J U LY / A U G U S T 2004 15

any years in the planning and thou-sands of unforgettable experiencesin the making, the CDGA’s Three-Hole Sunshine Course and

I*Mag*Jen Clubhouse were formally dedicatedSunday, June 6, under bright blue skies and anappropriately blazing sun.

The dedication ceremonies featured a majorannouncement underscoring how significant theSunshine Course and the Sunshine Through Golfprogram are to the Foundation’s ambitions. OnJune 6, the Foundation’s name officially changedto the Sunshine Through Golf Foundation. CDGApresident Robert Berry unveiled the Foundation’snew logo: a smiling golf ball reflecting sun rays.

The 500-yard, par-3 Sunshine Course rests onthe grounds of the Midwest Golf House inLemont, across the street from Cog Hill Golf &Country Club. The course was conceived andbuilt for the express purpose of serving thosewho might otherwise never tap the benefits ofthe game, including beginners, juniors, individu-als with disabilities, minorities and the economi-cally disadvantaged.

Speaking to an audience of 200 comprising Sunshine ThroughGolf participants, CDGA members and their families, and repre-sentatives of the organizations that will benefit from the SunshineCourse, Berry talked about a new beginning for the Foundationand the completion of the Midwest Golf House project.

“What you see here today was little more than a dream of theCDGA board of directors four years ago,” Berry said. “A prairiemade up of dirt, gravel and a little grass is now a golf course…Today, the dream has become a reality.”

Berry cited the hard work of staff members and volunteersinvolved in all phases of the project. He extended personalthanks to the Jemsek family for the donation of the propertyused for the golf course and the Midwest Golf House; BrentWadsworth, who donated his time and created an endowmentfund supporting the project; and I*Mag*Jen Charities, whichdonated funding for the clubhouse.

After describing the golf course and its 12,000-square-footputting green, Berry reflected on the Sunshine Through Golf pro-gram and its mission. “The program began as one camp with 10participants,” Berry said. “The gates of the Sunshine Course arenow open to its 700 members.”

The USGA recognizes the Sunshine Through Golf programas the largest grassroots golf program for individuals with dis-abilities in the country. The Foundation launched the programin 1999 with the ambition of introducing golf to those whomight not otherwise participate in the game. This teaching-camp series has grown in participation each of its first fiveyears. This year, the program extends to 50 public and privategolf courses and reaches 700 physically and developmentallyimpaired children and adults, including stroke victims,amputee golfers and individuals with Down Syndrome.

Along with its primary role of introducing and hosting golffor local groups and associations that serve its constituencies,the course will serve as the largest living turf-research laboratoryin the nation. Green industry associations and golf course

developers will use the course to assess a wide variety of turf-grasses grown on tees, greens and demonstration plots acrossthe links. “While golfers play,” Berry stated of the project, “turf-grass research is taking place.”

The course serves still another role as an arboretum. Trees,shrubs, flowers and grasses planted across the Midwest GolfHouse property are a resource to CDGA member clubs along withnurseries, landscapers and other green industry associations.

Berry’s speech was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremonyfor the new clubhouse located a few steps south of the first tee.Maggie McEnery, who along with daughter JenniferChristopher founded and runs I*Mag*Jen Charities, spokemovingly of the project’s ambitions. “Here’s wishing years andyears of happiness to the children who will come and playhere,” she said.

Following the ceremony, McEnery talked about the gift asthe culmination of an amazing week in her family’s life. “My

M

(Above, L to R) Billy McEnery, Frank Jemsek and Bob Berry take the ceremonial first tee shots on the Three-Hole Sunshine Course.

(Opposite) Head golf professional at Village Greens, Brandon Evans, assistsa Sunshine Through Golf participant in playing the Sunshine Course onJune 6.

by Neal Kotlarek

❂ STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin

DULUTH255 MI.

MINNEAPOLISST. PAUL

195 MI.

EAGLE RIVER115 MI.

MADISON110 MI.

MILWAUKEE150 MI.

CHICAGO245 MI.

GREEN BAY90 MI.

LA CROSSE 120 MI.

DUBUQUE190 MI.

WIS DELLS76 MI.

OSHKOSH75 MI.

