Small back on top

    Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois
    Wednesday, August 28, 2013

    Mike Small is back.
    Back to hitting booming drives. Back to hitting crisp irons close to the cup. Back to making birdies when he needs them.
    Back in the winner’s circle. Back on top.
    Small scored 3-under-par 68 on Wednesday to capture his 10th Illinois PGA Championship with a three-round total of 4-under-par 209 on Olympia Fields’ demanding South Course.
    It was Small’s 15th state major championship – a record, as is the 10 section titles – and his first title in three years. One of three inductees to the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in the fall, the 47-year-old Small had been in a drought since winning the Illinois PGA on the same South Course in 2010.
    This victory came by four strokes over the trio of Curtis Malm, Matt Slowinski and Travis Johns. Only Johns could match Small’s 68, and merely matching the Illinois men’s golf coach wasn’t enough on this breezy day when he had complete control of his game, and the result that control deserved.
    “Today, I did it,” Small said. “It was an easy, solid 68.”
    As opposed to, say, his scramble for a 2-under 69 on Monday, which started the adventure. Then, Small, a perfectionist, was less than perfect, but made the most of his misses. Wednesday, there were no misses.
    “The last 12-13 holes, I didn’t come close to making bogey,” Small said.
    Or the rest of the day, for that matter. And he made only one bogey in his last 27 holes.
    The day started with Slowinski in the lead, but not for long. Three bogeys on the first three holes dropped him down, and Malm, with birdies on the third and fourth, moved in front.
    Then Malm bogeyed the fifth and seventh holes, opening the door for Small, who had parred the first six holes. His birdie on the seventh gave him the lead.
    Give Mike Small the lead and he’s not going to give it away. Three more pars followed, then a birdie on the par-4 11th, then the blow that locked it up, a 30-footer for birdie on the par-3 12th.
    Small was pleased, but more pleased with the shot that set up the putt.
    “It was a 215-yard 6-iron to the middle of the green,” he said. “The putt just happened to go in.”
    With that, Slowinski and Malm knew they were playing for second place.
    “Curtis and I were in the same boat all day,” Slowinski said. “I was still right there after getting up-and-down on the fourth and fifth. I three-putted the sixth, and Mike got a couple ahead.”
    And stayed there.
    “How do I win this? I need Mike Small to retire,” Malm kidded.
    Johns was in a familiar position. He was also runner-up to Small at Olympia Fields three years ago.
    Aside from Small, who was already exempt, ten players from the field qualified for next year’s PGA club pro championship, to be held in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The last man in, via a four-for-one playoff, was Cantigny teaching pro Rich Dukelow, who made a par on the first playoff hole when the other three made bogey.
    
    Mitchell captures Illinois Mid-Amateur

    Todd Mitchell of Bloomington added a 2-under-par 70 to his opening pair of 69s to score a four-stroke victory over Glenview’s Kyle Nathan in the 21st Illinois Mid-Amateur at Flossmoor Country Club.
    The overnight leader, Mitchell birdied two of his first four holes to expand his lead, and coasted home with six pars and a birdie in his last seven holes – the birdie on the treacherous 17th – to collect his fourth victory in the CDGA’s state championship for the 25-and-up set.
    Mitchell’s three-round total of 8-under-par 208 and Nathan’s 4-under 212 – the latter highlighted by Wednesday’s 4-under 68, the best round of the day – were the only two aggregates under Flossmoor’s par of 72. Brian Hickey of Downers Grove was third, at even par 216.

    – Tim Cronin

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

Small, Malm in a familiar place

    Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois
    Monday, August 26, 2013

