Summer is tournament season for every golf organization, not least of which is the Western Golf Association (WGA), which will conduct the Evans Scholars Invitational and the Women’s Western Amateur this month in the Chicago District.
First is the 126th Women’s Western Amateur hosted by River Forest Country Club in Elmhurst, which is celebrating its centennial this year. The format is 36 holes of stroke play, after which the low 32 face off in match play until a champion is crowned. The winner receives an exemption into the U.S. Women’s Amateur. The tournament has been played since 1901 and is one of the world’s oldest major women’s golf tournaments.
The Evans Scholars Invitational, a regular event on the Korn Ferry Tour, will be played July 23–26 at The Glen Club with a prize fund of $1 million. The tournament has featured a number of champions who went on to star on the PGA Tour. Scottie Scheffler won at The Glen Club in Glenview in 2019, as did Cameron Young in 2021. Last year, Johnny Keefer prevailed and graduated to the PGA Tour, where he has earned more than $1 million.
Need a Ruling? Ask AI
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is coming out with the pilot phase of Rules AI, an initiative that uses artificial intelligence to make the Rules of Golf “more accessible and understandable for golfers everywhere.”
Using the GHIN app, golfers will be able to find accurate answers to rules questions as they navigate the course. Unlike generic AI models (which commonly provide incorrect or incomplete information), Rules AI is powered by up-to-date, verified USGA content, meaning that golfers receive answers rooted in the official Rules of Golf. Rules AI is being rolled out in phases at select golf clubs, which will enable the USGA to gather insights and help refine the user experience before releasing it to all golfers.
Sneds Prevails in Myrtle Beach
U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker (pictured above) demonstrated that he can still play when he won the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in early May. It was the 10th career victory for the 45-year-old Tennes sean, who shot 18-under par with four rounds in the 60s at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in the South Carolina golf mecca. It was his first victory in nearly eight years. Even with the win, Snedeker is highly unlikely to make his own team, as he isn’t ranked among the top 25 contestants at this writing.
Stout, Howell Awarded Exemptions by Deere
Continuing its tradition of featuring the game’s top amateurs, the John Deere Classic awarded sponsor exemptions to this year’s NCAA champion, Preston Stout (left), and 2025 U.S. Amateur winner Mason Howell to compete in the 55th Quad Cities event, July 2-5, at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. In addition to winning this year’s NCAA individual championship Stout, who led Oklahoma State to the 2025 national team championship, recently won his third straight Big 12 title and is ranked No. 2 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). Howell, 19, who will be a freshman at Georgia, was the third youngest player to win the U.S. Amateur and played in the Masters earlier this year. In the past, regular PGA Tour events had eight sponsor exemptions to give, but because fields have been cut to 144 from 156, the number of sponsor exemptions has been reduced to four.
And Then I Wrote:
Patrick Flavin of Highwood nearly won his second tournament on the PGA Tour Americas on May 17 but lost in a sudden-death playoff to Cole Anderson at the Diners Club Peru Open at Los Inkas Golf Club in Lima. Flavin won earlier in the season in Argentina. Happily, Flavin, 30, announced his engagement to Mackenzie Cooley of Mesa, Arizona. —Barry Cronin
