Chicago-area sports radio journalist Rory Spears dies at 65
Rory Spears, a fixture in Chicago sports radio with deep roots in the local golf scene, died Wednesday at his home in Arlington Heights. He was 65.
Spears had a love for radio and was one of the initial members for WSCR 670-AM all-sports radio station. After five seasons there he moved on to ESPN Radio and covered a wide variety of sports for other stations. He was a regular reporter for all the Chicago professional sports teams, but his special passion was golf.
I know because Spears was not just a longtime friend. He was an Arlington Heights neighbor and a frequent golf partner. He was a big supporter of mine when I was inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2019 and he got me involved in the broadcast side. We created a golf podcast series that ran for three years and that led to my joining Spears and his colleagues as a co-host on the Golf on Golf Radio show the past four years.
While that in-season show has been broadcast on several local stations for over 30 years, Spears took it to new levels by becoming the director of content and creation for the Golfers on Golf website blog that provides local and national golf information year-around.
Spears attended Hersey High School and attended college at both Aurora and Wisconsin-Parkside. His education in golf went further back than that.
During his school years he held jobs at Roy Roy, in Prospect Heights, and Chevy Chase, in Wheeling. He dated the start for his coverage of golf to 1986, and it went beyond covering tournaments. He got around as a player, too, and badly wanted to play a few more courses to get his career total to 600. He documented his playing at 589 courses across America.
In the last few years he returned to working on the club scene. He was working at both Heritage Oaks, in Northbrook, and Medinah Country Club and also did a stint at The Grove, in Long Grove.
Golf had to take a back seat for Spears when he was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago, but he appeared on the mend when he made his annual appearance at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando in January. He was again a winner of Outstanding Achiever honors in the International Network of Golf’s Media Awards, which are presented at the big show every year.
Spears and I are both ING members, and he also joined the Golf Travel Writers of America at this year’s show. Not only that but he also played in the reorganized group’s first outing, going 18 holes by himself before starting his drive back to Chicago.
The entire Chicago golf community will miss Rory. So will I.
A visitation is planned for noon Sunday at Ahlgrim’s Funeral Home in Palatine, with a funeral at 4 p.m. He is survived by his parents, Ralph and Geraldine “Gerry” Spears, brother Reid (Stacey) Spears and niece Jaidyn Spears.