EAU CLAIRE110 MI.

sentryworld Golf Course Wisconsin’s golf treasure

601 N. Michigan Ave. • Stevens Point, WI 544811-866-479-6753 • sentryworld.com

Designed by RobertTrent Jones II,SentryWorld is achampionship golfcourse with acres ofspring-fed lakes,native birch trees andmajestic green pines.

Call today!

Signature Flower Hole No. 16

America’s Premier Golf Publishing and Marketing Company

Visit us at www.tpgsports.com, or call 1-800-597-5656

Is your business looking for affluent, passionate golfers?

You just found them! They’re reading Chicago District Golfer,

just as you are!

J U LY / A U G U S T 2004 1716 W W W. C D G A . O R G

daughter had a baby earlier in the week,”she said. “The swan on our golf course(Green Garden G.C. in Frankfort) gavebirth. My son got accepted to NotreDame. And now the clubhouse is openedfor everyone to enjoy.”

Also highlighting the celebration was aceremonial shot off the first tee launchedby Sunshine Through Golf program par-ticipant Laura Klick, who watched indelight as her ball settled on the back leftside of the green. She was followed onthe tee by Frank Jemsek of Jemsek Golf,CDGA president Berry and Billy McEneryof I*Mag*Jen Charities.

The Sunshine Course layout is a Joe T.Jemsek design; Wadsworth Constructionactually built the course. The youngerJemsek attended the dedication cere-monies and spoke of his involvement inthe project. “It’s a golf course everyonecan enjoy,” he said. “From certain tees onevery hole, you can putt the ball all theway to the green if you want to.” Thecourse begins with a modest 100-yardhole featuring a large rolling green andgets progressively longer. The secondhole incorporates wetlands and a sand

bunker. The finishing hole plays between60 and 190 yards, slightly uphill. “This ismy first solo course as a designer,”Jemsek said. “I’m really proud of the waythe course turned out.”

Brent Wadsworth, president andfounder of Wadsworth Construction,talked about the mission of the golf course.“I’ve been to hundreds of golf course grandopenings,” he said, “but this one is reallyspecial with all these young kids out hereon all the greens and all the tees.”

Among the CDGA’s allied associationsthat are expected to utilize the golf courseas an education, rehabilitative, therapeuticor recreational tool are: Illinois SpecialOlympics, Indiana Special Olympics,National Amputee Golf Association, CogHill Junior Program, The First Tee andPhysically Limited Golf Association.According to Todd Alfred, director of theSunshine Through Golf program, theopening of the golf course signals “a newera” for the program. “Since the campsstarted, they’ve been held at golf propertiesall across the area,” he said. “Now, we havea place where members can come to us.”Alfred stated that the new course is already

garnering attention from diverse Chicago-area groups. “Over each of the next threeweeks after the grand opening, we arehosting the Chicago Public Schools, thePhysically Limited Golf Association andthree of our teaching camps.”

Alfred added that the donation of twostate-of-the-art single-rider golf cartswill open up the golf course to playerswho might have been previously unableto access putting greens. “The cartsallow physically limited golfers to puttwhile sitting in the carts,” he said.“These lightweight carts can moveacross the greens without damagingthem.” The carts were donated byNadler Golf Car Sales.

Tee times at the Sunshine Course arereserved for organized programs and special-needs groups. For more informa-tion and updated schedules on SunshineThrough Golf camps and the SunshineCourse, visit the CDGA Web site(www.cdga.org) or contact the Foundationoffices at 630-257-2005.

Neal Kotlarek is a regular contributor toChicago District Golfer.

CLASSIC DESIGN BYROBERT TRENT JONES, JR.

Call or visit our web site to book your tee time today!

Prairie Landing Golf�2325 Longest Drive� West Chicago, IL 60185 (630) 208-7600 � www.prairielanding.com

The vision of a great architect is complemented by

the latest in GPS technology that enhances the

experience of our traditional links-style layout.

J U LY / A U G U S T 2004 19

igertalea

It’s 1997, and legions of jubilant spectatorsthrong behind Tiger Woods as he approachesno. 18 green at Dubsdread, about to clinch hisfirst Western Open victory. The moment wasnothing short of electrifying. Yet this wasn’tTiger’s first taste of glory in the ChicagoDistrict—he’d competed here before in theWestern Junior and Western Amateur, his all-but-impossible shots and fiercely competitivenature foreshadowing a storied PGA Tour career.

