For Bolingbrook, now comes the hard part

Writing from Bolingbrook, Illinois

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Mary Alexander-Basta is the mayor of Bolingbrook. She is not a golfer.

“I do a good job waving from the golf cart,” Alexander-Basta said Tuesday after confirming the village made a deal with LIV Golf to host the upstart circuit’s individual championship from Sept. 13-15 at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

She did not attend either playing of LIV’s Chicago stop at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove the past two Septembers. She hasn’t watched a LIV tournament on television. She said neither she nor other village officials reached out to Rich Harvest’s management for advice or counsel on how to go about staging the tournament.

“We have what it takes; we’ll figure it out,” Alexander-Basta said. “We lead. We don’t follow. We’re Bolingbrook.”

Such hubris may work when dealing with the routine business of a municipality, but staging a big-time golf tournament – which, protestations from PGA Tour loyalists aside, LIV Golf weekends are – is another level of complication above anything the course has staged since it opened in 2002.

But Bolingbrook has an ace in the hole in KemperSports, which has run the golf course for the village for the beginning. Other Kemper properties have hosted tournament up to the U.S. Open, so LIV’s logistical people will have someone experienced to work with.

“They’re perfectionists at it,” Alexander-Basta said of the LIV logistics department. “We have all the pieces (for village planning), we just have to put them together.”

Specifics were not as numerous as hors d’oeuvres were at the announcement, though it was mentioned that it’s expected 50,000 people would attend over three days and that 7,700 room-nights would be booked for the week of the tournament. The average LIV week is said to have a $32 million economic benefit in the community.

LIV Golf approached Bolingbrook around the start of the year, the mayor explained. A party of LIV brass visited the course in mid-winter and decided the 7,104-yard par-72 course would be a good place for the circuit’s penultimate tournament of the season, the individual championship.

Alexander-Basta would not reveal the fee Bolingbrook will receive for hosting LIV, though she characterized it covering “A to Z.” Basta said the fee is tiered, and that she wasn’t sure of the total.

“We have different fee structures in terms of club usage, food and beverage usage,” Alexander-Basta said. “I can’t put a dollar amount on it. I wouldn’t want to speculate about it.

“The one thing I’m very excited about is the give-back to our non-profits that LIV will be giving back. That’s something I’m very excited about, and probably the highlight of all this, other than having top-name golfers on our course.”

Alexander-Basta said that portion of the deal was not yet finalized.

“We’re still talking about it,” Alexander-Basta said. “I don’t want to recite numbers in our contracts I don’t have memorized.”

The deal was hammered out over several weeks, with attorney Burt Odelson, a veteran of decades working for southwest and south suburban municipalities, handling the village’s side.

LIV was said to pay Rich Harvest Farms $3 million to host in 2022, and again in 2023, when Bryson DeChambeau won. Cameron Smith took the 2022 title.

Tickets go on sale May 8.

Bolingbrook is public, as opposed to ultra-private Rich Harvest. It’s the third public course to host LIV in the United States. Orange County National, a 45-hole facility in Winter Garden, Fla., near Orlando, and Pumpkin Ridge, a 36-hole facility near Portland, Ore., are the others.

As for the Saudi Arabia connection – the country’s Public Investment Fund is the backer of LIV Golf – and the attendant human rights issues with that country, Alexander-Basta said she’s not worried.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

Illinois Golfer reported LIV and Bolingbrook had reached an agreement on April 11, confirming an X/Twitter report on April 4.

– Tim Cronin

Here comes the golf show

Writing from Chicago

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Thanks to this delightful false spring we have been enjoying, more than a few rounds of golf have already been played in these parts this week. Even a few courses in Wisconsin have noted their tundra is no longer frozen and are open for customers.

That said, the proverbial first robin of spring for golfers is the presence of the golf shows. There was one conducted in near-privacy at the Tinley Park Convention Center on Feb. 2-4, but attendance and the number of exhibitors was said to be sparse, a comedown for a show that commenced with great promise a few years ago.

Friday brings the long-standing Chicago Golf Show in the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. The 39th edition runs from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $7 for adults on Friday and $12 on the weekend. Youths from 12-15 pay $4 and kids 11 and under are gratis. Parking is $15.

