The recent Motorola Western Open at Cog Hill provided Chicago golf fans with a glimpse of the pro game’s reigning stars.
Now it’s the kids’ turn. For the next two weeks, the skills of the nation’s top juniors will be on display along the North Shore. Monday, the Western Junior returns to Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park for the first time since 1917.
The following week it’s the USGA Junior Amateur at Conway Farms in Lake Forest.
The scheduling is no coincidence. Holding the tournaments back-to-back made it easier for many of the best players to enter both events, assuring the USGA and WGA of strong fields.
The Western Junior is the oldest national junior tournament in the United States. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and Tom Lehman all played in it.
This year’s field is headed by 1998 NCAA champion James McLean, a 19-year-old freshman from the University of Minnesota and a native of Australia. Also entered: Erik Compton, 18, the 1998 Rolex Junior Classic champion from Miami; J.C. DeLeon, 17, of Tulsa and Nicholas Loar, 18, of Rockwall, Texas, the runner-up and winner of this year’s Taylor Made Woodlands Junior Classic; and Kris Mikkelson, 18, of Woodstock, Ga., winner of the 1997 Southern Junior Golf Classic.
Also on hand will be PGA Tour player D.A. Weibring, who will caddie for his son Matt.
After two rounds of stroke-play qualifying on Monday and Tuesday, the field of 156 players, ages 16-19, will be cut to 64. Match play will be conducted in morning and afternoon rounds July 15-16-17, with the semifinals and championship matches set for July 18.
The U.S. Junior Amateur, which is limited to golfers under age 18, starts July 19 with the first of two days of practice rounds. Stroke-play qualifying is July 21-22. Match play begins July 23 and runs through the July 25 finals.
This year’s field is led by MCI Junior Classic winner Sean O’Hair of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Leif Olson of Golden, Colo., and James Oh, brother of UNLV star Ted Oh. All three are 16. O’Hair and Olson are also entered in the Western Junior.
Illinois will be represented by Jeremy DeBernardi of Ottawa (69-73-142), Jim Troy of Clarendon Hills (144) and Clark Smith of Rantoul (146), the only survivors from Junior Amateur qualifying Tuesday at Blackberry Oaks in Bristol, Ill.
Past U.S. Junior champions include David Duval, British Open winner Justin Leonard and Western Open champ Joe Durant.
On hold: Ameritech Senior Open officials are still waiting to hear from two of the Senior Tour’s most popular players, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino. The entry deadline for next week’s tournament at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove is noon Friday, and Palmer and Trevino remain uncommitted.
What officials do know is the field will include defending champion Gil Morgan, Hale Irwin, Ray Floyd and Chi Chi Rodriguez. Former champion John Paul Cain withdrew. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Marriott Lincolnshire, where a maximum of 78 golfers will be chasing four qualifying spots.
Michael Jordan is scheduled to play in the Ameritech Pro-Am next Thursday with Ameritech Chairman and CEO Richard C. Notebaert and a player to be determined. That group is scheduled to tee off around noon.
Deadline nears: The entry deadline for this year’s Illinois Women’s Open is 5 p.m. Monday. The tournament is July 23-25 at Odyssey Country Club in Tinley Park. Call 1-630-719-1000.
On the tee: The McHenry County Amateur is Friday and Saturday at Crystal Woods Golf Club in Woodstock. . . . The CDGA Chick Evans Junior is Monday through Thursday at Steeplechase in Mundelein. . . . Winnetka Golf Club plays host Monday to Illinois State Amateur qualifying.