For most people, Tiger Woodsburst onto Chicago’s golf scene when hewon the 1997 Western Open, his finalround remembered more for the thou-sands of fans who walked behind himdown the last 150 yards of Dubsdread’s18th fairway than for the 4-under-par 68he scored to break a 54-hole tie with JustinLeonard and Loren Roberts.

The 68 set up the postcard moment atCog Hill, but pictures have a way of super-seding statistics, and even a collection ofsuperb shots, which Woods stitchedtogether on that steamy Sunday inLemont, plays second best in the mind’seye seven summers later.

Indelible though it was, that was notWoods’ first appearance in the WesternOpen, or even in Chicago. To replay thatrequires rewinding the clock five additionalyears, to the summer of 1992 and the 75th Western Junior. Coincidentally, itcommenced at Cog Hill, on the facility’sNo. 2 course.

In those days, Woods was referred to asEldrick as often as he was Tiger, and hewas most certainly a prodigy. He was a bighitter who didn’t find all that many fair-ways some days, but already had a knackfor escaping trouble with a creative secondshot. On a green, he was deadly.

A 16-year-old, he looked like the secondcoming of Seve Ballesteros to some, a sprayhitter who could score. He’d already wonthe 1991 U.S. Junior Amateur, at 15 theyoungest to do so, and had played in the1992 Los Angeles Open.

“It was probably two years before weinvited him that we knew of him,” recallsPeter de Young, then the Western GolfAssociation’s tournament director. “Weknew it was a big deal to get him, and RobCray, my assistant then, should get thecredit for getting him. We gave Rob a list ofthe 30 best juniors in the country, and hewent after them.”

Woods was at the top of the list evenbefore he annexed the 1991 U.S. Junior, sogetting him was a coup. The average fanmight have heard the name, but the closefollower of the game knew who TigerWoods was.byTimCronin

Study in intensity: Tiger reads a green at the1999 PGA Championship at Medinah CC.

PH

OT

O B

Y N

ICK

NO

VE

LLI/C

OU

RT

ES

Y M

ED

INA

H C

C

J U LY / A U G U S T 2004 2120 W W W. C D G A . O R G

“He was really a standout superstar (inamateur golf) at that point,” says DonJohnson, the WGA’s executive director.“He’d won the U.S. Junior. He was defi-nitely a quasi-celebrity. He was sort oflike where Michelle Wie is now.”

Wie, by twice playing in the finalgroup of the Dinah Shore on Sunday, andby coming within a stroke of making thecut in a PGA Tour event as a 14-year-oldgirl, has likely supplanted Woods in thesweepstakes for most astonishing golffeat at such a tender age. She’s certainlybeen on television more than Woods atthat career juncture. Still, consideredagainst the yardstick of the day, Woodswas something.

“He and his father Earl arrived onSunday of the Western Open, and wegave them tickets for a corporate tentacross the lake from the 18th green. Weput him in the front row,” de Youngremembers. “We had a 5 o’clock finish.

At 4, he walked in to take his seat. It’sunbelievable how many people knewexactly who he was. They almost stoodand applauded.”

Part of the attraction for Woods wasthe site of the match-play rounds:Chicago Golf Club, where the firstWestern Junior had been held in 1914.First, though, the stroke play would takeplace, with one round on Cog’s No. 2course and another at Edgewood Valley.

TIGER’S CHICAGO DISTRICT DEBUTOne of the first local people to see Woodswith a club in his hand was JeffRimsnider, Cog Hill’s head pro. It wastwo days after Ben Crenshaw had wonthe second Western Open played onDubsdread. Rimsnider had thus alreadyseen two years’ worth of PGA Tourswings on the practice range, but hecould not help but be impressed.

“I remember watching him hit balls,”Rimsnider says. “It was cool. He was soskinny, and he looked younger than 16,but wow! He just roped it. His swingwas crisp, effortless. It was, ‘Boom!Boom! Boom!’ It was neat to watch him.”