Illinois Junior Golf Association members can also get in free if they’ve registered for 2024.

According to publicist and Chicago District Golfer editor Barry Cronin, there will be about 300 exhibitor booths occupied, which is the largest number in years. Everything from second-hand clubs for sale to far-off travel destinations, and many courses from the area, will be on hand.

The Chicago District Golf Association is the presenting sponsor for the third year, and is stepping up its commitment with an 11,000-square foot area including a pair of longest putt competitions, a store selling CDGA-logoed gear, a media studio – location for Saturday’s radio broadcast on WMVP-AM (1000) from 9-11 a.m. with Tyler Aki and the CDGA’s Mike Gilligan – and more. If you’re a CDGA members you can renew your membership, which includes your handicap index, on site.

There’s also a “Break The Glass Challenge” in the demo area with prizes for those who break the glass.

The demo area is also where professionals from the Illinois PGA will give free mini lessons to showgoers. This is worth the price of admission in itself. Nearby is the First Tee area with putting and chipping contests for kids.

“There’s no doubt the Chicago Golf Shop is the unofficial kick-off to the Chicago golf season,” IPGA executive director Carrie Williams said.

There will be a number of guests demonstrating how to hit the ball on the stage, including  Kevin Weeks and Todd Sones on Friday, Todd Russell, former Bears kicker Robbie Gould and Mistwood’s John Platt and Nicole Jeray on Saturday, and Vince India on Sunday. India is currently serving a six-month suspension from the Korn Ferry Tour for gambling. Invariably, you look up that story and it appears on a website with ads for gambling.

On top of everything else, GolfVisions, which operates several courses in the Chicago area, will be giving out free rounds of golf.

Around The Greens

Dennis Johnsen says this year in golf, his 50th, will be his last behind the counter and on a lesson tee. The pro at Pine Meadow Golf Club, one of the sport’s better guys, is retiring at the end of the season at age (and even-par) 72. … Jamie Nieto has moved to Royal Fox Country Club from the Preserve at Oak Meadows. It’s his first venture into private clubs… Casey Brozek is the new director of golf at Medinah Country Club, returning to the area from Naples, Fla. He replaces Marty DeAngelo, who left for a position in Florida. … Curtis Malm is out as general manager at White Eagle Golf Club after getting the club boffo notices for hosting the Illinois Open and Women’s Western Junior. … Ian Brown is out as director of golf at Butterfield Country Club in Oak Brook.

The Court Scorecard 

Mike Scully has gotten a second continuance in his triple-felony case in Florida. The arraignment for the charges of stealing and selling over, $100,000 in merchandise from Streamsong Golf Club in 2022-23 has been reset for May 14 in Polk County’s Bartow, Fla., courthouse. In what may be a hopeful sign for the former Medinah Country Club head pro, the order for the bond he was originally required to post has been discharged. Speculation has it that the continuances stem from a potential plea-bargain, though it’s unusual for such a proceeding to commence before an arraignment. 

– Tim Cronin

Scully arraignment reset for Jan. 23

Writing from Chicago

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

The arraignment for Mike Scully, the Illinois native and former Medinah pro charged late last year with three felony counts of stealing and reselling merchandise from Streamsong Golf Resort in Florida, was pushed back on Tuesday to Jan. 23, according to the Polk County, Fla., court website.

No explanation was given for the delay. Usually, an arraignment is a perfunctory affair, where the charges are detailed and the defendant then submits a plea, after which either a trial date is set or one of both parties asks for time to prepare their case.

Scully, who was head professional at Medinah for about a decade, was arrested on Nov. 22 and charged with three felony counts of grand theft, scheming to defraud and selling merchandise worth nearly $100,000 belonging to Streamsong. He had left Streamsong last July to become the general manager of the under-construction Kinsale Golf Club in North Naples, Fla., which fired him after he was arrested.

– Tim Cronin

Scully charged with stealing, reselling Streamsong merchandise

Friday, January 5, 2024

Writing from Chicago

In his decade as Medinah Country Club’s head professional, Mike Scully conducted himself with the utmost propriety.

