Professional and highly accomplished amateur golfers will have five more opportunities to qualify for the $50,000, 54-hole Chicago Open, which will be held Oct. 7-9, at Cantigny Golf in Wheaton, Ill.
Players may qualify at the following sites:
- Sept. 3 at Brown Deer Park Golf Course in Milwaukee.
- Sept. 16 at Flossmoor Country Club in Flossmoor, Ill.
- Sept. 23 at Country Club of Old Vincennes, in Vincennes In.
- Sept.23 at Lake Michigan Hills Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich.
- Sept. 26 at Makray Memorial Golf Club in North Barrington, Ill.
Qualifiers are open to professional golfers and to amateurs with a handicap index of 10.0 or less.
The fee for the qualifier is $250 for professionals and $100 for amateurs with an additional $200 fee for successful qualifiers. Players may compete in one qualifier and also in the "second chance qualifier" at Makray Memorial Golf Club, which will be open to first-and-second attempt qualifiers.
Those interested in registering for a qualifying event - or in obtaining more information – may do so online by visiting thechicagoopen.com.
The Chicago Open boasts a Hall-of-Fame roster of champions that includes such golf icons as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. PGA TOUR star and recent World No. 1 golfer Luke Donald, a Chicago-area resident, won the event in 2000 as amateur playing for Northwestern.
The championship is being conducted for the first time since 2001 by and for the benefit of the Illinois Junior Golf Association. It has been scheduled Oct. 7-9 during the Illinois high school golf season because the IJGA does not conduct events during the season.
IJGA is the second-largest junior golf program in the nation, serving 2,800 golfers between the ages of eight and 18, and managing more than 100 separate events throughout Illinois. The IJGA also is the umbrella organization for the Mid-American Junior Golf Tour (MAJGT), which specializes in conducting tournaments for higher-level junior players, particularly those seeking exposure to college golf coaches.