That “roping” didn't lasso manybirdies in Woods’ first round in Chicago.Playing with Michael Nicklaus, Jack’syoungest, and North Barrington’s AlexBuecking, Woods scored par 72 on No. 2.His penchant for making impossible up-and-down pars from under trees and outof the rough was, along with his lengthoff the tee, the most impressive thingabout his game.

“I’ve had that all my life,” he said to agaggle of reporters later, sounding likesomeone who had heard the question100 times before, which is likely. “I can’ttell you when I first had it. I’ve alwaysbeen able to get it up and down.”

Only a couple dozen fans watched him at Cog Hill, but his gallery wouldgrow by the day.

Woods scored 2-over 74 the followingday at Edgewood Valley, going out in 4-over 40. A good-sized group of membersfollowed him, and what they saw nextwas a hint of the future. Woods hit twogreens in regulation on the back nine andstill scored 2-under 34. He easily quali-fied for match play. Then the fun began.

Several hundred spectators followedhim around Chicago Golf, in part to seethe ultra-private course, and in part tosee the kid in the headlines. He wroteanother in his first-round match withDecatur’s Jason Enloe.

Woods was 1-down to Enloe at the turnand was on the verge of dropping the 10thhole until he rolled in a 10-foot downhillputt for a par-saving halve. The drama wasjust beginning. Woods snapped his driveout-of-bounds on the 14th, losing the holeto again go 1-down, but rebounded on the15th green with a 35-foot birdie putt toeven the match, then equaled Enloe’s 10-foot birdie with a 25-foot bird of his ownon the 16th to keep it even.

The battle was on. Enloe smashed anapproach three feet from the cup on the17th. Woods put his eight feet away. Twomore birdies—that’s three in a row forWoods—and it was off to the 18th.There, Woods made a routine par whileEnloe found the hole on a 25-foot parputt that had 18 inches of break, extend-ing the match to overtime.

“It was just a prayer,” Enloe said. He looked like a winner on the first

hole after his tee shot split the fairwayand his approach stopped six feet fromthe cup. But Woods, after a wild driveinto Chicago Golf’s famous ankle-deeprough, powered his second shot ontothe fringe. He saved par. Enloe’s birdieputt spun around the cup and out. Offto the second hole for the second time.And an anticlimax.

Woods won the match with a routinepar, Enloe doomed by a tee shot into thehigh stuff.

“It was like a boxing match, seeingwho could break who,” Woods said.

Two matches later, Woods broke. Hefell in the Friday afternoon quarterfinals3-and-1 to Ted Purdy, now a fellow Tourplayer and then a junior rival from theArizona high school ranks.

“I didn’t necessarily win,” Purdy saidat the time. “It was more like Tiger lost.”

Even then, Woods had some playersbelieving they were sightseers in a match,though on this occasion, Purdy was right.Woods’ sometimes-erratic tee shots puthim in places from which recovery wasimpossible.

Publicly, Woods was gracious, saying,“I didn’t have it.”

Privately, he explained why.“After the match,” de Young remem-

bers, “he told me, ‘You know, if my daddidn’t make me go to a movie last night,I’d have beaten him.’”

What de Young didn’t anticipate washow good Woods would become.

“At the Western Amateur, we saw kidslike Scott Verplank, Willie Wood, JayHaas and Curtis Strange come along,” deYoung reflects. “Hal Sutton won theWestern Am twice. Yeah, I thoughtWoods was going to be good, but not asgood as he is.”

Thus ended Woods’ first Chicago-areaappearance. Just a year later, he wouldbegin to make an even deeper impression.

THRILLER AT POINT O’WOODSNow the scene shifts to Point O’WoodsGolf & Country Club in Benton Harbor,Mich., annual site of the WesternAmateur. It’s 1993, and Woods is makinghis first appearance at the Point.

(Opposite) Fans surge behind Tigeras he approaches no. 18 green atthe 1997 Western Open.

(Left and below) In 1992, a youngTiger fell to Ted Purdy during quarterfinal match play in the 75th Western Junior.

PHOTOS COURTESY WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION

PHOTO COURTESY OF WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION

J U LY / A U G U S T 2004 23

Angeles Open when he invited Woods asa 16-year-old in 1992. “A good collegeplayer, good amateur player, in the topfive there. You knew he’d make it as apro, because typically, the good collegeplayers become good pro players.

