A study in contrasts

    Writing from Cherry Hills Village, Colorado
    Wednesday, September 3, 2014

    Cherry Hills Country Club has a great deal in common with a more-often-seen classic, the Augusta National Golf Club.
    Each membership prizes its history. Augusta has The Masters and all that the spring bacchanalia entails, from retelling the story of Gene Sarazen’s double eagle for the umpteenth time to biting into a pimento cheese sandwich, just to say you did.
    Cherry Hills has, among other true fables, Arnold Palmer driving the first green in the final round of the 1960 United States Open Championship, triggering the fireworks display that illuminated the greatest confluence of legendary players in a dramatic situation in the game’s history – Ben Hogan falling just short in his bid for an unprecedented fifth Open title despite hitting the first 34 greens on Open Saturday, amateur Jack Nicklaus contending until the final holes and earning Hogan’s unstinting admiration when the Hawk said, “I played with a kid today who should have won this thing by 10 shots,” and Palmer, the King, throwing down his sandwich in the locker room when Pittsburgh writer Bob Drum said when Arnold asked if he had a chance, “You blew it this morning.” Palmer stomped out to the first tee, drove the green, shot 65, and won his only U.S. Open.

The famed first hole at Cherry Hills. (c) 2014 Tim Cronin

    There is more to Cherry Hills than hosting the best Open. There are all the other championships, from Ralph Guldahl winning the Open in 1938 to Hubert Green capturing the PGA in 1985, to Phil Mickelson copping the U.S. Amateur against old high school teammate Manny Zerman in 1990, to Birdie Kim, barely heard of before or since, making birdie (of course!) from the greenside bunker on the 72nd hole to collect the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open crown and reduce Morgan Pressel to a puddle of tears.
    And there’s more. Dwight David Eisenhower, a general and president of whom you may have heard, was a member of both Augusta National and Cherry Hills. Mamie Eisenhower, his bride, was a Colorado gal. Footballer Lynn Swann is a member of Augusta National. John Elway is a recent past president of Cherry Hills.
    Like Augusta, Cherry Hills has a collection of treasures, from replica trophies signifying the championships held at the club to elegant display cases highlighting the champions and the ephemera surrounding their big weeks. Pride of place, off the hallway that leads to the locker rooms, is the Arnold Palmer Room. There, under glass from now until the sun implodes, is the driver Palmer used to make the first of those 65 strokes in the final round of the 1960 Open. Compared to the clubs of today, the clubhead is barely bigger than a child’s fist.
    The difference between the two clubs is small, but on display this week. It is found in how the two clubs handle a tournament. At Augusta, most everything is understated, genteel, the epitome of Southern hospitality. Next year’s Masters will be built on the previous eight decades of experience, and the belief that the beloved patrons need not be gouged in the food line nor beaten over the head with advertising on message boards. The green jackets know the guests will find the golf shop soon enough and open the purse willingly.
    Cherry Hills might want to run a tournament that way as well, but has no say in this week’s project beyond turning over the facility to the Western Golf Association and BMW, the German automobile firm, for a princely sum, for this week’s BMW Championship, the eighth such-titled version of that venerable rouser previously billed as the Western Open. (It is the 111th in the series, if you’re counting back to the start in 1899.)
    BMW does not believe in subtlety. It believes in beating the drum – loudly, not slowly – and creatively. Thus, rather than being able to wander between the first tee – Palmer’s tee, 346 yards distant from the green, and which will be used all four days in the tournament that commences firing on Thursday – and the 18th green, where Kim wrought her magic from the bunker, one must flit to and fro to see action on both holes, unless he or she has the magic ticket that allows a place in the second-floor pavilion behind the grandstands that even on Wednesday was occupied by all manner of magic-ticketed swells.
    This week, between corporate hospitality in the clubhouse and on the course, the WGA could bring in a record return. Rentals of particular rooms in the clubhouse for the week – food and beverage extra, of course – totaled $1,125,000 aside from the “champions club” before Bank of America ordered off the menu and rented the pro shop. Hospitality chalets went for $100,000 each, skyboxes for $60,000. If you wanted to play in Wednesday’s pro-am, that was a $12,000 tab. And sales were brisk. (Because golf-starved Denver hasn’t had the regular PGA Tour stars in town and on this course since the 1985 PGA, the prices are higher than the WGA is asking for at Conway Farms Golf Club next year, where the clubhouse is too small to utilize.)
    This, of course, fills the coffers of the WGA, and thus the treasury of the Evans Scholars Foundation, which has sent caddies to college since 1930. That’s a wonderful thing. The creativity shown in taking the old Western Open to St. Louis, Indianapolis and Denver at strong Evans Scholar clubs – George Solich, Cherry Hills’ general chairman of the tournament, is a Scholar – has resulted in huge grosses surpassing the best years of the Western at Cog Hill when it was on the Fourth of July weekend.
    Let the record show that there are a good number of seats for the public at the 18th green and the first tee. But this isn’t a country fair, as the Cog Hill Westerns were. This is a corporate-driven week that happens to be built around a golf tournament.
    The good thing is, it’s easier to move around the rest of the course, which could play as long as 7,352 yards this week, but will play much shorter given the mile-high altitude on the front lawn of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.
    How much shorter? An expert on driving the ball, Rory McIlroy, put a number on it.
    “I did hit a 3-wood 370,” McIlroy said after his pro-am round in Wednesday’s 90-degree heat. “That was pretty good. But the ball is going forever. Because of my high ball flight, it’s going to go 15 percent further than it usually does. Even this morning, when it was a little cooler, it was still going a good 10 percent further.”
    Such a prospect makes the mind wander back to last year at Conway Farms Golf Club, the Lake Forest course that yielded the two lowest scores in championship history – nobody remembers Matt Kuchar’s third-round 61 because it came the day after Jim Furyk’s second-round 59 – but a scoring average just a shade under the par of 71.
    Cherry Hills’ par is 70, as was Bellerive Country Club in 2008. The scoring average there, 69.370, remains a Western record.
    And that was conducted without Rory McIlroy on the premises.
    McIlroy, of course, is the favorite to hoist the J.K. Wadley Trophy for the second time in three years. How could he not be, with an Open Championship and PGA Championship the highlights of a spectacular year. But behind the baby-faced looks – and this has been true since he really was a baby – there’s a competitor who wants to do nothing but win.
    Wednesday, he was asked about capturing the FedEx Cup, the one bauble – aside from The Masters – that has not yet fallen into his pocket, he was brutally honest.
    “I feel it’s been such a great tear on the golf course that if I wasn’t to go ahead and win the FedEx Cup, it would definitely be disappointing,” McIlroy said. “I really want to cap off this summer as best as I can. I have two more weeks to push through, and even though I am feeling a little tired. ... Not winning a couple of years ago did add that little bit of fuel to the fire and probably makes me a little bit more determined to try to win it this year.”
    And so on and so on. He’s clearly the leader of the Rat Pack of young players who have come along in the last few years, and relishes that position.
    “It’s great to see there’s younger guys winning on Tour, and it only bodes well for the future of this game,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, I’m glad I’m the leader of that pack and hopefully, I’m the leader of that pack for the next 20 years, as well.”
    Others in the 69-player field – Dustin Johnson is not here thanks to his unannounced six-month non-suspension suspension for drug use – who figure to contend are Mickelson, who can walk though the Hall of Champions and see the case with his victory commemorated, Furyk, fourth on the money list, No. 3 Bubba Watson, who may drive the first green with a 6-iron, and Jimmy Walker, who won twice before the Super Bowl and also at Pebble Beach, but couldn’t be picked out of a police lineup by anyone but his parents.
    Walker’s second on the money list. McIlroy is first. Him, you can pick out.

