Press Releases
CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLF ASSOCIATION
For Everyone Who Plays the Game| Midwest Golf House | Contact: Casey Richards |
| 11855 Archer Avenue | (630) 685-2324 |
| Lemont, IL 60439 | crichards@cdga.org |
| Contact: Tim Merrick | |
| (630) 685-2302 | |
| tmerrick@cdga.org | |
| Contact: Jacob Bomeli | |
| (630) 685-2345 | |
| jbomeli@cdga.org |
| For Immediate Release | May 20, 2022 |
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| MEDINAH COUNTRY CLUB SET TO HOST CHICAGO DISTRICT`S TOP SENIOR AMATEURS | |
| Friday, May 20, 2022 - LEMONT, Ill. - After waiting more than two calendar years to defend his 2019 CDGA Senior Amateur Championship title, East Peoria`s Tim Sheppard retained the Charles Morgan Auld Cup a year ago at Merit Club in Libertyville. Having won back-to-back iterations of the event, Sheppard is set to again defend his crown against the top seniors in the Chicago District when the CDGA Senior Amateur Championship returns for its 20th playing at Medinah Country Club, May 23-26. A field of 78 amateurs age 55 and older are set to embark upon Medinah`s Course Two for the club`s first time hosting a CDGA-administered event since the 92nd CDGA Amateur Championship in 2011. FORMAT The entire field will play 18 holes of stroke play on the morning of Monday, May 23, with the low 16 advancing to match play. The first round of matches will be contested on the morning of Tuesday, May 24, with the Quarterfinals that afternoon. The following day is set to hold the Semifinal matches just after the lunch hour, before a champion is crowned Thursday, May 26. ABOUT THE FIELD Registration was open to all CDGA members age 55 and older with a Handicap Index® from the USGA® of 10.4 or below. Nearly 230 individuals signed up for the event, with exemptions and two qualifiers earlier this spring at Bloomingdale Golf Club and Makray Memorial Golf Club determining the final field. PLAYERS TO WATCH David Feder (Lincolnshire / Conway Farms GC) collected his first CDGA-administered championship victory in 2021 at the Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship at The Preserve at Oak Meadows. Feder is seeking his first trip to the match-play portion of this event since 2018. Joel Hirsch (Highland Park / Old Elm Club) captured his first and only CDGA Senior Amateur Championship title with his victory in 2006 at Kemper Lakes Golf Club. Hirsch`s historic amateur resume includes two British Senior Amateur victories (1996, 2000), two Illinois State Amateur Championships (1988, 1989), two CDGA Amateur titles (1988,1998), two CDGA Player of the Year awards (1988, 1998) and three CDGA Senior Player of the Year honors (1996, 1998, 2001). Brad Kay (Arlington Heights / Ivanhoe Club) won the 17th playing of the CDGA Senior Amateur Championship in 2018 at Itasca Country Club. The two-time CDGA champion also emerged victorious in the CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2019 alongside Brien Gerber. Tom Kearfott (El Paso / El Paso GC) won the 2017 Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship at Senica`s Oak Ridge. Alongside longtime partner Sheppard, Kearfott has also claimed four CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball titles (2016, 2018, 2020, 2021) in the six-year history of the event. Dave Ryan (Taylorville / Illini CC), a two-time winner of the CDGA Senior Amateur Championship in 2014 and 2015, fell to Sheppard in 21 holes in the Semifinals a year ago. Ryan is a seven-time CDGA Senior Player of the Year (2009-2011, 2013-2016), the 2012 CDGA Player of the Year, a two-time winner of the Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship (2015, 2016) and captured the 2016 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. Tim Sheppard (East Peoria / Pekin CC) is the reigning back-to-back CDGA Senior Amateur Champion, following triumphs at Briar Ridge Country Club in 2019 and Merit Club in 2021. The two-time CDGA Senior Player of the Year (2018, 2019) has won the Illinois State Senior Amateur twice (2018, 2020) and the CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball four times (2016, 2018, 2020, 2021), alongside Tom Kearfott. Mark Small (Frankfort / Prestwick CC) comes to Medinah for the first senior event after winning the CDGA’s Senior Player of the Year award last season. Small began 2021 by reaching the Semifinal round in the CDGA Senior Am before reaching match play in the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at Country Club of Detroit. The 1996 Illinois State Amateur champion also finished second at the Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship en route to his Senior Player of the Year honors. OTHERS TO WATCH Vance Antoniou (North Barrington / Butler National GC) emerged victorious in the 15th CDGA Senior Amateur Championship at The Club at Wynstone in 2016. Danny Brown (Buffalo Grove / Prairie Isle GC) is seeking his first trip to the CDGA Senior Amateur match play bracket after earning medalist honors at the Makray Memorial Golf Club qualifier with a 73. Chris Crawshaw (Winnetka / Westmoreland CC) and Alan Pondel (Crystal Lake / Crystal Woods GC) earned co-medalist honors at the Bloomingdale Golf Club qualifier with a pair of even-par 71s. Mike Karney (Crystal Lake / Crystal Lake CC) is entering his sixth CDGA Senior Am fresh off of firing a 2-under 69 at Biltmore Country Club on May 11 to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open in late June. Jeff Ott (Dunlap / Coyote Creek GC) won the 33rd Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship at Wilmette`s Westmoreland Country Club in 2019. Ted Pecora (Winnetka / Bob O`Link) is a two-time winner of the Champion of Champions at Park Ridge Country Club (2012, 2019). John Vernasco (Libertyville / Merit Club) returns for his second consecutive CDGA Senior Amateur Championship following a runner-up finish at Merit Club a year ago. Terry Werner (Dyer, Indiana / Briar Ridge CC) was the 2017 CDGA Senior Player of the Year after winning both the CDGA Senior Amateur and CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championships. He has also won four Champion of Champions tournaments at Park Ridge Country Club (2002, 2003, 2007, 2016). MEDINAH COUNTRY CLUB Home to three championship-level golf courses, Medinah Country Club is well renowned around the Chicago District and beyond. Located just 25 miles outside of Chicago, Medinah has played host to three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, three Western Opens, the 2012 Ryder Cup, the 1988 U.S. Senior Open and, most recently, the BMW Championship in 2019. Playing to a par of 72 at just over 6,400 yards, the club`s Course Two will welcome the Chicago District`s top senior amateurs for the first time. The Tom Bendelow-designed course was upgraded in 2016 and is sure to offer a risk-reward challenge for competitors with a pair of par-5s in its closing three holes. | |
| Chicago District Golf Association The Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) is authorized by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as the governing body for amateur golf in our region. The CDGA is a membership organization consisting of more than 94,000 individual golfers and 400 clubs in Illinois and parts of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Golfers receive member offers, a Handicap Index® from the USGA® and competitive playing opportunities, while clubs receive Course Rating™ and Slope Rating™ measuring services, turfgrass diagnostics and educational seminars. The CDGA also creates opportunities for everyone to experience the benefits of the game through therapeutic and recreational Outreach Programs, with an emphasis on serving individuals with special needs, youth and veterans. | |
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