“I never thought about him tran-scending the sport. But you knew thatanyone beating everybody so badlywould be a pro.”

McLaughlin had wanted to get Woodsin the L.A. Open field a year earlier, but thetournament’s board wouldn’t go along.

“He was 14 at that time, would havebeen 15 by the tournament, but theboard said, ‘If he’s good enough, he’ll be around next year.’ They were worriedabout what the pros would think about a15-year-old in the tournament.

“But he almost got in anyway. Heplayed in the four-spotter on Monday,and had to make birdie on the final holeto make it in. He hit it in the water andmade double-bogey instead. If he’d madeit, I’d have been able to go to the boardand say, ‘See?’”

WOODS BOWS AT THE WESTERNMcLaughlin had no problem invitingWoods to the Western Open in 1993 and1994, and even put him in the pre-tournament Skins Game, which he andteammate Tom Watson won. Onereporter, pegging the odds of Woods

winning that Western at 80-1, nonethe-less wrote, “Someday he’ll win everythingin sight.”

That was still a long way off. Woodsscored 74-75—149, missing the cut, butstill made an impact that extendedbeyond Cog Hill.

“I remember that about 100 peoplewere following him each day, which Ithought was impressive,” says Cog Hillpresident Frank Jemsek, noting that ama-teurs don’t usually get a gallery beyondfamily. “Normally, an amateur missing thecut in the Western Open would get invitedto play Butler National or Medinah orOlympia Fields.

“Tiger was not invited to play thoseplaces. Number one, he was a juniorgolfer, and number two, you hate to sayit, but there was still some prejudice ingolf. I don’t know if that was involved,but I know that now, the world wouldwelcome him.

“So we arranged for Tiger to come

down and play Glenwoodie. I wasthrilled that he was at a golf course thatwe were connected with.”

At that time, Jemsek was still leasingGlenwoodie, a fine course in Glenwood,from the Archdiocese of Chicago. Woodsand his father had corresponded withDon Kimbrough, a teaching pro, and agame was arranged. It would be Tiger,Earl Woods, Kimbrough and one ofKimbrough’s students.

“He got a very good reception overthere,” Kimbrough recalls. “It was kind ofamazing. We had a bit of a gallery at theend, and when he drove the 17th green,the guys cheered. I remember that wecame to a par 5, and I hit driver and 3-wood and was on in two. He hit driverand 4-iron and was on in two. I eagled,he birdied, and he left the green mad. Hewanted to win all the time.”

Woods would win the 1994 WesternAm a month later, knocking off Tidlandin the process, then proceed to the 1994

22 C H I C A G O D I S T R I C T G O L F E R

By now a three-time U.S. Junior cham-pion, Woods was asked to appear at apre-championship news conference. Ashe spoke, Joel Hirsch, one of Chicago’seminent amateurs, entered the back ofthe room.

“Tiger was finishing up just as I gotthere,” Hirsch recalls. “He was handlinghimself beautifully. I noticed his dad,introduced myself, and said, ‘Your son forhis age is remarkably poised, not just as agolfer, but as a human being.’”

The seeds were thus sown for a friend-ship, but Hirsch and Woods didn’t reallyconnect until the following year, in apractice round for the U.S. Amateur atthe TPC at Sawgrass. Woods was comingoff a win in the 1994 Western Amateur.Hirsch found that significant.

“I told him, ‘The greatest players havewon the Western Am and gone on to procareers. This week should be a slam dunkfor you. Go out and win it!’” Hirschremembers.

How Woods advanced through thatWestern Am is the stuff of legend at thePoint. It was Saturday afternoon, and thematch-play quarterfinals were underway.Woods, on the verge of his freshman yearat Stanford, was playing Chris Tidland, afine player from Oklahoma State.

After 12 holes, the match looked likea rout. Woods was 4-up. Then Tidlandwent crazy. He birdied the last six holes,chipping in for a 3 from 60 feet away onthe par-4 18th to send the match toextra holes.

“It looked like Chris Tidland’s day toshine,” notes James Ashenden, a formerWGA president who was on the scene.

