Romeoville, IL – The 25th annual Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open is set to tee off at the acclaimed Mistwood Golf Club, July 16 – 17. Scheduled for three rounds to be completed over the two tournament days, this revered 54-hole event pits top professional and amateur women’s talent from all over the Midwest.
Last year, Northwestern University alum Hannah Kim blistered Mistwood and the field with rounds of 68, 65 and 67 to finish a tournament-record 16 under par and secure a six-shot, wire-to-wire victory. In the tournament’s 23 previous contests, no other competitor had ever finished double-digits under par. Kim only posted one bogey in the three-round championship en route to her first victory as a professional. University of Illinois golfer Tristyn Nowlin finished second at 10-under-par, also claiming Low-Amateur status.
“This tournament consistently brings the top women’s golf talent from all over Illinois and around the Midwest,” says Mistwood director of golf Andy Mickelson. “They play our celebrated Scottish-links-style course when it’s in peak condition, so we’re extremely proud to play host. It’s one of the events we point to all year on our calendar.”
This year, contestants are scheduled to play 36-holes on Mistwood’s award-winning Ray Hearn design on July 16 with the field being cut to approximately the low 40 percent and ties in advance of the 18-hole final round on July 17.
On July 15, a Pro-Am competition will start at 1:00 p.m. with all foursomes entered being paired with a 2019 Illinois Women’s Open contestant. Entry includes 18 holes, cart fee, gifts and prizes, lunch and entry to the Champions Dinner, where the 2019 Joseph A. Kosin IWO Scholarship winners will be awarded. All proceeds will benefit the Chicago Friends of Golf Foundation.
“This will be the 21st year Mistwood has hosted this storied event and now that the golf course has been renovated and transformed into one of the finest daily-fee-golf experiences in Chicagoland or anywhere in the Midwest, the tournament is better than ever,” says Mickelson. “We look forward to hosting this great tournament for many years to come.”
The tournament, founded in 1995 by original Chicagoland Golf editor and publisher Phil Kosin, is open to female professionals and amateurs aged 17 and over who reside within the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Special age and residency exemptions are also considered.
Each year’s champion has her name added to the Elaine Rosenthal Memorial Trophy, which honors one of Chicago and the nation’s early women’s golf pioneers. Ms. Rosenthal played in many championships in the late 1910s through the mid-1930s, representing the Chicago area and playing out of Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood, Illinois. She volunteered her services as part of “The Dixie Kids” a foursome of talented teenage golfers who barnstormed the United States in 1917–18 playing exhibition matches. Those charity matches marked the first time in the history of golf that spectators paid for tickets to watch a golf event. The money raised is said to have raised more than $150,000 for the American Red Cross to buy medical supplies for use on the battlefields of Europe. Equally remarkable are the identities of the four teens: Elaine Rosenthal and Alexa Stirling were the women; Perry Adair and Bobby Jones were the men.
To enter the event as a player in the championship or to register a foursome for the Pro-Am, visit www.mistwoodgc.com and click on the events calendar.
