Medinah’s Scully off to Arizona

It’s fair to say it’s been quite an amazing run thus far for Mike Scully.

From being a star football player at Prospect High School and the University of Illinois and even a brief stint in the NFL, and then switching fields completely and eventually serving as the head PGA Professional at prestigious Medinah Country Club for nearly 10 years.

From the 2006 PGA Championship won by Tiger Woods to what should be a thrilling 2012 Ryder Cup, Scully has been a part of it all at Medinah.

And shortly after the Ryder Cup is completed, Scully’s run will continue when he and his wife and their three children head off to Scottsdale, Ariz., where he has accepted the position as Director of Golf at Desert Mountain

“I’m real excited. I get to go from one great place to another great place,” Scully said. “About four weeks after the Ryder Cup here, we host the Charles Schwab Cup (at Desert Mountain), which is the season-ending event for the Champions Tour.

“I’m very thankful to the people at Medinah. They’ve been just wonderful to me and my family. If I wouldn’t have had their opportunity, I wouldn’t have had this one.”

But the one thing Scully wanted to make sure of was that he could stay on at Medinah through what promises to be a great Ryder Cup.

“I asked to stay and finish it because it’s been so much fun,” Scully said.

After Scully’s football playing days concluded, he spent a couple of years as an assistant football coach at Buffalo Grove High School. Shortly thereafter, he was hired as an assistant golf pro at the Forest Club in Fort Myers, Fla., and a new career had been launched.

In 2003, he arrived at Medinah, and what followed was a long, successful run. Scully will leave with nothing but good memories.

“I got to play golf with a lot of top players in the world, and got to know a lot of them personally,” he said. “And then there were the 1,440 events with my membership through the years ... I just have too many good memories to catalog.

“I’m very fortunate.”

And soon it will be off to Arizona to start cataloging a new book of memories.

“My team background from all the football years and all the stuff I did,” he said, “I’m just anxious to go out and coach a whole new set of players.”