Milwaukee on AmFam Championship's radar
MADISON – The American Family Insurance Championship will return to University Ridge Golf Course for a third year in 2018, but the insurance giant is open to someday rotating the tournament between Madison and Milwaukee.
“We’ve had those discussions,” said Jack Salzwedel, chairman and CEO of American Family Insurance. “We talked about it before Year 1, actually – would we need to alternate this or would we keep it in Madison? If we kept it in Madison, would we keep it at U Ridge?”
In many ways, it would make sense for the PGA Tour Champions event to visit Milwaukee every second or third year.
The biggest city in the state is an important market for American Family Insurance, which sponsors the main stage at Summerfest; construction on a new American Family Insurance Amphitheater is scheduled for 2019.
If the dates line up, AmFam could cross-promote Summerfest and the golf tournament. Plus, Brown Deer Park played host to the Greater Milwaukee Open / U.S. Bank Championship from 1994 to 2009 and would be a good fit for the PGA Tour Champions if the logistics could be worked out.
Eight former GMO / U.S. Bank champions played in the American Family Insurance Championship this year.
“I don’t think there’s one guy in this field who wouldn’t want to play Brown Deer again,” said Fox Point native Skip Kendall, who shot a final-round 71 and tied for 55th. “This time of year, lining it up with Summerfest would be fun.
“I’m happy with it here, but if it has a chance to go back to Milwaukee, sure, I’d like to see it go back there.”
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American Family Insurance and the University of Wisconsin will start talking soon about extending the contract at University Ridge, which has drawn some of the biggest galleries on the PGA Tour Champions.
“As far as Milwaukee, you know, I would say just the way things are right now, I don’t know if there’s a need to do that,” Salzwedel said. “But I think we’re open to it, depending on how many fans we get and where the fans are coming from and all that type of stuff.”
Salzwedel and tournament director Nate Pokrass were seen after the round chatting with Kendall, who grew up playing Brown Deer. Kendall wouldn’t divulge what they talked about, saying only, “Milwaukee, maybe someday down the road. You’ll have to talk to them.”
Living the dream: Jerry Kelly of Madison struggled with his swing Sunday but managed to shoot a 70 and finished in a tie for 13th.
“Me and ‘Schu’ (swing coach Jim Schuman) worked on something and I totally messed it up today,” he said. “The putting followed right with it. … Again, I hit it bad and putted bad. My head wasn’t there mentally because I couldn’t figure out what was going on.”
Kelly used his post-round interview to talk about a new sponsor, Exact Sciences Corp. of Madison, which manufactures Cologuard, a non-invasive colon cancer test. The company’s logo was on his hat and shirt.
After more than 20 years on tour, Kelly said he still got excited to open boxes of new shirts with sponsor logos on them.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I talk about this with my wife all the time, and she says it, too … I will literally be standing on a tee looking out and sometimes I’ll go, ‘Wow, I play golf for a living.’ It still strikes me like that.”
Senior Open up next: Kelly and Schuman will represent Wisconsin this week in the U.S. Senior Open at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass.
“I’ve got to go win that thing,” Kelly said. “I mean, I want to win out here (on the PGA Tour Champions) really bad. You know, (there was) a little extra pressure this week, but usually I love that. The U.S. Senior Open will feel like nothing. I just want to go have some fun with that one.”
Schuman, who teaches at Blue Mound Golf & Country Club, won a qualifier in Racine to earn his spot in the field. He played in the AmFam Championship on a sponsor’s exemption and finished in a tie for 65th.
“I’m going to have a great time,” he said. “I’ve never played in a U.S. Open.”
Chip shots: Corey Pavin was sitting in a cart outside the scoring area when a fan standing behind gallery ropes 30 feet away held up a copy of the book “Corey Pavin’s Shotmaking” and said, “Hey, Corey, how about an autograph?” Pavin said, “I’m sorry, I gotta go. It’s a good book, though.” …
University of Illinois golf coach Mike Small shot a 71 and finished in a tie for 20th, his best showing in five starts on the PGA Tour Champions. …
Kent Jones, one of four Monday qualifiers, finished in a tie for ninth place. He’s the second Monday qualifier to post a top-10 finish this season. Steve Pate tied for ninth at the Tucson Conquistadores Classic. …
Defending champion Kirk Triplett shot a final-round 68 and tied for 25th.