    – Tim Cronin

Repeat after Mike: Small wins again

    Writing from Grayslake, Illinois
    Wednesday, August 27, 2014

    Steve Orrick knew it was a tall order, trying to chase down Mike Small in the final round of the 92nd Illinois PGA Championship.
    “Five shots is a lot to make up,” Orrick said more than once after the final putt had dropped.
    Just how much was reinforced when he birdied the second, third, fourth, fifth and eighth holes of Stonewall Orchard Golf Club and only closed the gap on Small by two strokes.
    “He’s not going to make many mistakes,” Orrick said. “So you’ve got to make zero mistakes.”
    That was not to be where Orrick was concerned. He bogeyed the par-5 10th hole and Small birdied it. The two-shot swing, coupled with Small’s birdies on the 11th and 12th – the latter a chip-in – sealed the deal. Both Orrick and Small fired final rounds of 6-under-par 66, but Small’s record-tying total of 200, and his record of 16-under in relation to par, earned the head men’s golf coach at Illinois a five-stroke wire-to-wire victory and an unfathomable 11th Illinois PGA crown.
    “He caught my attention,” Small said of his fellow downstater. “But I played solid. I had two bogeys all week and both were three-putts.”
    Orrick, the head pro at the Country Club of Decatur, finished at 11-under 205. That would have won all but a handful of Illinois PGAs, Small being the roadblock often of late.
    “I had some momentum on the front nine, but the 10th hole was tough,” Orrick said. “I’m in position to make a (birdie) 4 and I make a 6.”
    Small made a 4 instead, which was not unusual. Small played the par-5s in 10-under for the week, while Orrick was 3-under on them.
    Small thought his birdie on the par-5 eighth was key.
    “He’s already made birdie,” Small said. “That stretch (from the eighth through 12th) was important.”
    It’s Small’s first win in an Illinois PGA Section tournament since last year’s IPGA, and, to him, a return to form.
    “ It feels good to play good golf again,” Small said. “I was strong (mentally) this week. I didn’t let (things) bother me. And he (Orrick) motivated me to play better.”
    Small earned $8,000 from the purse of $50,815. That was $2,000 less than he won last year, because about 40 fewer players entered the tournament.
    “I feel like I won the second flight,” Cog Hill teaching pro Garrett Chaussard said after finishing tied for third, closing with a 69 for 4-under 212 and a deadlock with Curtis Malm of White Eagle Golf Club. “I don’t know what course Mike and Steve were playing.”
    In his 11 victories, Small is 84-under-par and has a total victory margin of 45 strokes.

