Karl Bollnow – Senior Master:
When Karl Bollnow first stepped onto the grounds of Riverside Golf Club in 1971, he wasn’t carrying a club. He was carrying someone else’s. A 13-year-old kid looking for a summer job, he had never even played the game.
This July 28 at Onwentsia Club, Bollnow will be honored as the 2024 Illinois PGA Senior Master, a lifetime achievement recognizing not only his 54 years of service to one club, but a singular journey that began not with a swing, but with a caddie bib.
In a profession where most PGA Professionals grow up playing golf, dreaming of tour wins and championship Sundays, Bollnow is a remarkable outlier, someone who found his calling not through competition, but through service.
“What got me to first pick up a club was becoming a caddie at Riverside Golf Club at the age of 13 in 1971,” said Bollnow. “Prior to taking the caddie job, I had not played golf. I played just about every other sport, but never golf. Had I never come to Riverside and gotten the caddie job, I likely never would have taken an interest in the game.”
Bollnow’s introduction to golf was as humble as it was accidental. After five years of caddying, he expressed interest in the golf business to Riverside’s Head Golf Professional, a man who would forever change the course of his life, Bill Heald, PGA.
Heald, a former Illinois PGA Section President and Illinois Golf Hall of Famer, saw something in the young caddie. He brought Bollnow into the bag room, then made him caddie master. In 1978, with Heald’s guidance, Bollnow entered the PGA program and moved into the pro shop. From there, he never left.
“I’ve spent 54 years, my entire career, at Riverside,” said Bollnow. “I was very fortunate to get into the industry and work for the gentleman that I worked for.”
For 18 years, Bollnow served as Heald’s assistant, soaking up knowledge not only from his mentor but from a generation of other Illinois PGA Professional legends, including Don Wegrzyn, Hubby Habjan, Sherm Finger, Ken Weiler, John Marshall, Dave Ogilvie, and John Spiropoulos . Their influence, coupled with Heald’s meticulous standards, shaped Bollnow into the consummate golf professional.
“Mr. Heald was a stickler for the details,” said Bollnow. “He told me, ‘Be the expert in everything you can in terms of golf and the club, because you want your members and other people to come to you, not someone else.’”
That mantra has guided Bollnow for decades. And when Heald retired, Bollnow stepped into his role, a daunting challenge by any measure.
“Everybody experiences challenges. My biggest was being given the opportunity to succeed a legend,” said Bollnow. “I was 40 when I took the job, and I’m sure there were people who thought I was too young. The standard Bill set was so high. You weren’t just in charge of golf, it was the caddie program, cart fleet, merchandising, teaching, events, and even a little playing if you had the time. It was everything.”
If Bollnow’s career began with a caddie towel, it has since become defined by what he has given back to those in the same shoes. Since becoming Head Golf Professional, over 200 caddies have earned college scholarships under his guidance, either through the Riverside Caddie Scholarship or the Evans Scholarship.
“That’s what I’m most proud of,” said Bollnow. “Coming from a caddie myself, helping kids get these scholarships and give them a chance to do better things with their life, that warms my heart.”
His efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2021, Bollnow was inducted into the Western Golf Association’s Caddie Hall of Fame. And while he downplays the recognition, the legacy is undeniable.
“I don’t like the attention. I’ve always liked to fly under the radar,” said Bollnow. “But to be honored by your peers, I don’t think there’s a better compliment than that.”
More than anything, Bollnow believes the golf professional should be the face of the club, someone members look for when they arrive, knowing they’ll be taken care of.
“You want to be the person that stands apart,” said Bollnow. “I liked that the golf professional stood out when at the club. From being the best dressed, to being the person that everyone looks up to, you just want the members to know that you are there for them.”
While apparel trends may have changed, Bollnow’s approach hasn’t. He leads by example, takes pride in details, and embraces simplicity, especially when it comes to teaching.
“From a teaching side of things, I use a simplistic approach,” said Bollnow. “Most of the time, my lessons are very laid-back. I just want people to feel comfortable, so when they get on the course, they feel good.”
That understated excellence has created a culture at Riverside where member engagement is second to none. Bollnow and his team run more than 20 events a year, each averaging over 80 players, an almost unheard-of level of participation that speaks volumes about the trust and community he’s built.
“I always come to work with the mindset to try and make one person’s day better,” said Bollnow. “If I can do that, then I’ve done a good job.”
Bollnow was previously honored with the Illinois PGA Bill Heald Career Achievement Award in 2013, a fitting nod to the man who shaped his path. But the Senior Master award feels different.
“This is pretty overwhelming,” said Bollnow. “Honestly, when I got into the profession, I worked for a gentleman who won a lot of awards. I always thought it was cool that this little club on the South Side was getting recognized. And we always found a way to get it done. We’re like the little engine that could.”
As he prepares to accept one of the Illinois PGA’s highest honors, Bollnow is reflective, humble, and still thinking of others.
“If I were going to give any advice, it would be: be yourself,” said Bollnow. “Learn everything you can. Be totally involved, and care — really care — about your club, your members, your staff. Because if you don’t care, you’ll never be successful. You either care, or you don’t.”
