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GLENVIEW, Ill. – February 1, 2021 – The Illinois PGA has announced its tournament schedule for the 2021 season. This season will feature over 40 Illinois PGA Section events including four Open Championships and seven Illinois Open qualifiers.
The 2021 Illinois PGA tournament schedule is highlighted by the Illinois PGA Major Championships; the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship, the 72nd Illinois Open Championship, the Illinois PGA Professional Championship and the Illinois PGA Players Championship.
Three of four Major Championships will be making their debuts at new courses in 2021. Bull Valley Golf Club returns to the Illinois PGA tournament schedule for the first time since 2018 and will host the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship for the first time in decades. The Match Play Championship will again be accompanied by a Stroke Play qualifier for seeding into the event. The Stroke Play event will be held on Monday, May 10 with the Match Play rounds taking place the following three days from May 11-13.
The Illinois Open will be returning to the Aurora area in 2021. The 72nd Illinois Open Championship will be held at Stonebridge Country Club. Stonebridge was supposed to be the companion course for the 71st Illinois Open before the event was restructured to a one-course event due to COVID. For the second straight year, the Illinois Open will be contested at one facility. There will be seven Illinois Open qualifiers this year from June to July. The full list of qualifiers is listed below:
- Illinois Open Qualifier #1 – Deerfield Golf Club – Wednesday, June 23
- Illinois Open Qualifier #2 – Maple Meadows Golf Club – Wednesday, June 30
- Illinois Open Qualifier #3 – Flossmoor Golf Club – Tuesday, July 6
- Illinois Open Qualifier #4 – TBA (Central Illinois) – Thursday, July 8
- Illinois Open Qualifier #5 – Sunset Valley Golf Club – Wednesday, July 14
- Illinois Open Qualifier #6 – The Hawk Country Club – Wednesday, July 21
- Illinois Open Last Chance Qualifier – Countryside Golf Club (Prairie) – Wednesday, July 28
The Illinois PGA Professional Championship will be contested at the Ivanhoe Club for the first time in event history on August 23-25. As in years past the Section Championship also serves as the qualifier for the National PGA Professional Championship. A total of 10 Illinois PGA Members will qualify for the National Championship in 2022.
Knollwood Club makes its first appearance on the Illinois PGA schedule since 2018 and will play host to the Illinois PGA Players Championship for the first time. The Players is set for September 27-28 and will feature the top 35 players on the Bernardi Illinois PGA Player of the Year points race.
In addition to the Section Championship, the Illinois Assistant PGA Professional Championship and the Illinois Senior PGA Professional Championship will serve as National Qualifiers for their respective events. The Illinois Assistant PGA Championship will be held on July 12 at Crystal Tree Country Club. Three Illinois PGA Members will qualify for the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship on November 11-14 at the PGA Golf Club. The Illinois Senior PGA Professional Championship will take place on August 9-10 at Bryn Mawr Country Club. Seven Illinois PGA Members will qualify for the Senior PGA Professional Championship on October 21-24 at the PGA Golf Club.
The Illinois PGA Senior Match Play and Assistants Match Play Championships will also be returning in 2021. The Assistant Match Play will be a season-long contest in which competitors schedule their matches individually within a certain time frame. The Championship Match will be scheduled by the Section to take place in early October. The Senior Match Play Championship will return to Shoreacres in 2021 after a one-year hiatus. This event will take place on October 4-6.
The Illinois Senior Open will be returning to Royal Fox Country Club once again in 2021. Following back-to-back years of high entries, the Illinois Senior Open will move from its traditional September date to June 28-29 to help accommodate the high volume of players. The Illinois Super Senior Open will return to its traditional site of Pine Meadow Golf Club from August 31 – September 1.
The Illinois PGA Stroke Play series is back in full force for the 2021 season. There will be seven Illinois PGA Stroke Play events in 2021. Not all Stroke Play events have confirmed sites. The Illinois PGA will announce the sites for the remainder of the Stroke Play events once they are confirmed.
2021 will mirror that of the 2020 season for all Assistants and Senior Stroke Play events. The Illinois PGA will no longer hold individual Assistant Stroke Plays or Senior Stroke Plays. Instead, there will be Assistant and Senior divisions within all Stroke Play events.
New in 2021, the Illinois PGA will introduce two new formats, the Illinois PGA Pro-Scratch and the Illinois PGA Pro-Junior. The Pro-Scratch event will encourage Illinois PGA Members to invite high-level amateur golfers to compete in a team fourball format. The Pro-Junior returns to the Illinois PGA schedule for the first time in nearly a decade in conjunction with the launch of the all-new Illinois PGA Junior Tour. This event will allow Illinois PGA members to bring juniors ages 12-14 to compete in a fourball format against other PGA Members and their juniors.
The Illinois PGA will administer six Pro-Ams in 2021. The Las Vegas Pro-Am will take place on March 22-24 at Cascata, Southern Highlands and Reflection Bay Golf Club. The Ryne Sandberg Illinois PGA Foundation Pro-Am will return for a third straight year on Monday, September 13 at Merit Club. For the second straight year, the Illinois PGA Fall Travel Pro-Am will be held at Sand Valley Golf Resort in Nekoosa, Wisconsin. This event is scheduled for October 3-4.
The Illinois PGA will also host two one-day Pro-Ams in 2021. The sites for these events are still TBA with the first event scheduled for Monday, June 7, and the second event scheduled for Monday, August 16.
The Meyer Brown Miller Invitational Pro-Am will return this fall to the Pinehurst area. Event details will be announced at a later time.
The Illinois PGA’s Birdies for Charity event will be celebrating its 11th Anniversary in 2021. This annual fundraising event will take place on Tuesday, September 7 at River Forest Country Club. Last year, Birdies for Charity surpassed the $2 million mark for funds raised for the benefiting Charites.
Three annual team events will return to the Illinois PGA schedule following a year in which all three events were forced to be cancelled. The 59th Radix Cup, which features the top 11 Illinois PGA Professionals playing as two-man teams against the top 11 Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) amateurs, will be played at Oak Park Country Club on June 17. The Thompson Cup Matches are a match play team event between the top CDGA Senior amateurs and the top Illinois PGA Senior Professionals. This event will be played at Ridge Country Club on June 3. The Royal Cup Matches are set to take place on October 1. This site is still TBA. The Royal Cup Matches are a team event featuring Wisconsin Assistant PGA Professionals and Illinois Assistant PGA Professionals.
The Illinois PGA’s full schedule for 2021 can be seen at www.ipga.com.
About the Illinois PGA/Illinois PGA Foundation
The Illinois Section of the PGA of America is a professional organization serving the men and women golf professionals in northern and central Illinois who are the recognized experts in growing, teaching and managing the game of golf. The Illinois PGA is responsible for the administration of competitive golf tournaments, educational opportunities, support programs and growth of the game initiatives. With over 840 members and apprentices, the Illinois PGA is one of the 41 regional Sections that comprise the PGA of America. The Illinois PGA Foundation focuses its community efforts on promoting the goodwill and growth of the game with an emphasis on activities that benefit youth. Foundation initiatives include: GolfWorks Illinois, Youth-based Scholarship Funds and the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. For more information about the Illinois PGA and the Illinois PGA Foundation, please visit www.www.ipga.com and join us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
CONTACT:
Kevin Quinn
Illinois PGA Communications
708.336.1294 mobile
kbquinn@pgahq.com