    – Tim Cronin

Small on verge of 11th Illinois PGA crown

    Tuesday, August 26, 2014

    Chi Chi Rodriguez, noting the light schedule compared with most golfing tourists, once called Jack Nicklaus “a legend in his spare time.”
    The same could be said, and not just within the borders of the state of Illinois, of Mike Small. The Illinois men’s golf coach has had great success in guiding his recruits to a slew of Big Ten titles, and was within an eyelash of an NCAA crown two springs ago.
    But on his own time, Small has compiled an uncommonly spectacular resume. He’s won 15 state majors, three PGA National Professional (a.k.a. Club Pro) titles, contended in the Western Open, and twice has been the low club pro in the PGA Championship.
    The 15 in the above paragraph may well change to 16 on Wednesday. Small, the defending champion, has a five-stroke lead on 2012 winner Steve Orrick and two-time runner-up Matt Slowinski entering the final round of the 92nd Illinois PGA Championship at Stonewall Orchard Golf Course in Grayslake.
    Should Small win, it will be his 11th IPGA title. Nobody else has more than six, that total belonging to Johnny Revolta. Bill Ogden collected five section crowns among his 12 state majors.
    Ogden, a shotmaker who prided himself on rising to the occasion, would see something of himself in Small, who plays sparingly thanks to his Illinois schedule, which includes coaching in season, recruiting when allowed, and leading fundraising efforts for the new practice facility the Fighting Illini will soon enjoy. Small doesn’t play often, but more often than not, he comes to play.
    Tuesday, for instance, he woke up the leader, scoring birdies on the second, third and fourth holes, then eagled the par-5 eighth. He was 10-under for 27 holes at the turn, and, after weathering a 100-minute thunderstorm delay – the third long wait for the weather to play through in two days – cruised home with an even-par 36 on the back nine for a second straight 5-under 67 and a total of 10-under 134 after 36 holes.
    What Small was not was completely satisfied.
    “I had to make three hard pars coming in,” Small said. “I regrouped and almost made birdie on the last hole but overall it’s a good round. It could have been really good.”
    His big par save came on the 16th, when he plunked his tee shot in the water and still managed a par 4.
    Orrick (70) and Slowinski (69) are at 5-under 139, with 58-year-old Jim Sobb, the sage of Ivanhoe, at 4-under 140 after a 4-under 68 moved him up the chart in quest of a fourth IPGA gonfalon. Mike Haase, at 3-under and seven off Small’s pace, is likely the only other player with a shot at the title, and then, only if Small runs into misadventure during the final round.
    Twelve players broke par, and another four are at even par 144 with a round to go. The cut fell at 10-over 154, with 61 survivors.
    Small, Orrick and Slowinski tee off at 9:30 a.m. Small knows what to expect.
    “You want to come out and play from the positive side of everything,” Small said. “Every round and tournament is different. It has its own personality. You just try to adapt to it and play good golf and that’s what I will do tomorrow.”