Not yet, it wasn’t. Woods had madetwo matching birds to keep Tidland fromwinning outright, and in sudden death,anything could happen.

Tidland was on the green of the par-4first in routine fashion. Woods pulled hisdrive into the left rough, then sailed hisapproach over the green. Normally, hewould have been dead, but he got lucky.

“(It) hit a lady standing on the back ofthe green,” Ashenden remembers. “Theball dropped four or five feet behind thegreen. If he hadn’t hit that lady, he wouldhave been another 30 feet past the green.”

Not that he was in great shape. Thehole was near the back edge, the greensloping away. Try as he might, his chipshot stopped 40 feet below the cup.

Tidland had no trouble two-puttingfor par. Woods had to make his.

“I had this funny feeling,” Tiger saidlater. “I saw the line of the putt. I stoodover it and said, ‘Just hit it, and it will goin.’ Just a fluke thing that happened atthe right time.”

Now Woods had the mental momen-tum again, and not even Tidland’s sev-enth birdie in eight holes would be ableto counter it. Tidland’s 4 on the par-5 sec-ond was good, but Woods’ eagle 3, con-structed by a booming approach over thegully in front of the green and the sinkingof a 20-foot downhill breaker of a putt,was better. It was an incredible finish to a

sensational match, the highlight ofWoods’ Western Amateur triumph.

“How could anyone play the last eightholes in a match in 7-under par asTidland did, and lose?” Ashenden saysincredulously. “But he did, because herewas Tiger making a 40-foot putt and thena 20-foot eagle putt. You could almost seethe future for Tiger Woods, when heovercame that kind of a comeback by hisopponent to win. I’ve never seen any-thing like it.”

Nobody had ever seen anyone likeWoods, really. And nobody really knewhow far he’d go, even given the resuméhe was assembling. Not even GregMcLaughlin, who would replace deYoung as the WGA’s tournament directorin 1993, was sure.

“Definitely a pro, for sure,” saysMcLaughlin, who was running the Los

(Left) Tiger competes in the 1994Western Amateur. (Above) With his dadat his side, Tiger relishes victory at the1994 Western Am.

(Opposite, top) His name atop theleaderboard, Tiger executes at the 1999Western Open.

(Opposite, right) A chip shot duringTiger’s third Western title run, in 2003.

PHOTOS COURTESY WGA

TIGER AND THE RADIX TROPHYWoods is a four-time (2000-2003) recipient of the Harry E. Radix Trophy.Presented annually by the CDGA since 1934 and held for one year by thePGA Tour player with the lowest official scoring average for 70 or morerounds during a calendar year, the trophy is named in the honor of the lateHarry E. Radix.

Radix, a former CDGA president who passed away in 1965, promoted competition between professionals and amateurs in the state ofIllinois with the Radix Cup Matches. Teams of 10 are determined under apoint system, with the CDGA selecting the amateur players and the IllinoisSection PGA selecting the professionals. The event continues today inRadix’s honor.

24 W W W. C D G A . O R G

U.S. Amateur. It wasn’t a slam dunk—Woods had to rally to beat Trip Kuehneon Sawgrass’ back nine in the afternoonround—but Woods remembered Hirsch’sadvice. He and Hirsch began to playpractice rounds when they were enteredin the same tournament, even afterWoods turned pro.

As in 1999, for instance, when theyplayed Medinah No. 3 on the Tuesday ofWestern Open week, Woods wanting asneak preview of No. 3 in advance of thatyear’s PGA Championship. Six weekslater, Woods would battle his way to vic-tory in that PGA, surviving an early runfrom Sergio Garcia, a mid-tournamentpush from golden oldie Hale Irwin and alate charge from a resurgent Garcia. Hisone-stroke victory would be his third inChicago, following the Western Opens of1997 and 1999, and would be the first offive wins in majors in six starts (and sevenin 11), the greatest modern-day tearthrough the big four since Ben Hoganhung up his spikes.

Woods was still a long way from beat-ing pros in 1995. He was still trying tomake the cut in a pro event, in fact. That

would happen for the first time at CogHill. Woods fired rounds of 74-71 for a36-hole total of 145, making the cut withtwo strokes to spare. Any notion of con-tending went by the boards with a 77 onSaturday, but a 3-under-par 69 on Sundayserved notice to anyone who was still indoubt that Woods definitely belonged.

