. We know how to plod our ball around and know what it takes to play well at this golf course.”
    His knowledge, Meyer believes, gives the Illini the edge this weekend.
    “It definitely is an advantage there,” Meyer said. “There are some blind shots out there that you don’t really know if you don’t play there. There are some spots where you think, ‘I can push it up on this par 5,’ where you really can’t. You don’t have to hit a lot of drivers on this golf course.”
    The Illini are deep, if the Big Ten’s player of the week award is any indication. Detry and Danielson shared it for their Purdue exploits, where they tied for first individually, while Campbell has won it twice, including the April 8 award. Detry’s scored five awards this season, Danielson two. No player at any other school has won more than once.
    All this success makes head coach Mike Small confident, but not complacent.
    “I think we’re the team to beat, but anybody can win this thing,” Small said. “It’s golf. Look at last year. It was a good wake-up call to us, because we won (NCAA) regionals, beating USC and Cal the next week. Hopefully, it’s still evident.”
    The team’s strength is.
    “We’ve been ranked No. 1 a lot of the year, have three returning All-Americans (Campbell, Danielson and Detry), and two quality freshmen playing well,” Small said. “And our scoring averages are unreal. On paper, it’s pretty good.”
    The only important paper beginning on Friday is the scorecard.

    – Tim Cronin

Golf at the movies: "The Squeeze"

Poster for "The Squeeze" from JAM Films; from left: Michael Nouri, Jeremy Sumpter, Christopher McDonald, Jillian Murray

By Tim Cronin

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Say this much for “The Squeeze,” the motion picture about golf and gambling – which is to say, about life – available via some Groupon sites today and opening Friday via video on demand and in select theaters: The golf scenes are utterly realistic. Unlike many previous attempts going all the way back to “Follow The Sun,” where the only believable playing scenes were those where Ben Hogan stood in for Glenn Ford, who was playing Hogan, everything golf-related in “The Squeeze” rings true.

The rest of it? To use a golf term, let’s call it rough.

If you like stereotyped characters, this is a four-star production. You are presented with, in no particular order, the ernest young lad working at the hardscrabble town’s muni hoping to qualify for the U.S. Open, the fetching girlfriend who puts money in the pockets of the town’s homeless man and cannot believe her man’s sudden love of lucre, the young lad’s mean father, the father’s suffering wife, the flamboyant small-time gambler with the overly made-up wife, and, eventually, the Vegas gambler with the mob connections.

Well, that character is very believable. Named Jimmy Diamonds and played by Michael Nouri, he could be standing in for any of a dozen guys from Chicago when gentlemen from the Windy City had a major share of Vegas in their pockets. If cold-blooded killer and golf nut Sam Giancana was still with us, he might be pleased at the portrayal.

Otherwise? Not so much.

In this regard, it’s up there with “Grand Prix,” the 1966 auto racing film helmed by John Frankenheimer. The scenes on Formula One tracks were as realistic as the races themselves, and used camera-car technology that television only began to emulate 25 years later.

The rest of that movie, from plot to characters? Most of it ended up in the guard rail.

This one ends up in a deep bunker.

Perhaps the parallel presents itself because both movies were created by former television directors. Frankenheimer came from the live television days of the 1950s. Terry Jastrow, whose baby “The Squeeze” is, was one of ABC’s best and brightest, directing or producing everything from the Olympics to the Indianapolis 500 to many major golf championships for Roone Arledge.

This is not to say “The Squeeze” is unlikable. It is likable, from the settings to the photography, which Taron Lexton aced. Individual scenes are very likable. Augie – Our Hero, played by Jeremy Sumpter, a plus 1.2 handicapper – beating his sand wedge to death in a bunker, for one. A foe throwing his golf bag into a pond, then going in after it, for another. And the writing is often witty.

As a whole, however, it is also unbelievable. Any movie requires a certain amount of buy-in by the viewer to suspend disbelief. The cutout nature of the characters challenges one to do so, along with the twists and turns of the plot, which here are considerable. Johnny Carson famously said, “You buy the premise, you buy the bit.”

The buy-in here? It’s doubtful that Riverboat (Christopher McDonald), the unreconstructed gambler with the seen-it-all wife (Katherine LaNasa) and blue boat anchor of a car, who sees young pro hopeful Augie as his ticket to big-time winnings, could cough up enough to buy into this production. Especially the loopy climax featuring an unlikely character reversal.

Loosely based on the real-life adventure of Las Vegas golf pro Keith Flatt, “The Squeeze” proves life can be more believable than fiction.

Sumpter can hit a nice draw, though, and Jason Dohring, his foe in the big match at the end, is no slouch either.

The movie? Don’t kid yourself. We judge it to be a tremendous slouch.

“The Squeeze” is rated PG-13.

––––––––––––––– 

The Squeeze

Opens online on Groupon in select cities on Thursday, on iTunes and in select theaters, including the AMC Crossing in Skokie, on Friday

Written and directed by Terry Jastrow; photography and editing by Taron Lexton; production design by Sephen Lineweaver; costumes by Ellen Falguire; score by Michael D. Simon; produced by Jastrow, Anne Archer, Michael Dovan, George Parra and Brian McCormack; a JAM Films production released by Arc Entertainment. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes.

With: Jeremy Sumpter (Augie Baccas), Christopher McDonald (Riverboat), Katherine LaNasa (Jessie), Jillian Murray (Natalie), Michael Nouri (Jimmy Diamonds) and Jason Dohring (Aaron Bolt).