    – Tim Cronin

It's a Small world after all

    Writing from Grayslake, Illinois
    Monday, August 25, 2014

    There’s not much one can be sure of in this wacky, wild world.
    Here are three: Death. Taxes. Mike Small leading the Illinois PGA Championship.
    Yes, he’s at it again. The 10-time winner opened his bid for No. 11 on a storm-tossed Monday at Stonewall Orchard Golf Club by firing a 5-under-par 67 to open the proceedings.
    That means, for most of the rest of the field, the proceedings are closed. Adam Schumacher, an assistant at Indian Hill Club, may yet have a say. The 23-year-old is 5-under with three holes to play in the first round.
    Small, the head men’s coach at Illinois, hasn’t won this 54-hole soiree yet – 12 players including Schumacher didn’t finish, thanks to a second 80-minute stoppage for a thunderstorm in mid-afternoon – but he’s in the catbird seat. If there’s one thing that’s been learned over the years, it’s that Small is difficult to catch.
    It’s also been learned that Small often discounts his ability.
    “This is probably the worst summer I’ve had,” Small said after his six-birdie adventure. “Not bad-bad, but not playing the PGA Championship hurt.”
    No Illinois Section member appeared in the PGA this year. Small’s been the low club pro in it twice. Not playing at all bugged him to talk to motivational expert Jim Fannin. Something he said must have paid off.
    “I made a point of staying in the moment today,” Small said.
    He birdied three holes on each side, closing with birdies on the 16th and 18th holes, with only a three-putt bogey on the short par-4 fourth to mar his card.
    Small had a one-stroke lead on Mike Haase, an instruction at the Golf Academy at Terra Cotta in Prairie Grove, when play was suspended for the day. Haase was 3-under on the back to complete his 4-under 68, but was tripped up by the first delay of the day, an 80-minute rest that coincided with the storm front changing the conditions from steamy to cool.
    “I made a 10-foot birdie putt to go 5-under after the restart, but I wish we wouldn’t have had a delay,” Haase said. “It’s hard to finish off a good round sometimes.”
    Steve Orrick, the IPGA winner in 2012, the last time this tournament played at Stonewall, fired a 3-under-par 69 and is tied for third with Beverly Country Club pro John Varner and Bred Leon of Skokie Country Club. Frank Hohenadel, the winner on Medinah No. 1 in 2011 is at 2-under 68 along with two-time runner-up Travis Johns and Connie DeMattia.
    For Orrick, it was a rare good round by his standards since his victory two years ago.
    “I’ve been working on a swing change, and I finally feel comfortable over the ball,” Orrick said. “Now it feels natural; I’m not thinking about it.”
    That comfort led to five birdies, offset by a pair of bogeys, playing with Johns and Cog Hill teaching pro Garrett Chaussard in the group ahead of Small.
    Barring another monsoon, the first round is slated to finish Tuesday morning, with the second round starting immediately after. The field of 113 will be cut to the low 60 and ties after 36 holes, with the third round on Wednesday.

    – Tim Cronin

Illinois PGA: Small thinking big again

    Writing from Chicago
    Sunday, August 24, 2014

    Mike Small has won the Illinois PGA Championship 10 times.
    By Wednesday afternoon, that sentence may have to be revised.
    Small starts his defense of title No. 10 at 9:10 a.m. Monday at Stonewall Orchard Golf Club in Grayslake.
    To say he is the favorite is obvious. In reality, because of the way he’s played in the championship of the section – as opposed to the Illinois Open, this is the Illinois Closed, with only PGA of America members eligible – he is the overwhelming favorite.
    “This is the one that means a lot to be because we’re PGA members, and this is a big deal to us,” Small said on the scoring porch after winning by four strokes at on the South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club last year.
    A four-stroke victory is a runaway, but it pales to other of Small’s efforts in grabbing the Jim Kemper Trophy. He won by an Illinois PGA Championship-record 11 strokes at Olympia Fields in 2010. He beat Jim Sobb by six strokes at Stonewall Orchard in 2009. He was 14 under par when he triumphed at Stonewall Orchard in 2007.
    His 8-under-par 63 on Olympia Fields South in 2010 set the course record for the just-refurbished layout and established a new Illinois PGA mark for low total: 200.
    String together all 10 victory marches, do some math, and one discovers that Small is an aggregate 68 under par across 30 rounds in those championships, with a 40-stroke victory margin.
    About the only thing Illinois Golf Hall of Famer Small doesn’t own is the single round Illinois PGA record. That belongs to the estimable Bob Harris, the Sunset Ridge flash who pounded Arlington Country Club to the tune of a 9-under-par 62 in the final round of the 1959 edition. Harris needed most every stroke to beat Tony Holguin by two.
    Nobody else has won more than six. Johnny Revolta did that, including a Small-like five in seven years, when he was the sage of Evanston Golf Club. (Until recently, Revolta was thought to have won five times, but it was discovered that he wasn’t credited with his 1942 title on the original Willie Marshall Trophy. E.J. “Dutch” Harrison was, and he wasn’t even based in Illinois at the time. So Small actually broke Revolta’s record at Medinah in 2008, not at Stonewall Orchard in 2007.)
    Small will try to run away and hide, but others will be chasing him with the same idea. Steve Orrick, the 2012 champion, is up from Decatur with an eye toward annexing his second title in three years. Midlothian’s Frank Hohenadel, the winner on Medinah No. 1 in 2011, will start early on Monday, before the heat takes full effect.
    Last year’s runners-up, Matt Slowinski, Curtis Malm and Travis Johns – all of whom have come in second alone in the previous three years – are also expected to be heard from.
    Small won $10,000 last year. The purse is expected to be announced on Monday morning.

    – Tim Cronin