LEMONT, Ill. - The first team event of the 2022 CDGA Championship slate is set to commence less than 10 miles due west of Chicago's Lake Michigan coast, as the 7th CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship will visit Ridgemoor Country Club Aug. 8-10. First opened in 1905, the site of Ben Hogan's 1942 Hale America National Open victory is sure to provide a tough test.

FORMAT
Forty-four duos will compete in 18 holes of stroke-play qualifying on Monday, Aug. 8 to determine the low 16 teams for match play. The Round of 16 and Quarterfinal matches will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 9, with the Semifinal and Championship matches following on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

The event debuted in 2016 and was created to emulate the exceedingly popular U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Each competitor plays their own ball, with the lowest gross score from each hole counting as the team's score.

ABOUT THE FIELD
Ninety-six pairs attempted to qualify for the Championship via two qualifiers at Heritage Bluffs Public Golf Club and Randall Oaks Golf Club last month, while 10 others were exempt into the championship proper. Registration was open to any CDGA member with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 10.4.

Players to Watch

Scott Dunsire, Jr. (Warrenville / Medinah CC) and Tommy Dunsire (Naperville / Medinah CC) captured the 2019 CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Oak Park Country Club. Tommy, a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree, recently completed his senior season on the Northern Illinois men's golf team, while Scott played collegiately at Michigan State University before joining his brother at NIU for his senior season in 2019-20.

Brad Kay (Arlington Heights / Ivanhoe Club) and Brien Gerber (Bolingbrook / Bolingbrook GC) won the 2019 CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Calumet Country Club. Individually, Kay also won the 2018 CDGA Senior Am at Itasca Country Club and Gerber placed T9 in the 2019 Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship, ultimately finishing third in the CDGA Senior Player of the Year race in just his second year on the senior circuit.

Graham O'Connor-Brooks (Libertyville / Glen Flora CC) and Michael Fastert (Wheeling / Sanctuary GC) have both had success recently in CDGA-administered championships. O'Connor-Brooks reached the Semifinal round of the 102nd CDGA Am at his home club in June, while Fastert teamed with two-time Illinois State Am champ Ethan Farnam to reach the Final match in the Four-Ball a season ago.

Steve Sawtell (Northfield / Merit Club) and Michael Natale (Burr Ridge / Edgewood Valley CC) have advanced to match play in five of the event's six iterations, having captured titles in both 2016 and 2018 and advancing to the Semifinals a year ago. Sawtell has also claimed two CDGA Amateur Championships (2004, 2009).

Chadd Slutzky (Deer Park / Royal Fox CC) and John Ramsey (Glenview / Glenview Park GC), like Sawtell and Natale, enter the event as two-time past champions, winning the 2017 and 2020 iterations at The Club at Wynstone and Skokie Country Club, respectively. The duo has combined to capture three Illinois State Mid-Amateur titles, with Slutzky winning in 2015 and 2019 and Ramsey in 2020.

Others to Watch

Grant Goltz (Dekalb / Black Sheep GC) and Jack Paeglow (Dekalb / Kishwaukee CC) are set for their third CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship as a duo. The pair has had success in each of their two showings, reaching the Semifinals in 2020 and Quarterfinals in 2021.

Blake Hilliard (Effingham / Effingham CC) and Craig Toler (Sullivan / Sullivan CC) have reached the match-play portion in each of the last two runnings of the CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship, including a Quarterfinal appearance in 2020.

Mike Karney (Crystal Lake / Crystal Lake CC) and Kevin Karney (Chicago / Crystal Lake CC) reached the Semifinals last August at Flossmoor Golf Club. Mike also made it to the Final match of the CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Aurora Country Club in 2020.

Adam Rutan (Chicago / Schaumburg GC) and Soo Ahn (Chicago / CDGA Member's Club) earned medalist honors at -10 in the Randall Oaks qualifier on July 25.

Anthony Sambo (Frankfort / Olympia Fields CC) and Anthony Sambo (Frankfort / CDGA Member's Club) earned medalist honors at -9 in the Heritage Bluffs qualifier on July 14.

RIDGEMOOR COUNTRY CLUB

Thomas O'Neil designed a 9-hole layout that would open as Irving Park Golf Club in May of 1905. That track would suffice until David McIntosh, the head professional at Westward Ho, was brought in to not only modify O'Neil's original design, but also add a second nine. Prior to its opening, the club petitioned to change the name of the golf course to Ridgemoor Golf Club, as it was no longer in the Irving Park neighborhood and, obviously enough, it was on a ridge. After the petition was granted in September of 1909, the new golf course officially opened in October of the same year. It would later be renamed Ridgemoor Country Club in 1913.

Throughout the years, the game's greatest architects have worked on Ridgemoor. William B. Langford performed a solo remodel in 1921, and again made his mark in 1927 alongside Theodore J. Moreau. A.W. Tillinghast consulted on the course maintenance and designed the new 18th hole in 1935. Bob Lohmann also did work on the 12th hole in 1988, and Rick Jacobson completed a full course renovation in 2015.

Ridgemoor's proudest and most historic moment came in 1942, when the Hale America National Open was arranged to replace the U.S. Open that was canceled due to World War II. The CDGA, USGA and PGA of America sponsored the event, raising more than $20,000 for the Navy Relief Society and USO. Golf legend Ben Hogan's 17-under 271, including a course-record 62 that remains today, was good enough to capture the title over the likes of Jimmy Demaret and Mike Turnesa. In later years, Hogan would argue that the win was a de-facto fifth U.S. Open victory.

2021 CDGA AMATEUR FOUR-BALL

In the 2021 iteration of the CDGA Amateur Four-Ball, at Flossmoor Golf Club, the tandem of Josh Lundmark and Mac McClear, former high school teammates at powerhouse Hinsdale Central High School, outlasted two-time Illinois State Amateur champion Ethan Farnam and Michael Fastert, 1 up. A tied contest on the par-5 18th tee, McClear and Lundmark's closing birdie captured the title.