    Mike Small’s been atop the leaderboard more, but not lately. Winner of three PGA national club pro titles and 14 Illinois majors, including nine Illinois PGA championships, he hasn’t been able to hold a trophy in his hands since 2010.
    That may be about to change. Small fired a 2-under-par 69 on a balmy Monday on the South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club, where Illinois PGA title No. 9 – and the eighth in succession – was accomplished three years ago.
    It wasn’t a perfect round by any means – his 63 in the second round three years ago fit that definition – but it was what any player whose game has been, by their standards, erratic, would accept.
    “It is coming together?” the coach of Illinois’ powerhouse men’s team repeated. “You always think it is.”
    Small might not be all together yet. He rued hitting one tee shot 50 yards to the left and seeing it splash, which led to a bogey on the par-4 14th, and hitting another 50 yards to the right, that on the par-5 18th, which led to a finishing 6.
    But he birdied three of the first four holes and was 4-under after the 10th, which leads to the deduction that he played more like the Small of old than an old Small.
    “I’m trying to find a Band-Aid,” Small said. “I’m one day away from playing great. Only thing is, I don’t know what day that is.”
    The result of the adventure, which in the end Small credited to putting better, is a share of the lead one-third of the way through the 54-hole competition. Two others also scored 69, with Curtis Malm of St. Charles Country Club and Chicago Golf Club assistant Ryan Sharp doing so by going low on the back nine. Malm’s breakdown was 37-32, Sharp’s 36-33. And unlike Small, who has played here and coaches his Fighting Illini squad here annually, it was the first time either player had set foot on the plush grounds of the big south suburban club.
    “I did what I wanted to do on Day 1,” Malm said. “See the golf course, put myself in position.”
    From here, he could go to town. He blistered Elgin Country Club with a 63 last week, and while Small did that at Olympia when he last copped the James Kemper Cup, Malm doesn’t see a crazy low score, based on his first impression.
    “The golf course is good enough that par should be a good score,” Malm said.
    Sharp, new to the front rank in a state major, made 10 straight pars, then kicked into second gear with a pair of birdies. After a bogey at the 13th, which tied for the fourth-toughest hole in the opening lap, he parred around until a birdie on the penultimate hole. And it could have been better.
    “I left a couple birdie putts out there,” Sharp said. “Tee to green, it’s an awesome golf course. Other than my 5-iron, I hit every club in my bag.”
    Sharp knows a first-rank course when he sees one. Aside from his assistant work at Chicago Golf, he plays a big role with the junior program at Augusta National Golf Club in the winter.
    The tri-leaders are being shadowed by a large contingent of players. Kishwaukee Country Club head pro David Pagelow is alone in fourth after his 1-under 70, while Bryn Mawr’s Scott Baines is the lone player at even-par 71. Eight players are at 1-over 72, including defending champion Steve Orrick of Decatur, south side favorite Marty Schiene of Odyssey Country Club, and veteran Mike Harrigan, whose closest brush with winning this title came in 1979, when he led through 53 holes the first time the Illinois PGA was played at Kemper Lakes in Hawthorn Woods, only to drown his title hopes with a 9 at the par-4 18th.
    The cut comes Tuesday, with the title decided on Wednesday.
    – Tim Cronin

Swartout beats Jeray in Illinois Women's Open playoff

    Writing from Romeoville, Illinois
    Friday, August 2, 2013

    Elise Swartout had a game plan.
    Nicole Jeray had newfound confidence.
    Each played to their strengths Friday in the final round of the 19th Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood Golf Club.
    Jeray’s strength got her into a sudden-death playoff with Swartout.
    Swartout’s strength brought her the victory.
    A four-foot birdie putt on Mistwood’s second hole made the difference, earning Swartout the title, the right to hoist the Kosin Cup, and the $5,000 first place check from the purse of $25,000, useful for a young pro who has only conditional status on the Symetra Tour this season.
    “My caddie and I thought we needed 70 today,” Swartout said.
    They were a stroke off, but Swartout’s 3-under-par 69, the best round of the tournament even with a 1-over reading on the last seven holes, placed her at 3-under-par 213 and the clubhouse leader with three twosomes remaining.
    Jeray was in the last twosome, and even par for the day through 15 holes. A three-hour short-game session after the second round with Dr. Jim Suttie, who last week moved his base of operations from Cog Hill’s barn to Mistwood’s Performance Center, was about to pay off.
    Jeray drained a birdie putt on the par-4 16th, came close on the par-3 17th, then dropped an 18-footer for a birdie 4 at the last to climb into the playoff.
    “That was cool,” Jeray said. “It was neat for me, win or lose, to get into the playoff. I started using my feel a little bit more while putting. When you’re nervous, that helps.”
    A generation apart and both looking for better days in their professional careers, they went to the first tee as rain began to fall. Routine par 4s on the first hole sent them to the second, where Swartout’s 82-yard 58-degree wedge shot to four feet essentially won the tournament.
    Before that, she had birdied the first, fifth, 10th and 11th holes, a string of pearls offset only by a bogey on the par-3 14th.
    “I knew I had it going,” Swartout said. “The playoff birdie, it was a typical, standard putt, what I do on the practice green every day.”
    This time, it was for real, and she didn’t flinch, scoring her first victory as a professional in her third year since graduating from Western Michigan. With only conditional Symetra status, Swartout has been playing in state opens and the like – next stop, Ohio. She said she’d been in the top 20 in recent weeks, and now has made it all the way to the top, the fifth IWO winner from Michigan in the last six years.
    “Everything was coming together except winning,” Swartout said.
    Part of her game plan was to pay no mind to what others were doing.
    “I had to keep my head down from the leader board because I like to stay focused,” Swartout said.
    So she didn’t know she was two strokes behind leader Samantha Postillion at the turn, nor that Postillion, the amateur from Burr Ridge, would tumble back to even par with a 40 on the back nine.
    Instead, Swartout looked straight ahead and sank a big-breaking 5-footer for birdie on the par-4 19th and rolled in an uphill 18-footer for a 3 on the par-4 11th to move to 4-under. Soon came word of Postillion’s troubles, a bogey on the par-4 12th and double-bogey on the par-4 13th. Other players made bids – Caroline Powers was briefly 3-under before bogeys on the 13th and 15th, and finished tied for third at 2-under 214 with Chelsea Harris, who played the final 36 holes without a bogey – but it came down to Swartout and Jeray, who was trying to become the first player to win the IWO in three different decades.
    Jeray collected $3,000 for second, and goes back to the tour grind – Semetra in Richmond, Va., first, followed by the LPGA’s Canadian Open and a tournament in Portland – reasomably pleased.
    “These young kids are fearless,” Jeray said of Swartout in particular and her competition, all of which was younger than her, in general.
    Postillion’s 2-over 74 placed her at even-par 216 and earned her low amateur honors. She was hoping to join her mother, three-time winner Kerry Postillion, as an IWO champion.
    “My nerves got me,” Postillion said. “I’m not really used to leading.”
    – Tim Cronin

