Selection Committee Votes on Final Inductees at May 25th Meeting
GLENVIEW, Ill. – April 23, 2021 – The Illinois Golf Hall of Fame Selection Committee voted to advance 10 nominees as finalists for consideration into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2021. The Hall of Fame Selection Committee will vote to confirm the final inductees at its next meeting on May 25. The committee had 27 nominees to review as potential finalists.
"We had outstanding nominees to choose from representing many aspects of the game," said Selection Committee chair Tim Cronin. "We now have our 10 finalists set and will vote on them at the final Selection Committee meeting next month, which will determine the 2021 Illinois Golf Hall of Fame Class."
The following nominees were voted as finalists:
- Doug Bauman – A dogged competitor, Bauman has won five state majors since arriving at Biltmore Country Club from Wisconsin in 1985. He captured two Illinois PGA Professional Championships in succession in 1996 and 1997, but has made match play his specialty, with three Illinois PGA Match Play titles, four runner-up placings, and three more appearances in the semifinals. More recently, he’s won a pair of Illinois PGA Senior Match Play titles at Shoreacres. He’s 6-6-2 in 14 Radix Cup appearances.
- Dr. Randy Kane – Nicknamed "The Family Doctor" for his close attention to the turf quality of the Chicago District's courses, Kane has a doctorate in plant pathology from Cornell University and served as the Chicago District Golf Association’s first director of turfgrass programs from 1985 through 2006. He was a leader in identifying problems and passing the solutions to some 400 clubs in the CDGA area.
- Phil Kosin – Founded and ran Chicagoland Golf from 1989 until his death in 2009. He added a website when digital applications blossomed. Concurrently, he produced and hosted the Chicagoland Golf radio show on WSCR-AM 670, which continues today as The Scorecard show. He previously had worked for the original Illinois Golfer and several other golf publications, including Golf Traveler. He founded the Illinois Women’s Open in 1995, which has since had his name attached to it, and the Chicago Friends of Golf, a charity endeavor which specialized in clubs for beginning golfers.
- Michael Miller – Built the stature of the Illinois Section and area of golf in general over 20 years as the Illinois PGA's Executive Director. Miller helped create the Illinois PGA Foundation, attracted corporate sponsors for the Section's championships, including the Illinois Open, and boosted the visibility of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame through permanent exhibits at The Glen Club. In his time, the Section created the Youth Skills Challenge for the 2006 PGA Championship, which was resurrected for the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club. He’s now the Executive Director of the Southwest PGA Section.
- Tim O’Neal – Like mentor Bill Ogden before him, Tim O’Neal has been a mentor to many assistants in his 22-year career as Head PGA Professional at North Shore Country Club. O’Neal was an assistant to Ogden for three years before taking the head job at Country Club of Peoria, returning to North Shore in 1995. Twice a Section Professional of the Year (first in South Florida in 1994, then in Illinois in 2005), O’Neal also served on the Illinois PGA and Foundation boards and is currently President of the Illinois PGA Foundation. Twenty-three of his assistants and students have become head professionals, directors of golf or instruction across the country.
- Bruce Patterson – A two-time Illinois PGA professional of the year (1993, 1996), Patterson was instrumental in creating and nurturing the Illinois PGA Foundation. The longtime Head PGA Professional / Director of Golf at Butler National Golf Club spent a decade as President of the Foundation, and was also the Section President in 1995-96, and recently a PGA Regional Director. Named the Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year in 2001, he is among the best at getting his players to escape bunkers. He earned PGA Master Professional status with a thesis on hosting a PGA Tour tournament, in Butler’s case the Western Open, at his club.
- Gary Pinns – A PGA Professional, Pinns is the only person to win the Illinois Open five times, doing so across three decades, with the first title in 1978 as an amateur. He then turned professional and captured three more in the 1980s, and the last in 1990. Pinns was also All-ACC at Wake Forest for two years while the team's captain on a squad that included Gary Hallberg, Scott Hoch and Robert Wrenn.
- Jerry Rich – Rich has had an impact on golf far beyond what he expected when he decided to build a three-hole course behind his Sugar Grove estate. As the computer software wizard expanded his course across many of the property’s 1,820 acres, his influence grew. Today, his Rich Harvest Farms course has hosted the Solheim Cup, Western Amateur, Western Junior and the NCAA Championships. This year, Rich Harvest will host the Palmer Cup for the second time. He also came up with the concept for the International Crown, the LPGA’s world team tournament. A Northern Illinois graduate, Rich donates his course for select home meets of the Huskies. Personally generous, he hosts the Kids Golf Foundation in a building on the Rich Harvest campus.
- Dave Ryan – Coming out of Taylorville, Ryan has built a formidable resume in senior amateur golf. Four times (2009, 2013, 2015, 2016), Ryan’s won the Illinois Senior Amateur. Seven times in an eight-year span from 2009 through 2016, he won the Chicago District Golf Association’s Senior Player of the Year award. Three times he captured the Central Illinois Player of the Year honor. And in 2016, he won the U.S. Senior Amateur at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis. He’s 8-5-2 in 15 Radix Cup appearances.
- Jim Suttie – One of the game’s foremost teachers, Dr. Jim Suttie counts Paul Azinger, Chip Beck, Jeff Sluman, Kevin Streelman and Mark Wilson among his more successful students. The DeKalb native starred at Northern Illinois, then moved into coaching and teaching. A perennial Golf Digest best 50 and Golf Magazine top 100 teacher, Suttie was the PGA’s National Teacher of the Year in 2000 and is a three time Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year. He was named to Golf Magazine’s teaching Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Illinois Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Induction Ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 1, 2021 at The Glen Club in Glenview, Ill., home of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.
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:
Palmer Moody
Illinois PGA Communications
(847) 729-4145 direct
(847) 804-2721 mobile
pmoody@pgahq.com