“That was a solid round of golf,”remembers McLaughlin, who left theWGA in 2000 to run Woods’ foundation.

The Western was not only Woods’ firstmade cut, but his first time under 70 in apro tournament. And that helped doexactly what all tournament directorshope for when granting exemptions. Itbrought Woods solidly into the WGA fold.

“My whole point for giving theexemption to someone on the way up isthat they’d be appreciative and support-ive of the tournament in the future,”McLaughlin explains.

So it has been with Woods. He turneddown an exemption in 1996, preferring tosave them for after he turned pro, but hasbeen a Western Open regular since 1997,missing only the 2002 championshipbecause of illness.

“The WGA events have been reallyspecial to me because, just the wayyou’re treated, the way that they supportjunior golf, it’s just the whole atmos-phere that brings all of us back,” Woodssaid shortly before this year’s Western. “Ithink a lot of amateurs who played inWGA events as amateurs and juniors arenow playing the Western Open becausethey want to be affiliated and supportwhat the WGA does.

“It’s been a fantastic experience fromthe time I played the Western Junior atChicago Golf Club up through myWestern Amateur days to the WesternOpen.”

Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that heloves Cog Hill.

“I’ve always enjoyed the driving aspectof Cog Hill,” Woods remarked. “On topof that, I like how the greens are config-ured. You have these little fingers that offshoot and you’ve got to hit the ball toa specific (yardage) and a specific spot.

“You can’t go ahead and fire at a flag.Sometimes you’ve got to fire at a little sec-tion away from a flag because that givesyou the best spot to make a putt.”

By 1997, when he openedwith a 5-under-par 67,lurked four strokes behindleader Justin Leonard after 36holes and then posted back-to-back 68s on the weekendto take the title, Woods hadlearned that. He knew morein 1999, when his winningtotal of 15-under 273 wastwo strokes better than twoyears before. Last year’s totalof 21-under 267, a coast-infinish from his position of 23-under—this is Dubsdread,remember—earlier in thefinal round, merely reaf-firmed his brilliance.

Regardless, someone couldn’tresist asking Woods earlier thisyear if Cog Hill fit his style.

“Yes, I think it does,” hesaid with a chuckle. “I’ve wonthere, what, three times? Ithink I’ve done all right.”

Daily Southtown sportswriterTim Cronin is a regular con-tributor to Chicago DistrictGolfer.

TRACKING A TIGERCompeting in the Chicago District, Woods hasrecorded some indelible performances and mem-orable victories.

Year and Event Venue1992 Western Junior Cog Hill,

Edgewood Valley, Chicago Golf

1993 Western Amateur Point O’Woods*1994 Western Open Cog Hill1994 Western Amateur Point O’Woods*1995 Western Open Cog Hill1995 Western Amateur Point O’Woods1996 Western Amateur Point O’Woods1997 Western Open Cog Hill*1998 Western Open Cog Hill1999 Western Open Cog Hill*1999 PGA Championship Medinah*2000 Western Open Cog Hill2001 Western Open Cog Hill2002 U.S. Open Olympia Fields2003 Western Open Cog Hill**Denotes first-place finish. P

HO

TO

BY

NIC

K N

OV

ELL

I/CO

UR

TE

SY

ME

DIN

AH

CC

Packages include:• 18 holes of golf each with cart.• Hotel accomodations.• Meal credits in our Restaurants.• Unlimited gaming!• $20 CASH back offer when you earn 200

points in 24 hours during your visit!

Courses available:• Weaver Ridge• Coyote Creek• Quail Meadows• Pine LakesSubject to availability. Weekend pricing is higher. Must be 21, photo ID required.

For pricing & information call:

1-800-438-6777

21 Blackjack Blvd. • E. Peoria, IL 61611 • 1-800-PAR-A-DICE • www.par-a-dice.com • FREE ADMISSION!

Know when to stop before you start. If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

GROUPS OF 8 OR MORE QUALIFY FOR PACKAGES!GROUPS OF 8 OR MORE QUALIFY FOR PACKAGES!

Woods’ Medinah win in 1999 wasa major accomplishment.