Chicago South 2012 Season Resumes at Gleneagles CC in Lemont, IL

The Chicago South Tour headed to Gleneagles Country Club which is an old traditional layout and now a public course.  Conditions did not favor the golfer’s with cold temperatures, wind and Cottonwood seeds falling from the trees.  The seeds were so heavy that a ball could get lost in the fairway and putting was impossible on some greens.  Even if a player brushed away a path to the cup, the wind blew the seed over the area they just cleared.  Despite the conditions, there were still some very good rounds posted.

Championship Flight: Jon Escondo shot a 79 to win by four strokes

Palmer Flight: Kirk Blakney  & Bill Gomez both posted a score of 81 and to force a playoff which Kirk won on the first playoff hole.

Hogan Flight: Pete Kaufman won by 3 strokes posting a 81

Sarazen Flight: Kevin Holland shot a 86 to win by one stroke over Jim Patchett

Jones Flight: Solomon Ardison shot a 94 and won by one stroke over Dan Butrum who double bogied 17.

Snead Flight: Franklin Morris shot 92 and beat Don Fiets by two strokes and fresh off his Disney Trip where he lost in a playoff for first.

Closest to the Pin:  Each player won $90

John Mauck (Palmer Flight)  Hole #2

Mike Kelly (Snead Flight)  Hole #7

John Escondo (Championship Flight)  Hole #12

Pete Kaufman (Hogan Flight) #17

SKINS:

Championship/Palmer:  Jon Escondo, Bill Schump each won $50

Hogan/Sarazen: Pete Kaufman $140 (he had the only birdie that didn’t get bumped off.  4 other birdies got matched)

Jones/Snead: each of the following individuals won one skin worth $25 each

Don Fiets, Benjermen Bevill, Mike Kelly, Mike Coleman, Dan Butrum and Franklin Morris

Chicago South On Fire at the Majors

While many Chicago South Tour Members battled the rough conditions at Gleneagles CC  in Lemont, IL over the weekend, some of their fellow members traveled to Missouri to compete in Lake of the Ozarks Classic Major.  Both Chicago North and South are representing their respective tour at Majors, but it is Chicago South that has had the most success.   Congratulations to the following individuals on their success, they have all qualified for the 2012 Sr. National or National Championship as a result of finishing in the Top 3. 

Chicago South Tour:

Brooks Biggs (Championship Flight 0-3.9) posted a two day total 143 to shoot even par and win by 12 strokes

Clay Koenig (Jones Flight 16 – 19.9) posted a two day total 180 (90 avg.) to win by 9 strokes

Tom Ward (Sr. Sarazen Flight 12 – 15.9) finished in Third Place

Richard Ledbetter (Sr. Jones 16 – 19.9) finished in Second Place

John Mudrock (Sr. Jones 16 – 19.9) Tied for Third Place

NOTABLES:

Chicago South Tour:

Michael Mullikin (Sr. Hogan 8 – 11.9) Tied for Fourth

Bradley Belcaster (Championship Flight 0 -3.9) Tied for Fourth

Chicago North Tour:

John Pacheco (Sr. Snead Flight 20 – up) Tied for Fourth

Success at the Disney Major (April 14-15)

Don Fiets - (Snead Flight)

Congratulations to Don Fiets for his 2nd place finish at the Disney Major last weekend.  Don represents the latest Chicago Member to qualify for the 2012 National Championship.  He finished round one 4 strokes back of the lead and this crafty veteran knew that in the Snead Flight a 4 stroke lead is not secure.  When the day ended, Don posted the best round of the tournament shooting a final score of 88 finishing tie for first.  The details are not available regarding the sudden death playoff which ended with Don taking second place.

Congratulations Don and a great start to 2012.





2012 GCAM Tour -Chicago South Season gets Underway

The 2012 Golf Channel AM Tour season officially began in October of 2011 and starts back up again on Sunday April 22, 2012 at Gleneagels CC in Lemont.  There is plenty of excitement as we prepare for the season to start up again.

The Chicago South Tour Members have another goal and that is to make the Chicago South Team. Players will compete not only to win their flight over the weekend, but earn Golf Galaxy Gift Cards which will be accumulated and used to rank the player for the right to represent their flight in the Chicago Ryder Cup for Chicago South.  Chicago North has won 2010 and 2011, it is time for the Chicago South Tour to step up to prevent the Chicago North from winning for the third time.  The talent is there but not always available, but this year with the tournament in Oak Brook, hopefully that will change the situation as well as the time of the event.

Chicago South members who competed in October have a head start in their respective flight ranking. There is plenty of time for players to earn a spot on the team with 14 events to compete in. The Chicago Ryder Cup is a 48 player team event between Chicago North (24 players) and Chicago South (24 players). The members who make the team get 36 holes of Ryder Cup style golf, shirt and lunch at NO cost. Part of every tournament entry fee goes toward funding the Chicago Ryder Cup. Here are the rankings as we get ready to start up again:

Clay Koenig    Snead   $225
Bill Schump    Sr. Palmer  $80

Clay has the strongest start of any Chicago Player (North or South), but there is plenty of time to make a run at the top two spots within each flight.

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