Scully’s sterling reputation took a blow on Nov. 22, when he was arrested in Florida and charged with three felony counts of grand theft, scheming to defraud and selling merchandise worth nearly $100,000 belonging to Streamsong Golf Resort, the multi-course facility Scully worked for from February 2022 to July 29, 2023.

Under Florida law, the organized scheme to defraud is a first degree felony. The other counts are second-degree charges.

When he was arrested, Scully was in his fifth week as the general manager and director of golf for Kinsale Golf Club, a Gil Hanse-Jim Wagner design under construction in North Naples, Fla. Kinsale immediately severed its relationship with Scully.

Scully’s attorney, Mark Rankin of St. Petersburg. Fla., did not respond to inquiries.

The arraignment, in which Scully or Rankin will receive the formal charges, is set for Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 1 p.m. ET, in the Polk County Courthouse in Bartow, Fla. Scully need not appear at that hearing if his counsel has filed the required paperwork.

Florida sentencing guidelines are complicated, but as a first offender, Scully could get probation should he be convicted.

Scully, 58, offered no resistance when Polk County sheriff’s officers came to his Fort Myers apartment, served the warrant and arrested him. He was released upon posting $2,500 bond.

According to the affidavit filed by the Polk County sheriff’s department to induce the arrest warrant, Streamsong accountants discovered a pair of purchases of Titleist golf balls, one for 100 dozen ProV1s ordered on Aug. 29, a month after he left Streamsong for the under-construction Kinsale Country Club, and shipped to the Detroit office of Kinsale’s management company. An additional 24 dozen ProV1s had been ordered on June 2 but drop-shipped to a James Haught of Fort Myers.

The two purchases totaled about $5,600. Kinsale reimbursed Streamsong for the purchase promptly, but the interest of Streamsong’s accountants was stirred. According to the affidavit, “it was learned Scully shipped multiple packages through FedEx under Streamsong’s account. Streamsong estimated approximately 63 FedEx shipments occurred” to a pair of club resale companies, proclubs.com, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Golfstix of Eden Prairie, Minn.

Merchandise Scully is said to have trafficked in includes not only balls, but clubs, putters, rental sets, apparel, invitational putters and custom club covers. Some items ended up on eBay, the sheriff’s department said.

According to records provided the sheriff’s department by the two companies, Scully was paid $93,680 by Proclubs and $7,963 by Golfstix while he worked for Streamsong, and an additional $41,893 by Proclubs. The total of $143,536 apparently covers sales while Scully was working elsewhere.

Medinah reviewed its financial records and found no irregularities during Scully’s tenure, which ended shortly after the 2012 Ryder Cup. Since then, Scully ran the golf department at Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. for about a dozen years, followed by a stint at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga.

Scully, a Prospect High and Illinois graduate who played on the Fighting Illini's 1983 Big Ten football title team, made $202,826 in his final year at Medinah, according to the club’s public tax return. He earned $300,788 at Desert Mountain in 2016. He was making $150,000 annually from Streamsong, which is managed by Northbrook-based KemperSports.

Within the golf community, Scully, a Class A PGA of America member who was the Illinois Section’s professional of the year in 2008, would be subject to expulsion from the national club pro body should he be found guilty of any of the three felony charges.

Right now, that’s the least of his problems.

– Tim Cronin

Photo of Scully from RecentlyBooked.com

The Sykes-Picot golf tour

Writing from Sugar Grove, Illinois

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

In a time well past, George Santayana noted, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

With that, welcome to the second visit of the LIV Golf operation to the Chicago area, specifically Rich Harvest Farms. Mr. Santayana’s warning is brought forth in this circumstance not because Rich Harvest, Jerry Rich’s immaculately kept back yard, is again the stage for this three-day festival of golf and music, but thanks to the overarching agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV owner Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Any well-informed reader – we count all of you in that category – recalls the 1962 motion picture “Lawrence of Arabia.” Among the most beautifully photographed epics in cinema history, it tells, albeit Hollywood-enhanced, the tale of Thomas Edward Lawrence, a Brit who, while in the Royal Army, became infatuated with the Arab cause of self-rule over the sand swept lands south of the Ottoman Empire, of what remains today we know as Turkey.

