Since the Illinois Open became an annual event in 1950, only two players–Gary Pinns and Dick Hart–have won it as often as Naperville pro Marty Schiene.
Schiene, who claimed his third state crown last August at Fox Bend in Oswego to tie Hart (1964, ’69, ’71), chases No. 4 Thursday through Saturday at Orchard Valley Golf Course in Aurora. Schiene, though, doesn’t sound too confident about his chances of closing the gap on Pinns, who won a remarkable five titles (1978, ’82, ’85, ’86, ’90) in three decades.
Schiene said that over the last five weeks, between failing to qualify for the Motorola Western Open five weeks ago and Monday’s Illinois Open pro-am, he had played only two rounds. The problem: a torn rib muscle he suffered during his third tournament on the Canadian PGA Tour in June.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good lately, but I had planned to play in Canada three straight weeks before the Illinois Open. (The rib) just hurt when I swung. There’s a theory that I should change my swing a little to take the strain off that part of the body, but that’s a hard thing to do when you’ve been swinging one way for so long.”
Also working against Schiene, who was ninth in the Malaysian Open and fifth at the Victoria Open in Canada, is the strength, literally, of the 168-player field.
Orchard Valley tends to favor long hitters such as Nike Tour player Mark Hensby of Elgin, who won the Illinois Open there in 1996 by eight strokes, and Ottawa pro Tom Sipula, who qualified for this year’s U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
“I’m not as long as they are,” said Schiene. “There are three par 4s there–and all the par 5s–that you can birdie. If Hensby is hitting it straight, he could overpower it. Sipula is extremely long too. If a guy like that can keep it in the fairway, he may bring the course to its knees.”
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Another contender is Illinois PGA champion Dino Lucchesi of Bittersweet Golf Club. Lucchesi, Schiene and Sipula will be Thursday’s “glamor” threesome. The trio tees off at 8:08 a.m. on No. 10. Hensby, two-time Illinois PGA champion Doug Bauman of Biltmore and ’97 Illinois Open co-runner-up Jim Sobb of Ivanhoe Club go off No. 10 at 8 a.m.
Others to watch: ’97 Illinois Open runner-up Gary March of Arlington Heights, ’94 Illinois Open champ Gary Groh, Medinah head pro Mike Harrigan, Elk Grove pro Bob Mack and amateurs D.A. Points of Pekin, Chip Travis of Hinsdale, Tom Studer of Joliet and Michael Stone of Chicago.
This year’s purse is $100,000, with $15,000 going to the winner.
Junior blowout: Arlington Heights’ Steve Ratay showed no mercy Wednesday, winning the rain-shortened CDGA Junior Open at Sycamore Golf Club by 10 shots over Tyson Park of Northbrook. Ratay shot a final-round 65 to finish at 13-under-par 129. Jim Thompson (140) of Ladd, Ill., and Elliott Liebman of Arlington Heights (141) were the only others under par. Tuesday’s round was rained out.
On the tee: USGA Amateur qualifying is Monday at Biltmore Country Club in Barrington and Chalet Hills in Cary. . . . The Illinois Junior Golf Association’s Boys Tournament of Champions is Monday at Kankakee Country Club. . . . The Northern Illinois Men’s Amateur Golf Association August Championship is Saturday and Sunday at Glenwoodie, Buffalo Grove, Schaumburg and Bonnie Brook.