Fans rub elbows with golfing elite at UL Crown tournament
Two of the youngest fans at the UL International Crown tournament's pro-am event Wednesday couldn't have known the prominence of who beckoned from near the first tee.
"You want an autograph? Come on over. Thanks for coming out here," said a smiling Nancy Lopez, winner of 48 LPGA Tour tournaments, including three majors.
Receiving the largesse were sisters Peyton, 4, and Jade Mazenas, 6, of Streamwood. The pair play constantly and watch golf on TV, said dad, Tony. He and his wife, Rhiannon, brought the girls to the Merit Club in Gurnee to follow their favorites, Minjee Lee of the Australian team and Lexi Thompson of the U.S. team.
Day 2 of the international event was the last before the real competition starts Thursday and the crowds swell and get vocal for their home countries. The pro-am was more relaxed - a paradise for autograph seekers and fans seeking a picture or just a hello from their favorite players.
"Have fun," Lopez told the Mazenas sisters, who like others kids in attendance dream of getting good enough to join the tour. It is this kind of interaction from a World Golf Hall of Famer and the best players in the world the LPGA hopes lures crowds over the next four days. The event features players from eight countries in team match play competition.
"The thing with the women's tour is it's approachable," said fan Hazel Hunter. "You can get tickets, you can get pictures, so we kind of decided to follow the women's tour."
She and her husband, Gary Avery, traveled to Gurnee from Chesterfield, New Hampshire for the tournament.
"We're wrapping vacation into this but this is what brought us," Hunter said. The pair had their choice of seats in the sunbathed grandstand behind the first tee.
"Hot, but good," Avery said.
Organizers are hoping for 50,000 spectators through Sunday, said Drew Blass, tournament director.
"The players get it. They appreciate their fans, they appreciate their sponsors," he said.
In the shade off the 18th green, Carmel High School seniors and golfers Erin Kehoe and Danielle Savovich, both 17 and from Gurnee, were collecting autographs.
"I've been to the Ryder Cup and they're so much fun, everybody's going crazy," Kehoe said of international tournament golf.
Nearby, Palatine resident Tim Knecht, a banker and former golf teacher, is showing his 6-year-old daughter, Kady, the ropes.
"She's starting in golf so we thought it would be good for her to see," he said.
A little later, U.S. player Cristie Kerr finished her 9th hole of the day with three club members. Greg Pritchard and Mark Jensen of Libertyville and Sam Kim of Green Oaks. Kerr played in the 2000 U.S. Women's Open held the Merit Club.
"It's going to be a good test but we're going to be able to make birdies and eagles," she said.
Jodi Schoeck, coach of the Barrington High School girls varsity golf team, brought eight of her 10 players as a prelude to the season which starts Aug. 10.
"It will get much more raucous and exciting tomorrow," she predicted. "It will have a Solheim (or) Ryder Cup flair."
Blass said the roar of the fans will be audible throughout the course starting Thursday.
"We're definitely going to bring the noise," he said.