While Lawrence was going about his business of helping the Arabs blow up bridges, attack Ottoman outposts and create other forms of mayhem, the British and French, each of whom were still of a colonial bent and were more interested in the control of lands far beyond their own, conspired to carve up the territory, drawing lines in the sand the Arabs claimed for themselves.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement, named for the diplomats who wielded the pens on the map, was drawn up in the early months of 1916, while they were also fighting the Germans in the Great War. At this distance, one would think dealing with the Kaiser’s forces would have been quite enough trouble, but no.

The carving up of the deserts on the map remained a secret until November 1917, when the news came from Moscow, fallout from the Russian Revolution. The Manchester Guardian then reported the details. When the news got back to Lawrence out in the desert, he was said to be crestfallen. For all the TNT expended and all the rousing of the natives against the infidel Ottomans, he was sold out.

Fast-forward, as they do in the movies, to the present day and Rich Harvest, where Cameron Smith seeks to both defend the title he won here last year and overhaul Talor Gooch to take the lead in the LIV money race. That, and how well Brooks Koepka is prepared for next week’s Ryder Cup, is the concern of the moment, but the looming story is what, if anything, will happen to the LIV operation once the agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour is finalized.

Tim Monahan, the PGA Tour’s commissioner, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor with the ear of Mohammad bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian ruler and PIF chairman who isn’t above ordering the murder of journalists and others who displease his excellency, are the negotiators this time around. Monahan no doubt would think he was both Sykes and Picot should he stop to consider it. Al-Rumayyan knows his own identity. He’s the one holding all the cards.

It was PIF’s financing of LIV, which hired Greg Norman as the front man, that brought about the signing of many PGA Tour stars beginning with Phil Mickelson, and brought upheaval to the American-based circuit, as well as the European Tour. The LIV inroads proved impossible to ignore, so the PGA Tour raised purses for a series of “elevated” tournaments mimicking the LIV windfall, minus the signing bonuses. That was supposed to stem the tide of departures. It barely did, and it chewed into the Tour's rainy-day fund, so in secret, the Tour began to negotiate with PIF.

Little came of the clandestine chatter until Monahan and Al-Rumayyan huddled in Venice, Italy, in early May. That meeting advanced the idea of a partnership, and a subsequent one in San Francisco sealed the preliminary agreement, which canceled the legal action on each side – that in itself was a financial relief for the PGA Tour – and provided for talks aiming toward a final settlement that would see the Saudis throw their billions at the combined operation of the PGA Tour, European (a.k.a. DP World) Tour and the LIV, but with the PGA Tour determining the latter’s fate. The PGA Tour’s players were blindsided, but recovered sufficiently to force the expansion of the Tour’s policy board to include Tiger Woods, making it a player-majority for the first time since its formation in 1969.

Woods, a critic of LIV, has also been a critic of Norman for leading the charge.

Imagine, now, that you are Norman, whose initial attempt to start a big-name big-money tour in the 1990s was cut down by Deane Beman, the twice-removed predecessor of Monahan. Brought in by the Saudis for his expertise, if you will, the Australian about to be cut down again. His role as LIV commissioner is said to be vanishing as soon as the final deal is inked. (Recently, a British tabloid reported the LIV operation will comprise a portion of the fall season, but that report has not been confirmed on or off the record by anyone else, so for the moment, believe in it as much as you believe in the Easter Bunny.)

Norman, whose confidence meter is always pinned in the manner of Lawrence, now has in Woods a formidable opponent. Woods’ playing days are largely done, but he’s still the face of the Tour, respected by players and, scandals and injuries aside, remains a media favorite. Norman? Whereas Lawrence was in the white thobe, casting a dramatic silhouette against the desert, Norman is the guy wearing the black hat, standing over there in the rough, just out of the spotlight he helped create and now sees dimming.

This imbroglio, presuming the Saudi coffers of blood money are loosened for 2024 and beyond, will end with the Tour running men’s professional golf – or so the Tourists believe – the well-oiled sheiks funding it in exchange for a photo opportunity in the false belief it will improve their image, and Norman, so often the failed one at a championship’s conclusion, once again out of the trophy shot. There may end up being no winners beyond the bloated wallets of the players. Messrs. Skyes and Picot would understand.

Too bad David Lean is no longer with us. It would be a hell of a movie.

– Tim Cronin