For more than five decades, Karl Bollnow has cared deeply about his club, his people, and the game he learned to love, but has served with purpose ever since. And now, the profession is giving back to a man who has given it everything.
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Ed Slattery – Senior Master:
By any standard, Ed Slattery’s career has been a long and meaningful one. But if you ask him, the success wasn’t about tournaments won, titles earned, or checks collected, it was about a love for the game and the lives he helped shape along the way.
On Monday, July 28th, at the historic Onwentsia Club, the Illinois PGA will name Slattery as its 2025 Senior Master, an honor recognizing professionals who have made significant contributions to the game of golf. For Slattery, the moment is both humbling and unexpected.
“I was completely caught off guard,” he said. “I’ve never won an award with the Section before. I was never on committees, never on the board. I just tried to do my job the best I could. So I was shocked to be even considered.”
Yet to anyone who knows him, the honor feels inevitable.
Slattery’s journey began when he was just eight years old, introduced to golf by his father. He grew up at Dwight Country Club, where PGA Professional Terry Cole started a junior program that gave young Ed his first real swing at the game.
From those early days, Slattery’s life followed a path paved with passion. After competing in junior college at the College of Lake County, he earned a scholarship to the University of Illinois. By 1986, he was working as an assistant under Butch Pegoraro, PGA at Forest Hills Country Club, an environment that helped shape his vision of what a golf professional should be.
“I wanted to try and play golf as a career,” said Slattery. “And I figured the best way to do that was to get a job at a private club and hopefully get some support, which ended up happening.”
He did more than chase a dream. He built a career anchored in generosity, mentorship, and joy.
Slattery’s tenure at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Club in Rockford, Illinois, began in 1990. Over the next 35 years, he didn’t just run a golf operation; he created a culture.
“As a player myself, I definitely tried to support my assistants as much as I could in terms of playing golf,” said Slattery. “I always gave them the opportunity to play. Our membership embraced that, not just with me, but with my assistants too.”
From his earliest days, Slattery made it a point to offer his team the kind of balance he valued: a love for the game paired with a healthy quality of life.
“My guys basically worked 40-hour weeks,” he said. “They could teach on their own time and keep all that income. If they didn’t want to teach, they could use that time to work on their game. I never wanted my assistants to feel overworked. I wanted them to enjoy golf.”
That philosophy paid dividends. PGA Assistants like Jeff Kellen (North Shore Country Club), Kevin Flack (Mauh-Nah-Tee-Club), and Dave Lundy (Mt. Hawley Country Club) not only thrived under Slattery’s guidance but went on to become respected professionals themselves.
“It’s great watching your assistants learn and move on to become head professionals,” Slattery said. “The best part is that I’m still in touch with all of them, and not just them—but also the bag boys that worked for me in the past.”
That, for Slattery, is the true measure of success.
Throughout his career, Slattery’s approach never wavered: build relationships first, and everything else follows.
“The best part about being a PGA Professional is creating relationships through golf,” he said. “Playing a round with members, spending four hours with them, you learn about their families, what they do, where they went to college. It becomes so much more than saying hello at the door.”
Those relationships became even more important in 2015 when Slattery was asked to take over club membership at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See, a role he embraced during a critical time for the club.
“We were down to 108 golf members, and I thought we might possibly go under,” he recalled. “I became the point man. I gave all the tours and closed all the deals. When you’re the one they see and trust from the beginning, that sets the tone.”
By the time he retired in 2024, the club had rebounded to 220 members, its future secured, and its culture preserved.
Over the decades, Slattery navigated everything from evolving technology to unexpected job challenges. Whether it was adapting from hand-written chits to live digital scoring or overcoming a tenuous job review that ultimately solidified his position, he remained focused on learning, adapting, and leading.
“In times of desperation, you are forced to do things that you probably should’ve been doing the entire time,” he reflected. “That’s how I felt about taking on membership. It gave my job more value than anything else I ever did.”
Even through change, Slattery never lost sight of what mattered most: making the game of golf meaningful for others.
As Slattery transitions into retirement, he leaves behind more than just well-organized tournaments and a steady membership roll. He leaves behind a legacy of mentorship, generosity, and joy of showing others that golf can be a career and a calling, not just a paycheck.
To the young professionals who worked in his shop, those who worked in the bag room, and the members he served, Slattery’s presence was a quiet but powerful example of what it means to truly love the game.
“I think the thing I’m most proud of is what my assistants have accomplished,” he said. “To me, it’s pretty cool that a kid would work for me in the bag room and then decide they want to do what I do. That’s quite a compliment.”
And now, with the title of Senior Master, the compliment goes both ways.
About the Illinois PGA/Illinois PGA Foundation
The Illinois Section of the PGA of America is a professional organization serving men and women golf professionals in northern and central Illinois who are 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 760 members and associates, 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, PGA HOPE (Helping our Patriots Everywhere), Illinois PGA Birdies for Charity, and the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. For more information about the Illinois PGA and the Illinois PGA Foundation, please visit www.ipga.com and join us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
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CONTACT:
Kevin Quinn
Illinois PGA Communications
708.336.1294 mobile
kbquinn@pgahq.com