Leader Postillion aims to match mom in Illinois Women's Open

    Writing from Romeoville, Illinois
    Thursday, August 1, 2013

    Samantha Postillion has a big fan back in Arizona.
    Her mom, Kerry Postillion, a three-time winner of the Illinois Women’s Open.
    So when Samantha called after Wednesday’s round to let her mom know she’d scored 1-under-par 71 in the first round of this year’s IWO, she got congratulations.
    “She was proud of me for that,” Samantha said.
    She also got an earful. The call was placed three hours after she’d finished at Mistwood Golf Club. Mom was watching the online scoring and eager to hear the details.
    Thursday’s call was likely placed more promptly. Postillion the younger scored another 71, and her 36-hole aggregate of 2-under-par 142 moved her to the top of the leader board, a stroke ahead of amateur Kris Yoo and pros Katie Dick, Caroline Powers and Nicole Jeray with one round remaining.
    “The key was to stay positive,” Postillion said. “I missed a few short putts, but I let my frustration go away and birdied two of the last three holes.”
    The birdies, on the short par-4 16th and the par-3 17th, helped made the difference in moving her ahead of the field. Dick and Jeray played the last three holes in even par, while Yoo, entering her senior year at Wisconsin, also birdied 16 and 17 to cap a 2-under 70, the best round of the day, but was making up ground in doing so.
    Kerry Postillion won the IWO in 1996, 1997 and 1999, when it was run by Chicagoland Golf publisher Phil Kosin. Mistwood, the longtime host, took over the tournament after Kosin died, and added his name to the title.
    Samantha, 21, was there, but doesn’t recall much of her mom’s big run.
    “She was playing her best golf when I was between 2 and 6,” Samantha said.
    Samantha Postillion was in position to win last year, but fell on the first hole of a three-player sudden-death playoff to Samantha Troyanovich of Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich. That, she does remember, and Friday, will have the opportunity to improve on her record.
    “I plan to practice a lot of six-foot putts,” Postillion said. “If I can make those, I can go low.”
    Her birdie on the 16th came after she pulled a wedge 30 feet left of the cup. She drained the putt to move to 1-under, then slammed an 8-iron to within two feet of the cup on the 139-yard 17th to take the lead.
    Powers followed her opening 70 with a 1-over 73, but remains in the chase.
    “I didn’t lose much ground,” Powers said. “I didn’t take advantage of opportunities.”
    Dick, an assistant at Bryn Mawr, cruised around in even par, while Jeray called her round of 1-over 73 “boring. I wasn’t pressing, but I was trying to figure out why I was hitting to the right. I tried to hit hard shots to correct it, and on 17, I finally hit a good shot.”
    Jeray three-putted the par-5 15th after thinning her wedge lay-up, collecting her only bogey in the last 13 holes.
    “It was deflating, because I’d laid up to my wedge distance,” Jeray said. “The pin positions are difficult, so it’s difficult to get wedges close.”
    With only Elise Swartout and Chelsea Harris at even par, a mere seven players are at par or better entering the final round.
    Troyanovich, the defender, added an untidy 78 to her opening 75, and stands at 9-over 153 through two rounds. She made the cut, which included 34 players, on the number. Among those missing the cut: two-time champion Jenna Pearson (12-over 156).

    – Tim Cronin