Pinecrest receives a slight makeover for County Amateur
When the McHenry County Men’s Amateur Golf Tournament starts at 8 a.m. Friday at Pinecrest Golf Club in Huntley, the players will see a slightly different course than they saw last year.
The course will play at a par-71 as opposed to its usual par-72 after changes to the normally par-5 fourth hole, Pinecrest Director of Golf Mike Yackle said.
“We are going to move the tees up about 40 yards and play at about 440 yards for the Championship and A flights and about 400 yards for the B and C flights and play it as a par-4,” Yackle said.
“With the length that the younger players have now, that yardage was obsolete for a par-5,” Yackle said.
Yackle said three of the course’s holes would be the most challenging for competitors.
“The 11th hole is probably the hardest hole on the course,” Yackle said. “It’s a par-3 of about 200 yards surrounded by water on three sides. The 15th hole is about 400 yards and has out of bounds all the way down the left side, along with trees and water down the right side. It’s a real good driving hole.”
Yackle said the finishing par-5 18th hole is a dogleg to the right and that the second shot is the most important because there are trees on both sides of the fairway. Yackle said that besides those holes, players shouldn’t have much difficulty.
“Anyone who can get around those three holes shouldn’t have any problem after that,” Yackle said.
Defending champion Don Langland said that Pinecrest is your basic public golf course.
“Over the years, it has grown,” Langland said. “It has become more of a competitive golf course. You can make a good number there if you play well. You got some holes you can make some good scores on and some you have to be careful on, like the 11th. That is the toughest hole with the water on each side.”
The front nine and back nine are almost identical in yardage because the fourth tee has been moved up. The course measures 6,584 yards for the Championship and A flights; it plays 6,004 yards for the B and C flights.
Competitors will see a par-5 early in the round in the 561-yard second hole along with the 116-yard par-3 eighth hole. The back nine features two par-5s on the final three holes – the 550-yard 16th hole and the 18th hole.
Yackle said that he is excited that the course is hosting the event again this year.
“We’re thrilled to death with it,” Yackle said. “It gives us good exposure and it gives the better players in the county a chance to come out here and play this course. Hopefully, they will have fun and will tell their friends and neighbors that it is a good place to come out and play.”
TEE TIMES
Below are the tee times for the opening round of the County Amateur golf tournament, which begins on Friday at Pinecrest Golf Club in Huntley.
Championship Flight – Tee off on Hole #1
8:00 AM Griffin Bauman
8:00 AM Chris Frame
8:00 AM Matt Lehl
8:08 AM J.D. Wagner
8:08 AM Brent Filetti
8:08 AM Peter Johnson
8:16 AM Scot Prindiville
8:16 AM Justin Veach
8:16 AM Alan Pondel
8:24 AM Brent Sloat
8:24 AM Don Langland
8:24 AM Neal Golyshko
8:32 AM J.C. Wise
8:32 AM Tom Conway
8:32 AM Cory Henry
8:40 AM Ben Allen
8:40 AM Chris Pietrzak
8:40 AM Nick Yackle
8:48 AM Scott Spielmann
8:48 AM Jacob Hurwitz
8:56 AM Eric Klutke
8:56 AM Tony Miranda
8:56 AM Tom Sweetwood
9:04 AM Fred Eaton
9:04 AM Nick Remley
9:04 AM David Schwartz
A Flight – Tee off on Hole #1
9:12 AM Mark Gates
9:12 AM John Idstein
9:12 AM Greg Bauman
9:20 AM Brad Legnaioli
9:20 AM Francis McKenney
9:20 AM Chris Voloch
9:28 AM Brent Barnhill
9:28 AM C. Eric Mayer
9:28 AM Philip Webb
9:36 AM Mark Oakley
9:36 AM Jim Wagner
9:36 AM Mike Oracko
9:44 AM Jeff Carriveau
9:44 AM Dan Smith
9:44 AM Jim Altendorf
9:52 AM David Min
9:52 AM Benjamin Biederer
9:52 AM Ryan Mraz
10:00 AM Jason Sciarro
10:00 AM Bob Kronn
10:00 AM Robert Link
10:08 AM Chris Dobbins
10:08 AM Doug Schmitt
10:08 AM Don Rourke
10:16 AM Ruben Escamilla
10:16 AM Zachary Gasior
10:16 AM Sean Leonard
B Flight – Tee off on Hole #10
8:00 AM Bill Dalzell
8:00 AM Bob Jersey
8:00 AM Gary Stewart
8:08 AM Chris Wood
8:08 AM Michael Argyrakis
8:08 AM Brian Shahinian
8:16 AM Ron Hoxsey
8:16 AM Roger Main
8:16 AM Jake Sorokowski
8:24 AM Dan Powers
8:24 AM Mark Hankins
8:24 AM Greg Davis
8:32 AM Tim Sterzik
8:32 AM Ed Mohr
8:32 AM Jim Maczka
8:40 AM Kyle Theil
8:40 AM Ryan Zbierski
8:40 AM Tim Vlazny
8:48 AM Robert Disselhorst
8:48 AM Bill Hirn
8:48 AM Mark Massoth
8:56 AM Kevin Devries
8:56 AM Jim Trotter
8:56 AM Pete Helstrom
C Flight – Tee off on Hole #10
9:04 AM Dick Thennes
9:04 AM Todd Billings
9:04 AM Kevin Bourgeois
9:12 AM Alan Corbin
9:12 AM Bob Howell
9:12 AM Glen Kromar
9:20 AM Jim Passi
9:20 AM Steve Theil
9:20 AM Chris Cooper
9:28 AM Steve VanAcker
9:28 AM Dave Wille
9:28 AM Marty Rachford
9:36 AM Keith Steinwehe
9:36 AM Mark Tagatz
9:36 AM John Nienhuis
9:44 AM Pete Muffie
9:44 AM Charles Djordjevich
9:44 AM Dale Marshall
9:52 AM Chris Krug
9:52 AM Richard Sample
9:52 AM Marvin Carby
10:00 AM Jim Pluskota Jr.
10:00 AM Steven Johnson Jr.
10:00 AM Gary Rabine
10:08 AM D. Allen Montgomery
10:08 AM Bob McClain
10:08 AM Donald McCarter
10:08 AM Tom Dufore
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Hole Par Yards (Champ-A Flight/B Flight-C Flight)
1 4 380/340
2 5 561/517
3 4 368/336
4 4 440/400
5 4 413/393
6 3 195/175
7 4 413/383
8 3 116/101
9 4 390/363
Out 35 3294/3040
10 4 403/370
11 3 203/161
12 4 340/301
13 3 183/163
14 4 302/279
15 4 407/351
16 5 550/491
17 4 359/336
18 5 533/512
In 36 3280/2964
Total 71 6564/6004